FAQs: Making Hold Maps

The Hold Map policy is used by SirsiDynix Symphony’s Demand Management feature to manage the placement of holds across libraries. With this policy you can specify that (when all other hold criteria are equal) holds will be satisfied as “my library’s patrons first” or “library patrons in our region first.” In addition, you can define which circulating item types are holdable.

The hold map is indexed by the item’s library, the item’s type, and the user profile of the user placing the hold. Also, each line in the map is given a hold permission and priority.

Keep in mind the following when creating a hold map:

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Unlike the circulation map, the Library attribute always refers to item library; it is never related to station library.

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Like the circulation map, the hold map is interpreted from the bottom up, so that the list of holds is evaluated against the lowest lines of the map first. If multiple lines in the hold map apply to a combination of item library, item type, and user profile, the applicable line closest to the bottom of the map will be used.

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Permission relates to placing and satisfying holds.

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Priority relates to satisfying holds only.

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SirsiDynix Symphony only considers one line of the hold map for priority, the qualifying line closest to the bottom of the map.

For example, a library may want items to satisfy holds for its own library users before satisfying holds for its library group. SirsiDynix Symphony should verify first that no holds exist for the library’s users before checking whether holds exist for the library group’s users. Only after verifying that no holds exist for both the library and library group would items be considered for satisfying holds outside the group. In an attempt to achieve this, the library might map a particular item type/user profile combination to the priority OWN_GROUP. Immediately following this line in the hold map, the library might define a second line that maps the same item type/user profile combination to the priority OWN_LIB. Since SirsiDynix Symphony reads the hold map from the bottom up, the effect of this would be as though the first line, mapping the combination to OWN_GROUP, does not exist.

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The hold map is for narrowing the scope of hold permission and priority. The hold map cannot be used to broaden permission or priority beyond the Hold Permissions Libraries and Hold Group Libraries lists. After you create all other hold-related policies, use the hold map to further limit which item types are holdable.

Note: Users cannot place holds on items that do not normally circulate to them. For example, if students cannot check out videos, then SirsiDynix Symphony will prevent them from placing holds on videos. Therefore, you will not need to create a hold map that prevents students from placing holds on videos.

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If there is no entry in the hold map for a particular combination of library, item type, and user profile, the permission defaults to all libraries, and the priority defaults to no priority.