Bulk Hold Requests from Polaris PowerPAC Title Lists

When you enable the bulk holds feature, patrons can select multiple titles from their working or saved title lists in Polaris PowerPAC and place hold requests on all the selected titles at once.

Note:
For more information about PAC title lists, see Setting Up PAC Title Lists. A Requested date indicator is also available to let patrons know which titles they have already requested in a title list or set of search results. See Configuring the PowerPAC Title Display.

The bulk holds feature is not available in these cases:

• Titles from remote databases listed in the title list cannot be requested through bulk holds.
• Integrated eContent titles cannot be cannot be requested through bulk holds.
• The bulk hold feature does not apply to Borrow by Mail requests.
• The bulk hold feature is not available in Mobile PAC.

For details, see:

• Placing Bulk Hold Requests in PowerPAC
• Bulk Holds Processing
• Enabling Bulk Holds

Placing Bulk Hold Requests in PowerPAC

In Polaris PowerPAC, the logged-in patron checks at least one title in a working or saved title list and clicks or taps Place Request.

• The Place Request button is disabled if the patron has not selected at least one title in the list. The button is also disabled for secured patrons. (The button is not displayed at all if PAC title-level holds and bulk holds have not been enabled in Polaris administration. See Enabling Bulk Holds.)
• You can edit the Place Request button label in Polaris WebAdmin. The string mnemonic is PACML_REQUESTS_1380. See Polaris WebAdmin online help.
• If the patron has selected more titles than allowed by the PowerPAC profile Title list: maximum number of titles to request in bulk, the system displays a message: "You can only place [n] holds at once. Uncheck one or more titles and try again." You can edit the message in Polaris WebAdmin; the string mnemonic is PACML_REQUESTS_MAXREQ

Place Requests Page

When the patron's selections meet the bulk hold limit and the patron clicks or taps Place Requests, the Place Requests page is displayed. The patron can set an activation date; the patron can also select a pickup library and enter a note if these features are enabled for patron-initiated requests. See Managing Hold Requests for more information about these settings. This page also displays a policy statement link if the PAC profile Patron access: Policy statement hypertext link permitted is set to Yes for the connection branch.

Note:
The activation date must be entered in the format displayed on the Place Requests page. It cannot be in the past, and cannot be more than two years from the current date. If there is a problem with the date entry, the system displays a message. The patron clicks or taps OK and re-enters the date.

You can edit the Place requests: title on this page in Polaris WebAdmin. The string mnemonic is PACML_REQUESTS_1380.

The Place Requests page displays a warning message if the system-level Request parameter Holds Options (Charges tab) is set to charge for holds. See Set Holds options: Charge for hold requests. The patron can click or tap OK to proceed or Cancel to exit. If your library system has set this option, you can edit the message in the Request parameter Holds Options, Charges tab.

The patron can click or tap Cancel on the Place Requests page to return to the title list, where any titles previously checked remain checked, or (if not blocked) the patron can select Continue to proceed with the bulk hold requests. A progress indicator and the message "Checking status and limits..." are displayed. The WebAdmin string mnemonic for the message is PACML_REQUESTS_1395.

If placing the hold requests would meet or exceed the maximum total number allowed for the patron as set in the Patron/Material Type policy table, and If the patron is blocked: Block in PAC is checked in the Holds Options parameter (Staff client & PAC tab), the system displays a page with a message: "Your requests cannot be placed because you have reached your limit of [n] requests. You may want to cancel some requests from your patron account, then try again." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for the message is ILL_BULK_BLOCKEDMAXNUMREQS. The patron can click or tap Back to return to the title list.

Confirm Bulk Requests Page

When the patron clicks or taps Continue on the Place Requests page, the Confirm Bulk Requests page appears.

The list displays the selected titles, and for each title, the material types of the items that can potentially satisfy the request. If the PAC profile Patron access: Display hold queue information is set to Yes for the patron's registered branch, the list includes an Active Requests column that displays how many other requests exist for the title. (This profile also affects the PAC patron account Requests page. See Controlling Patron Account Login and Access.) Titles with check boxes can be unchecked if the patron does not want them.

Titles without check boxes in the display cannot be requested at all, either because they are from remote databases, they are duplicates, they represent integrated eContent, the bibliographic record has been deleted but not yet removed by overnight processing, or due to item-related or patron-related conditions. A message specific to the error displays under the title of each request.

The Confirm Bulk Requests page displays appropriate messages if a request on a selected title or titles cannot be placed due to the following item-related conditions:

Note:
When no items can fill a request on a title and the checkbox is suppressed, the material type and active request information is also suppressed.

