Working with Patron Reading Room Requests

Remote Requests

• Requests submitted by users not in the reading room will be in the Awaiting Request Processing, Awaiting HD Processing, or Problem Request queues
  • Requests with "HD" or "offsite" in the Sublocation or Paging Note field will be automatically routed to the Awaiting HD Processing queue.
  • Applicable only to Houghton and the Map Collection, requests will be routed to the Problem Request queue if the HOLLIS ID or Call Number in the new request matches the HOLLIS ID or Call Number of an existing outstanding request, for example for an item in use in class or on hold for another patron.
  • If a request is submitted with a scheduled date more than 7 days in the future, the request will be in the Awaiting Future Request Processing queue.
• If materials requested do not need to be retrieved immediately (depending on when the patron has indicated they need the materials), you can route them to Awaiting Request Processing - Reviewed or Awaiting HD Ordering - Reviewed after confirming that they are complete.

Onsite Requests

• Requests submitted by users who are currently in the reading room will be in the Awaiting Immediate Processing or Immediate Problem Request queues.
  • There is no Immediate HD Processing queue. HD and non-HD requests all go to Awaiting Immediate Processing.
  • Applicable only to Houghton and the Map Collection, requests will be routed to the Immediate Problem Request queue if the HOLLIS ID or Call Number in the new request matches the HOLLIS ID or Call Number of an existing outstanding request, for example for an item in use in class or on hold for another patron.
• If materials requested do not need to be retrieved immediately or need to be ordered from HD, you can route them to Awaiting Request Processing - Reviewed or Awaiting HD Ordering - Reviewed after confirming that they are complete.

Paging Materials

• Retrieving Materials in Advance
  • If you are preparing for patron visits in advance, check the Awaiting Request Processing and Awaiting Request Processing - Reviewed queues for items scheduled for that day or the next business day.
  • From the queue grid, use Shift + click or Ctrl + click to select all the requests to retrieve.
  • Click the Print Callslip button to print the callslips for all the selected requests. Printing the callslip will automatically change the status of the requests to In Item Retrieval.
• Retrieving Materials on Demand 
  • If you are retrieving materials for a patron who has come to the reading room, open her user record and navigate to the Requests tab. Use Shift + click or Ctrl + click to select all the requests to retrieve. Click the Print Callslip button to print the callslips for all the selected requests. Printing the callslip will automatically change the status of the requests to In Item Retrieval.
  • For a request submitted while the patron is signed into the reading room, open the request from the Awaiting Immediate Request Processing queue. Review the request and confirm that all the information needed to retrieve the materials is present. Click the Print Callslip button to print the callslip. Printing the callslip will automatically change the status of the request to In Item Retrieval.
• Ordering Materials from HD
  • See Preparing a Harvard Depository Retrieval Request for more information.

Placing Materials On Hold

• If you retrieve materials in advance of a patron's arrival, you will need to place them on hold. On the Aeon dashboard, click on the Process button and select either the Place On Hold or Place on Hold in Stacks batch process depending on the hold location where the materials will be stored. 

In the Transaction Number field on the Batch Process tab, scan the transaction number from the callslip. There are other ways to place items on hold, but the batch process is the most efficient and accurate and should be used whenever possible.

Checking Materials Out

• When patrons use materials in the reading room, it is very important to make sure those materials get checked out. On the Aeon dashboard, click on the Process button and select Check Out batch process.

In the Transaction Number field on the Batch Process tab, scan the transaction number from the callslip. There are other ways to check items out, but the batch process is the most efficient and accurate and should be used whenever possible.