Work

What you can build

A page for each work that gives the patron enough to decide, and a short way to borrow or reserve. The work carries what its editions share, such as titles, creators, description, subjects and audience. Each edition carries its own format, language, extent and publisher.

Typical flow

1. The client fetches the work with GetWorks. Its publicationIds lists the editions.
2. The client fetches the editions with GetPublications and selects the one to show, for example by the patron's language and format.
3. Availability and the reserveId for each edition come from GetHoldings.
4. For a logged-in patron, GetPatronConfiguration gives the reservation fee to show before they reserve (2.5.1).

What the API provides

• A work requires only identifier and titles. Every other field can be missing.
• A publication points to its works in works. relation is embodies (the publication is the whole work) or contains (the work is part of the publication).
• numberOfReservations tells how many reservations the publication has. When the number is unknown, the field is missing.

What you can build

The patron sees whether a copy is available right now, which branch has it, and the way to the shelf: branch, section and shelf mark.

Typical flow

1. The client fetches the holdings for the publication with GetHoldings.
2. Each location gives the branch, the sections inside it, the shelfmark and the items found there.
3. GetLocations gives the section types in order, for example floor before department.
4. The client shows the path to the shelf and how many items are available there.

What the API provides

• The path to an item is branch, then the sections in path, then shelfmark. Each section type appears at most once.
• availableState is available or not_available. loanableState is loanable or not_for_loan.
• show_to with the value public tells the provider that the data will be shown publicly and must be filtered accordingly. Without it, the provider should return all data.

Typical flow

1. The client reads the branch, the sections and the shelfmark from GetHoldings.
2. The client sends or prints them.

What the API provides

• PLAS supplies the location data. Sending and printing are done by the client.

What you can build

Each issue of a periodical is its own holding. The patron narrows the issues by year, volume and number, and reserves exactly the issue shown.

Typical flow

1. The client fetches the holdings with GetHoldings. For a periodical, each holding is one issue.
2. The client groups the issues by periodical.grouping, for example year, then volume.
3. The patron chooses an issue. periodical.name is the issue's display name.
4. The client reserves the issue with its reserveId and CreatePatronReservation (2.5.1).

What the API provides

• A periodical can have zero or more holdings. Any other publication has at most one.
• Group types are year, volume and number, or level1 to level7. The default order is year, volume, number; GetConfiguration can set another in holding.periodical.groupOrdering.
• The holding's reserveId is all that is needed to reserve that issue. When it is empty, the issue cannot be reserved.