[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Holds and Offline Checkins

[Bill Erickson]

In Evergreen trunk, what will eventually be 2.0, there is a new "no op"
checkin.  It does the usual checkin business, but prevents the item from
being captured for a hold or going into transit.  This seems like a good
approach for offline checkins.  My concern would be the transit, though.  Is
it helpful or harmful for offline checkins to put items automatically into
transit when necessary?

-b

On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 1:21 PM, Karen Collier <kcollier at kent.lib.md.us>wrote:

> James,
>
> It's been a while since I've had to use offline mode, but I seem to
> remember there being a list after upload of transactions that may not have
> gone quite right that could use intervention (can't remember what it's
> called).  I think that list includes items that should have been snagged for
> holds.  Helpful, but still kinda frustrating if the book has migrated back
> to the shelf or is hiding on a shelf of other recent check-ins.
>  Particularly if the patron is notified by email that it's in... and
> meanwhile another patron checks it out.  Unlikely, but possible.
>
> One work-around we've tried is to do check-outs in offline mode and save
> check-ins on a special cart for when connectivity returns so we can be sure
> not to miss any holds.  Seems a shame though to use only part of the
> feature.
>
> It seems to me it'd be more useful if the system set them to checked in (or
> shelving or whatever) and put them on the pull list, rather than setting
> them to holds shelf.  Staff would still have to track the items down, but at
> least you'd eliminate the discrepancy between the system and reality.
>
> My 2 cents.  Hope it helps.
>
> Karen
>
> --
> Karen Collier
> Public Services Librarian
> Kent County Public Library
> 408 High Street
> Chestertown, MD 21620
> 410-778-3636
> - Show quoted text -
>
> ----- "James Fournie" <jfournie at sitka.bclibraries.ca> wrote:
>
> > Hi there,
> >
> > A librarian from a SITKA site has noticed that during offline
> > checkins, if an item has holds on it, there is no warning or alert or
> > any other indication of the holds, during offline mode, or even when
> > the transactions are uploaded.
> >
> > I have tested this, and I found that not only is there no warning
> > about holds, but also the item in question is automatically counted
> > as
> > "on the holds shelf".  This does not make sense to me -- how would
> > you
> > know to put it on the holds shelf?
> >
> > I am wondering how other sites deal with offline checkins, if there
> > is
> > a specific workflow strategy for dealing with this.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > James Fournie
> > BC SITKA Team
>
>


-- 
Bill Erickson
| VP, Software Development & Integration
| Equinox Software, Inc. / The Evergreen Experts
| phone: 877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)
| email: erickson at esilibrary.com
| web: http://esilibrary.com
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