• The title has no linked items and If no items are attached: Block in PAC checked in the Holds Options parameter (Staff client & PAC tab). The system displays this message under the title: "No items are available to fill your request. Contact the library for assistance." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is ILL_TEXT_NOITEMSAVAILABLE.
• The title is linked to at least one item that is IN and Prevent on status: In is checked in the Holds Options parameter (Requests tab). The system displays this message under the title: "The request cannot be placed because a copy of this title is currently available at the library. You can obtain the item at the library." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is ILL_TEXT_ERR_COPYAVAILABLE.
• All items associated with the title are restricted from being held. The system displays this message under the title: "Requests are not permitted for this title. Contact the library for assistance." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is ILL_TEXT_REQNOTPERMITTED.

• There are no item records linked to the title, or all the linked item records fit one or more of these conditions:

  • Display in PAC is set to No (not checked) in the item record, or

  • The item circulation status is set to be suppressed from the PAC display in the PAC profile Suppress item display for the connection branch, or

  • The connection organization is the System, and the linked item is assigned to a branch that is set for suppression from PAC in the system-level PAC profile Suppress branches,
    
    AND

  • Suppress All records is selected for the Type of Material (TOM) in the PAC profile Suppress availability and requests for the connection branch, or
  • Suppress Records with an 856 is selected for the Type of Material (TOM) in the PAC profile Suppress availability and requests for the connection branch. Note that this selection applies only to records with the 856$u tag.

The system displays this message under the title: "Requests are not permitted for this title. Contact the library for assistance." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is ILL_TEXT_REQNOTPERMITTED.

• All items associated with the title have an excluded status. The system displays this message under the title: "This item is not available to fill your request. Contact the library for assistance." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is ILL_TEXT_ITEMNOTAVAILABLE.
• The title is from a remote database, or the bibliographic record has been deleted but the cached copy has not yet removed by overnight processing. The system displays this message under the title: "The library does not own this title. You cannot request this title from your title list. You can search for the title in a remote database and request it individually, or contact the library for assistance." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is PACML_REQUESTS_REMOTEDB.
• All items linked to the title are restricted, and at least one item's eContent check box is checked. The system displays this message under the title: "You cannot request this eContent title through bulk requests. Please contact your library for more information." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is ILL_BULK_NO_ECONTENT.
• The title is a journal and Allow requests on serials in PAC and Staff client is set in the Holds options parameter, Requests tab (Manage item requests). The system displays this message under the title: "Serial issues must be searched for and requested individually." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is ILL_BULK_SERIALSNOREQ.
• The title is a multi-part set and Allow requests on multi-part sets is set in PAC and Staff client is set in the Holds options parameter, Requests tab (Manage item requests).The system displays this message under the title: "Multi-volume sets must be searched for and requested individually." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is ILL_BULK_MULTIPARTNOREQ.
• The title appears in the list more than once, so the system does not allow the duplicate request. The system displays this message under the title: "This title is a duplicate of another title in this list." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for this message is PACML_REQUESTS_1396.

The Confirm Bulk Requests page also displays appropriate messages if a request on a selected title or titles cannot be placed due to patron-related conditions as specified in Polaris Administration. See Managing Hold Requests for more information about these settings. The following situations are examples:

• Placing a hold request on a title would result in a duplicate request. The system displays this message: "The request cannot be placed because a duplicate request has been found. Please check your account." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for the message is ILL_TEXT_DUPLICATEREQ.
• If placing these hold requests would exceed the maximum total number allowed for the patron as set in the Patron/Material Type policy table, and If the patron is blocked: Block in PAC is checked in the Holds Options parameter (Staff client & PAC tab) for the pickup branch, the system displays a message: "You currently have [n] total requests. You are allowed a maximum of [n]. Uncheck [n] and click Update." The WebAdmin string mnemonic for the message is ILL_BULK_ILL_BULK_EXCEEDMAXREQUESTS.
• Placing the hold requests would exceed the maximum number of holds for a particular material type for the patron as set in the Patron/Material Type policy table and If the patron is blocked: Block in PAC is checked in the Holds Options parameter (Staff client & PAC tab). The system displays this message: "You will exceed the maximum number of requests allowed for one or more material types:". The WebAdmin string mnemonic for the message is ILL_BULK_EXCEEDMATERIALLIMITS. Separate messages then detail the material types affected; for example:

  • "Book: maximum = 20; uncheck 4 of this type" (ILL_BULK_EXCEEDMATERIALLIMITS_UNCHECK)

  • "Audiobook: maximum = 5; limit reached, uncheck all of this type" (ILL_BULK_EXCEEDMATERIALLIMITS_UNCHECKALL)

Note:
For both maximum holds and maximum holds for material type, if the system-level Patron Services parameter Consortium circulation - Patron blocks is set to Transacting branch, the pickup branch's setting for Block in PAC determines whether the patron can place the hold requests. If Consortium circulation - Patron blocks is set to Patron branch, the patron's registration branch setting for Block in PAC determines whether the patron can place the hold requests.

