Overview
Researchers can log into their Aeon web account and place requests for items directly on the Aeon web pages. This section explains how to submit loan requests using the web interface.
See Submitting Photoduplication Requests to learn about submitting copy requests.
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Default Loan Request Form
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Submitting Loan Requests
To submit a new loan request directly from the Aeon web:
- Choose the proper request type from the New Request menu.
- The New Request form for that request type opens.
- Complete the required information (denoted by a red asterisk) and optional information and click the Submit Request button.
- The request is submitted and the form returns to the main menu.
- The request is displayed at the top of the Outstanding Requests grid.
- You can click the Transaction Number to review and edit, clone, or cancel the transaction.
The Request For Field
The Request For drop-down is used by proxies requesting items for other researchers and for requesting items associated with an Activity. Shown within the dropdown will be the researcher's name, any associated researchers, and any associated Activities. Note that usernames are not displayed in this field. The Request For field defaults to a blank option when the request form is first opened. When a Request For option is chosen, that selection is maintained throughout the user's web session, making it easier to submit multiple successive requests for a researcher or Activity. If a researcher is not a proxy and not associated with any Activites, the Request For field will not be visible on the Request form, by default, using Aeon 3.2. and later web pages.
Note that Photoduplication requests cannot be requested for Activites.
Configuring the Request For Field
As stated above, the Request For field defaults to a blank option when the request form is first opened.
Sites can choose how they would like this field to display:
- Use the default option. This treats the empty value, if selected, as a request for the researcher.
- Set a field validation that requires the researcher to select a value from the drop-down and prompts an error if a value is not selected.
See Creating a Validation Rule for a Blank "Request For" Field Value for details on how to set field validations in the WebValidation table.
The Special Requests/Questions? Field
The Special Request / Questions field, located on all default request forms, provides a location for users to submit special requests, questions or instructions to library staff. The field displays on the client Request form and grids of search results, etc so staff can work with them.
The field is limited to 255 characters; a default validation rule in the WebValidation table exists to insure that no special requests are submitted and truncated. If the text of the field exceeds 255 characters a status line message notifies the user so that the text can be edited.
Along with the Request forms in the web, this field appears on the edit request forms and the detailed information forms. Information from this field is not transferred when a request is cloned.
The Schedule Retrieval Field
All Loan request forms include a Schedule Retrieval toggle field that allows researchers to submit loan requests to be filled at a later date. When the Schedule Retrieval field is selected, the user can select the date for fulfillment by clicking in the field to display a popup calendar and clicking on the date. The system looks at the date in this field and decides when to make the request active based on the settings of the FutureRoutingDays key in the Customization Manager. Based on the FutureRoutingDay key, submitted request moves to the status of Awaiting Future Request Processing or Awaiting Request Processing as displayed in the Outstanding Requests table on the Main Menu.
Photoduplication requests do not have the Schedule Retrieval option as they are held in Order Estimates as Orders to Submit until the researcher manually submits the request. If a scheduled request is opened for editing, the Schedule Retrieval toggle option will be selected to reflect that the option was chosen when the request was submitted.
The Schedule Retrieval dropdown calendar is included in the default request pages by the use of a jquery file, scheduled-date.js.
The Keep For My Review Field
Researchers can keep loan requests in a review state before submitting them to staff for processing. Clicking the toggle next to Keep for My Review stores the request under Review Requests on the sidebar menu at a status of Awaiting User Review. When the request is submitted to be kept in review a status line notice displays at the top of the form stating that the request has been kept for review. Kept requests can be easily located in the Review Requests table. They also display in the Outstanding Requests table. Researchers who have reached their active request limit and are unable to submit new requests can use the Keep For My Review checkbox to hold those items for future submission. If a request kept for review is opened for editing, the Keep for My Review toggle option will be selected to reflect that the option was chosen when the request was submitted.
Requests submitted with the "Keep for My Review" option selected are no longer validated with the web validation rules. Instead, all requests are validated at the point they are submitted for processing. This will allow the Awaiting User Review queue to act as a holding queue for any requests that may not be complete. In particular, any requests submitted from an external system that may lack certain details that would prevent them from passing web validation can now be stored in Awaiting User Review and viewed, edited to include any required details, and submitted at a later time.
Photoduplication requests do not have the Keep for Review Option.
The Schedule Retrieval and Keep for My Review toggle features are included in the default request pages by the use of an include file, include_scheduleddate_review_toggle.html, and a jquery file, schedule-review-toggle.js. See Aeon Default Web Pages for information about the include_scheduleddate_review_toggle.html file.