Circulation

Actions Menu

The Actions dropdown menu contains specialized circulation functions such as the Advanced Bookings and Process Pending Bookings commands.

• Cash Drawer Balance. Enter the cash drawer Starting Balance, Start Date, End Date, and click Continue. The report totals your payments and refunds, and includes patron barcodes, dates and descriptions of charges, total refunds and/or payments, the initial drawer balance, and the new balance. 
• Advanced Bookings. This will open the Advanced Bookings window, which allows you to process reservations that begin on or between two selected dates.
• Process Pending Bookings. This performs the Process Pending Bookings command, which checks to see if any of the unavailable items have recently become available. If they have, they’re automatically assigned to the requesting patron.

Command Line

The command line, located at the top-center of Circulation, is where you enter circulation commands or barcode numbers for patrons and items. If you enter only a barcode, the current Circulation Mode (shown to the left of the command line) will determine what action is performed. By default, the command line assumes that text input is a circulation command first and a patron/item barcode second.

Override Date. An operator-provided Override Date can appear immediately after the Command Line. The function of an override date depends on the current Circulation Mode.

Circulation Modes

Select a Circulation Mode from the dropdown menu located to the left of the Command Line. The Circulation Mode field indicates which function will be implemented when patron/item barcodes are typed or scanned. Frequently used modes are Bookdrop (B), Check Out (.), Hold (H), and Renewal (R).

Circulation Mode

• Bookdrop Mode (B)
• Change Destination Mod (NT)
• Check Out (.)
• Lost Copies (1)
• Discard Mode (DM)
• Hold (H)
• Hold Copy (HC)
• Inventory (I)
• Inventory with Bookdrop (IB)
• Inventory Bookdrop Suppressed (IBS)
• Inventory Suppressed (IS) 
• In Transit Mode (IT)
• Item Res Checkout (GG)
• Patron Res Checkout (GPP)
• Reservation by Patron (GP)
• Renewal (R) 
• Reservations (G)
• Reserve (J)
• Statistics (Y)
• Transfer (.X) 

Current Patron

To check out, hold, or reserve an item, you need to have a Current Patron pulled up in Circulation. 

The Current Patron pane shows important patron information such as barcode, name, checked out items, charges, and credits, as well as their grade, Lexile score, and reading level (when set in Preferences). 

Details: View and email or print the current patron’s account details, including currently loaned items, holds, reservations, fees and other charges, and general information. You can choose whether or not to include cover art when viewing, emailing, and printing patron details. 

Lookup: Opens the Patron Lookup dialog, allowing you to search your database for patron records; performs the same action as using the “L” command. 

• Notes. Available when the current patron has associated notes. Notes are provided for patrons in the Notes tabs of Patrons Management. When clicked you are also able to add notes directly to the resulting Patron Notes dialog.
• Reserves. Provides a list of the current patron’s reserves; you can remove some or all reserves from the resulting Patron Reserves dialog.
• History. Runs an individual Patron History report, which shows recent payments, credits, renewals, lost items, refunds, Lexile history, and returned items. The PDF will automatically download. You can also run this report by clicking Show History in the Actions menu of Patrons Management.

Patron Details will show relevant details for Library or Textbook data, depending on which Circulation window you access it from. To view Textbook data from Librarian or vice versa, adjust your Circulation Preferences.

Use the Circulation Command QN to open the Email Patron Details dialog. Circulation’s Patron Details is interactive! Say you want to renew an item or forgive a charge for the patron whose Details you’re viewing. Simply click on that section’s heading (i.e. “Items Out” or “Charge Summary”) to be taken to the right place in Circulation.

Current Item

The Current Item pane consists of two areas: The white area contains the copy, barcode, policy, call number, status, picture, and a short summary of available title copies. At the bottom, access the Copy List, Stats, item Lookup, and the actions menu. 

Copy List

The Copy List shows how many copies are available, the holds queue, and lists each copy’s site, location, status, and details. It can be viewed or printed, and you can use the Q= command for quick access. Several parts of the Copy List are clickable:

• Author’s name. Performs an automatic item lookup by author.
• Open item details: Pulls up that title’s Item Details.
• Patron names: Makes that patron current.
• Copy call numbers and barcodes: Makes that copy current.

Copy Stats

See the copy’s checkout count, last use date, previous checkouts, and more with Copy Stats.

Lookup

Enter your search term and then scroll through your results below. In a Centralized Catalog, select the site you want to search from the dropdown menu in the bottom left corner of the dialog.

You can also start a “begins with” search from the command line using an asterisk in the T command. For example, you would type “har*” if you were looking for Harry Potter. 

Actions Menu

• Details. Contains information about the item, including reviews, summary, links, genres, subjects, Study Programs, awards, and publisher information. It can be viewed, printed, or emailed. While viewing Item Details in Circulation, you can click on open copy list to pull up the Copy List or on the review stars to open Reviews Management. Use the QI command for quick access.
• Notes. Add a new note or view existing notes for the current copy. Copy Notes and Alert notes can be entered here or in Items > Copy Records.
• Reserves. Shows if any Patron has placed a reserve on the copy. 
• Show Map. If the current copy’s call number falls within the range of a corresponding map (created in Maps Management), selecting Show Map will display the the map, detailing where the copy is located in your library. These maps can be conveniently printed from your browser and handed to interested patrons. If the current copy lacks a call number (or there is no map with an associated call number range), Show Map is disabled.
• Vendors. This selection opens a secondary menu containing a list of Alexandria third-party partners that, when selected, link to their respective websites. Individual vendors can be disabled in Services Preferences.