[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Holds and Offline Checkins

[Karen Collier]

Bill, 

The "no op" checkin you're describing sounds to me like it would be perfect for offline checkin. 

Regarding transits, I'd say it would be preferable for offline check-ins NOT to automatically go to transit. Like with holds, staff would have no way to know which books are going somewhere other than shelving (unless they were physically labeled as belonging to another branch, but they wouldn't always be labeled and the home library wouldn't always be the destination, so even that's unreliable). 

I assume that if the item wasn't immediately transited in the system, it would show up on the pull list? So there might be a little extra delay while staff tracks the book down, but the item would reliably get where it's going, rather than languishing on the shelf while staff thinks it's transiting. 

Thanks, 
Karen 

----- "Bill Erickson" <erickson at esilibrary.com> wrote: 
> 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 
> 

-- 
Karen Collier 
Public Services Librarian 
Kent County Public Library 
408 High Street 
Chestertown, MD 21620 
410-778-3636 
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