FAQ

When should I complete my inventory sessions?

We recommend completing all of your inventory sessions when you are finished with your whole inventory. This will ensure any items that may have been misplaced on a different shelf will be found and scanned.

Is there anything I should know before running the Declare Missing Items as Lost utility?

Don’t forget about items that aren’t on your shelves! Items in classrooms, book rooms, or on display can be easy to overlook. Inventory these items before you declare a missing item as lost. If you’re using Sessions in the Inventory module, this may mean waiting until you have finished all of your inventory, and using utilities to declare items lost.

Also, if you are running your session by a call number range, we recommend using call numbers that are the same length with only whole numbers (no decimals). Using irregular call number lengths can lead to inaccurate estimates.

How do I see which items have been inventoried?

Run a report. In the Review step of the inventory process, run the Inventory Items Report. And in the Reports module, run the Copies Inventoried or Copies Not Inventoried reports.

Why did I get an alert saying “out of session range” when scanning in my inventory session?

Check your session overview and take a look at your Call Number Range. Make sure the “From” and “Through” fields have the same number of characters.

For example:

From: 000.000 AAA
Through: 299.999 ZZZ

Where do I find my serial number?

Your Alexandria serial number is located in the following places:

/admin > Status

topnav > help menu > About Alexandria

What is Clever and/or GG4L integration and how does it work?

Clever is a third-party service used by school districts to facilitate the secure transfer of student rosters between their school information system (SIS) and digital learning applications. Global Grid for Learning (GG4L) is a K-12 industry collaborative that provides schools with various EdTech tools, including the secure exchange of school roster data between applications.

These programs access information from a district’s SIS such as Powerschool, Infinite Campus or Skyward and then work when set up with Alexandria to import and update patron information. Usually these services are managed at the district level and synced in Alexandria sites with IT personnel and our Customer Support assistance. Depending on the needs of each school, the decision to use one or the other is decided by the school administration before adding the services to the Alexandria license.

How do I add a new Librarian or Operator in Alexandria so they can check out books to students?

Librarians, students, staff, and admins are all added into the system as patrons, but have different levels of access based on their Security Group. Take a look at Adding Operators. We also recommend reviewing our Security Best Practices to ensure organized operator records and seamless access.

I haven’t printed barcode labels in a while. When I went to do this, I went to Operations and then Labels. It took me to the support center. What am I doing wrong?

The “Labels” tab is not currently functioning, it is there to inform our customers in the future we will be changing the way you will access labels. Until we have made this change, you will want to access labels through the “Reports” Tab.

Go to Operations
Select Reports
Choose Categories: Copies

4. Click on Copy Labels (3×10) — Barcode Labels, Envelope Labels, Info Labels

How do we see how many total books are in our collection?

Click on the ‘?’ Icon in the top right corner of Alexandria, and select ‘About Alexandria’. This will give you a total number of items and patrons currently in your catalog, and also tell you how many you are allowed to have based on your license.

Can I have more than on Slideshow?

While you can only have one Slideshow active from the primary /slideshow location, you can always show additional Slideshows by creating Explore buttons that link to a Slideshow URL.

Tip: Custom Slideshow Buttons

You know you can go to /slideshow to view a slideshow of items as determined by your settings in Preferences > Researcher > Slideshow.

You know you can create an Explore button that links to your Slideshow.

But did you now that you’re not limited to a single slideshow? You can set up as many custom slideshows as you want, each with a specific URL.

Here’s how:

To get your primary Slideshow URL, add /slideshow to the end of your login URL. For example, https://demo.goalexandria.com/slideshow.
- If you’re in a centralized catalog, the URL will also include your site code at the end, like https://ccdemo.goalexandria.com/slideshow?site=EVE.
Now, let’s add a search string. At the end of the Slideshow URL, add ?search=search string. For example, if you want a slideshow with books about space, you’ll enter ?search=((smart::space)).
- Search strings can be complicated, but they don’t have to be. For an easy way to get a search string, go to Search and perform a search or open the list you want, then click Share and copy the search string. You can paste the whole thing at the end of your Slideshow URL.
But wait, there’s more! You can add the parameters for speed, layout, and transition.

For speed, add &speed=3 for 3-second intervals.
For layout, add &layout=split or &layout=preview.
For transition, add &transition=fade or &transition=drawer or any other transitions that you can see in your Slideshow preferences.
Go to your site’s Slideshow Preferences and tap View Slideshow. Copy that URL and manipulate the settings in another tab or window to see what works.
Here’s a breakdown of what your URL could look like:

Now you can use that custom Slideshow URL with any Explore button to lead your patrons to your beautiful Slideshow.