Manage Holds (Sierra)

Owned by Tammy Poquette, created
Last updated: Apr 26, 2023
9 min read

Manage Holds allows the library to manage outstanding holds information in real-time and revises the limits available to include limits for item location, hold status, and "special limits." The "Holds placed before" limit is updated to "Holds placed between" two dates. Furthermore, staff can now transfer,cancel, or otherwise manipulate holds in the outstanding holds list. If you run the report without checking the boxes, you will get all the statuses. 

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Manage Outstanding Holds

Using the Manage Holds function, you can generate a list of outstanding holds in your system (the Outstanding Holds Report). You can limit the list by a number of criteria to focus on specific holds. For example, you can get a daily count of the number of books on the holdshelf or find holds that need special attention (such as holds for titles with no active items or orders). After reviewing the holds, you can cancel or modify holds directly from the Outstanding Holds Report.

Go to the Manage Holds in Sierra.

Search Limits

Select the search limits for the holds you want to view.

  • Select the dates using the Holds placed between boxes. By default, Sierra shows the date of the oldest hold and today's date.

  • (Optional) To limit by pickup date, enter dates in the Pickup date between boxes. By default, these fields are blank. You can enter a date in one or both boxes.

  • Sierra limits the search as follows:
    If you enter a date in the left-hand box only, Sierra limits holds to those with a pickup date that is the same as or after the date you entered.
    If you enter a date in the right-hand box only, Sierra limits holds to those with a pickup date that is the same as or before the date you entered.
    If you enter dates in both boxes, Sierra limits holds to those with a pickup date in the range, including the start and end dates.

  • Select the Hold Status to include. By default, Sierra includes all statuses. To exclude a status, clear the box next to the status.

  • Select a Special Limits to apply. Options include:

  • None - No special limits are applied (the default option).

  • Eligible for Paging - Limits the results to bibliographic- or volume-level holds that are eligible for paging. A hold is considered eligible for paging if the parent record (that is, the bibliographic or volume record) has an attached item record with a status of "-" (AVAILABLE) and is not checked out.

  • No active items or orders - Limits the results to bibliographic-level holds that have no active item or order records attached. An order record is considered active if it has a status of "o" (ON ORDER), "a" (FULLY PAID), or "q" (PARTIALLY PAID) and has an order date. An item record is considered active if it has a status of "-" (AVAILABLE), "!" (ON HOLDSHELF), or "t" (IN TRANSIT).

  • Orders but no items - Limits the results to bibliographic-level holds where the bibliographic record has at least one active order record attached, but no active item records (either because there are no item records attached or those that are attached are not active). An order record is considered active if it has a status of "o" (ON ORDER), "a" (FULLY PAID), or "q" (PARTIALLY PAID) and has an order date. An item record is considered active if it has a status of "-" (AVAILABLE), "!" (ON HOLDSHELF), or "t" (IN TRANSIT).

  • In the Pickup Location pane, select the pickup location(s) for which you want to view outstanding holds. Options include:

  • Locations Served - The location associated with your login in the Locations Served table. For example, "Main".

  • The Pickup Location and Item Location should default to your library.  

  • All - All locations

  • Select Location - A drop-down menu to select a specific location.

  • In the Item Location pane, select the item location(s) for outstanding holds you want to view. Options include:

  • Locations Served - The location associated with your login in the Locations Served table. For example, "Main".

  • The Pickup Location and Item Location will default to your library.

  • All - All locations.

  • Select Location - A drop-down menu to select a specific location.

  • Click View Outstanding Holds button.

  • Sierra displays a progress bar showing the number of holds in the report.

When finished, the Outstanding Holds Report appears on the Results tab.

  • (Optional) Change how the data appears in the report by doing one or both of the following:
    To sort the table, click the column header. By default, the system sorts the table by hold status, then by title.

  • To change the data that appears in a column, right-click on any column header that displays the toggle symbol.

Right-click on any location code with the Hold Status of item hold. Depending on your permissions you can either view or edit the patron, item or bib information.  

Right-click on the location code with the Hold Status of Bib hold. Depending on your permissions you can either view or edit the patron, item or bib information. 

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Modifying & Canceling a Hold

In order to be able to edit a patron record, edit an item record, or edit a bibliographic record the person using this report must have those permissions. Otherwise, the person will only be able to view the records and not edit them.

