If your barcode labels are misaligned, overlapping, or off-centered, troubleshoot the issue with Barcode Your Collection.
Ensure that your import file has the correct site code for each copy. If a copy’s status unexpectedly changes to In Transit when bookdropped (checked in) instead of Available, it may be assigned to the wrong site.
While importing items, look at the Barcode Handling section on the Settings tab. Add a Starting Item Barcode and select Always Assign New Barcodes.
If a patron’s information is updated with an import file, all of their historical information will remain on the record as-is. Historical data is only removed from a patron record if the individual patron is completely removed from the system.
This means that if you’re recycling barcode numbers, you’ll need to permanently remove the record of the patron who was previously assigned the barcode before you assign that barcode to another patron record.
Patron imports can be used to change any field in patron records except for the Barcode field.
If you have used Alexandria or Textbook Tracker to catalog non-book items such as laptops, chargers and other technology it is a good idea to use a specific item policy or policies to manage them. In most cases you will want a title record for something like a Chromebook to include all of the copies instead of 1/1 with titles/copies.
If you are using an import file, you will need to create a title record with an ISBN first so the import setting “Title update matching” works for title and ISBN/LCCN.
Read Best Practices for Cataloging to learn how to catalog equipment in Alexandria.
If you have any questions please call Customer Support at 1-800-347-4942 to get help with importing files.
How do you want notice to be sent? If you’d like the program to do most of the work for you, try Automatic Email Notifications. Go to Preferences > Circulation. In the Circulation Settings tab, click the Enable automatic email notifications checkbox. This feature automatically sends email notices to the patron’s email address for in-stock holds, overdue fees, and a number of other things. Read more about it in Circulation Settings.
For those of you who want greater control over your notices – such as when they go out and to whom – use scheduled notice reports. For example, you could set up an Overdue Items and Unpaid Charges Notice report for each grade or homeroom and schedule it to email the teacher every month so they can help remind students.
And if you find it meets your needs, you can even use both methods at the same time!
To forgive a charge for an individual patron, use Circulation.
To forgive charges in batches, use the Forgive Charges utility.
Usually, this means the file is larger than 50mb. You need to separate the file into smaller sizes in order to import them.