When circulation staff are working with items in the “Pickup From Shelf” queue, there may be times when a requested item cannot be located. For example, the item may already be on loan, missing, or otherwise unavailable.
What you should do next depends on who requested the item.
Requests from Vanderbilt Patrons: Convert the Request First
If the item was requested by one of our institutional users and cannot be found or used to fulfill the request, convert the patron request to a Resource Sharing (RSS) request before marking the item as Missing.
The recommended workflow is:
-
Convert the patron request to an RSS request.
-
After the request has been successfully converted, mark the local item as Missing, if appropriate.
-
The RSS request can then continue through the resource sharing workflow so that we can attempt to obtain a copy from another institution.
Important: Please convert the request before marking the item as Missing. This helps ensure that the patron’s request can continue through Resource Sharing rather than ending with the unavailable local copy.
Requests from Other Institutions: Cancel the Request
If the item was requested by another institution through Resource Sharing and our copy cannot be located, you do not need to convert the request.
Instead, staff can cancel the request. The resource sharing request can then move on to another potential supplying institution.
As a general indication, requests with “Ship Physically” or “Ship Digitally” workflows are typically requests from other institutions.
In short:
-
Vanderbilt patron request: Convert to RSS first, then mark the item as Missing if needed.
-
Other institution’s request: Cancel the request so it can move on to another institution.
Who Can Convert a Patron Request to RSS?
To convert a patron request to an RSS request, staff need the Fulfillment Service Operator role scoped to the appropriate Resource Sharing Library.
If you work at a circulation desk, regularly handle patron requests and collection management, and need the ability to convert patron requests to RSS, please submit an INFORM ticket requesting the Fulfillment Service Operator role for the appropriate Resource Sharing Library.
What If You Cannot Convert the Request?
In some situations, you may have the Fulfillment Service Operator role but still be unable to convert a particular patron’s request.
This can happen when the patron’s assigned Resource Sharing Library does not match the Resource Sharing Library included in your role scope.
For example, if your role is scoped to Eskind Biomedical Library but the requester’s RSS library is Resource Sharing Library, Alma may not allow you to perform the conversion.
These situations should be relatively rare. If you encounter one, please submit an INFORM ticket with the request information. LTAS will convert the request for you.
Following this workflow helps us make the best use of our local collections while ensuring that patrons’ requests continue through Resource Sharing when a local copy is unavailable.