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Custom Holdings Groups

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Use this screen to configure custom holdings groups that contain the OCLC symbols of preferred lenders for a particular category of borrowing activities.

Use this screen to configure custom holdings groups that contain the OCLC symbols of preferred lenders for a particular category of borrowing activities. Use Custom Holdings Groups to:

  • Build lender strings using the OCLC symbols contained in the Custom Holdings Group
  • Add to Custom Holdings Paths
    • Custom Holdings Paths contain the names of the Custom Holdings Groups and apply them to a set of requests in the order set under Groups chosen for this path. 
    • The OCLC symbols contained within a group are randomized with each request.
    • When building a lender string, WorldShare ILL looks to the holdings of the libraries within the first listed Custom Holdings Group. If fewer than 15 potential lending libraries are returned, the system will then look to the libraries in the next listed Custom Holdings Group and continue through this list until there are at least 15 lending libraries or the Custom Holdings Path is complete.
  • Automatically build lender strings
  • Deflect requests

 Note:  The OCLC symbols contained in a Custom Holding Group are randomized with each request to ensure a variety of lenders are selected.

To find libraries to add to your custom holdings group, review your borrowing history in OCLC Usage Statistics. Or search the OCLC Policies Directory for close libraries or libraries in your consortium.

Configure Custom Holdings Groups

To create a custom holdings group:

  1. Click Create New Custom Holdings Group.
  2. Enter the Custom Holdings Groups Name, and optionally, a Description.
  3. Click Add/Edit symbol(s).
  4. In the Add/Edit OCLC symbols window, add the symbols in the box provided. Separate multiple symbols with a space.
  5. Click Update Symbols.
  6. Click Save as New.
     Note: Saving a Custom Holdings Group with no OCLC symbols will result in an error. Be sure to add at least one OCLC symbol before saving your new Custom Holdings Group.

To add an institution to a custom holdings group (on the by group name screen):

  1. From the Custom Holdings Groups lists, select the custom holdings group you want to edit.
  2. Enter the Custom Holdings Groups Name, and optionally, a Description.
  3. Click Add/Edit symbol(s).
  4. In the Add/Edit OCLC symbols window, add the symbols in the box provided. Separate multiple symbols with a space.
  5. Click Update Symbols.
  6. Click Save as New.

To delete an institution from a custom holdings group (on the by group name screen):

  1. From the Custom Holdings Groups lists, select the custom holdings group you want to edit.
  2. You have two options:
    1. Select the check box next to the symbol you want to delete and click Clear selected symbols, or
    2. Click the delete button (delete_icon_square.png) next to the symbol you want to delete.
  3. Click Save.

To add or remove an institution to a custom holding group (on the by symbol screen):

  1. Under Display groups, click by symbol.
  2. On the Custom Holdings Groups Symbol Search screen, enter the symbol you want to add or delete from one or more custom holdings groups.
  3. Click Search.
    • A list of all of your custom holdings groups appears, along with an indication of whether or not that symbol is contained in each group that contain that symbols appears, including an indicator of whether that symbol appears in the group.
    • Note: If no results are found, a message will appear the symbol does not exist in any groups, the groups are all displayed with a No indication.
  4. Select Yes to add a symbol to the group, or No to remove a symbol from the group.
  5. Click Save.

To delete a custom holdings group:

  1. From the Custom Holdings Groups lists, select the custom holdings group you want to delete.
  2. On the bottom of the screen, click Delete Custom Holdings Record.
  3. On the confirmation window, click OK.

 Note: The Custom Holdings Group must be removed from any Custom Holdings Path before it can be deleted. 

Watch a video

Custom Holdings for interlibrary loan

Run time: 13:14

Learn how to create and edit custom holdings groups and custom holdings paths then apply them to your interlibrary loan requests. Custom holdings are the group(s) of your preferred lending libraries that you can apply to your ILL requests for the system to automatically add then to the lender string on your ILL requests, thus saving you time when processing those requests.

 

Custom Holdings Groups fields

Note: Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*).

Field Description
Custom Holdings Groups Name

The name of the custom holdings group.

  • 20-character limit, with no special characters or spaces
Description

A brief description of the group.
Example:
Institutions that charge for book loans.

  • 140-character limit.
OCLC Symbol(s) The OCLC symbols for institutions that are part of the custom holdings group.
Examples:
AAU
ABI
ACN