Define the location hierarchy

The location hierarchy defines how the locations of items appear to patrons in search results, the drawer, and the Resource page. The location hierarchy also affects patrons' ability to filter search results by location.

You must define at least the first two location hierarchy levels. You can define up to five levels. The hierarchy levels must be sequential—you cannot skip levels.

The first time you open the Location hierarchy page, the system runs a wizard to help you define the location levels. You can make changes later if necessary.

The wizard guides you to perform the following steps:

  1. Define the location hierarchy labels.
  2. Specify the top-level hierarchy label.

    3. You can specify more than one label as a top-level location. Most libraries choose one top-level location.

  3. Save your work and close the wizard.

Polaris libraries

After you close the wizard, you manually assign one top-level location as a level 1 location on the Unassigned tab. Vega copies the rest of your Polaris location hierarchy into Vega Discover, and automatically assigns parent and child locations. You can review the locations on the Assigned tab.

To add, delete, or change the location hierarchy, make the changes in Polaris, and then synchronize the ILS codes to update Vega Discover.

  1. In the upper-right corner, select Settings Settings icon..

  2. From the Settings menu, select Library defaults > Location hierarchy.

    3. The Location hierarchy page opens.

  3. On the Hierarchy tab, in the Define hierarchy levels section, enter the hierarchy labels. You must define at least the first two levels.

    4. For example, you could use the following hierarchy:

    Level 1: Consortium

    Level 2: Library

    Level 3: Branch

    Level 4: Floor

    Level 5: Shelf

  4. In the Show as item location section, select the level that you want to appear as the location of library items.

    5. This setting controls what patrons see and how collections are grouped.

  5. Select the Unassigned tab.

  6. Under Search locations, select the location that you want to assign to level 1.

    7. Vega copies the remaining locations to the hierarchy levels as defined in Polaris.

Sierra libraries

After you close the wizard, you manually assign child locations to parent locations. The procedures in this section describe how to manually define location hierarchy levels and assign child locations to parent locations. If you want to edit the assignments, you can unassign and reassign the locations.

If you add or remove locations from your Sierra system, synchronize your locations.

  1. In the upper-right corner, select Settings Settings icon..
  2. From the Settings menu, select Library defaults > Location hierarchy.

    3. The Location hierarchy page appears.

  3. On the Hierarchy tab, in the Define hierarchy levels section, enter the hierarchy labels. You must define at least the first two levels.

    4. For example, you could use the following hierarchy:

    Level 1: Consortium

    Level 2: Library

    Level 3: Branch

    Level 4: Floor

    Level 5: Shelf

  4. In the Show as item location section, select the level that you want to appear as the location of library items.

    5. This setting controls what patrons see and how collections are grouped.

    Most libraries should want to display item locations at the branch level because, for each title, a library is likely to have copies in a particular location in each branch, but may also have a reference copy or additional copy on more than one shelf if paperbacks, large print, hardcovers and reference copies are in separate locations in the library. If patrons choose a branch location, they should see all shelf locations and call numbers in the drawer. However, if a library chooses to display shelf locations, the resulting locations could display something like: Reference, Fiction, Large Print. This means a patron would have to select each one to check availability and call numbers.

    Tips:

    • If your library has one building, select the shelf or collection level.
    • If your library has multiple branch buildings, select the branch level.
    • If the shelf level location descriptions include the branch name and you want the additional detail of the shelf level, select the shelf level.
  1. On the Unassigned tab, select the location that you want to set as the top level and select Set location as <name of level 1 location> (Level 1).
  2. Select one or more locations to assign to a parent location.

    3. If you have many locations, you can search to find the locations you want.

  3. In the Choose parent section, select the location that you want to assign as the parent for the selected locations.
  4. Select Save changes.
  5. If you want to view the hierarchy structure, select the Assigned tab.
  1. On the Assigned tab, select the locations that you want to unassign.

    2. If you select a parent location, its child locations are also selected.

  2. Select Unassign.
  3. If you want to reassign the locations, go to the Unassigned tab and assign the locations to a different parent location.

  • On the Unassigned tab, select Refresh List Refresh List icon. to synchronize your locations.

    New locations appear on the Unassigned tab. Locations that have been removed disappear from the Assigned tab. Child locations that are not removed are unassigned. They appear on the Unassigned tab for reassignment.