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Houghton policy on the use of In Alma, holdings and item records in Aleph has changed repeatedly. Item records have, of course, been used for items sent to HD. They have also seen temporary use as a tracking aid as items move through Technical Services, as a statistical tool, etc. As of November 2005, it was decided that item records will be used henceforth for volume counts. Catalogers will create item records for each physical piece that passes through their hands, whether in the process of accessioning, original cataloging, upgraded cataloging, or catalog maintenance. Item records need not be added if the physical piece is not in hand and the number of pieces is not certain.

The default Item Status has also changed over the years. As of June 2010, the Item Status should always be "02". (Previously the Item Status for things going to HD was "92".)

Each physical piece should be given a separate item record, even if housed with other pieces in a single case. In the case of items bound/boxed together, the first bibliographic work receives the item record, and the remaining works each receive an H77 field in the holdings record. See section V.10. aboverepresent physical pieces in our collection, while electronic materials are represented by electronic collection and portfolio records. Together, these physical items and holdings and electronic portfolios and collections are the inventory in the Alma repository.  Consult the LTS Alma wiki on the Items & Holdings Overview for details.

All item records are attached to a holdings record.  Alma will not allow you to create an item without a holding, and most item record creation processes will automatically create a holdings record as well if one does not already exist for the library/location. 

If you need to delete an item record, the process of withdrawing an item is the same as deleting an item in Alma.  Follow the Houghton's guidelines on withdrawing an item record. 

If you need to move an item record, either to an existing holdings record on the same bib record or to a different bib record, follow the guidelines on the LTS Alma wiki on Moving Items and Holdings.

For Houghton's item policy and material types, consult item material types and reporting code.