The Confirm Bulk Requests page may also display warning messages for certain titles with checkboxes:

• An item attached to a selected title might fill the request, and the Patron Services parameter Check-out: Charge options for the item's assigned branch is checked for the logged-in patron's code. The default message text is "If your request is filled you may be charged to Borrow this item according to the policy of the owning library." You can edit the message in WebAdmin. The string mnemonic is ILL_BULK_CHARGECKOREQ.
• The title has no linked items, but If no items are attached: Block in PAC is not checked in the Holds Options parameter (Staff client & PAC tab). The default message text is "This title has no items. Your request may not be filled." You can edit the message in WebAdmin. The string mnemonic is ILL_TEXT_NOITEMSAVAILABLE_BULK .

The patron can uncheck selected titles if necessary, and click or tap Update. If no titles are selected and the patron clicks or taps Update, a message is displayed: "You must select one or more titles, or click Cancel to return to your title list" (WebAdmin string mnemonic PACML_REQUESTS_1394). When the list is satisfactory, and after the patron has clicked ortapped Update to save any changes, the patron clicks or taps Confirm. If the patron clicks or taps Cancel, the display returns to the page of the title list that was displayed when the patron navigated away from the page; any titles previously checked remain checked.

You can edit the text of page elements on the Confirm Bulk Requests page in Polaris WebAdmin. The string mnemonics are as follows:

LABEL	MNEMONIC
Confirm bulk requests	PACML_REQUESTS_1381
Click Update to make changes. Click Confirm to submit your hold requests.	PACML_REQUESTS_1382
Type	PACML_REQUESTS_1383
Active Requests	PACML_REQUESTS_1384
Title	PACML_REQUESTS_1385
Update	PACML_REQUESTS_1386
Confirm	PACML_REQUESTS_1387
Cancel	PACML_REQUEST_XSL_1652

Bulk Requests Results Page

When the patron clicks or taps Confirm, a "processing" spinner icon is briefly displayed with the message Creating requests . . .. You can edit the message in Polaris WebAdmin (string mnemonic PACML_REQUESTS_1393). When processing is complete, the system displays the Bulk Requests Results page with the message: Your requests were successfully placed!

The patron can select Return to your Title List, Go to your list of hold requests, or Log Out. The labels can be edited in Polaris WebAdmin. The string mnemonics for the page are as follows:

LABEL	MNEMONIC
Bulk requests results: [page title]	PACML_REQUESTS_1389
Return to your Title List	PACML_REQUESTS_1392
Go to your list of hold requests	PACML_REQUEST_GOTO_ACCOUNT
Log Out	PACML_BASICINFO_1195

Bulk Holds Processing

Bulk Holds processing uses two database tables: BulkHolds and BulkHoldsBibs. These tables are populated with data that is needed during bulk holds processing but are not required once the bulk holds process has completed. The Hold Request Cleanup Nightly SQL job includes a Bulk Holds Cleanup step. This step deletes all entries in the BulkHolds and BulkHoldsBibs tables that are over 120 minutes old. See Polaris SQL Jobs Reference.

Enabling Bulk Holds

To enable bulk hold requests:

1. Confirm that the setting Enable title-level hold requests from PowerPAC and Mobile PAC is checked for the connection branch (Request parameter Holds options, Requests tab). See Set Holds Options: Enable Hold Requests by Patrons and Define Restrictions.
2. Set the PowerPAC profile Title list: Enable bulk holds to Yes.

The profile is available at the system, library, and branch levels; the system uses the PAC connection branch setting. When this profile is set to Yes and title-level hold requests from PAC are enabled, the Place Request button is displayed in working and saved title lists.

3. (Optional) Set the number of titles that can be processed in one bulk hold request.

The default number is 10. Change the setting with the PowerPAC profile Title list: maximum number of titles to request in bulk. The range is 1-100. The profile is available at the system, library, and branch levels; the system uses the PAC connection branch setting.