Issue #11 - WorkFlows Function Alert - Filling Holds in a Timely Manner When Three Campuses Are Involved

Issue #11

Hello all,

This is a follow-up to the last blog that discussed the lag in filling holds and provided tips on expediting that process.

WorkFlows Function Alert - Filling Holds in a Timely Manner When Three Campuses Are Involved 

We have received more reports of items being sent back to their owning campus instead of being sent to the campus that the patron requested the item be sent to when they placed the item on hold.

This scenario is most likely to occur when there are 3 campuses involved:

• an owning campus
• an item drop-off campus
• and a hold pick-up campus

Here is an example scenario where an item has been returned to its owning campus instead of being sent to the requested hold pick-up campus:

A patron places a hold on an item that is currently checked out and chooses a pick-up campus that is not the item-owning campus; that item is returned to a campus other than its owning campus; circulation staff at the item drop-off campus do not see the "Item in Transit" hold alert instructing them to place the item in transit to the requested pickup campus; the item is placed in transit back to its owning campus and not to the location that the patron requested it be sent for pick-up.

This situation causes a significant lag in the time that the hold will be filled for the patron!

To avoid this situation, please look carefully at any WorkFlows pop-ups that appear when you are checking in items that have arrived in the daily mail and wait several seconds before moving on to process another item!

Items that have a hold on them will prompt an "Item Not Charged" pop-up when they are checked-in, but the "Item in Transit" message that appears shortly after the initial "Item Not Charged" pop-up can be easily overlooked if you move on to another transaction too quickly.

If this happens, then an item that should be placed in transit to the hold pick-up campus will be returned to its owning campus and additional time will be added on to when the hold will be filled.

Issue #10 - WorkFlows Function Alert - Tips for Filling Holds and Expediting Holds Delivery Between Campuses

Issue #10 

Hello, All! 

Another brief issue of the SirsiDynix Gazette that focuses on a specific WorkFlows process. This time, the focus is on filling holds and expediting holds delivery.

WorkFlows Function Alert 

Some circulation staff have reported noticing longer than usual delivery times for holds. Here are a few tips that can help expedite the process of holds delivery.

Verify the mail service times at your campus and plan to pull holds accordingly
Mail service times at many of the campuses have recently changed. Timing when you trap and retrieve holds with mail service times at your campus can help reduce the amount of time it takes for an item to be transferred to its designated "preferred pick-up" campus.

Check any "holdable items" that are received through inter-campus for a hold status, even if there is no hold slip included with the item
Hold-slips can be lost and items that are in-transit can be placed on hold in Enterprise. An item without a hold-slip that was being returned to its home campus may have had a hold placed on it during transit and the hold slip would not have been able to be placed inside that item.

Look carefully at any WorkFlows pop-ups that appear when you are checking in items that have arrived in the daily mail and wait several seconds before moving on to process another item

Items that have holds on them will prompt an "Item Not Charged" pop-up, but the "Item in Transit" message that appears shortly after the initial "Item Not Charged" pop-up can be easily overlooked if you move on to another transaction too quickly. If this happens, then an item that should be placed in transit to fill a hold could be mistakenly reshelved or mistakenly returned to its home campus.

Make sure that you have backup staff to fill holds on days when staff that process holds are absent and if possible, have a staff member pull holds in the morning and in the evening

This ensures that holds are pulled every day and that holds that are placed overnight night and during mid-day are filled in a timely manner.

Issue #9 - WorkFlows Function Alert - Manually Creating Bills for Overdue Fines on Lost Items

Issue #9

Hello, All! 

This issue of the SirsiDynix Gazette is a brief one. It's just a reminder to not manually create bills for overdue fines that have accrued on items that the patron claims to have lost.

WorkFlows Function Alert

Please do not manually create a bill for overdue fees on lost items!

WorkFlows will not subtract a manually created bill from the running tally of fines that it keeps on overdue items. This means that if the item is returned or the patron decides to pay for the lost item, then WorkFlows will create a bill for the full overdue amount plus any lost item fees. It will not subtract the amount that the patron paid if an overdue fee bill was manually created.

If a patron requests time to look for a potentially lost item, but they would like to immediately pay the overdue fees that have accrued on that item, then please explain that they cannot pay for overdue fees separate from a lost item fee.

Please consult with your Head Librarian or the Librarian on duty if the patron needs to have a hold lifted on their account for registration or other ACC related purposes.

Issue #8 - BCA Training Wrap-up, Sign-in to EBSCO Folder in Enterprise, and A WorkFlows Function Alert

Issue #8

Hello, All! 

This issue of the SirsiDynix Gazette details a new feature in Enterprise, reviews last week's BCA training, and alerts circulation staff to a WorkFlows function issue.

Enterprise: Sign-in to EBSCO folder from Enterprise 

EBSCO made some tweaks to the EDS API, which feeds the second tab in Enterprise. There is now a login to the EBSCO folder on the detailed record (accessed by clicking the full text / cite / more button), and the toolbar now mimics the toolbar settings in all our EBSCO databases.

Instructions on how to sign-in to your EBSCO folder from the EDS tab in ENterprise may be found here.

