Web client: Missing functionality to create empty volume

[Anna Goben]

Our catalogers regularly need to move materials from one bib record to another. Currently in the web client (3.0.1+) if multiple holdings share a volume, there is no way to transfer an individual item from one bib to another.

In the XUL client, staff can create an empty volume to target for the transfer.

So on the webclient, if I wanted to move item CONC4200037 from https://webby.evergreencatalog.com/eg/staff/cat/catalog/record/2 to https://webby.evergreencatalog.com/eg/staff/cat/catalog/record/22, I have to delete it and recatalog it.

There appears to be a menu option ("Transfer copies to previously marked library") that was intended to be used for this work, but there's no way to mark a library for copy transfer and no way to create a volume for marking ("Transfer copies to previously marked volume").

[Elaine Hardy (ehardy)]

Confirming.

This is a fairly serious bug since it adversely effects our ability to do database cleanup and to correct errors. We need to be able to transfer a single copy from one bib record to another bib record where the library has no holdings while leaving other copies on the original record.

For example, someone might have accidentally added the large print item to the regular print record as a copy under the regular print call number. I want to transfer just the large print copy to the correct record, which has no holdings for my library. In the XUL client, I create an empty vol and then transfer the single item. I can't do that in the web client and I can find no other functionality that takes the place of creating an empty vol for the transfer.

[Elaine Hardy (ehardy)]

Should have added in the comment above the need to maintain circ information so deleting the item and re-adding breaks the link to the circ history (unless that has changed with the web client)

This functionality is indispensable for cleaning up precats. I could find no way to transfer a precat to a record where the owning library has no holdings since there is no volume to receive the copy.

[[e-mail] (tji)]

Confirming the issue and the importance of having the function of creating a volume without a copy.

[Elaine Hardy (ehardy)]

I just accidentally created an empty volume; but, I think the ability to do so is a bug.

Background: A cataloging vendor for one of our libraries inadvertently made the owning and circ libraries for several items on separate titles the state library rather than the member library so I had to transfer the volumes to the correct owning and circ library.

My steps:

1) Input each barcode in item status so that there was a list of the records
2) Opened the first item's bib record in the catalog by clicking on the title
3) From holdings view, Actions menu -- Choose library for volume/copy destination and then picked the destination library from the drop down menu.
4) Clicked on the item to be transferred then -- Action menu -- Transfer -- Volumes to previously marked library

After repeating step 4 for another item, I wondered if I could skip opening the record in the catalog. My next steps were:

5)From item status, clicked on a record then from actions menu--transfer -- items to previously marked library.
6)Since there was no alert letting me know the transfer occurred, I opened the record and checked the holdings view -- there was an empty volume on the record,
7) transferred item to empty vol...
8) Repeated for another item to see if it happened again. It did.

I don't know if this would have worked had there already been a volume for the transfer destination on the bib record. I have not tested that since I do think this is a bug and will be reporting it. I wanted to post it here in case it has relevance in creating a way to add an empty volume in the web client.

There is a bug around clearing the chosen library -- https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1744100

[Chris Sharp (chrissharp123)]

My understanding from Elaine on the workflow in PINES is the following:

1. Search the catalog for the title you'd like to add a volume to.

2. Select Holdings View and highlight the library/unit from the list who will own the volume.

3. Right click and select "Add Volumes and Copies"

4. In the Volume/Copy Editor UI, click "Save and Exit" without entering a barcode.

The equivalent steps in the XUL client create the desired empty volume. In the web client, "Save and Exit" will not activate until there's some value present in the barcode field. I'm not sufficiently skilled in Angular to tell, but this seems like it would be a pretty simple fix to allow saving without a barcode entered and have that mean that the user wanted an empty volume.

[Mike Rylander (mrylander)]

Creating empty volumes is now possible on the branch located at: http://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/miker/holdings-view-omnibus

[Elaine Hardy (ehardy)]

Tested this while testing https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1715697, creating empty volume works as expected for me. Thanks!

[Dan Wells (dbw2)]

Moving discussion to an omnibus bug for the omnibus branch...

Please see bug #1773417.