Our vendors will let us know by email if there is an issue with an order we have placed. The most common alerts we receive are about a publication being delayed, a title being temporarily out of stock, or an order being canceled. It is important to monitor these updates to ensure Purchase Order Lines (POLs) accurately reflect the status of each order.
For detailed information on how to edit or delete POLs, see the Creating POLs page.
There are two types of delays that vendors will alert us to: the vendor does not currently have it in stock and the publication of the book has been delayed.
If the vendor is simply taking longer than expected to stock a book, no intervention is required. This is important information to have if someone enquires about the status of an order, but is a very common situation and therefore does not usually require any action. Most books will still arrive in a timely manner. The Acquisitions Manager will monitor these delays and take further action if necessary (see the Book Not Delivered section below).
If the vendor tells us the publication of a title has been delayed, enter the estimated publication date in the Notes section of the POL (click “Edit” and scroll to the section at the bottom). The vendor will usually provide an estimated date, but, if you do not, you may simply put “Publication delayed.”
If the vendor is unable to source a book, they will cancel our order.
If the order has an interested user, attempt to find the book elsewhere and update the vendor and price accordingly. If you are unable to find an alternate source, notify the patron that we will be unable to fulfill their request.
Publication Abandoned
If publication of the title has been abandoned, look to see if the bibliographic record and POL have been imported into Alma. If they have not, you do not need to do anything. If the bibliographic record and POL are in Alma, you will need to delete the POL first and then the bibliographic record.
Vendor Cannot Provide
If the vendor is unable to provide a title for whatever reason, the Library Director or Head of Collection Services will decide if we should try to purchase it elsewhere.
If we decide not to purchase the title from another vendor, look to see if the bibliographic record and POL have been imported into Alma. If they have not, you do not need to do anything. If the bibliographic record and POL are in Alma, you will need to delete the POL first and then the bibliographic record.
If we decide to purchase the title from another vendor, the Acquisitions Manager will complete the new purchase. After the purchase has been completed, update the vendor by clicking on the meatballs on the POL page (do not click “Edit” before doing this):
A pop-up will prompt you to type the new vendor name or vendor code. Enter either, select the vendor, and click “Save.”
To update the price, click “Edit” and update the appropriate field with the new price. Click “Save and Continue.”
Backorder Duration Reached
ProQuest will send a message if a book has been canceled because it has been on backorder for an extended period of time. The Acquisitions Manager keeps a list of these titles and periodically searches for them. If they are not available after a year, delete the POL and then the bibliographic record.
If the title is available from another vendor, the following criteria must be considered:
If a reasonably priced copy is available in an acceptable condition, place the order. After the purchase has been completed, update the vendor by clicking on the meatballs on the POL page (do not click “Edit” before doing this):
To update the price, click “Edit” and update the appropriate field with the new price. Click “Save and Continue.”
Most books arrive within a few weeks of the order being placed, but it can also take several months for an order to be filled. The Acquisitions Manager will regularly check the list of POLs that are still on order and make note of any that have been open for 6+ months. The Acquisitions Manager will look for any correspondences about the order status. A message to the vendor must be sent if they have not provided an update. Based on what the vendor says about their ability to complete the order, follow the instructions for the various scenarios outlined here.
It is very important to change the holdings associated with a POL correctly, otherwise you may end up with multiple items being created during the receiving process, instead of just one. Many situations could result in the need to change the holdings a POL is associated with.
One such situation is when we decide to store all issues of a standing order or serial title offsite. As new items are received, they must be received into the Cataloging Department location, but the rest of the items will have to be in the offsite (NU) location.
Information about sending items offsite:
3.7 Transferring Items
Do a “Physical holdings” search in Alma. On the holdings that currently has the POL attached, click the meatballs and choose “Associate a PO Line”
A pop up should show the current POL selected. Copy the POL number and then delete it. With the box blank, click “Update”
On the holdings that has the POL, click the meatballs and choose “Associate a PO Line”
Paste in the same POL number you just copied and “Update”
Search the POL number. It should now have the correct holdings listed:
If this doesn’t appear to work, you may need to take one more step. While looking at the POL record, choose “change bib reference” from the meatballs menu for the POL
Search for the correct bib:
NOTE: we have experienced some sticky problems with these processes. We cannot determine a sure fire order of operations for which steps to take in what order. If you complete all as advised, but are still experiencing problems with items showing up on the old/wrong holdings/bib, please contact the Systems Librarian, they can help you troubleshoot the problem.
