Holds and Holds Priority
As many of you have noticed, the Holds functionality of Koha is a bit off, as we can see by looking at any Stephanie Meyer title.
In trying to diagnose this problem, we discovered that there is a Known Bug (2830 ‘Hold not removed when ‘trapped’ item on hold shelf is checked out to a different patron in the holds queue’). This bug partially describes what appears to be happening in our catalog. If you want to read about the bug, the text of the discussion is below. But here are the things you need to know:
Until this bug is fixed we recommend that libraries REFRAIN from changing the hold priority of an item.
But, if you DO check out an item on hold for Patron A to Patron B, go in and remove the hold for Patron B. Koha will not remove the hold automatically.
Also know that when you check out an item on hold for Patron A to Patron B, Patron A will NOT get the next available copy, but will be assigned a ‘copy specific’ hold. This may result in a delay in receiving the material they want. See bug description below.
We feel that another problem that libraries may be encountering is related to the Holds to Pull/Holds Pick List – This list is regenerated about every hour. If a library prints the list, but doesn’t get around to pulling and checking in (trapping) the holds before the next list is generated and the hold request is randomly assigned to a different library – TWO libraries can accidently pull TWO different items to fill ONE patron hold. Please run the Pull/Holds Pick List, and immediately pull the items off the shelf AND process them.
Another thought is that perhaps we should change the List Generation Interval from 1 hour to 3 hours?
Please keep us informed of any problems you are noticing with holds. Thanks for your cooperation!
Personally I like that the Hold List regenerates every hour.
Questions: When the list regenerates, does the ignored request[s] show up again or is the list completely new?
It’s hard for us to test that here at NEKLS, but could we get a couple of libraries to print off the list at 8:30 a.m., then again at 9:30 and 10:30 and compare them?
Two issues: The list currently runs at 52 minutes past the hour, so at 8:52, 9:52, 10:52, etc.
The Hold list is generated randomly, so an item could appear on your list multiple times. If you are the only library that owns the item, it will also stay on your list until you fill it or mark the item missing.