PINES Documentation

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====== Hold Groups ======

//Available as of the 3.8 upgrade January 2022.//

Hold groups are designed to store lists of patrons that wish to have holds placed for them on selected items. For example, a library book club may store a list of patrons who wish to have each upcoming month's reading selection placed on hold for them. Staff can reuse this list each month, adding and deleting patrons from it upon request. Or, a library may wish to store a list of patrons who are waiting for the new release by a popular author - staff could add patrons to the list upon request, and then when the title becomes available, can place holds for all of the patrons on the list at once. 

<note tip>[[https://my.nicheacademy.com/pines/course/42386|Here is a short video demonstrating hold groups.]]</note>

===== How to Create a Hold Group =====

  - Go to **Circulation > Hold Groups**.
  - Click on **New Hold Group**.
  - Enter a name, a description (optional), and select whether the hold group will be for the local branch or the regional library system. (Please note that the system does not allow for duplicate group names.)
  - Choose whether or not the hold group should be visible to patrons within the OPAC or not.
  - Click **Create Bucket**.

<note>There is a current bug in the Holds Group interface that affects hold groups showing in the first Hold Groups tab. If you change the Rows dropdown to All, the names should populate. If they are not populating in the Hold Groups tab, go to the Current Users or Add Users tabs and check to see if the Hold Group name is listed in the Hold Groups dropdown.</note>

If you wish to edit or delete a hold group, you can either double-click on the group from the **Holds Group** tab to open it in the **Current Users** tab, or go directly to the **Current Users** tab and select the group from **Holds Groups** dropdown. Then click the **Hold Groups** dropdown to **Edit** or **Delete** it.

===== Add Users to Hold Group =====

  - From the **Hold Groups** tab, double-click on the hold group that you wish to add users to. This tells the system which hold group you wish to access and will take you to the **Current Users** tab. 
      * If you need to open a hold group created by a different staff member in your system, you can either follow the step above, or, go to the **Current Users** tab, click on the **Hold Groups** button, then click **Shared Hold Group**. Enter the **bucket ID** and click **Load Bucket**.
  - Move to the **Add Users** tab.
  - Enter the barcode of the patron you wish to add. (If typing it in, you will need to click **Enter**.) You should see the patron load on the list below. Repeat for each patron.
  - After all patrons have been entered, select them and click **Add All to Hold Group**. This will move them to the **Current Users** tab. 

Alternatively, you can add patrons directly from the patron search results. As of the 3.12 upgrade in February 2024, you can now see all hold groups created for your system.
  - Do a patron search.
  - Select the correct patron(s) from the search results. 
  - Click **Add to Bucket**.
  - Select the appropriate **Hold Groups** bucket.
  - Upon success, a message will briefly appear on the lower-right corner that the patron has been added to the group.

===== How to Place Holds for a Hold Group =====

In order to place a hold for a hold group, you will need the **Database ID** for the title record you wish to place a hold for. To get the Database ID, search the catalog, then click on the title you wish to place a hold for to open the title details. You will see the Database ID in the title **Record Summary** bar. (This number also appears in the URL.) Copy that number.

{{:circ:record_database_id.png?600|}}

To place a hold for a hold group:
  - Go to the **Hold Groups** tab and double-click on the hold group you wish to place a hold for.
  - Go to the **Hold Events** tab.
  - Click on **New Hold Group Event**, then enter the **Database ID**. Uncheck the **Override all hold-blocking conditions possible?** option if it is checked so that you do not inadvertently place holds for patrons that are blocked. 
  - Click **Create Event**.
  - The page will refresh and tell you how many holds were placed. If the hold could not be placed for one or more of the patrons in the hold group, a link for **Download patron list for failed holds** will appear. Click on that link to see the patron barcodes - you may wish to look up each patron to see why the hold failed.
===== Patron View =====

If a hold group is patron visible, patrons can see which Hold Groups they are currently a member of, and remove themselves from any of them they wish.

  - Log in to the **OPAC** and go to **My Account**.
  - Click on **Holds > Hold Groups**. (If the patron is not part of a hold group that is patron visible, the Hold Groups option won’t appear in their OPAC account menu.)\\ {{:circ:my_account_hold_groups.png?400|}}
  - The list of hold groups the patron is currently a member of will display.
  - Click **Remove me** next to any hold group the patron no longer wishes to be a member of.\\ {{:circ:my_account_hold_groups_remove.png?400|}}

Staff can also see which Hold Groups the patron is a member of through the staff client. To view in a patron's account:
  - Open the patron's account.
  - Click **Other > Hold Groups**.\\ {{:circ:other_hold_groups.png?200|}}
  - If the patron would like to be removed from the group, click the group and go to **Actions > Remove Hold Groups**.\\ {{:circ:remove_hold_groups.png?300|}}