Reinstating withdrawn items

Alma role needed: Physical Inventory Operator; in some cases, Cataloger

Items that are missing are declared lost and withdrawn after multiple searches. Sometimes these items are later recovered (either returned or found in the stacks). This document describes steps to take if a selector determines that the recovered copy should be reinstated.

Withdrawn items may also be returned in the book drop, in which case staff may not be aware that the item they checked in was withdrawn and may not know to follow these procedures. These situations can be discovered by monitoring reports of items in transit too long. These items can also be identified because they will go in transit to zw (Doe) or ??zw when they are checked in.

Items that were withdrawn in Millennium migrated to Alma with the Permanent Location zw. In Alma this location is owned by Doe Library and will require extra work to reinstate items to their real owning library beyond MAIN. If you need to reinstate an item that’s currently in the zw (Doe) Permanent Location and you aren’t scoped to MAIN, please contact the cataloging unit responsible for cataloging those materials for reinstatement (submit a BadCat form or email csdhelp for most locations) .

In Alma, every library has its own Withdrawn location using the base 2-letter library code (in the case of NRLF, just one letter - n) followed by zw. For example MAIN will use mazw. When reinstating from these Alma-born ??zw locations, if there is only one withdrawn copy for this library and the ??zw Permanent Location is changed from the item record, Alma will automatically change the holdings location to match or, in cases where there’s still at least one other withdrawn item on this holdings, Alma will create a new holdings for the item that’s being reinstated. Processors should review the withdrawn holdings to see if there’s information from the original holdings that would be useful to move to the reinstated holdings if there are other items that will remain Withdrawn.

Note: Do NOT use this procedure for NRLF items. NRLF’s current and legacy withdrawn locations (nzw and zwz, respectively) contain historical deaccession information and do not represent actual items. Instead, refer any found items with barcodes on item records with location code nzw or zwz to NRLF’s Head of Deposit Services.

Note: Do NOT use this procedure for replacements. Replacements by a patron need to use the Accepting Replacement Copies procedure. See also: exact match monographic replacement procedures. Both procedures are forthcoming.

When a withdrawn item is found or returned, shelving unit staff should do the following:

1. Check to see if there’s another item record on this bib that’s still active within the Institution Zone (IZ) (even if it’s not in your library). 
   
   1. If there’s still another active copy that uses the same OCLC institution symbol as your library (see OCLC holdings maintenance), then reinstatement shouldn’t require any special bib records work and you may proceed to step 2.
   2. If there's an active copy for a library that uses a different OCLC institution symbol, report this case to the cataloging unit for your unit (submit a BadCat form or email csdhelp for most locations) to set holdings in OCLC. (see OCLC holdings maintenance)
   3. If all copies that had been held in the IZ have been withdrawn (the IZ bib will be suppressed), then refer the record to the cataloging unit responsible for the material (submit a BadCat form or email csdhelp for most locations) to reactivate the bib so the item can be reinstated.
2. Is the item a serial or MVM volume?
   
   1. No = Continue with step 3 below.
   2. Yes. 
      
      1. Is there still an unsuppressed holdings for other items in this set in the shelving location you will be using for this piece?
         1. Yes = Make sure the Library Has (866) in the active holdings reflects this volume is back in the set, then move to step 3 below.
            
            1. If you cannot edit holdings records, refer the volume to the cataloging unit responsible for cataloging those materials (submit a BadCat form or email csdhelp for most locations) for reinstatement.
         2. No = Report to the cataloging unit responsible for cataloging those materials (submit a BadCat form or email csdhelp for most locations) for reinstatement.
3. In the item record, change the Permanent Location to the appropriate shelving location code for the owning library. Withdrawn items with a Permanent Location of zw (Doe) may require assistance from the cataloging unit responsible for cataloging those materials (submit a BadCat form or email csdhelp for most locations), if you’re not scoped to MAIN.
4. Note that if the item had previously been replaced with an exact match and the person who processed that replacement reused the copy number of the withdrawn piece, you may need to designate one of the copies as CopyID 1 and the other as CopyID 2 to avoid having two active “copy 1” items. Relabeling may be required
5. In the item record, Notes tab, add an Internal Note 1: [yyyymmdd] withdrawn then found, reinstated [initials]
6. Change the Stat Note 2 to “Reinstated after previous withdrawal”.
7. Someone set to the Circulation Desk location needs to Scan In Items for this piece to trigger any holds and/or be reshelved. If the item was previously checked in, it won’t hurt to check it in again. Route to your local circulation staff if you do not have Fulfillment roles.

For Catalogers only:

If the IZ bib record had been withdrawn because no copies remained in the IZ, the bib needs to be unsuppressed and may also require updating and linking to the Network Zone (NZ). Migrated bibs that had been withdrawn in Millennium came over with a suppressed 035 and were not submitted or linked to the NZ. You will also need to set the holdings again in OCLC. (see OCLC holdings maintenance)