Adding Item-level Holds to a Patron Record

To view the Holds tab, you must be assigned permission 94 (View patron record in check-out). To select the Hold Selected Items button, you must be assigned permission 45 (Holds management). For more information, see Permissions Used by Sierra.

To add holds to a patron's record:

  1. Retrieve the patron record.
  2. Select the Holds tab. Sierra displays the holds that are active for the current patron.
  3. Click Add Holds. The system opens a new search window.
MAX HOLDS

If the patron has exceeded the number specified in the MAX HOLDS field for their P TYPE, Sierra prompts you to override the MAX HOLDS block. If you successfully override this block, the system prompts you retrieve the desired item. If you do not override the MAX HOLDS block, the system returns you to the previous screen. For more information on the MAX HOLDS field, see the Patron Blocks table.

To override the MAX HOLDS block, you must be assigned permission 92 (Override hold blocks). If the patron is blocked from placing holds on items, you must be assigned permission 98 (Override patron blocks). For more information, see Permissions Used By Sierra.

  1. Retrieve the item record.
  2. On the Summary tab, select Holds from the View drop-down list.
  3. Select the item you want to place a hold on.

In Sierra 6.2 and later, you can select multiple items to place on hold by doing the following:

  • Press Ctrl, and click on each item.
  • Select a contiguous block of item records by clicking on the first item, holding the Shift key down, and using the up and down arrows to select the block.
  1. Click Hold Selected Items.
  2. If prompted, review any recall, holds for available items, and error messages. The sections below discuss each type of message.

If you are placing multiple item-level holds, the decisions you make for recalling items and placing holds for available items apply to all applicable items. For overridable error conditions, your decision whether to override the block affects all holds with the same type of block. If there are multiple conditions requiring an override, Sierra displays a message for each.

If there are checked-out items and they are eligible to recall, Sierra displays the Recall Item(s) dialog. The options include:

  • Place hold without recall
  • Recall item with due date of <date> (not available when placing multiple item-level holds)
  • Recall item(s) with NEW due date
  • Cancel

See Recalling an Item for more information on these options.

If an item you're placing on hold is not currently checked out, Sierra displays the Place Hold For Available Item(s) dialog. The options include:

  • Page for item(s)
  • Do NOT page
  • Place hold and change status to MISSING (appears for single item-level holds only when the item belongs to a library in your "Locations Served" list)

For more information on these options, see Placing a Hold on an Item that Is Not Checked Out.

Sierra provides the opportunity to override certain conditions that prevent a hold from being placed. Click Override to place the hold or Do Not Override to cancel the hold.

For more information on error messages, see Possible Messages (Placing an Item-level Hold).

If you are placing a single item-level hold, Sierra displays the error message. Click OK to return to the Summary tab.

If you are placing multiple item-level holds and at least one hold is still eligible, Sierra continues with the holds process without displaying the error message. Items with these types of errors appear in the Place Holds table in the next step and are marked with a result status of "Error".

For more information on error messages, see Possible Messages (Placing an Item-level Hold).

  1. In the Place an Item-level Hold dialog, enter the information for the item-level hold, and click OK.

If you are placing holds on multiple items, the same information is used for each hold.

Sierra does one of the following:

  • For a single item-level hold, Sierra attempts to place the hold. An error message appears if the system cannot place the hold.
  • For multiple item-level holds, Sierra processes the hold requests to see which holds are eligible to place and displays the results in the Place Holds table for your review. The system does not actually place the holds until the next step.
  1. (Multiple item-level holds only) From the Place Holds table, do one of the following:
    • To place the holds, click OK.
    • To cancel placing the holds, click Don't Place Holds.