Single instance/holding prerequisites

Owned by Kalibek Turgumbayev
Last updated: Sep 06, 2023 by Tim Auger
2 min read

To allow FOLIO to use the approach with circulationItem for DCB integration, it is required to have objects of several entities created beforehand. The mentioned objects should be created in the following modules:

  • mod-inventory-storage :
    • Instance
    • Holding
  • mod-circulation-item :
    • Loan type
    • Material type
    • Location
    • Service points

Object creation options:

OptionProsCons
Liquibase scriptsDoes not require specific implementation and no DevOps overheadThis should not be applied to every tenant, only to those that participate in DCB circulation
Direct calls from mod-dcb  to required modulesThis can be applied when the module is enabled for the tenantRequires additional permissions for mod-dcb 's system user to the mentioned modules


Open questions

QuestionAnswerComment
Can DCB-specific material types (e.g. dcb-book, dcb-dvd) be distinguishing properties for defining circulation policy in the borrowing and pickup library?Yes and No

They can be but technically, only one distinguishing characteristic is necessary per rule – the virtual item location (a.k.a. item agency or FOLIO institution location) for the borrowing/pickup library circulation rule. Note that the "virtual item location" will be a unique agency code representing a single institution and is only used in DCB transactions.

Example circ rules for both sides of the transaction – borrowing/pickup and lending.

Circ rules reference

Please note that it is common for consortium to have different combinations of rules. I've distilled them down to a single set of egalitarian rules for all (big grin). For MOBIUS, they currently have somewhere between 14-20 rules. For our testing, I would suggest testing not more than 6 in total.

MOBIUS is currently discussing whether or not they want to create a unique set of material types to distinguish between local and material types and DCB materials types, primarily for reporting purposes. I would like to discourage this practice as it represents a shortcoming of their current resource sharing solution. Since this is tangential issue and has no bearing on development, I suggest we retire the topic.

Can DCB-specific patron group (e.g. dcb-students) be distinguishing property for defining circulation policy in lending and pickup library?Yes, it is necessary.Please see above for an example virtual patron circulation rule. 
Can pickup service point be created as virtual service point for lending library for Page request creation?Yes, it is necessary.The only question is whether or not we will need a code change to accommodate. (wink) Tim Auger will test it out and see what happens.