See also: For information about interlibrary loans, resource sharing, and RAILS Delivery go to the Interlibrary Loans and other Resource Sharing page.
See also: For the Printed Documents Including Patron Personally Identifiable Information (PII) policy and the accompanying agreements go to the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) page.
Policies
Clean Holds Shelf List
This policy provides a brief explanation of the Clean Holds Shelf List and sets expectations for how items on that list should be handled. Approved by the RSA NFP Users Group on 5 August 2021.
Download the Clean Holds Shelf List policy
In Transit Items
Guidelines that should be followed for intransit items. Includes information about the various transit types, as well as about handling items that are Lost In-Transit, and about monitoring the Pending Transits List. Approved by the RSA Users Group September 1, 2021.
Download the In Transit Items policy
RSA Reciprocity
This policy discusses reciprocity within RSA. This revision to the RSA Reciprocity policy was approved by the RSA NFP Users Group on May 9, 2024.
Download the Reciprocity policy
Procedures
RAILS Delivery Codes and Labeling
Libraries will now be identified by a three-digit delivery code followed by “-EP,” rather than by the library’s full name.
RSA has added these delivery codes to the RSA Membership List, since we are aware that this is the primary document used by our members for labeling outgoing materials. August 2022.
Download the RAILS Delivery Codes and Labeling procedure
Items Requested by a Non-RSA Library
Items requested by a non-RSA library may come via OCLC WorldShare, fax, Find More Illinois, or through Onshelf Items (pick list) from SHARE-ILL libraries. March 2024.
Download the Items Requested by a Non-RSA Library procedure
Cheat Sheets, Guides, Other Documents, and Videos
Placing Holds
This guide includes how to search for the item, how to place holds and verify information, additional alternate ways to place holds, and how to modify and remove user holds. April 2025.
Download the Placing Holds guide
Video: Placing Holds
Instructions on how to place holds within WorkFlows and online using RSAcat. February 2021.
View Placing Holds Video – 6:53 minutes 
Placing Book Club/Classroom or Research Holds
Book club or classroom holds are used when a patron needs multiple copies of the same title.
A research hold is used to fill a request for multiple titles for one patron. Example: you have a patron who is researching wind turbines. They want 3 books, they don’t care which 3 books they receive. December 2024.
Download the Placing Book Club/Classroom or Research Holds guide
View Placing Book Club and Classroom Holds in WorkFlows Video – 6:30 minutes
View Placing Research Holds Video – 6:15
Processing Holds
This guide covers finding and printing hold requests, how to handle hold requests from a Non-RSA library, hold shelf procedures, processing expired holds – clean hold shelf, processing items for delivery, and processing items received in delivery.
It also contains info about what to do when an item isn’t available to fill a hold and how to monitor items transiting to and from your library. April 2025.
Download the Processing Holds guide
Processing a Hold That Shows Available but Hasn’t Transited
This cheat sheet explains what to do in the scenario that a patron receives notification that their hold is available, but the item isn’t at the pickup library. What happened? A hold is double trapped (trap holds is selected twice for an item on hold) at the owning library and the item is released instead of canceled. WorkFlows will then immediately show the item as available in the pickup library even though it hasn’t physically transited to the pickup library. If the hold shows as available and the item has not transited, follow the steps in this cheat sheet.
Download the Processing a Hold That Shows Available but Hasn’t Transited cheat sheet
NEWHOLDS Current Location
This cheat sheet explains the NEWHOLDS Current Location. April 2025.
Download the NEWHOLDS Current Location cheat sheet
Using a NO-TRANSIT Account
If a library receives a hold request on an item (either via the picklist or the Onshelf Item Wizard or receives a hold notice when discharging) and they are not able to send the item or do not wish to send the item, that item can be checked out to the NO-TRANSIT user. This action takes the items out of “In-transit” status and allows another item on the record to fill the hold. January 2025.
Download the Using a NO-TRANSIT Account guide
How Holds Work
Holds rely on several parameters to work. For a hold to be successfully placed, all the rules must allow the hold. Here is a quick overview of what the system is looking for to allow a hold. April 2025.
Download the How Holds Work guide
Why Didn’t My Item Fill My Patron’s Hold?
There are many legitimate reasons why holds are filled other than how you expected the hold to be filled. WorkFlows attempts to fill holds with the first available item. Every time a barcode is scanned in the system for almost any reason other than a checkout, that item will be examined to see if it can fill a local hold or be transited to fill a hold elsewhere. December 2024.
Download the “Why Didn’t My Item Fill My Patron’s Hold?” guide
Hold Map
Hold map can be found on the Circulation Parameters page
Training Video: Holds
Recorded July 2022.
View the Basic Holds Workshop Video – 58:40 minutes
Sharing and Holds Training Resources
RSA recommends that you review the following documents and videos available at our support site and YouTube channel. This list is a useful primer on RSA’s policies and standards regarding Holds and on how to manage holds in WorkFlows. These resources should be useful both as a refresher and to be given to new staff at your library.
Download the Sharing and Holds Training Resources cheat sheet
More Info
Find a list of all the RSA Member Libraries on the RSA Member Libraries page.
To understand how your library holds are setup to work in our system, see the Holds Parameters page.