Holdings

Holdings Records Quick Facts

Holdings records identify the physical location of items. They exist for physical materials only.

You cannot create an item record without first creating a corresponding holding, though many processes in Alma will create the holdings record for you (ordering, quick item creation, etc.).

All holdings must be linked to bibliographic records, and all items must be linked to holdings.

If you start by creating an order (a Purchase Order Line or POL) or from the Quick Cataloging menu, Alma will create a stub holding for you.

Holdings are viewable in the main Alma interface, and editable in the Metadata Editor.

Only item-less holdings can be deleted.

From Repository Search Results

View holdings

1) Conduct an All Titles or Physical Titles search to retrieve the bib record of interest

2) Verify that Expand: Physical (no. 11) has been selected for the results list

3) Click on the hyperlinked Location code (no. 19) to open the holdings record in read-only view

If more than one holdings records exist, the Holdings link (no. 20) opens a list of holdings. To view any of them, click on the holdings ID number or select View from the ellipsis icon at the right

Open holdings records for editing

After conducting Step 3 above you may select buttons and actions like Edit, Push to MDE, and Push Selected to MDE to bring the holdings into the Metadata Editor.

Add holdings

After conducting Step 3 above, click Add New Holdings. This will open a new blank holdings record based on the default template for new holding in the Metadata Editor.

In the Metadata Editor

View holdings or open for editing

To view holdings for a specific bib from within the MDE

1) Have the bib open in the Main Pane

2) Select the menu option View Related Data > View Inventory (Ctrl+i)

This will search for inventory associated with the bib. The results will display in a split pane titled Inventory.

3) Click View or Edit.

You can close the bib to maximize the display of the holdings in the Main Pane.

Add holdings

1) Have the bib (or an existing holdings record) open in the Main Pane

2) Select the menu option Add Inventory > Add MARC21 Holdings > New holding (Default) (Ctrl+Alt+H)

Be aware that under the Alma record structure the 852 field of each holdings records of a bib must be unique. If a title has multiple copies (items) -

Copies that will be shelved together share one holdings record
If the copies will be shelved in more than one locations, there will be one holdings record for each location

Edit Holdings

You may open the Form Editor to edit the 852 field

852 $b & $c: Library and Shelving location

852 $t: use this subfield to summarize the Copy ID(s) recorded in item records

Templates: You can create holdings templates for physical locations ($b and $c) you use frequently and customize to have them display under menu options for convenient application

Populate LC call number from bib 050/090

If the bib record to which a holdings record is attached contains 050/090 call number fields, you may populate the 852 $h and $i from either of those fields by the following two methods.

Method 1: Save the holdings record to Princeton's repository
Method 2: Select the Record Actions > Update from Bibliographic (Alt+U)

Either operation retrieves call number data from the bibliographic record and add to holdings 852, according to the following prerequisites and rules:

Prerequisites:

The first indicator of 852 must be 0, indicating Library of Congress classification
The bib record contains either 050 (Library of Congress Call Number) or 090 (Local Call Numbers)

Order of execution:

PUL has configured the order of execution as follows -

When 090 is present: 090 $a and $b → 852 $h and $i
Otherwise: 050 $a and $b → 852 $h and $i
If the bib record contains more than one 050 field, 852 $h and $i will be populated from the first 050 that contains both $a and $b.

Suppress Holdings

To suppress a holdings record from view in Blacklight:

1) Open the holdings record in the MDE

2) Check the menu option Record Actions > Suppress from Discovery (Alt+Shift+S)

A suppress icon appears in the record header

When you suppress a holding in Alma, all attached item records are also suppressed from discovery. If all items on a holding have been withdrawn, the holdings record should be deleted.