Koha tutorial on Article Requests

by Jessie Zairo on Apr 27, 2017

In this Koha tutorial we will show you how to set up the Article Requests.

Steps to set up Article Requests in Koha

1. First enable your system preference for ArticleRequests. Set to Enable patrons to place article requests.
2. Next you will need to decide how your patrons will make requests, either record only, item only, or both record and item level.
3. You can set 3 different system preferences for mandatory fields to be filled in dependent on how your records are requested.
   1. System preference ArticleRequestsMandatoryFields: make the following fields mandatory for records that are record level or item level requestable
   2. System preference ArticleRequestsMandatoryFieldsItemOnly make the following fields mandatory for records that are only item level requestable
   3. System preference ArticleRequestsMandatoryFieldsRecordOnly make the following fields mandatory for records that are only record level requestable
4. Next you will want to go into your circulation and fine rules matrix and select each rule that you want to allow requests.
5. You can allow requests to be made at the record level, item level, (Yes which means both) and no (none).
6. Now you can place requests on both the staff client and OPAC.

Steps for staff to complete the process

1. Once the article request has been placed, staff will see new requests at the bottom of the home page on the staff client. (In the same location as tags, comments and modifications).
2. From there staff will be able to select requests to process.
3. The first step would be for a staff member to process the request, that moves the request to the processing tab and alerts other staff members that the request is in process.
4. Next staff will go to the shelf and make a copy of the requested article.
5. Once that is complete, staff can print the Article request slip (this can be customized in notices and slips) and staple or paper clip it to the article.
6. Finally staff will select the complete article request which will send a notice to the patron who made the request letting them know the request is ready for pickup.
7. This removes the article request from the processing tab.

To learn all about Koha 16.11 view the other Koha tutorial videos in this series and make sure to review the manual and the release notes.