Requests

The Requests app allows you to create and manage requests.

FOLIO supports two kinds of requests - item level, and title level.

Item level requests are the default type of request for FOLIO and are made on an individual item record.

Title level requests are made on the instance level. FOLIO chooses the item from the holdings on that instance to fill the request, whether the item is available immediately or becomes available when the item is returned.

Libraries can turn on title-level requests in Settings > Circulation > Title level requests.

Libraries that want to use title level requests should consider:

You will not be able to turn off title level requesting while there are any open title level requests.
To avoid issues with queue ordering, you should first close open item level requests before turning on title level requesting.
Check Settings > Circulation > Title level requests > Fail to create title level hold when request is blocked by circulation rule if you want title level hold requests to follow circulation rules. If you do not choose this option, then title level hold requests will go through even when hold requests are blocked by the circulation rule. The title level hold request will remain Open - not yet filled as the circulation rule will prevent the request from being associated with an item.
Title level requests are not yet supported for multi-volume sets - e.g., “any copy of volume D of the Longman Anthology of World Literature.” Those requests must continue to be handled as item-level requests.
Items newly added to FOLIO via the Receiving app, Inventory, or Data Import must be checked in in order to be made available to fill open title level requests.

Permissions

You can assign permissions to users in the Users app. The permissions described below allow you to interact with the Requests app and determine what you can and cannot do within the app. If you don’t assign any of these permissions to a user, the user will be unable to see the Requests app or any related information.

The following are all the Requests permissions:

Requests: All permissions. This permission allows the user all request functions.
Requests: Move to new item, reorder queue. This permission allows the user to move requests from one item to another (subject to request policies).
Requests, Reorder queue. This permission allows the user to access the dedicated request queue page with reorder capabilities. It is only needed for users who need to reorder the queue. You do not need this permission to view the queue.
Requests: View. This permission allows the user to search and view requests.
Requests: View, create. This permission allows the user to create new requests and view existing requests.
Requests: View, edit, cancel. This permission allows the user to view, edit and cancel requests.

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts allow you to perform actions in this app using the keyboard. See Platform essentials > Keyboard shortcuts for more information.

Request Types and Statuses

Requests are assigned one of three Request Types:

Hold. Items currently not available but wanted when available.
Page. Items available to be pulled off the shelf.
Recall. Items currently not available, but needed immediately.

Note that FOLIO allows items in some statuses to be recalled even if they are not on loan to a patron, but there is currently no difference in FOLIO workflows between a recall and a page when that occurs. If a loan is recalled, the original loan period may be shortened.

After a request has been created, requests are set in progress by checking the item in with the Check in app.

Open requests have one of the following statuses:

Open - Awaiting delivery: The request is a Delivery request, and the requested item has been checked in, but the item has not yet been checked out to the requester.
Open - Awaiting pickup: The requested item has been checked in at the requested pickup point, waiting for the requester to pick it up.
Open - In transit: The request has been set in progress and the item is being delivered to the patron’s requested pickup service point.
Open - Not yet filled: The request has not yet been set in progress, and the Request expiration date, if it exists, is in the future.

Closed requests have one of the following statuses:

Closed - Cancelled: The request was cancelled either prior to an item being available for pickup, or after the item became available for pickup, but before the pickup expired.
Closed - Filled: The item was placed on hold for the patron, and the patron checked the item out. This also includes Delivery requests where the item was checked in and the Close and check out option was selected.
Closed - Pickup expired: The item was placed on hold for the patron, but the patron did not pick up the item before the Hold shelf expiration date passed.
Closed - Unfilled: The request was still open when the Request expiration date passed. If the Request expiration date field is empty, the request will never be moved to this status. Exception: Open - Awaiting pickup requests remain open until the Hold shelf expiration date is passed.

Searching for requests

To search for requests, enter your search terms into the box on the Search & filter pane. You can keyword search by title, or “starts with” search by item barcode, requester barcode, or item call number.

You can also use the Request type, Request status, Request level, Tags, and Pickup service point filters to find requests or further limit your search.

