Process and availability statuses in Books & Media and what they mean

On the holdings level

Holdings availability status	What it means

Holdings availability status

What it means

Available

At least one copy of an item is available on that holding.

Unavailable

No copies are available on that holding.

Availability details (with link to requesting)

(Note that in Alma, you will see this value as “Check holdings.” We have changed the label in Books & Media to “Availability details” to be friendlier to patrons.)

This value can appear with serials or multivolume records. It means Alma is unable to decide what value should be shown. “Availability details” links to the CRS record for the item, which would show availability at the item level

What do we mean by “Alma can’t decide?”

Imagine a serials holding with 100 volumes. If all 100 are available, Alma displays “Available.” If all 100 are checked out or otherwise not available, Alma displays “Unavailable.”

But more commonly, the scenario would look like this: Volumes 31, 45, and 80-90 are checked out or being repaired, and all the rest are available.

Alma doesn’t know if the patron wants, say, volume 20 (in which case the item they would want is available) or volume 85, in which case the availability value is Unavailable.

So, the solution is to direct you to look at the list of items to see the most specific information.

On the item level

Status	What it means in Books & Media	What it looks like in Alma

Status	What it means in Books & Media	What it looks like in Alma
Available	The item is available	The item has a base status of “On shelf”, and there is no process status on the item.
Checked out	The item is on loan to an Alma user.	The item has a base status of “Not on shelf” and a process status of “Loan”
On Order	The item is on order and has not yet been received.	The item has a base status of “Not on shelf,” and there is a process status on the item of “Acquisition”.
Access restricted	The item is held at Rubenstein or University Archives and is non-circulating. It cannot be requested online.	The item has a location in SCL or ARC and an item policy of “non-circulating.”
Unavailable during renovation	The item’s permanent location is at Lilly, and it is currently in offsite stoage during the renovation. It cannot be requested by patrons.	The item has a base status of “Not on shelf” and a process status of “In Process” in the work order named “Lilly Renovation Work Order”
In process	The item is being worked on in a work order, or it migrated from Aleph needing cleanup, and we have not yet done that cleanup. These items are not requestable. Note that as of Sep 13, 2024 this may include items that were withdrawn in Alma with an item process status of ‘WI’. That is an identified cleanup project for DUL Collection Services.	The item has a base status of “Not on shelf” and may show a process status of “In Process” or “Technical-Migration.”
On hold	This item is on hold for a patron.	The item has a base status of “Not on shelf” and a process status of “Hold shelf.”
In Transit	An item is being moved between library locations.	The item has a base status of “Not on shelf” and a process status of “Transit” or “In Transit to Remote Storage.”
Unavailable	The item is not on the shelf and not available for requesting. This could be several scenarios, most commonly: The item was claim returned The item is at Rubenstein and in technical-migration This scenario also should catch any item scenarios not otherwise specified.	The item has a base status of “Not on shelf” and a process status of “Claim returned” or “Technical-Migration.”