How to create custom holdings
The Custom Holdings feature of WorldCat Resource Sharing allows you to specify preferred lenders in advance, saving time, increasing efficiency and reducing data entry errors.
Custom Holdings groups and preferences are driven by your analysis of the past borrowing patterns of your library. Here are two examples of how libraries used this analysis to shape their custom holdings groups and preferences.
Library A
Step 1
Library A looked at past borrowing patterns. The table below shows that Library A made and completed the following 100 requests for articles in 3 months:
| Requests | Filled by these groups |
|---|---|
| 65 | Lenders who do not charge for photocopies |
| 25 | Lenders who charge |
| 10 | Document Suppliers |
Step 2
Based on the patterns illustrated above, Library A arranged the lenders' symbols into three categories:
- Free copies
- Pay copies
- Document suppliers
Step 3
Within Custom Holdings, Library A then created three Holdings Groups ("Freecopy," "Paycopy," "Docsuppl"). The library then created a Holdings Path called "Articles" that included those 3 Holdings Groups in order of borrowing preference.
Library B
Step 1
Analysis of their borrowing history showed that Library B had made and completed the following 400 requests for loans in 3 months:
| Requests | Filled by these groups |
|---|---|
| 285 | Lenders within their regional consortium (LIBNET) |
| 80 | Lenders outside their consortium that do not charge for loans but loan only books |
| 25 | Lenders outside their consortium that do not charge for loans and loan all formats of materials |
| 10 | Resource centers that charge for loans |
Step 2
Library B could arrange the lenders' symbols into four categories:
- LIBNET
- Frebook
- Fremulti
- $Resloan
Step 3
Based on this analysis, Library B created 4 Holdings Groups ("Libnet," "Frebook," "Fremulti," "$Resloan"). The library then created a Holdings Path called "Loans" that included those four Groups in order of borrowing preference
Tutorial: Custom Holdings
View our tutorial to see how to create, edit and apply Custom Holdings.