Skip to main content
Help Center

Managing Reserve Settings

Reserves allow patrons to join the waiting list for a title when all available copies are currently on loan.

Library administrators can review the reserve rules for their school’s collection in Global Site Settings.

On this page

Before you begin

Before reviewing or changing the reserve settings, confirm:

  • that you have administrator access to your school’s ePlatform portal;
  • how your school wants patrons to use reserves;
  • whether the affected titles belong to your school’s collection or ePlatform One; and
  • that you have a test patron account available.

Open the reserve settings

  1. Sign in to your school’s ePlatform portal as an administrator.
  2. Open the Admin area.
  3. Find Manage Library.
  4. Select Global Site Settings.
  5. Open the Reserves settings.

The navigation path is: Admin area → Manage Library → Global Site Settings → Reserves.

Review the reserve settings

Review the options displayed under Reserves and compare them with your school’s lending policy.

Before applying any changes:

  • review the current reserve configuration;
  • confirm that the settings are appropriate for your collection;
  • consider how the settings will affect students and staff; and
  • make sure your published borrowing information remains accurate.

Reserve settings in Global Site Settings are library-level controls. Review the complete Reserves area before changing an established configuration.

Test the reserve process

After reviewing or changing the reserve settings, test the reader experience using a test patron account.

  1. Sign out of the Admin area.
  2. Sign in using a test patron account.
  3. Find a title for which all available copies are currently on loan.
  4. Open the title’s information page.
  5. Confirm that Reserve appears when reserves are available.
  6. Select Reserve.
  7. Open Loans and review the reader’s reserves.

Use a test account rather than a student’s account when checking administrative changes.

What the reader experiences

When a copy is available, a reader can select Borrow. When every copy is already on loan, Reserve may be offered instead.

Readers can review their current loans and reserves from Loans.

A reader can also cancel a reserve if they no longer want to wait for the title.

Shared Collection reserves

The reserve settings in your school’s Global Site Settings apply to your school’s own ePlatform collection.

If your school uses the Shared Collection, its loan limits and reserve rules are managed centrally by ePlatform.

Changes made to your school’s local reserve settings do not replace the rules used by the Shared Collection.

If the Reserve option does not appear

Check the following:

  • Is the title currently available? If a copy is available, the reader should borrow it rather than reserve it.
  • Are you reviewing the correct collection? Local and ePlatform One titles may use different reserve rules.
  • Are you using the correct patron account? Sign in using the account affected by the issue.
  • Have you reviewed the reserve settings? Go to Admin area → Manage Library → Global Site Settings → Reserves.

If the title is unavailable and the reserve option still does not appear, contact ePlatform Support with the title and collection details.

Need help?

If reserves are not working as expected, contact support@eplatform.co.

Please include:

  • your school or library name;
  • the affected title and author;
  • whether the title is from your school’s collection or ePlatform One;
  • what the reader sees instead of the expected reserve option;
  • the reserve settings you reviewed;
  • any error message displayed; and
  • a screenshot of the relevant page.

Do not include patron passwords or other sensitive sign-in information.