Library Answers: Los Rios Common Questions

Placing a Hold in Alma 

Staff may manually place a hold request in Alma on the title level, on a particular item record/barcode, or from the patron's record. 

Placing a hold from a title search:

1. Search for the item to request in the Alma dashboard. Narrowing the search to Physical Titles is recommended.

2. After identifying the item in discovery, click on the “•••” box in the upper right hand corner of a result. Then, select “Request” from the dropdown. Note: depending on your institution’s configuration, shortcuts may exist for this action (a “Request” button on the item record, for example).
3. On the Create Request screen, select “Patron physical item request” from the dropdown menu.
4. On the screen that follows, enter the “Requester” ID number and the “Pickup At” location.

5. Click “Submit” to complete the request.

Looking at the item record you should see the word Request with a small number next to it, indicating that the book has been requested. 

You can see the details of the request by clicking on the small number next to Request.

Placing a hold from the patron's record:

1. Go to Fulfillment, Manage Patron Services and look up the patron by name or Id number. 
2. Select the "Submit Request" from the upper right corner. 
3. Search for the item the patron wants by title. 
4. Select Patron Physical as the request type
5. Select the pickup location and submit the request. 

Placing a hold on a specific item/barcode: 

Note: Generally a hold can be placed on the title level. When a specific barcode or item is needed to fulfill the hold, then you may search for the item in Alma. (Example scenario: Lending a laptop and want to provide a specific device to a student.)

1. Search for the item using a Physical Items search. 
2. From the search results, select the "Request" button on the item record. 
3. Select the request type: Patron Physical Item
4. Enter the requestors ID number or name. 
5. Select the pickup location and submit the request. 

Modify a hold

From a patron’s record you can modify a hold by selecting the Requests tab and clicking on the “…” button that opens a task menu.

Once the information has been modified click on Submit

A message will confirm the modification was successful. At the same time, an email is sent to the requesting patron indicating that the item is available and how long the item will remain ready for pickup.

The On Hold Shelf message is now in the Patron’s record.

Canceling a Hold in Alma

There are a few ways to cancel a hold in Alma:

Option #1

Staff with the appropriate authorization/user roles can cancel a hold by going to Resource Request Monitoring under the Fulfillment drop-down menu and selecting “Cancel” on the appropriate request record.

Option #2

Staff who are limited to the Circulation Desk Operator role can navigate to the requesting user’s account under Manage Patron Services, go to the “Requests” tab, and select “Cancel” from the dropdown menu under the “…” button.

Option #3

Lastly, patrons may cancel their own requests using Primo by going to their account information, selecting “My Requests” from the dropdown menu (pictured), and selecting “Cancel” from the list of requests.