Currently, the holdings upload process is a bit of a black box. There are no notifications to tell libraries that our holdings uploads have failed. So, we have to keep checking the Holdings Status page (https://rapid.exlibrisgroup.com/Holdings/Status) to see if our uploads went through, and submit a ticket if they don't. Failed uploads are still marked as “In Progress”. Because of this we have to wait 24-48 hours to establish that the process has stalled and requires intervention. If we notice a failure, Support cannot tell us what caused it because data from past uploads is not retained. A failure of one holdings upload in a particular file type causes all the others in that file type to fail, even if there’s nothing wrong with the other files. Since Support cannot tell us what caused the failure, we just have to check all the files for potential fail points.

To help libraries remedy holdings upload failures more promptly, so that we can ensure more accurate holdings and a better request experience for our users, I propose the following enhancements to the holdings upload process and Holdings Status page.

1.) Create notifications that will alert libraries when a holdings upload has failed and, ideally, why it has failed.

2.) Implement more granular batching of holdings uploads, so that a failure of one holdings file does not result in a failure of every other file of that type. As we understand it currently, a failure in the print books upload would also cause the electronic books upload to fail, even if there was nothing wrong with the electronic books holdings file.

3.) Provide granularity in the “Last Index Date” field for holdings format and type. Currently, that date only reflects the last index for the entire holdings type. In the current system, if we upload electronic journals on October 5 and print journals on November 9, the Last Index Date will read November 9 for both sets of holdings, even though the electronic journals really have not been indexed since October 5.

4.) Introduce more meaningful and specific status indicators. Mark a failed holdings upload as “Failed,” “Paused,” or the like, not “In Progress”.

5.) Provide more thorough documentation of how to interpret the Holdings Status page. The Knowledge Center documentation is very sparse. We only really understood what was happening behind the scenes after repeated questions to a patient Support rep. (Thanks, Neta!)