Moving Items and Holdings - Items & Holdings Module

Owned by Jennifer Koerber (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jun 26, 2019
6 min read

This is the third section of the items & holdings module of the Alma Overviews course. The video is at the top of the page, followed by the script.

In this video, you'll review:


In this video, we're going to look at the ways you can move items from one holdings record to another, and holdings from one bib record to another. We'll start with moving holdings records to a different bib.

Moving Holdings

Important Notes

When you're moving holdings records, there are several pieces of information to keep in mind:

  • Moving a holdings record does not change the bib record at all.

  • When moving a holdings record, any items attached to the holding will also move.
  • If there is an active request on any item on the holdings record, you will not be able to relink the holdings. You'll first need to handle the requests or move all the items.
  • When you're moving a holdings record, the steps you follow depend on whether that title had a one time or continuous order. In Alma, one-time orders are connected to materials at the title level, but continuous orders are attached at the holdings level. When you move a holdings record for a continuous order, it may break the link between the order and the items, which causes problems with predicted items and other processes. You can move holdings records for continuous orders, but make sure you understand the effects of that move before you do it.

  • Similarly, it helps to know if the holdings you're moving is the last holdings on a bib record.

    • If it is, best practice is to use the Merge Records and Combine Inventory process. See the Working with Bib Records segment of the Cataloging module for more on that.

    • If the holdings record is not the last one on the bib, use either of the methods below.

First, let's look at Continuous titles.

Relinking a POL to a Different Bibliographic Record - Continuous Orders

If you are working with a serial or other continuous order, it's safest to move the holdings and items by relinking the order to a different bib record. This will move the corresponding items and holdings to that new bib record. You might do this if your item matched an existing bib record better than the one imported for the order, or if the POL is linked to a bib record for a single volume that’s actually part of a multivolume work with a separate bib record.

To relink a POL:

  1. Start with a Titles search, like Physical Titles and The Economist
  2. Click on the number next to Orders
  3. Find the order and click on Relink. This will bring up a search for other bib records for that same title.
  4. Find the bib record you want to link the order to
  5. Click on that result in the list to relink
  6. Once you confirm the relinking, the order, holdings, and any items will all move to a new bib record together (I hit Cancel instead)

When you relink the bib record, the bib reference on the Description tab of the order record will also automatically update to the new information as well.


Next, let's look at moving holdings in the Metadata Editor.

Moving Holdings Records in the Metadata Editor - One Time Orders

If you want to move your library's holdings for a title - and any associated items - to a new bib record, you can do that in the Metadata Editor. Before you start, it's helpful to have information about the new bib record ready (like its OCLC number or its title) to speed up the second half of the process.

To move a holdings record:

  1. Search for the physical title or physical item for the holdings record you want to move
  2. Click on Holdings to open the List of Holdings
  3. Choose Relink from the row action item list
  4. The MD Editor opens with the holdings on the left and a search panel on the right. Use the search panel to locate the "target" bib, the new bib record you want to link the holdings and item to.
    1. If you have an OCLC number, use Any Field and Contains Phrase.
  5. The search results will have View and Relink options; choose Relink.
  6. With the holdings highlighted in the left pane, click on the View Bibliographic Record icon to display the bib to which the holdings is now linked
  7. Edit the holdings record if needed and then Save and Release


Now that we've seen how to move holdings records between bibs, let's look at how to move item records between holdings records. Let's start with moving an item to an existing holding on the same bib record.

Moving Items

Moving an Item to an Existing Holding on the Same Bib Record

Let's say you are sending half of a serial set from the stacks to HD. You'll need to move items from the Stacks holding to the HD holding. Best practice is to first edit the holdings records to reflect the transfer before moving the items. Once you've done that:

  1. First, use the physical items or physical titles search to find the items you're moving
  2. Click on Items to see the full List of Items for that title
    • If this is a very large record with a lot of items and multiple holdings, you could also click on Holdings first, find the holdings record you want to move things from, and click on View Items. To make it even shorter, click on Received Items. Now we're just working with items that have been received on one particular holdings.
  3. Select the item or items you want to move by ticking the checkboxes next to them in the list
  4. When you've selected all of them, click on Change Holdings
  5. Select the holdings record you want to move the items to and click Select

Once the items have been moved, you can review the results by going back to the holdings records, go to your destination holdings, and View items there.

If you have moved all items from a Stacks holding to an HD holding, you have the option of deleting the stacks holding from this same list. Tick the box of the row for that holdings record, click Delete Holdings, and click Confirm. Deleted unused holdings records cleans up the database and speeds up large batch updates.


Now let's look at moving an item to an existing holdings on a different bib record. I'll use The Economist again.

Moving an Item to an Existing Holding on a Different Bib Record

Let's say a journal was accidentally received on the English edition when in fact it's the Korean edition.

  1. Click on Items to see the List of Items
  2. Select the item you want to move using the checkbox, then click on Relink to another Bib
  3. Click on Select from a bib to search for the bib record you want to move the item to; again, it's helpful to have specific information like the OCLC number on hand.
  4. Select the bib record you want from the list to see the list of of holdings
  5. Use the checkbox to select the target holding and choose Select in the upper right corner
  6. You'll see a message that the item was successfully relinked

Moving an Item to a New Holding on a Different Bib Record

Finally, from this same spot, I can show you that if you needed to move an item to a new holdings record on a new bib record, you'd follow these exact same steps:

  1. Search for the Title
  2. Click on Items to see the List of Items
  3. Find the item you want to move
  4. Tick on the tickybox
  5. Click on Relink to another Bib
  6. Search for the bib record you want to move it to
  7. Instead of selecting an existing holdings, click on Add new holdings
  8. The MD Editor will open with a blank holdings record
  9. At minimum, you need to add the 852 information - open the form, choose the location and shelving location
  10. Continue adding any relevant holdings information
  11. When you're done, Save & Release the record
  12. Select the Back button in the upper right corner. This will take you back to your relinking page.
  13. Your new holding is now in the list of holdings, with the circle to select it already selected
  14. Click on Select.
  15. You'll see a message that the item record was successfully relinked to the new holding on the new bib


For either of these last two scenarios, if you move the last item off of a holdings record, Alma will ask you how you want to treat the holdings record: suppress or delete it. Best practice is to delete a holdings record with no items attached, per the Policy for Suppression and Deletion.

Using the Scan In Items Feature

There is one more option for moving items, but it does not give you as much control as the preceding two options.

  1. Go to Fulfillment >> Scan In Items
  2. Click on the Change Item Information tab
  3. Choose Permanent for the Change Type to change the location and move the item to a new holdings record
  4. Scan in the item barcode to complete the move

Do not use Scan In Items to move the last item on a holdings record to a new holdings record. If it was the only item on the old holding, Alma will automatically delete the old holding and create a new one, which will only have a couple of fields from the old holdings - all other fields are lost. Instead, use one of the relinking options to move the holdings with all fields intact.


Closing

This has been the Items and Holdings module of the Alma Overviews Online Course. For more information, read the Items and Holdings documentation on the Alma wiki, or any functional area training that deals with items and holdings.