Horizon lets borrowers electronically request items that are checked out (or available only at another location) so that when they are returned, the requesting borrower has the first option to check out the item. If an item remains in the request queue without being checked in for a certain period of time, Horizon cancels the request. Your system administrator sets up the time period between placing the request and cancelling it.
You may need to check out an item on hold to a borrower other than the one who has requested it. Horizon lets you override holds and check out items to other borrowers without removing the hold request from the item. (For example, if a requesting borrower is on vacation, you could check a requested item out to another borrower. The hold request remains in place so that when the item is returned again, the requesting borrower still has the option to check it out.)
Occasionally a borrower places a hold request for an item currently checked out to another borrower. You can recall that item before its original due date so that the new borrower can have the item sooner. (For example, if a professor needs a projector on Wednesday but the equipment is not due until Friday, you can recall the projector by letting the borrower who has the projector know that he or she should bring it back Tuesday so that another can use it.)
Variables set in Circulation determine the priority level of borrowers’ requests. Normally, Circulation fills hold requests in the order they are made. For example, a request made on Monday will be filled before a request made the following Friday. Your system administrator, however, can program other variables. For example, Circulation can fill all hold requests placed by borrowers at your location before filling requests made at other locations.
Although hold requests are usually made for a borrower, they can also be used for library needs. (For example, you may want to send a book to the bindery when it is checked back in. A hold request can catch the book before it is returned to general circulation.)
If Family Groups is enabled for the system, and the borrower has permissions to manage holds for other group members, you will be able to view and manage hold requests for other members of the group from the borrower's account. This includes notifying a borrower when a title becomes available for a member of the borrower's group who had the title on hold. This occurs when a staff user identifies the borrower in the Horizon client for a check out. At that point, you can check out the item from the borrower's account and it will be checked out to the group member who had requested the hold.
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