You can choose which columns appear in your search results by clicking on the Actions menu. Under Show columns, you can check or uncheck columns to change what you see in the results pane.

Exporting your search results to CSV

After you perform a search for requests, you can save your results to a comma-separated values (CSV) file. The fields visible in the Requests results list appear in the CSV file, along with additional request and item information.

Search for requests.
In the Requests pane, select Actions > Export search results to CSV. Depending on your browser and its configurations, the file either automatically downloads or you are prompted to save it.

Item level requesting

Creating a request

Library staff create requests in the Requests app. They also can start the request process from a user record in Users, or an item record in Inventory; those apps will route you into the Requests app to create the request. Note: You must have permission to create requests in the Requests app in order to see the option to create a request from Inventory. You can request items lacking a barcode by starting in the Inventory app – see Inventory > Creating a new request.

Requesting is controlled by circulation rules and item statuses. You cannot request some item statuses and some only allow holds and recalls. See Platform Essentials > Item Status for more information.

In the Requests pane, select Actions > New.
If you have title level requesting turned on, make sure Create title level request is not checked.
In the Item barcode box, either scan the barcode of the requested item or enter the barcode and click Enter. The item is added to the request and its item information appears.
In the Requester barcode box, either scan the requester’s barcode or enter the barcode and click Enter.
If you do not have the requester’s barcode, click Requester look-up to search for the patron:
1. Use the Select User dialog to find the requester.
2. Once found, select the requester from the User Search Results list. The requester’s information will then appear on the request.
Select a Request type. The options that appear depend on the Item status of the item you are requesting.
Optional: Enter a Request expiration date. If the request is still open by the selected date, it closes and its status changes to Closed - Unfilled.
Optional: Enter any Patron comments. For example, if the patron needs the item immediately, you can note it here. Patron comments show up in the CSV report and can be included in pick slips.
Select the Fulfillment preference.
Select the Pickup service point or Delivery address, depending on your selection in the previous step.
Click Save & close. The request is saved and the Request Detail pane appears. The patron receives an email notification saying their request was received by the library, if you have this notification configured.

Editing an item level request

You can only edit open requests. Once a request is closed, it cannot be edited.

Find the request you want to edit.
In the Request Detail pane, select Actions > Edit.
Edit the request.
Click Save & close. The request is updated.

Duplicating an item level request

You can duplicate open requests but you will need to change either the requester or the item in order to save the request, as there cannot be two requests on the same item by the same requester. Closed requests can be duplicated, but you will need to enter a requester barcode.

Find the request you want to duplicate.
In the Request Detail pane, select Actions > Duplicate. A New request window appears with the same Item information, Requester information, and Request information as the request you chose to duplicate.
Edit any of the request information before submitting the request.
Select a Pickup service point.
Click Save & close. The new request appears in the Request Detail pane.

Moving an item-level request to another item on the same instance

You can move a request from one item to another on the same instance. You may want to do this if a request item goes missing or if you need to balance request queues.

Note: If a recall request is moved to a loan item that wasn’t previously recalled, the loan will be recalled–the patron gets a recall notice, if configured, and the loan’s due date may be truncated or extended, depending on the associated loan policy.

Find the request you want to move.
In the Request Detail pane, select Actions > Move request.
In the Select item window, select the item you want to move the request to.
If the current request type is not allowed you will need to choose an allowed type in the Select request type dialog and click Confirm to allow the request to be converted.

Reordering the request queue for an item

You can change a patron’s location in the request queue for an item by reordering the queue.

Find the request with the queue you want to reorder.
In the Request Detail pane, select Actions > Reorder queue.
In the Request queue window, reorder the requests by dragging them into their new positions. Requests cannot be moved above Page requests, even if fulfillment has not begun.
Once you are done moving the requests, click the X to exit the Request queue window. The revised queue order is saved.

Canceling an item level request

You can only cancel open requests. Once a request is closed, it cannot be cancelled.

Note: When cancelling a request, you should consider the following:

When you cancel a page request and there are no other requests in the queue, the item’s status changes back to Available.
If you cancel a request that has begun fulfillment (it has a Request status of Open - In transit or Open - Awaiting pickup), the Request status changes to Closed - Cancelled, but the Item status will not change until the item is checked in.
If you cancel a requested item that is awaiting pickup, it appears on the Hold shelf clearance report.

