Context/Goal

Patrons cannot place requests on items that are unavailable (loan, missing, lost, claims return, in a work order, etc.), but they can place requests on items that are available or in transit. This means that sometimes request queues form (i.e. more requests are placed than we have copies for). Because we no longer have recalls, the patron lucky enough to be first in line can keep the book for up to 4 years. This means, for those not first in line, their request can linger for months or years.

We will explore an enhancement that will prevent requests queues for forming on already requested items. Put another way: the number of requests for a title should never exceed the number of copies available.

Questions/Things to Test

1. If patron cannot place a request on an “available” item because it has been requested by someone else and the patron is prompted to submit a BD/ILL request, will that request be accepted by those systems? (BD/ILL are currently configured to not accept requests for “available” items.

2. Requests are currently placed at title level, so how does this work with titles/bibs that have multiple items?

   1. How does Alma prioritize copies to request when multiple libraries have the same item?

   2. How does Alma prioritize copies to request when the same library has multiple copies? A: Alma doesn’t, any copy can fulfill the request.

3. How does Alma deal with the order of the requests if one of the books gets marked missing?

   1. 2 copies and 2 requests; request 1 goes to WID, request 2 goes to HKS. WID copy goes missing, who gets the item?

      1. Scenario 1: WID copy goes missing before HKS copy pulled for 2nd patron

      2. Scenario 2: WID copy goes missing after HKS copy pulled for 2nd patron

4. Confirm: number of requests limited to number copies available.

5. Should patrons get notified of their priority level?

   1. Not sure if this is possible, but definitely something to explore if what we are testing now isn’t viable and request queues remain.

   2. I think if this works the way we are hoping, there won’t be queues any more.

6. Can patron requests be placed at the item level?

   1. It is unlikely Harvard Library will ever choose this configuration. It’s the problem folx have with requesting at the item level for reserve work orders. If the copy requested isn’t found, the request isn’t routed to a different copy that is available. Imagine this at scale of patron requests and how much of a pain it’s been for just reserves.

      1. It looks like requests can be placed at the item level in Alma, so only staff can do it. This might fall outside of the scope of what we’re doing, but it may be worth keeping in mind if we do any configurations. If the number of requests for a title can’t exceed the number of copies available, what does this look like on the Alma side if we try to initiate an item-level request?

      2. I stumbled upon a record that allows users to place requests at the item level: 990073755090203941. I’m not sure what makes it different than other records (990138190990203941, for example), but it may be worth investigating why no title-level request option is available in this case.

7. Can patrons see in their Hollis account a list of requests that were not completed so if they ever want to submit a request again, they can submit it another time? 

8. What happens if a patron cancels their request while in transit? (if we do achieve this enhancement, I guess they wouldn’t be able to?) 

Steps for Testing

1. Configure Alma to have no lingering queues: reroute patrons to a different location\holding or BD\ILL. If there is no available item delete the request.  

2. Notify patrons when their request could not be completed and why 

3. Test what happens when a request is in transit at Harvard but available at BD\ILL 

4. Test what happens when 2 requests are occurring and 1 goes missing