Understanding the Hold Ratios Report
The Hold Ratios feature is built into the Circulation module, and can also be accessed through the Acquisitions sidebar. It can assist with collection development decisions by calculating how many holds exist per item for a title in a library's catalog. For instance, if the library owns 3 copies of a title and there are 14 holds, the report would calculate a ratio of 5 holds per copy (14 holds/3 items = 4.67, rounded up to 5). To reduce that ratio to meet or be under the 3 holds per copy target, Koha will calculate that the library should order 2 additional copies for a total of 5 copies (14 holds/5 items = 2.8).
However, there are some important caveats to keep in mind if your library is considering using this feature. Since the Hold Ratios report does not account for what branch owns items, it often does not provide the level of detail needed for consortia or large library systems. Other caveats relate to how the numbers in each column are determined.
Holds: This is the number of active holds, including items waiting on the hold shelf for pickup or in transit to fill a hold. Note that this number excludes suspended holds unless the 'Include suspended' checkbox is selected.
Items: By default, this only includes items without any not for loan (including negative, such as Ordered or In processing), damaged, or lost statuses. Be aware that selecting the 'Include ordered' checkbox will add items with any negative not for loan status to this column, regardless of whether they are part of the Acquisitions process. So, this will include items that: a) are on order in Acquisitions and have a negative not for loan status; b) have been received in Acquisitions but still have a negative not for loan status such as In processing; and c) did not go through Acquisitions at all but have a negative not for loan status.
Hold ratio: This is the number in the Holds column divided by the number in Items column. This number will recalculate based on whether the 'Include suspended' and/or 'Include ordered' checkboxes are selected.
Items needed: This column shows the number of items Koha calculates should be ordered and, when applicable, a number of items pending via the Acquisitions module.
- # to order: This is number of items that, when added to the number in the Items column, will get the ratio for this title to 3 (or your target number, if different) or below. There are two important notes here:
- If the 'Include ordered' box is not checked and there are items on the record with a negative not for loan status, this number will be inaccurate because Koha will exclude those items from its calculation.
- This number does not account for the '# pending' number, if any. If there are items pending, consider whether to subtract that number from the '# to order' to get a more accurate number of items needed.
- # pending: This is the number of items that have been ordered through the Acquisitions module but have not been received. Keep in mind that this number only looks at received vs. not received in Acquisitions - it does not consider not for loan status at all. Once an item is received, it will not be included as 'pending' regardless of any negative not for loan status (such as In processing). Likewise, items with negative not for loan statuses such as Ordered or In processing but that were not ordered through Acquisitions will never be included in this number.
Example
Given the information about how each number is determined, let's look at some possible scenarios for our 14 holds on 3 items.
Hold total: Of the 3 copies, up to 3 might be checked out with 14 holds waiting to be filled. Or it could be that all 3 copies are waiting on the holds shelf, which would mean that there are only 11 unfilled holds. And if there are 3 suspended holds, those won't be part of the Holds number unless 'Include suspended' is selected. Selecting 'Include suspended' would increase the number to order to 6 (17 holds/3 copies = 5.67, rounded up to 6).
For libraries using acquisitions: For our example, let's say that the library has already ordered 1 additional copy and has given it a negative not for loan status, and that the item has not been received in Acquisitions.
- If 'Include ordered' is selected, the ordered item will be included in the Items total. However, since the item has not been received, it will also show as '1 pending'. So in this case, the library would not want to factor in the '1 pending' since it has already been accounted for in the Items total (14 holds/4 items = 3.5, rounded up to 4).
- If 'Include ordered' is not selected, the library would want to account for the '1 pending' copy in making their purchasing decisions. It would be most accurate to add it to the Items total (14 holds/(3 items + 1 pending) = 3.5, rounded up to 4), but subtracting the '1 pending' from the number to order will be a useful guideline in most cases ((14 holds/3 items = 4.67) - 1 pending = 3.67, rounded up to 4).
For libraries not using acquisitions: Again, we will use the example of 1 additional copy ordered with a negative not for loan status.
- If 'Include ordered' is selected, the ordered item will be included in the Items total and thus in the '# to order' total (14 holds/4 items = 3.5, rounded up to 4).
- If 'Include ordered' is not selected, the '# to order' will be incorrect since it won't take the ordered copy with its negative not for loan status into account (14 holds/3 items = 4.67).
- Since the item was not ordered through Acquisitions, it will never show as '# pending'.
Alternatives
ByWater Solutions partners who find that the Hold Ratios report is not meeting their needs, either because they are part of a consortium or because of the way totals are calculated, are encouraged to submit a ticket to
support@bywatersolutions.com for a custom report.
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