Find the request you want to cancel.
In the Request Detail pane, select Actions > Cancel request.
In the Confirm request cancellation dialog, select the Reason for cancellation.
Optional: Enter any additional notes on the cancellation in the Additional information for patron box. If you selected Other as the reason, then you must supply additional information.
Click Confirm. The dialog closes and the request is cancelled. The Request status is updated to Closed - Cancelled and the patron receives a cancellation notification email, if you have this notification configured.

Title level requesting

Creating a title-level request

Although library staff create requests in the Requests app, they can initiate the request process from a user record in Users, or an item record in Inventory. Those apps will route the user to the Requests app to create the request.

Note: You must have permission to create requests in the Requests app in order to see the option to create a request from Inventory. If you do not have the Settings > Circulation option Fail to create title level hold when request is blocked by circulation rule selected, then an item record is not required to create the request, but it is required to fill the request.

In the Requests pane, select Actions > New.
To create a title level request, make sure Create title level request is checked.
Title information may already be filled in (if you started your request from the Inventory app). If not, you need to search for the title:
1. Click Title look-up.
2. In the modal that appears, search for the title you wish to place the request on.
3. Click the title to select it; the modal will close, and the title information will populate in the request form.
In the Requester barcode box, either scan the requester’s barcode or enter the barcode and click Enter.
If you do not have the requester’s barcode, click Requester look-up to search for the patron:
1. Use the Select User dialog to find the requester.
2. Once found, select the requester from the User Search Results list. The requester’s information will then appear on the request.
Select a Request type. The options that appear depend on the Item status of the item you are requesting.
Optional: Enter a Request expiration date. If the request is still open by the selected date, it closes and its status changes to Closed - Unfilled.
Optional: Enter any Patron comments. For example, if the patron needs the item immediately, you can note it here. Patron comments show up in the CSV report and can be included in pick slips.
Select the Fulfillment preference.
Select the Pickup service point or Delivery address, depending on your selection in the previous step.
Click Save & close. The request is saved and the Request Detail pane appears. The patron receives an email notification saying their request was received by the library, if you have this notification configured.

How FOLIO decides which item will fill a title-level request

FOLIO first checks for an available item on the instance. If an item is available, FOLIO then looks at the circulation rules to decide what to do next.

If an item is available, and the FOLIO circulation rule allows paging, then the title-level request becomes a page for the item.

If several items are available, FOLIO will first choose an item that has the effective location at the chosen pickup service point. If there is no available item at an effective location associated with the pickup service point, FOLIO will attempt to choose one from another location associated with that service point.

If there is no matching item at an effective location with a primary service point that corresponds to the requester’s pick-up service point, then FOLIO looks for items in the next closest location.

If the instance has no available items when the request is created, the request will become either a Hold or a Recall, depending on the choice made in the requests app.

If the request is a hold, it will remain in the request queue for the title, but it will not be associated with an item until the request is first in the queue and an item is returned.

If the request is a recall, the recall will apply to the loan with the earliest due date. When the item is returned, it goes to the first open request, regardless of whether that request is the recall that triggered the item’s return.

Viewing Title Level Requests

When you view a title level request, the request view displays Title information in the top accordion, including the number of open title level requests on that instance.

Once a title level request becomes a page or a recall, the Item information accordion will also display, including the number of the open requests on the item.

For recalls, the item information indicates the item that was recalled, but when that item is returned, it will fill the first request in the queue, even if it was not associated with that particular request.

Editing a title-level request

You can only edit open requests. Once a request is closed, it cannot be edited.

Find the request you want to edit.
In the Request Detail pane, select Actions > Edit.
Edit the request.
Click Save & close. The request is updated.

Duplicating a title level request

You can duplicate any open title level request. When you duplicate the request, you will need to change the instance or the requester, because a patron cannot have more than one open title level request on the same instance.

