Locations Logic for Inventory

Some notes on Location Types for Item and Holding records 

• most item records to do not have permanent location (that field is blank); but they all have an "effective location"
  • the item effective location will be the item's temporary location (if there is one - most records don't have this) or the parent holdings record's effective location (in nearly all cases, the holdings effective location is the holdings permanent location)
• the item record's effective location is inherited from the holdings record
• (there should be as many holdings records as there are items) – not sure about this
• for example, 3 copies of a book each have their own holdings record and their own item record
  • generally, the holdings permanent location will only be listed on the holdings records for the 3 copies of the book, not the item records 
• volumes will have one holding record and an item record for each volume 

Temporary Locations take Precedence

• temporary locations are generally used to show the location for items that are being moved somewhere temporarily, such as moving items to the annex during a library building renovation
• temporary locations are typically listed in the item record and will take precedence over the permanent location for showing the actual location of the item
• item record locations take precedence over holdings locations
• when item records do not have holdings records, they inherit the location from the holding record 
• for annual reports, it is best not to count items that are in temporary locations

Which Location to Use to Count Current Records

•  to obtain a current count of records by location, you want to focus on the owning library, which is most often the holdings permanent location 
• for item counts, you should look at the permanent holdings location, which is the anchor because it is the owning library 

 What is "Effective Location"?

• "effective location" is the resulting location that is listed for a given holding or item after all the rules about locations have been followed 
• "effective location" is useful in queries because it shows the location that is "in effect" for that item or holding at this moment in time

What is a multivol, and how do you count records that are multivols?

What is "bound with," and how do you count records that are "bound with"?