Circulation Alerts and More
DS4/26/06
What It Does
Functionality Overview
 Four sets of changes that will improve the
Charge and Discharge Processing
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Ability to configure the information operators see,
in addition to how and where they will see this
information for each Circulation Desk.
Changes
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Direct link from the Discharge transaction to the
Patron Record
Alerts to exceptions – Circulation process will
stop when an exception condition has been
specified and arises during the discharge.
Information in the FYI column can be controlled.
Optional Alerts on Discharge or Charge when a
patron has items available or fines/fees balance.
Discharge Alerts
Some Conditions an Alert may be configured to appear for:
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Item is discharged
Overdue Item is discharged
Browse
Item satisfies a hold or recall request
Item is to be sent to the hold shelf
Item satisfies a call slip request
Self Shelved
Fines and Fees Applied
Item Routing to another location
All of these Alerts may be configured to how and where they will be
seen as well as what information will be included in the alert.
How & Where
Alerts may appear in the FYI column in the
discharge screen
OR
Alerts may appear in a Dialog Pop Up Box
Advantage of the Dialog Pop Up Box is that the operator has to
acknowledge the Alert message and “do something” if necessary.
Alerts may also be chosen to be ignored and will
not appear at all.
Please Note: Alerts that currently appear in the FYI
column if not chosen to do so after the Upgrade will
not appear as they do now.
Example: Browse appears now in the FYI Column of the
discharge screen – If not configured to appear in the FYI
column after the Upgrade then this alert will not be seen at
all.
Information that may appear with the Alert Message
You may choose to include the following to appear
with your Alert
Patron Name
Patron Barcode
Patron Phone
You can choose all, some or none. It’s your choice.
Example choosing all three:
More Examples:
Dialog Box Format
How Do I Get It To Look Like That?
To configure the Circulation Alerts so they appear how you
would like them to, where you would like them to and with
the information you would like included you need to begin
with System Administration.
Note: This should be done as soon as possible after the
Upgrade. Remember any existing Alerts you are familiar
with and used to may not exist after the Upgrade until you
configure the choices in System Administration.
System Administration Work
Logon to System Administration
 Circulation
 Policy Definitions
 Choose the Circ Policy – Must configure Alerts for each
Circ Policy
 Locations – Choose location – Must configure Alerts for
each location
 Settings
 NEW – Alerts Tab
System Administration
System Administration
Left Column list the Alerts you may choose from
Highlight the Alert – Click on the arrow to send the Alert to the Selected column
Decide how you want the Alert to be displayed
Dialog Pop Up Box
or
FYI Column
Choose other information you would like included in the Alert –
Patron Name, Patron Barcode, Phone by checking off the box next to
the option.
If an item being discharged has multiple Alert conditions each of these Alerts will
appear as you have them set up in System Administration.
2 Extra Alert Options
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Patron has available items
Patron has fines/fees
These alerts may be chosen by checking off the box in the Alerts area in
System Administration.
If these are checked they will show any time these two conditions occur.
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If these are checked in the Session Preferences they will show any
time these two conditions occur.
These alerts may also be left unchecked in System Administration but
may be chosen from the Session Preferences in the Circulation Client
on a transaction basis or terminal basis.
Ex: You want these two Alerts to show up only on two Circ terminals.
At the login you may set the session preferences to include these
Alerts.
Direct Links to the Patron Record
from the Discharge Screen
Upon discharge if an Alert comes up or if you need
information on the patron who has returned this item you
may right click in the Discharge screen header area and the
usual Drop down menu will appear. Two options have been
added to this menu.
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Go to Borrowing Patron…
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Go to Requesting Patron…
Choosing either “Go to Patron” menu item opens
the relevant full patron record.
Ex: You are charging out an item and a Self Shelf Alert pops up. You
may right click on the header of the Discharge screen and click on
Borrowing Patron and the patron who incurred the Self Shelf count will
appear.
How to Prepare Now
Things to do now to make System Administration
profiling easier
 Become familiar with alerts that appear in the FYI column
in the current version of Voyager.
 Read through the Release Notes and Manuals for
previous versions of Voyager (3.0 & 5.0)
 Make a list of Alerts and map out ahead of time how you
would like them to appear and what information you
would like included in each Alert. Remember this must be
done for each Policy and Location.
 Talk to your staff and get their input on which Alerts to
choose and how they will be displayed.
What To Do After The Upgrade
Is Complete
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Go to System Administration and profile for your
Alerts as soon as possible!
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Test out your settings for a couple weeks.
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Make any changes you see that will enhance
your Circulation processing!
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Hang in there!!!!