Find the request you wish to duplicate.
In the Request Detail pane, select Actions > Duplicate. A New request window appears with the same Item information, Requester information, and Request information as the request you chose to duplicate.
Edit any of the request information before submitting the request.
Select a Pickup service point.
Click Save & close. The new request appears in the Request Detail pane.

Reordering Request Queues with Title Level Requests

To view a request queue from the instance record in Inventory, select Actions > View requests & reorder.

To view a request queue from the request record, search for the request in the Requests app, and then select Actions > Reorder queue.

Fulfillment in progress shows requests that are in progress and have an assigned item. These requests include:

Page requests, regardless of the request status. That means that you will see page requests in this section with a status of Open - Not yet filled.
Requests that are Open - Awaiting pickup.
Requests that are Open - Awaiting delivery.
Requests that are Open - In transit.

Open - Not yet filled shows hold and recall requests that are not yet being processed. These requests can be reordered using drag-and-drop. These requests all have a status of Open - Not yet filled.

In this section, the Item barcode column may contain item information, or it may be blank.

Item level request - you will see the barcode of the requested item.
Title level recall - you will see the barcode of the item that was recalled. Note that if the item is returned and it could fill a request that is higher in the queue, it will fill that request, not the request that triggered the recall.
Title level hold request - the Item barcode column will be empty.

Canceling a title level request

You can only cancel open requests.

Before you cancel a request, consider:

When a page request is canceled and there are no other requests in the queue, the item’s status changes back to Available.
If you cancel a request that has begun fulfillment (it has a Request status of Open - In transit or Open - Awaiting pickup), the Request status changes to Closed - Canceled, but the Item status will not change until the item is checked in.
If a requested item is awaiting pickup and its request is canceled, it appears on the Hold shelf clearance report.
If there are other open title level requests on the instance that are not in progress, the item needs to be checked in to fulfill the next request in the queue.

Find the request you want to cancel.
In the Request Detail pane, select Actions > Cancel request.
In the Confirm request cancellation dialog, select the Reason for cancellation.
Optional: Enter any additional notes on the cancellation in the Additional information for patron box. If you selected Other as the reason, then you must supply additional information.
Click Confirm. The dialog closes and the request is canceled. The Request status is updated to Closed - Canceled and the patron receives a cancellation notification email, if that option is configured.

Exporting a hold shelf clearance report

The hold shelf clearance report contains Awaiting pickup items where the item did not get checked out to the requester before the hold shelf expiration period expired. Check in these items to clear them from the hold shelf.

Hold shelf clearance reports are specific to individual service points. Therefore, you must be signed in to the service point you want to generate the report for.

The Hold shelf expiration period for a service point is set in Settings > Tenants > Service points.

Awaiting pickup items whose requests were cancelled are also included in the hold shelf clearance report.

To export a hold shelf clearance report, in the Requests pane, select Actions > Export hold shelf clearance report for [your service point].

The hold shelf clearance report includes requests that simultaneously meet all the following conditions:

the associated item has a status of Awaiting pickup;
the request has a status of Closed - Cancelled or Closed - Pickup expired;
the item’s request queue is empty OR the top request in the queue does NOT have the status “Open - Awaiting pickup”.

The third condition covers the case where an Awaiting pickup item has the hold shelf expiration period expired, but there is another request for the item. The item will appear on the hold shelf clearance report, but if the item is then checked in at its pickup service point for the second request, then the first two conditions are satisfied (with regards to the first request) but the item will not be on the report.

Collecting page requests

Page requests are requests for items currently available at the library. In order to fulfill the request, you need to find the item in your library and check it in using the Check in app. This begins the request process in FOLIO. Depending on your library’s workflow, you can identify the page requests that need to be collected using one of two reports: CSV export or pick slips.

Generating a page requests CSV export

The CSV export report can be used as a pick report. A pick report shows all paged items that need to be pulled from the shelves. The CSV export report includes, and can be sorted by, effective call number.

To create a pick report, follow these steps:

In the Search & filter pane, select Request type > Pages and Request status > Open - Not yet filled to filter the items down to open page requests.
In the Requests pane, select Actions > Export search results to CSV.
Open the file in a spreadsheet application.
Optional: Filter the report by Effective location to see available items within your area of responsibility.

