Holds Procedures

finding day's holds:

as part of opening, check WorldClient (user name: albyill) for most recent message from Sirsi headed: "Library Notice" (there may be other messages with same subject from other places); open and print; look for listed items

• if found: trap hold (Holds Information and Management, Trap Holds)
  • gives you a hold receipt stating destination of book (ALBY hold, transit hold)
    • If ALBY hold, write patron lastname, firstname (if not already there) on receipt, and file on holds shelf by patron name.
    • If transit hold to ALBY-ROCK or ALBY-CENT, put on the outgoing shelf for that branch.
    • If transit hold for non-ALBY library, give to Bernie.  This is a "mistake item" that will need to be addressed with the other library.

• if not found: mark as such on list (and count number of tries this has been) and put list next to cash register
  • if item is not found for three days

    • mark as missing: Item Information and Management, Mark Item Missing

    • MAKE SURE to mark the item for our library ONLY (limit search)

    • override HOLD message if necessary

    • THEN

    • remove the patron's hold on this item

    • THEN

    • do ILL for the item/patron (have to mark as missing for ILL to go through)

    • In Addition-> sometimes when discharging a HOLD will pop and you must see if it is for ALBY patron, staff or in transit.

on rare occasions while discharching an item a HOLD slip will be generated for a patron from another WY library. this means a hold was placed through Workflows rather than VDX. This is a No No. The hold must be released:

use Remove Item Hold in the Holds menu, followed by Trap Hold in which you "release" the hold (requires override) Give the slip to the ILL librarian, who will contact the library and fix things.

patron with book in hand has priority over a placed hold that has not yet been trapped

Bernie is in charge of removing expired holds from hold shelf at front desk; remove holds, send to shelves

"file" ILL items left by Bernie in collection on shelf behind front desk

when patrons ask how long is the waiting list for a book:

Check Item Status, search for the item, click Holds to see how many

you can also get to this info via Item Search and Display, All Volumes tab

Holds calling and maintenance

All holds (including ILLs) are kept for 10 days before sending them on to the next patron, the shelf, the owning library etc.  If a patron needs more time to pick it up, if they let Bernie know, she can remove and redo the hold to give them more time if permitted.

Bernie receives a "ALBY Holds ntc w call list 1 report" in her email each day.  She then:

• Checks to make sure all the holds listed are on the shelf
• Calls the patrons who do not have email addresses (listed on the report)
• Patrons with email addresses are automaticically notified of holds available with the "ALBY Holds Email" report that runs each morning 

If patrons do not pick up their items in 8 days, Bernie receives a "ALBY Holds 2 day Robocall list" report with their info each morning.  She then:

• Sends them a "Robocall" using the Phonevite web site, giving them one last reminder to get the item
  • If Phonevite ever stops this service, something like this might be an alternative- http://www.abbyme.com/
• She sends the "Robocall" whether or not they have an email address
• Patrons with email addresses also receive a second, final pickup notice in their email, which is done through the "ALBY Holds Email 2" report that runs each morning.

When holds are past the 10 day limit for pickup, the daily "ALBY Expire Available Holds" report automatically cancels them, and the "ALBY Clean Holds Shelf" report goes to Bernie each morning listing holds she needs to remove from the shelf, and then either:

• Trap them for the next patron
• Put them back on our shelves
• Send them to the branch they belong to
• Send them back to their owning library
• The report tells her which action to take.

"New" Holds Workflow (Implemented this Feb '09):

• We will change procedures so that all holds are kept for 10 days only, including ILLs.
  • This will enable us to automate and streamline this
  • This will be more considerate to other libraries, rather than keeping their stuff for a month when the patron doesn't pick up.
• All holds (our books, branch books, WYLD ILLs, OCLC ILLs) will be trapped and put on the shelf by patron name immediately.
• We will run a daily hold notice/call list report to inform patrons.
  • For patrons without email, we will either call them, or send them a paper notice, as part of this report.
• We will run automatic reports to find items that have been on the hold shelf for too long
  • Expire Available Holds Report expires the holds
    • We will need to have Marc set our Library Policy for "Days for Avail Holds to Expire" to 10.
  • Clean Holds Shelf List will actually clear the shelf and tell the staff what to do with each item (i.e. transit, another hold etc.)
• Benefits
  • Reduction of staff time
    • Easier notification of patrons
    • Easier pulling of expired items
  • Simplification
    • No more separate shelf for to-be-called
    • Greater uniformity in how items are handled
    • Clearer for patrons
• Issues to address
  • Long term in-library-use ILLs
    • For these items, we don't want them to expire. We want the patron to be able to continue to use them until they're due back.
    • Solution: We will need a separate procedure like an in-library checkout, so they don't get included in the hold expiration reports. Don't think there are many of these, so that hopefully should not be too much trouble.
  • Making sure all holds are trapped properly
    • Holds coming from branches-will need to make sure they get trapped rather than just shelved.
  • Staff will need to check out their holds rather than keeping them on hold.
    • This should be happening anyway.
    • Circ staff can just check these out to the staff member and put them in their box, rather than just trapping them and asking them to check them out.
• How to roll out
  • Will "grandfather" ILL holds already on the shelf by excluding them in the report criteria.
    • Will do one last manual pull of those after a month.
  • Inform ILL hold patrons that they will now only have 10 days when they are called.
    • Include this message in phone calls and email notices.
  • Start running reports
  • Train staff to use reports
  • Troubleshoot issues that arise