Alma Statuses - Lending Statuses

Below is a description of each Lending Status that you might see in Alma:

Being Processed:

This is where the majority of your incoming lending requests will turn up each day. In most cases Alma will place a request on the item which prevents you from accepting duplicate requests for that same item. (Some notable exceptions to this auto-request rule are multiple copies and multivolume sets in which Alma is unable to determine the specific item that’s being requested). Once you ship the item, the status of the request should automatically switch over to Shipped Physically.

Cancelled:

These are requests that have been terminated by the borrowing library. Once you receive the cancellation message from the borrower, it should automatically clear the hold on your item and return it to its original ‘Item in Place’ status. No further action is required.

Created Lending:

The most common Requests scenario is when the owning library’s item is available at the time the borrowing request is submitted. They get added to the rota, but then their item gets checked out before the request actually reaches them. Alma still sends the request to this library, but since the item is no longer available, the lending request gets routed into Created Lending Request instead of Being Processed. In this scenario you would simply want to Reject the request and pass it along to the next library in the rota. This status is also a common landing spot for article requests, serials, bound volumes, and other items with ISSNs and description fields. These requests typically come through with a format type of Digital. You will want to evaluate each of these requests on a case-by- case basis. If the item is loanable, manually route it into your Being Processed queue, change the format to Physical, and release the assignment.

Expired:

The expiration of a request is triggered by a job on the lender’s side. If a lending request is not updated within a specified time period, it automatically gets passed along to the next library in the rota. If a lender tries to ship/reject a request after they have expired as the active partner, they will receive a “Failed to find active Lending request by Barcode/ Request ID” error message. No further action is required.

Locate Failed:

Locate Failed means that Alma encountered a problem during the locate process and couldn’t find a specific match point for the request in your catalog. These requests require a little extra staff intervention. Start by clicking on the Search button in the request and try searching by title, ISBN, or OCLC number to see if you can find a corresponding print record for the requested item in your catalog. If so, click on the toggle next to the record and then choose Select Once you’ve resolved the locate issue, the request will automatically switch over to the Being Processed queue. You should then be able to ship the item. If your library can’t fill the request (or if you can’t find a matching record in your catalog), either reject it or send the borrowing library a general message in cases where you don’t think the request can be filled through CSU+..

Received by Partner:

These items have been received by the borrowing library. No further action is needed at this stage.

Rejected the Borrower:

These are the requests that you have actively rejected for whatever reason. Rejecting a request cancels the hold on the item (if one was placed) and passes the request along to the next library in the rota. No further action is required.

Request Completed:

This queue is the final resting place for all your completed lending requests. Scanning in the item upon return will complete both the borrowing and lending requests simultaneously and route the item back to its permanent location. No further action is required.

Returned by Partner:

These requests have already been received by the borrowing library and are now in transit back to the owning library. Once they arrive in the courier, wand them in under Scan in Items to complete the transaction. This will update the status to Request Completed and route the item back to its permanent location. Check this queue once a week and look for requests with update dates of  “Up to a Month Ago” or “Older.” These items could be lost in transit and eventually require an APB email/courier claim.

Shipped Physically:

These items have been shipped to the borrowing library but not received yet. The item should now be shelved in either your Long or Short temporary locations, depending on how you shipped them. Check this queue once a week and look for requests with update dates of  “Up to a Month Ago” or “Older.”