How do we prevent lost items and items in acquisition from being requested?
Answer
This issue is not well documented and it was more than two years before we discovered that users were able to place requests on lost items. We are able to easily suppress lost items from discovery, but if another item exists, say in a non-requestable location, then if the lost item is in a location that allows requests, a user will be able to place a request, which we would then need to cancel.
To prevent this from happening, we have added a rule to each relevant fulfillment unit. This rule goes at the top of the list because if it matches the conditions, Alma will stop processing.
The input parameters of this rule match on process types that include "lost" or "acquisition" status. The output parameter is the "default" terms of use, because the default TOU does not allow requests.
