Physical item availability on electronic resources
Learn to configure your WorldCat Discovery interface to display physical item availability on electronic resources.
If your library subscribes to Availability on demand, you can configure your WorldCat Discovery interface to display physical item availability on electronic resources.
Print availability on electronic items enables libraries to surface the availability information of the most recently held physical item on electronic records to help users make informed fulfillment decisions when viewing brief search results.
To configure this feature, please see OPAC Statuses, Locations and Circulation Policies.
Additional considerations:
- Availability on brief results must be enabled for monographs and serials if you wish to display print availability for electronic items on brief results.
- If using this feature, we recommend disabling availability on brief results for e-serials and all other electronic content to prevent duplicate availability lines from displaying.
- If you have configured item records or Local Holding Records for your library’s electronic resources, you should choose this new feature OR continue to use your current availability settings. If both options are enabled, libraries may see duplicate availability information on brief results.
Once configured, WorldCat Discovery will show the most recent locally-held physical edition of the electronic item.
- The interface will indicate whether the publication date of the most recent physical edition is newer or older than the default edition's publication date.
- When the publication date of the most recent physical edition is the same as the default edition or a date comparison cannot be determined, the physical availability will state the format of the most recent physical edition as well as the availability details.
- The text appears as a hyperlink to the detailed record for that physical item.