Physical Fulfillment Block Preferences: Consortial Requirements

Block Preferences let you control how various scenarios are handled at circulation desks within the institution based on an item's or user's status; in the block preferences, you set which library staff members (by assigned roles) are able to perform an override for which transactions.
They are set at the institutional level in Alma Configuration> Fulfillment> Physical Fulfillment> Block Preferences.

The majority of the Block Preferences may be set at the discretion of each I-Share institution based on their staff workflows.

Two blocks need to be set consistently across the consortium due to their I-Share effects.

• Item is on Hold Shelf for this patron: Should be set to Handle Automatically, so that it will "Delete the request and loan the item."
  • If this is set to require an override, then staff at other I-Share libraries also have to perform an override to check out the materials from the hold shelf, for the patron who had requested them. This has caused a lot of confusion, in that an item from library A may need an override, while an item from library B may not. As such, we are setting this preference consortially to not require an override.
• Item is on hold shelf for another patron: Should be set to Block.
  • Since the item is already on the "hold shelf" for Patron A, and Patron A has already been notified the item is available for them and is expecting to pick up the item. As such, Patron B should not be able to check the item out.
  • The "Override in another Institution" checkbox must be checked.