I will try to summarize our options for requesting and paging.
The first issue is available items. These are the ones that create the paging slips, and therefore the most work for circ. “Why don’t we just block requests on available items?” you might be asking. Especially i you are me. Well…
The biggest problem, as I see it, with eliminating requests on available items is Breadloaf. At this point, we basically need that system in place for BL borrowers to be able to get items they want up the mountain. So we could either:
-Turn off requesting available items except for during the summer (at which point everyone would once again be able to request everything)
or
-Only allow the BL ptype to request, ever.
or
-Put a limits on requests by ptype. (This seems to me to be the least favorable option, as these requests are also used by acquisitions for order requests, and if we continue to put ILL items on hold in Millennium, those holds would also count toward whatever “limit” we put in place. Plus, if we limit students to, say, 5 holds, is that really going to have an impact on our workflow? They could request 5 each day for a week as long as they came and picked them up before requesting again.)
Which brings up the next point: If we block requests on available items, that leaves checked out and in-process items. For checked out items, we are encouraging people to use NExpress (to the point of recently cancelling holds on items available through NExpress). So is it worth having the ability to request in-process items?
What other issues do we need to consider?
The VHS tapes in P&P
Media behind the circ desk? Is there a reason this needs to be requestable?
On-order items?