Printing pick slips

The pick slips report generates a single slip for every paged item that needs to be pulled from the shelf. Because this report automatically prints only those items whose Effective location is associated with the currently selected service point, you must be signed in to the service point you want to generate the slips for. If no items match the report’s criteria, the option is grayed out.

You can configure the information that appears on the pick slips in the Settings app.

To print pick slips, in the Requests pane, select Actions > Print pick slips for [your service point]. A print dialog appears.

Printing Hold request search slips

Libraries can choose to use search slips if they have many copies of a title (instance), but not all copies have been cataloged. When a patron requests an item from that instance, a search slip can be printed so a staff member can look for the item. Libraries must enable Allow print hold requests (Open - Not yet filled) in Settings > Circulation > Print hold requests in order to use this feature.

The search slips report generates a single slip for every item level hold request with request status Open - Not yet filled. The report only prints hold requests for items that are shelved nearest the currently selected service point (i.e., those items whose Effective location is associated with the currently selected service point). You must be signed in to the service point you want to generate the search slips for. If no items match the report’s criteria, the option is grayed out.

You can configure the information that appears on the pick slips in the Settings app.

To print search slips, in the Requests pane, select Actions > Print search slips for [your service point]. A print dialog appears.

Adding a tag to a request

You can add a tag to any open request. Tags are included in the CSV export report, in case you want to use them for your workflow. For example, you can tag requests that were not found.

Find the request you want to tag.
In the Request Detail pane, click the tag icon.
In the Tag pane, either select a tag from the box or enter a tag.
Click the X on the Tag window to close the pane and save the tag. The tag number updates to the number of tags applied to the request.

Requesting items from remote storage

Some libraries store items at a remote, off-campus storage facility. These facilities often have their own inventory system in addition to FOLIO to manage high-capacity storage and facilitate requests of items to be brought back to campus. FOLIO supports connections to two types of remote storage systems: CAIASoft and Dematic.

If your library integrates FOLIO with a remote storage system, you will be able to request items from remote storage through the FOLIO Requests app. The basic workflows in the Requests app will be the same as for on-campus items.

For more information on FOLIO’s remote storage functionality, see the Settings documentation for Remote Storage.

Processing delivery requests

You may want to set up delivery requests if your library delivers items to certain patrons. For example, if your library sends items requested by faculty to their office, delivery requests will provide you with the patron’s address and the option to check the item out to the patron upon fulfillment.

Delivery must first be turned on in a patron’s user record, and they must have a default delivery address listed in their account. You can configure this setting manually or through a batch load. The steps below detail how to manually turn on delivery and process a delivery request.

Manually turning on delivery in a patron’s user record

Find the patron in the Users app.
Click Edit.
In the User record window, select Delivery under Request preferences to turn on delivery.
Select a default Fulfillment preference for the patron.
Select a Default delivery address that will be used when the patron has a delivery request. If the patron does not have an address in their user record you need to add one.
Click Save & close.

Creating a delivery request

Create a request.
If the patron does not have delivery as their default Fulfillment preference, select Delivery.
Select a Delivery address.
Click Save & close to start the request process.

Checking in a delivery request

Delivery requests are not treated any differently from items being routed to the hold shelf. The delivery request will trigger once the item is checked in at any location.

When checking in a delivery request, you have two options: check the item out to the patron or wait to process the request.

To check the item out to the patron, follow these steps:

Check in the item with the Check in app.
Optional: In the Route for delivery request dialog, if you do not want to print a request delivery slip, clear the Print slip checkbox.
To check out the item to the patron, click Close and check out. The check out window appears and the item is automatically checked out to the patron.
To end the check out session, click End Session.

To wait to process the request, follow these steps:

Check in the item with the Check in app.
Optional: In the Route for delivery request dialog, if you do not want to print a hold slip, clear the Print slip checkbox.
Click Close. The Route for delivery request dialog closes, and the Item status changes to Awaiting delivery.

Last modified May 10, 2024