LINKcat News

News summary, weeks of 11/7/2011, 11/14/2011 & 11/21/2011

This News blog post is both late and early. Normally we do this once a week, but this version includes the two past weeks (late) and this week's posts (early).

News

• 11/23/2011 You now have two notice options for your second overdue notice (aka "Bill). Read the details in the link2koha blog post.
• 11/23/2011 SCLS is closed on Friday, November 25. Notices for November 24 and November 25 will be printed and distributed on Saturday, November 26.
• 11/21/2011 We have started testing Koha release 4.9 in the sandbox. We have sent calls for testing in the various modules to the appropriate email groups.  Anyone using Koha may test as long as they are familiar with the functionality.  Please see the new Testing page for links to the testing checklists. If you do wish to join in the testing, we ask that you do checklists assigned to where your last name falls in the alphabet.  This will help assure that all areas get tested.  But, you can always do more!
• 11/15/2011 As a reminder, the patron PAC survey will end on Friday, November 18. We will then compile the results and share them with the PAC Committee and the libraries.
• 11/15/2011 Beginning on 11/21 we will be asking for library staff to participate in testing functionality in the Koha sandbox. We are preparing checklists to make this an easier process. This is in preparation for our upgrade to LibLime Koha 4.10.
• 11/8/2011 We received word today that our Last Patron development is in the sandbox, along with some bug fixes. We will get busy testing this right away. We will be recruiting people to test in the sandbox so that we can upgrade to release 4.10 as soon as possible.

New Problems Identified

• Not for loan status in serials subscription records: Like the "Suppress" field, it appears that the Not for loan field is defaulting to the top of the list for the Not for loan selections. You will have to alter this field every time you edit a subscription record, just like having to alter the Suppressed field from Suppress to Do Not Suppress with each entry. (11/16/2011) (SCLS Support Ticket 39941) (Not on Koha Problems and Fixes spreadsheet)
• Display of authors: Authors that have a descriptive word in their authority record entry do not have a comma in between the author name and the word in the PAC (example Wilcox, David, vocalist). In the staff client, the author name and descriptive word does not have a space (Wilcox, Davidvocalist). (11/16/2011) (SCLS Support Ticket 41465) (Not on Koha Problems and Fixes spreadsheet)
• Holds Queue report: Item level holds that are In transit are appearing on Holds Queue reports. This only happens when the item level hold is placed on the item after it has already gone into transit. (11/8/2011) (SCLS Support Ticket 41365) (Not on Koha Problems and Fixes spreadsheet)

 

Choose a template option for your second overdue notice.

Below are 2 template options for the second overdue notice that your library sends out to patrons.  All libraries are set up with the FINAL NOTICE as the default.  If you would prefer to send your patrons the notice with the header "BILL", please submit the change request on the Circulation Work Request form.

The email subject line for the FINAL NOTICE reads "Final Overdue Notice".  The email subject line for the BILL reads "BILL for library materials".

FINAL NOTICE
<patron barcode>
You will be billed the replacement costs for the following items if they are not returned. This matter can be resolved by returning the items and paying any overdue fines/fees or by paying the cost of the item(s). You can review your record online at http://www.linkcat.info/
 
issuedate date_due title barcode price
05/13/2011 06/10/2011 Anansi boys : 39078056388540 Gaiman, Neil.
 
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.


BILL
<patron barcode>
You will be billed the replacement costs for the following items if they are not returned. This matter can be resolved by returning the items and paying any overdue fines/fees or by paying the cost of the item(s). You can review your record online at http://www.linkcat.info/
 
issuedate date_due title barcode price
05/13/2011 06/10/2011 Anansi boys : 39078056388540 Gaiman, Neil.
 
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

News summary, week of 10/31/2011

News

• 11/4/2011 New blog posts on Circulation Issuing rules and updated Circulation documents.

