[Koha] holds and multiple branches

[Chad Billman]

Hello,

We are currently running one installation of koha (3.0.x) for 10 branches. Our librarians are getting frustrated by the current behavior of holds. Particularly in situations where multiple branches contain the same book.  They would like a way to place a hold on the next available item in a specific branch. 

I see the preferences "canreservefromotherbranches" and "IndependantBranches" but I am a little confused about what exactly these will change. Currently we have "canreservefromotherbranches" set to On and IndependantBranches set to Off.  I am not sure if toggling these preferences will give us the desired holds behavior. 

I am also concerned about changing IndependantBranches. I thought I read IndependentBranches should not be changed after the system is in use.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Chad Billman
Penn Manor School District