[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Patrons can't place holds on Parts

[Dan Wells]

Michele, thanks for bringing this up.  There are two related but functionality distinct options for blocking holds on available items, and they each work at different levels.

ctx.holds_block.enabled is a setting in the TPAC config.tt2 file.  If this is true, the “Place Hold” link is hidden whenever there are available copies.  This is the option which is not yet (I don’t think) parts aware, and it may be difficult to work out a good way to do it seamlessly.

There is also, as Michele points out, an org unit level setting called “Has Local Copy Block”.  This does not control when the “Place Hold” link appears (it will always be visible in this scenario), but it does block the actual request if a local copy is available.  If one can educate users that the appearance of the “Place Hold” link does not indicate that a hold can actually be placed, then this is a workable alternative.

Dan


Daniel Wells
Library Programmer/Analyst
Hekman Library, Calvin College
616.526.7133

From: Open-ils-general [mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] On Behalf Of Morgan, Michele
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2016 3:00 PM
To: Evergreen Discussion Group <open-ils-general at list.georgialibraries.org>
Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Patrons can't place holds on Parts

Hi,

Placing part holds on checked out items is working fine on our 2.9 system. The Place Hold button is visible and we are able to place a part level hold on a checked out item without a problem. The library in question has the setting "Has Local Copy Block" set to True.

If we attempt a part level hold where the copy is available, the hold fails with this message:
Hold was not successfully placed
There is already a copy available at your local library.

If we attempt a part level hold where the copy is checked out, the hold is placed successfully.
Could something else be causing the Place Hold link on the record not to show?

Hope this is helpful,
Michele
--
Michele M. Morgan, Technical Assistant
North of Boston Library Exchange, Danvers Massachusetts
mmorgan at noblenet.org<mailto:mmorgan at noblenet.org>


On Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 9:27 AM, Dan Wells <dbw2 at calvin.edu<mailto:dbw2 at calvin.edu>> wrote:
Hello Rosie,

I think you are right in that this scenario (block holds when available, allow holds for unavailable parts) is not supported by the current code.  Unfortunately, I think getting it supported also won’t be especially simple, especially from the UI side.

It’s simple to check if every copy is out, but in this case we’d need to know if any particular part is totally out, so that’s the first hurdle.  Maybe some of those pieces are in place, I didn’t check.  After that, you would then need to decide how to present the place hold links / screen.  How do you make it clear (along with the underlying reasons) that the patron can only place a hold on a certain part?  It seems inherently confusing for a holds screen to be partially offered, so we’d need to be careful there.

I do think this is missing functionality we should ultimately support, so please just take this as some thoughts about what you might be up against.  Please open up a bug (if there isn’t one), and if you do tackle this, please share back what you did to get it where you needed it to be.

Sincerely,
Dan


Daniel Wells
Library Programmer/Analyst
Hekman Library, Calvin College
616.526.7133<tel:616.526.7133>

From: Open-ils-general [mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org<mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org>] On Behalf Of Rosemary Le Faive
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2016 12:45 PM
To: open-ils-general at list.georgialibraries.org<mailto:open-ils-general at list.georgialibraries.org>
Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Patrons can't place holds on Parts

Hi,

We're trying to implement Monograph Parts so that patrons can place holds on specific volumes that are out.  But the "Place hold" link isn't showing up! I'm wondering if I'm missing something in the configuration, or if I need to customize the template.

The case in question: of four volumes/parts in a record, two are available and two are checked out. All are in a holdable location.

If I set ctx.holds_block.enabled = 'false' then the Place Hold link shows up, and holds can be placed on the checked-out parts. But then the Place Hold link shows up even where it shouldn't (since we don't allow holds on available copies!)

I'm afraid i have to hack the template here [1].

Has anyone else faced this issue?

Thanks!

-Rosie

[1] https://github.com/evergreen-library-system/Evergreen/blob/master/Open-ILS/src/templates/opac/parts/record/summary.tt2#L45-L48


--

Rosemary Le Faive
Digital Infrastructure and Discovery Librarian
Robertson Library
University of Prince Edward Island
550 University Ave, Charlottetown PE C1A 4P3
Canada
tel: 902-566-0533<tel:902-566-0533> | fax: 902-628-4305<tel:902-628-4305> | email: rlefaive at upei.ca<mailto:rlefaive at upei.ca>


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