LINKcat News

2018 Purge of Inactive Patrons

The parameters for the 2018 Purge of Inactive Patrons are as follows:

• Patron record expired before 12-01-2017 and,
• Had no checkouts after 12-31-2016 and,
• Had a balance of less than $20.00

The initial reports of inactive patron were sent out to individual libraries on 11/27/2018 for review and possibly renewal of some records.   The recent purge of charges older than 01-01-2008 increased the inactive patron list by another 19,023 records. 

Patrons records that fit the above parameters were purged from the patron database the morning of 12-19-2018. 

Koha year-end work: Combining current and past use counts on item records for 2018

This year the current and past use counts in our item records will be combined on Wednesday, January 2, 2019. This work will take place before 9am Central time, so it will be done before libraries open in 2019. This is part of our regular year-end procedures.

In the Koha item records, there are use counts for current year and past year. The current year counts are in the Total Checkouts and Total Renewals fields on the item record. On January 2 (early in the morning) the counts in these fields will be added to the Past use count for each item record, which is in the Z - Dynix and Koha Past Use field. The Z - Dynix and Koha Past Use field is only viewable from the full item record (note that you can only view the full item record for items owned by your library). The Total Checkouts and Total Renewals fields will be re-set to 0 and any new checkouts or renewals from 1/2/19 going forward will be recorded in those fields.

Final Batch Delete of Withdrawn Items for 2018 will be Friday, December 21

The last Batch Delete of Withdrawn Items for 2018 will take place on Friday, December 21, in the early morning hours. If you would like to make sure your holdings are at their most accurate for 2018 counts, please mark your discarded items Withdrawn by Thursday, December 20, to ensure that the items are deleted in 2018.

 

If you happen to have any problem items (to be discarded) that are checked out to a staff card, you must check them in to clear the checkout status before marking them Withdrawn. Items that are both checked out and Withdrawn will not be deleted as part of the batch delete.

Cataloging policy changes for video media players (GoChips)

Several libraries have purchased a new videorecording device called a GoChip (find out more information about GoChips). These devices have movies or TV shows pre-loaded on them, and users can view the content by sending it to a TV or computer via a USB connection or a Wireless connection. In order to circulate these items more widely and allow patrons to place holds, the Collection Maintenance Subcommittee decided to fully catalog these devices. Because GoChip is a brand name, the more "generic" name for this format will be "video media player."

The following policy changes were approved by the ILS Committee on December 5, 2018:

• Levels of Cataloging Policy: added the phrase All non-local video media players under the Videorecordings section. (This means that video media players, such as GoChips, will receive full OCLC MARC cataloging.)
• Videorecordings Searching and Matching Policy: added GoChip Beam, GoChip USB as examples under Edition. (This means that the specific type of GoChip video media player will be a match point in the Edition field.)
• Videorecordings BSE Policy: add the phrase Video Media Player: include (video media player) in the title under Required Fields: Title, including sub-titles. (This means that BSEs for video media players should have (video media player) at the end of the title.)

Moving forward, library staff can now create BSE records for any video media players without an existing match in Koha. (Items that are currently on GENERIC records will be cataloged and moved to an OCLC MARC record.) The Videorecordings section of the Linking Manual has been updated to reflect the addition of video media players as a format. When creating a BSE, staff can add the following to the BSE to indicate that the item is a video media player:

• Title: (video media player)
• Edition: [GoChip Beam] or [GoChip USB]
• Note: Requires GoChip Player app.
• Added Author: GoChip

Cataloging policy changes for pop-up books

For a number of years, according to the Levels of Cataloging policy, pop-up books were supposed to circulate on either PERM or GENERIC records. However, in practice many pop-up books were fully cataloged. It wasn't always apparent that a book was a pop-up at the point of order. Given that pop-up books have often been cataloged, the Collection Maintenance Subcommittee opted to officially change the Levels of Cataloging policy so pop-up books will receive full cataloging. To that end, the following policy change was approved by the ILS Committee on December 5, 2018:

• Levels of Cataloging Policy: remove “Pop-up Books” under PERM, and add “All Pop-up books” under Books.

This means that pop-up books will receive full OCLC MARC cataloging. Moving forward, library staff can now create BSE records for any pop-up books without an existing match in Koha. The Books BSE section of the Linking Manual has been updated to reflect this (see Section V: Books, pg. V-22, under 250 Edition). When adding a BSE record for a pop-up book, staff can enter [Pop-up book] in the Edition field to note that the book is a pop-up. When the book is cataloged by Madison staff, they will also add a genre heading for Pop-up books.

Collection Code for Juvenile Book/Digital Audio Player sets added to Koha

A Collection Code for Juvenile Book/Digital Audio Player sets is now available in Koha:

• BDAPJ (BOOK/DIGITAL AUDIO JU)

This Collection Code was approved by the ILS Committee at its December meeting. The Collection Code can be used by any LINKcat library. 

For a full list of Collection Codes (as well as other codes), see the ILS Support Codes page at http://www.scls.info/ils/codes.

If you would like SCLS staff to batch change a group of items from an existing Collection Code the new code, please fill out the Batch Change Collection Code/Shelving Location/Item Type Request form, available from the ILS Forms page.