You can sort the holds by clicking on the Hold Status box. Find the hold you would like to modify. Depending on the hold status, you might be able to Edit Patron, or Edit Item, or Edit Bib. Right-click on any of the fields to open up the edit box with these fields.  In this example, we are going to Edit Bib.

This will open the bibliographic record. You will need to click on the Bib-Level Holds to either Cancel or Modify Holds, if available. If you click on the check box under All, you can see what buttons will be available. In this example, we can use that Cancel Holds and Modify Holds are available to make changes.

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Transferring a Hold

Transferring an item level hold to a bibliographic/title level hold can be used when a hold has been fulfilled for an item, but the item cannot be sent through the courier due to damage, or the item is too new to send. You would be transferring an item-level hold to a bib-level hold.

You would be looking for an Item hold that is not on the holdshelf. You can also look for bibliographic records that also have item-level holds for this process as well. Click on Edit Item.

This will bring up the bibliographic record. You would need to click on the Item-Level Hold tab. Click on the checkbox under All to make the buttons active. Click on the Transfer Hold button. Here is the Transferring an Item Level Hold to a Bib Level Hold documentation.

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Exporting and Printing  

You can either Export or Print the report.

Exporting the Report

You can export the report as a .csv file. The exported file includes only the data that currently appears on the screen. For example, if you selected the toggle button to display the barcode column (instead of the call number column), only the barcode column is exported. If you have sorted the table, the list is exported the way you have sorted it.

To export a report:

  1. Click Export.

  2. Enter a filename (without an extension).

  3. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the file.

  4. Click Export again.

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Printing the Report

To print the report, click Print on the toolbar. The printout includes all columns, both those visible on the screen and those accessible via toggle. If you have sorted the table, the list prints the way you have sorted it.

Note: If you do not see either the local printer or email option when clicking on the print button, you may have to change your Sierra select printer settings. Please see the Printer Setup in Sierra for instructions on how to set up or change your Sierra printing options.

You will likely want to run both Manage Holds and Clear Expired Holds and Holdshelf. If you still have outstanding holds on those lists, after running both, you have the option to check and make sure that the patron still wants the hold by contacting them directly. If the patron does want the item, you can cancel the hold and replace it on the same or a different bib (depending on if there are items that can be held for that patron). Contact Marmot if you have any questions.

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Batch Updating Hold Pickup Dates

When searching for holds that you want to batch update, you want to update the Holds placed between and Pickup date between information. If you leave those fields empty, you will get all your holds that match the boxes checked for Hold Status. Also, under the Hold Status click on the box for On Holdshelf. Click on the View Outstanding Holds button.

To batch update hold pickup dates:

  • Ensure the Pickup Date column appears in the Outstanding Holds Report. If the Date Placed column appears instead, right-click on the column header to toggle the display.

        

  • Select the boxes in the left-hand column for the holds you want to update. You can click the All header to select all holds in the table.

Click Update. The Change Pickup Dates dialog appears. It will display the number of items that will have their pickup date changed. Enter the New Pickup Date. Click the OK button.

The Update button is available only if all of the following conditions are met

  • To batch update holds, you must have the permission to Batch update holds. Contact Marmot if you need this permission.

  • All holds you have selected are eligible for updating. Only holds that are ready for pickup (that is, have an item status of "!" (ON HOLDSHELF)) can be updated.

  • The Pickup Date column appears in the report instead of the Date Placed column.

  • Enter a date in the New Pickup Date box. The date you enter must be in the future; you cannot enter a past date or today's date.

  • Click OK. Sierra displays the Change Pickup Dates Results dialog, which shows how many of the holds were updated (for example, "1 of 2 selected holds were updated").

Holds are not updated under the following conditions

  • The hold in the report no longer exists (for example, because it was canceled after you generated the report).

  • The hold in the report no longer has a holdshelf status (for example, if the patron picked up the hold and checked out the item).

  • The PickUp By date is after the new pickup date.

  • The hold Not Needed After date is before the new pickup date (that is, it would expire before the new pickup date).

  • The hold's pickup location has changed since the report was generated.

Note: if you want to change the column from Pickup Date back to Date Placed, just click on the Refresh icon. Clicking on the Close icon before or after you refresh will take you out of the search. When you get back in, the column will be changed back to Date Placed as well.

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