When a user requests an item that another user already has checked out, or when a library department needs an item for binding, mending, reclassification, or for a reserve collection, SirsiDynix Symphony allows a hold request to be placed on that item. When a hold on a single item is created, a brief record is created that links the item and the specified user. This hold record contains information about the item, the user who placed the hold, and the hold itself.
The hold information contained in the hold record includes the library at which the hold was placed, the date and time the hold was placed, the pickup library, the pickup by date (if library policies are configured to calculate this date), the level of the hold, hold suspension and unsuspension dates, the hold availability status, position (in hold queue), and date reordered (when a hold position is reordered). If your library is part of a multilibrary system, the record range for the hold is also stored in the hold record.
When more than one user places a hold on a single item, a hold list (queue) forms. Any number of users can wait in the hold queue. The information contained in the hold record, hold policies, item policies, and user profile policies are used by SirsiDynix Symphony to determine which user in the hold queue is to receive the item when it becomes available. You may re-position a user in the hold queue, and the hold record will track this new position and the date the hold was reordered.
For Books by Mail functionality, the information for an item that is on hold with the Books by Mail delivery option includes the following fields.
| • | Mailed – This field indicates if the hold should be mailed to the user when it becomes available or if it should be held for pick up. |
| • | Available for Mail – This status is true when the Mailed and Item Available fields are both set to Y. |
| • | Mail Service – This field indicates the mail service to use to mail the hold and the shipping cost for that particular service. |
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