[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Item "Recall" function?

[Dan Scott]

On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 12:10 PM, Lindsay Stratton
<lstratton at pls-net.org> wrote:
> I am trying to figure out a way to get an item that is in circulation and
> has a holds queue back to its owning library posthaste, without unduly
> disrupting the holds queue.
>
> I'm thinking this is similar to a "recall" function, usually associated with
> academic libraries wanting things back for loans to profs, reserves, or
> whatever. I'm also thinking EG has this basic sort of functionality? If so,
> I really want to know if it exists in v.1.6, its general behaviors,
> where/how it is configured, etc.

There is recall functionality, but it doesn't exist until Evergreen
2.1. It's called "hold-driven recalls"; essentially, you set a loan
period threshold (such as 60 days) so that if a hold is placed on an
item with a loan period beyond that threshold, the system will
automatically shorten the loan period to a specified value; change the
fine rules; and send email notification to the person who currently
holds the item saying "A hold has been placed on this item, get it
back before <new_due_date>".

The idea is to enable academic libraries to have extremely long loan
periods (6 months in our case) while enabling access to sought-after
materials with a minimum of staff intervention and without requiring
users to request a recall (either in person or through some automated
process, as either way people seem to be a bit uncomfortable with the
idea of asking for an item to be pulled from somebody else's hands).

Otherwise, prior to 2.1, there is no recall functionality in
Evergreen; we've been doing everything manually.