Hold On Tight, Here Come Holds, Part IV

With the new ILS, customers can not only place a hold on checked out items, they can place a hold on available items while searching the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog).

That is right. Customers do not have to call us to place items on hold. They will be able to find a book on our online catalog and with a click of a button, place that book on hold. They will then be automatically notified when the item is available at their desired location.

But what happens in between a customer putting something on hold and that item being available at their desired location?

If the item is currently available, then this is where the Pick List comes in. A Pick List shows all of the current customer holds on available items that need to be trapped. This report is run Monday through Saturday at 8:30 AM and 2:00 PM and is delivered via the agency circulation and reference email accounts.

A staff member then takes the list, finds the item(s) on the list and traps the hold. The customer is then notified that the item is available.

NOTE 1: If the item happens to be missing, it is important to mark the item missing at that point. If the item is available at another location, that agency will be notified on the next Pick List report.

NOTE 2: A Pick List report includes more than just holds placed via the online catalog. For example, if you are helping a customer who wants an item at another location, yet that location is currently closed, you can offer to place the item on hold for the customer. The item will appear on the next Pick List report for the owning agency.

See Trapping Holds for Held Items on the Pick List for further information.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.). All questions and answers will end up on the Holds Discussion page.