Blue Cloud Analytics Training Review

The first round of BCA training for Librarians on Oct 13th was a success. There were a lot of great questions and feedback in both sessions, resulting in tweaks made to the templates and ideas for new templates. Keep those suggestions coming!

If you missed the first round of training or would like a repeat, another session is being offered October 27th at 2pm. Sign up for the second session here.

Training materials will be added to the wiki following the completion of training.

WorkFlows Function Alert

Please do not use the Bookdrop Checkin wizard to check-in reserve items!

The time stamp on this wizard records the check-in as either one minute before noon or one minute before midnight (depending on whether the action is being done in the morning or afternoon). This can cause some reserve items to be recorded as late and as a result, WorkFlows will charge the patron the item appropriate late fee.

To avoid this issue, please use the normal Checkin wizard when checking-in reserve items.

Issue #7 - Searching for Primary Sources in Enterprise, BCA Training, and A WorkFlows Hot Tip

Issue #7

Hello, All!

This week's SirsiDynix Gazette brings you another Enterprise search technique, updates on Blue Cloud Analytics training, and a new WorkFlows "hot tip" for our circ staff.

Enterprise: Searching for Primary Sources

Searching for primary sources in Enterprise? You can use the subject heading subdivision 'sources' from the Advanced Search page to help you search! 

Please see Searching for Primary Sources in Enterprise for visual instructions on how to search using this subject heading subdivision. 

Blue Cloud Analytics Training Updates

The first round of BCA training will be held on October 13th with a second round to be held on October 27th. 

Reminder! Please complete the self-paced Mentor module, BC322 BLUEcloud Analytics: Basics, before attending training. 

Hot Tip: Avoid Receiving "Item Not Charged" pop-up message   

Are you tired of seeing the "Item Not Charged" message when you check-in an item? You can avoid seeing this message by using the Book-Drop Checkin wizard from the Common Tasks group of wizards to check-in items!  

Bonus Tip! Using the Book-Drop Checkin wizard can be especially helpful when checking in 'In-Transit' items and when trapping holds by barcode.

Issue #6 - Series Info on Records, Enterprise Search Help and Advanced Search, New Enterprise Wiki Page, and A New WorkFlows Hot TIp

Issue #6 

Hello All LS! 

Here are this week's SirsiDynix updates!

Enterprise: Series Info on Enterprise Records, Search Help Page, Advanced Search, and a New Wiki Page 

Series Information on Enterprise Records
We created a new MARC map that ties into the series information on a record and implemented it on all Enterprise records where this info exists. The series name is also hyperlinked and will take you to other editions within the same series. Examples include: Current Controversies, Opposing Viewpoints, Historic Documents, and more.


Search Help Page!
To help our users search Enterprise more efficiently, we created a help page that explains how to use Boolean operators, quote search, and advanced search. More to come to this page soon! 


Advanced Search -- How to Search Examples 
The Advanced Search Screen on Enterprise now details how to search using Boolean operators that tie directly back to our IL materials, which feature different types of coffee as examples. 


New Enterprise Wiki Page!
We created the wiki page What Gets Updated in Enterprise Following Each Harvest to explain what type of information is brought into Enterprise and how often. For example, new records in Workflows are harvested every half-hour at :10 and :40.

Hot Tip: Using the WorkFlows Glossary Pop-up

Did you know that you can access all of the information that is available on the Summary tab of the Display User wizard without having to navigate to the Display User wizard? How, you ask? By Using the WorkFlows Glossary Pop-up! 

The Glossary allows you to view all of the information that is on the Summary tab while in any of the wizards that display the user's name and you can easily copy important information such as User ID numbers and ALT IDs to paste into notes or to use for further searching. Simply click on a user's name and the Glossary will appear! 

Bonus tip! You can move the pop-up around the screen to allow you to view both the information on the screen and the information in the Glossary pop-up.   

Issue # 5 - Enterprise Search Techniques and A New WorkFlows Hot Tip

Issue #5 

Hi All!

This week's SirsiDynix Gazette will focus on Enterprise search techniques and updates and highlight another WorkFlows "hot tip" for our circ staff.

Enterprise: Automatic AND, How to Use Boolean NOT, and Mismatched Record Icons 

Reminder!
There is no need to type the Boolean operator AND between multiple keywords in Enterprise. Like Google, Enterprise automatically treats multiple keyword searches as AND searches.

Did you know?
A minus sign (-) is the equivalent of NOT when doing a basic keyword search of Enterprise? Type a minus sign in front of words you do not want included in a search (ex. hurricane -harvey). The Advanced Search screen also has this ability as well!

Known Issue - mismatched record icons
One of our ongoing issues are content icons showing up on Enterprise records that do not match the content of the record. For example, a print book will have an e-book icon. These issues are related to particular MARC tags on each record, and we're working on a project to fix all of them. Until then, please send in examples of incorrect content icons and we'll fix them on a case by case basis.  

Hot Tip: Turn-Off "Warning: Response Truncated" Pop-up 

Annoyed by repeatedly seeing the "Warning: Response Truncated" pop-up message? Well, we've got the fix! 

Follow this handy guide on how to turn off the response truncated pop-up and be annoyed no more!