Age-based Hold Protection

Concepts

• Age Based Hold Protection limits holds for a period of two months starting from the Copy Record Active Date - the date on which the copy status is made Available. It is not based on patron age.
• Use of age-based hold protection is optional, can be applied to all types of new materials, and can be removed from a copy at any time, as determined by the owning library.
• PLS recommends that age based hold protection only be used for new materials with high local demand, not every new holding added or for replacement copies.

Hold Protection limits on placing and fulfilling holds

When Age Based Hold Protection is active on a copy record, the hold Pickup Library must match the Owning Library for that copy to fill a particular hold. Age-based hold protection does not prevent holds from being placed.

If the ONLY copy or ALL copies in the catalog are hold protected and the pickup library is not the owning library, the hold can be placed with an override (available to staff and patrons), but the hold will only be filled once the hold protection has expired on any one copy

If some copies are hold protected and some are NOT hold protected, the hold will be placed as normal but only non-hold protected copies will be eligible to fill holds where the pickup library and owning library do not match

When a hold protected item is returned to a non-owning library, it will be routed to it's owning library

Items eligible for hold protections

As per OWWLAC decision Age-Based Hold protection can be applied to any type of new material.

However, PLS recommends that low demand materials and replacement copies are not hold protected.

Set age-based hold protection in the Copy Record

• Hold protection is set in the Copy Editor using the Age Based Hold Protection Item Attribute
• Hold protection becomes ineffective automatically 2 months after the active date - it does not need to be removed from the Copy Record
• Hold protection can be removed at the library's discretion

Hold protected items in the catalog

When copies are age-based hold protected, this is indicated in catalog record Title Details > Copies list.

Staff Client

In the Staff Client, the copies list includes a column "Age Hold Protection" where the hold protection status - "Active" or "None" - displays. When protection is active, the protection expiration date also displays. Once the protection expires, the note reverts to "None".

Patron Online Catalog

In the patron OPAC, each age protected copy entry displays a note while the protection is active. Once the protection expires, the note disappears.