New Problems Identified

• Subject searching: "Corporate names" are not included in the subject or subject as phrase searches in both the staff client and PAC. (A corporate name is a name that represents a group, not an individual. It can be a band name, such as "Red Hot Chili Peppers" or a corporate name, such as "General Electric Company.") You can still do a keyword search for corporate names. (10/31/2011) (SCLS Support ticket 41342) (Not on Koha Problems and Fixes spreadsheet)

News summary, week of 10/24/2011

News

• 10/28/2011 The sandbox has been upgraded! Upgrade to 4.9 Sandbox:fixes to holds management and agency code at checkin
• 10/27/2011 You can now have previously checked out items and renewals on your receipts. See details in the New Check Out receipt option: blog post with information and ordering details.
• 10/27/2011 Drafts of workflows for the Claims Returned report and the Long in Transit report have been posted to the ILS Support Reports web page.  Please use and review these drafts and report any changes or suggestions on the Koha Problems and Questions form. Please enter the name of the report in the Comment box.
• 10/25/2011 A draft version of the Purchase Alert Report is available. The data on it is several weeks old, but it is usable. Some more work needs to be done by LibLime to get this report into production.

Recently Fixed

Problem: Renewals and overdues are not printing on checkout receipts. (5/20/11) In Development (Round 1) (SCLS Support Ticket 40015) New template available 10/27/2011.

It is now possible to print renewals and overdues on checkout receipts. See the New Check Out receipt option blog post.

New Problems Identified

• If you scan a "lost" patron barcode and the patron has other circulation blocks on their account (overdue fines, expired record, etc.), the Warning: Scanned Old Card message does not display on their Check Out screen. (10/26/2011) (SCLS Support ticket 41277) (Not on Koha Problems and Fixes spreadsheet)
• Serials vendor field: The vendor field in a subscription record in Periodicals does not fill in when using the Choose selection in the vendor search. You must fill in the vendor number. After the record is saved, the subscription does not display either the vendor number or the vendor name. (10/25/11) (SCLS Support Ticket 41335) (Not on Koha Problems and Fixes Spreadsheet)
• Self-check/Serials checkout: When a patron attempts to use a self-check to check out a different magazine issue on the same record as one s/he already has on hold, the checkout is blocked and the patron must go to staff to have the hold on the specific issue requeued and the item checked out. This is a side effect of the Requeue/Cancel Reserve/Fill Reserve pop-up we have for patrons finding items in library that fill their existing holds. Remove this message for serial items. (10/25/2011) (SCLS Support Ticket 41334) (Not on Koha Problems and Fixes Spreadsheet)

Updated Circulation documents

The following sections of the Circulation Manual were updated in October and November 2011:

• Section III Check In
• Section V Patron Record and Registration
• Section VII Fines and Financial Transactions
• Section VIII Problem Items: Lost, Claims Returned, Defect Reported, etc.
• Section IX Placing and Managing Holds
• Section X Circulation Codes

The following documents were updated or added to the Circulation Workflows web page in October and November 2011:

• Claims Returned workflow
• Lost Item workflow
• Troubleshooting Email notices
• RETURN REFUSED message at Check In - explanation and work-around
• Specify due date work-around

Drafts of two report workflows were posted on the Reports page, ILS Support website:

• Claims Returned report workflow
• Long in Transit report workflow

All Circulation documents are works-in-progress.  If you see any errors, have any suggested changes or want more information about a particular topic provided, please fill out the Koha Problems and Questions form and enter MANUAL or WORKFLOW as the first word in the the Comment box.

 

 

 

Circulation issuing rules are posted

Information and screen shots about the Circulation Issuing Rules have been posted on the Codes page of the ILS Support website.  Issuing rules that are shared by all ILS libraries are posted under the Default Library Issuing rules.  Library specific rules are posted via hyperlinks based on each library's delivery code.  If you see an error or want to make changes, please email Heidi Oliversen at hjo@scls.lib.wi.us.  When we have completed the Issuing Rules change submission form, we will post the link on this blog.