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Calendars

SYSTEM-A/TT

Set Closed and Period Due dates to match the different schedules of your library and library patrons.

To access it directly, add /calendars to the end of your Alexandria URL.

Contingent upon your Policies, Calendars are used to help accurately perform certain circulation-based calculations, such as assign due dates, calculate fines, and manage holds, among other things. Therefore, it’s essential that you establish your week-to-week schedule and identify specific Closed dates throughout the year. To assist you in setting up your calendar(s) quickly and accurately, we recommend that you obtain a copy of your union’s yearly schedule, highlighting all of the Closed dates and holidays for the current—and upcoming—year(s).

Calendar preferences also make it possible to create and assign custom calendars for each of your Policies; helpful for when you have groups of patrons who may be operating on different school levels and/or schedules. For the time being, you are only allowed to create calendars for the entire union—not for a specific site.

Alexandria provides calendars for the current year, the previous year, and three years in the future.

  • To change the Month/ Year of the current calendar, click on the current month/year name at the top of the calendar field; alternately, you may click Next to go forward one month or Previous to go back a prior month.
  • Select an existing calendar from the Calendars list on the left-hand side.
    • You can assign Period Due and Closed dates by clicking days on the actual calendar.
    • Clicking on calendar days cycles your choices from Open (nothing displayed), Closed (dates on which the library is closed), Period Due (see below), and then back to Open.
    • Work through each month of the year, marking the dates on which the library is Closed (e.g. holidays). Depending on your Policies settings, item due dates are usually calculated so that they never fall on Closed dates—only on Open or Period Due dates. However, there are some exceptions to Closed dates when using Override Dates; for instance, you can configure your Policies so that fines stop accruing on closed days.
    • To change the Closed date for the same day of the week for the entire selected month, click on one of the Sun through Sat buttons at the top of the calendar.
    • Mark the date(s) that you want all materials to be returned to your library as Period Due (e.g. a particular date near the end of the school year). A Period Due date forces an item (on a particular calendar) to be due on that day; configure your Policies to Apply Period Due Dates. For example, if you set a period due date of May 13, 2016, all books checked out before May 13th—that normally would have been due after the 13th—will be assigned a new due date of May 13th.
  • Click on the white Add Note icon in a calendar date to add General Date Notes (available for all calendars). Notes can be used to provide private notes for the librarian. When you’ve created a note, an icon will appear on the calendar day.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Add a New Calendar

To create a new calendar:

  1. In the Calendars section on the left-hand side, click the New (+) button. The New Calendar roll-down will appear.
  2. Provide the New Calendar Name in the blank field.
  3. If the new calendar is to be a duplicate of the current calendar (i.e. used as a template for a new one), check the Duplicate box.
  4. Click OK to continue and make the new calendar current; alternately, click Cancel to abort the process.
  5. Finally, click Save to keep your changes or Revert to abandon them.

Remove a Calendar

To remove an existing calendar:

  1. Select (highlight) the calendar to be removed from the Calendars list on the left-hand side of the window.
  2. Click the Remove (-) button.
  3. Any policies that were using the deleted calendar will be reassigned to the Standard calendar. You cannot delete the Standard calendar.
  4. Click Save to keep your changes or Revert to decline them.

Rename a Calendar

To rename an existing calendar:

  1. Select the calendar to be renamed from the Calendars list on the left-hand side of the window.
  2. Select Rename from the Actions dropdown menu. In the New Calendar Name roll-down, provide the new name for the calendar.
  3. Click OK to continue or Cancel to abort.
  4. Finally, click Save to keep your changes or Revert to decline them.

Add Notes to a Calendar

Notes can be used to display automatic reminders for both Librarian and Researcher Workstations, as well as provide private notes for the librarian.

To add notes to a calendar day:

  1. Click on the white Add Note icon in the desired date of the desired calendar (e.g. May 13th of the Standard calendar).
  2. The General Date Note roll-down for that date will appear; General Date Notes are available for all calendars.
  3. Enter the appropriate notes in the appropriate field. When you’ve created a note, an icon will appear on the calendar day.
  4. Click on OK to continue or Cancel to abort.
  5. Finally, click Save to keep your changes or Revert to discard them