Materials Request

Owned by Ashley Sneesby, created
Last updated: Jun 30, 2023
10 min read

Configuration options for the Materials Request section of the Library System.

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Materials Request Configuration

Go to Pika Configuration and Library Systems from the left sidebar.  

Click the Library Id number or the Edit link to gain access to the Library Systems page.

Click on the Materials Request tab. 

Enable Materials Request

Enable Pika Materials Request System allows patrons to suggest purchasing an item that they cannot find in your catalog.  When the patron cannot find a book, there will be a link at the bottom of the page to Suggest a purchase.   After a request is submitted, your library can decide to purchase it or get it from another library.  Contact Marmot, if you’re interested in setting this up.  It is completely customizable by the library, and does require some initial setup to work properly.

 

 

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Materials Request Form

Once the patron clicks on the Suggest a purchase link. This will bring up the Materials Request form.

Here is an example of the form used for the Materials Request.  The patron would have several sections that will need to be filled out after logging in.  Some information will automatically be populated if the patron accesses the materials request system from search results. 

These options help to inform actions that library staff needs to take during the request process. If patrons would like a hold placed, staff will need to place the hold for them after the title is added to the catalog.  The borrow from another library if not purchased can be used to indicate whether or not the patron wants to use the ILL system or not.  

There is an optional Supplemental Details section that gathers more information.

The Contact info will be automatically populated based on the information stored in the patron’s account.

External Materials Request URL

External Materials Request URL can be used if you want to provide a link to a materials request system on your website or on another site.  To use this functionality, enter the URL you want users to be directed to.

If you use this option, you do not need to complete any of the other configuration options below and your users won’t receive the Materials Request Form.

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Max Requests Options

Max Requests Per Year & Max Open Requests allows you to control how many requests a patron can place, so they do not misuse the system.  

 

 

Here is an example of the Max Requests Per Year, and Max Open Requests that is displayed to the patron at the top of their My Materials Requests page.  This message is displayed when a new request has been successfully submitted.

The Max Requests Per Year threshold is a rolling number. In addition, you can control the Max Open Requests. This is per patron. The general idea is to limit the number of requests, so not to overload the people who make the purchasing decisions. These numbers are controlled by your library.

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New Request Summary

The New Request Summary allows you to customize a message for your patrons.  Type the message you would like your patrons to see when they submit a new materials request. If you leave this area blank or empty, your patrons will get a system default message.

When your patron clicks on the Submit a New Materials Request button, they will see your message.

The message will show under the title Materials Request on the request form.

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Delete Closed Request

The Delete Closed Request Older than (days) allows you to set any value.  If the value is set to zero, no requests will be deleted.   It is recommended using 395 days.  That is a year plus a month to give the person(s) in charge of Materials Request a month to extract statistics for the year.  You can type in the number, or use the arrows. Will default to 0 for existing systems. The Delete Closed Requests Older than (days) will only remove the requests that have a status of Completed, which is set with the Update Selected Requests button.

If the value is set between 1 and 366, 366 days will be preserved. This is needed to keep requests for a year in order to enforce the yearly request limits (Max Requests Per Year).

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Fields to display on Manage Materials Request Table

The Fields to display on Manage Materials Request Table is used to determine which data is displayed in the main table on the Manage Materials Requests page that library staff use to manage materials requests. 

Click Add New to create the filter fields.

Once the Add New button has been used, you will see a drop down menu for the Name of Column to Display.  Pick the filter you would like to use.  Make sure to add the Display Label to match that filter. 

Here is an example of the Fields to display on Manage Materials Request Table with a filter limit of “title” and “assigned to.”

This is what the Manage Requests table will look like when the filters are applied.

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Formats of Materials that can be Requested

The Formats of Materials that can be Requested controls the format of materials that can be requested.  If you have nothing selected, you will get the current default formats.

It is recommended that you click on the Set Materials Request Formats To Default button located at the top of the page to add the default formats.

The 1st column is the Format that is an internal value that will only show here, but it is stored in the database.  The 2nd column is the Format Label that is displayed on the request and detail forms.  The 3rd column is the Author Label that is used to show or change the author of the material (this could also be used for Actor/Director, Artist/Composer, Game Producer, etc.). The 4th column is the Special Fields for Format that gives special functionality to certain formats (i.e. the DVD format could have the special format of Season).  

The Special Fields for Formats has limiters that are used when a patron selects a format that has a special field.  Additional form fields will be displayed on the request form for the patron.  The additional fields are displayed directly below the format field.  In addition, multiple special fields can be added to a format.

Here is an example of the E-audio and E-book formats that help to identify supformats in the request form.


Here is an example of the Format Label, Special Fields for Format and Author Label that will be shown in the request form. These fields change depending on the format that is chosen by the patron.

To remove a Format of Materials that can be Requested, you simply click on the red circle located under the Action column.  This removes or deletes the format.  However, a format cannot be deleted if an existing material request has that format chosen.

To add a Format of Materials that can be Requested, click the Add New button.

This will bring up a blank entry where you can add any other formats.

You can Sort the order of the formats by dragging and dropping the formats using the double arrow associated with each one. The order you set here is the order the formats will be listed in the dropdown menu on the request form.

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Materials Request Form Fields

The Materials Request Form Fields controls the structure of the information on the Materials Request form, the Details, and Update Requests form.

It is recommended that you click on the Set Materials Request Form Structure To Default button located at the top of the page. This will list all the fields for the structure.  You can modify and configure the form structures.

The 1st column is the Form Category and each field will be collected under this category. These show up as the section headers for the forms.  The 2nd column is the Field Label is shown under the Form Categories.  The 3rd column is the Field Type is the input values that are stored. Note: The Form Category order comes before the Field Label.  For example, if you added more form labels under Material Information, it will come before anything in the Title Information.  It depends on the Sort order of the Form Categories.

Here are examples of the Form Category and Field Label when the Details and Update Request button are clicked.

Here is an example from Details.

Here is an example of Update Materials.

To remove a Material Request Form Fields, you simply click on the red circle located under the Action column.  This removes or deletes the form field.  

To add a Material Request Form Fields, click the Add New button.

This will bring up a blank entry where you can add more categories.  There is a drop-down menu for the Field Type.

You can Sort the order of the categories by dragging and dropping the formats using the double arrow associated with each one. Just a reminder that the Form Category order comes before the Field Label Order.  For example, if you added more form labels under the Material Information category, it will come before anything in the Title Information category.  It depends on the Sort order of the Form Categories.

One more option to mention for the Material Request Form Fields is the Hold Options.  The default form structure has the Hold Options: Place Hold when Available, Hold Pick-up Location and Inter-Library Loan item.  However, you can add the option for a Bookmobile Stop.

The Hold Option of Bookmobile Stop will show when the patron is filling out the Material Request Form. When Bookmobile Stop is added to the form, an additional option will be shown in the Pick-up Location drop-down for the Bookmobile Stop. When a patron selects a bookmobile stop for the pick-up location, the Bookmobile Stop field will be displayed for the patron to fill out their address.

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