We have colorful step-by-step instructions for bringing in batches of MARC records from the Hybrid KLC (or OCLC for larger libraries) now available on the Training page, under Circulation.
Or you can download a copy today here:
Guidelines:
1. Always look up a patron who asks for a library card. He or she may already have an account at another NExpress library. Explain to the patron that one library card works at all NExpress libraries.
2. If you find an existing account for the patron, look to see if there are fines, overdue materials or notes on the account.
3. Fines or overdues for items from a library other than yours should be noted. Inform the patron about the fines or overdues that you see.
a. If the account is not debarred, you are free to check out to the account after you verify the information in the account is correct.
b. If the account is debarred or has long overdue/lost materials, ask the patron to contact the loaning library to clear the account.
c. Fines under $10 can be retained or forwarded to the loaning library, at the discretion of the director; fines over $10 should be forwarded to the loaning library.
4. You are encouraged to contact other NExpress libraries directly to facilitate resolving issues with a a patron’s account.
5. If there are no fines or outstanding materials on an existing account, then you are free to modify and/or delete the account as you see fit.
6. As a general rule, we would like patrons to have a single borrower account in the shared catalog. However, there may be times when you feel it is necessary to create a duplicate account.
7. You can change the patron’s Home Library, address, phone and all other account information without issuing a new card.
8. To issue a new or replacement library card, just overwrite the old card number in the patron’s account. You can place a note in the account showing the date the new/replacement card was issued.
There is a bug in Koha wherein:
Adding a repeatable holiday creates holidays retroactively for Koha’s calendar
module. fines.pl balks when it sees an overdue fine calculation where amount
!= amountoutstanding (it assumes a payment was made, so tries to adjust the
amountoutstanding appropriately). This fails if the calendar module reports a
smaller number of fine-inducing days on one run of fines.pl than it did on the
previous.
Symptoms:
Overdue charges appear on patron accounts with Amount Outstanding > Amount.
This problem only occurs after a library has changed its calendar settings. Adding Sunday as a repeatable holiday, for example, makes Koha erroneously added the retroactive fine amount ($1 per day for movies, .05 per day for other items) to the maximum total, resulting in nutty fines like $3.25 (for books and other items) and $7.00 (for movies).
When you run across these kinds of fines, just charge the patron the $3 maximum and “write off” the remainder by paying the whole thing off regardless of the actual amount. The bug will be fixed eventually.
Mickey
This is a friendly reminder; please share this information with the people responsible for your library’s cataloging. Please refer to these instructions when importing MARC records into NExpress from the KLC. If you are importing MARC records from anywhere else (CatExpress, vendor records, etc.), please refer to these instructions.
In both situations, please make sure you change the settings to the ones that marked below in red:
Not sure what else to call bug 3270, but here’s the scenario that says you’ve encountered this bug:
Let’s say a patron or staff member cancels a hold that has already been confirmed and transferred from Library A and is on it’s way to Library B with a transit slip. When the item arrives at Library B, and the staff scan it, nothing happens – there is no message saying to Send the Item Back to Library A or a message saying that a Hold Was Found for Patron X. The clue that lets you know this nasty little black bug has crawled to your Circ Desk is the message Not Check Out.
What do you do??
At Basehor, they simply check the item out to a staff member and immediately check it back in. This triggers a transfer prompt and correctly updates the Current Location.
Your reward for this work around is a circulation statistic.
Other clues that this bug present:
When an item has a status of Available, but the Current location and Home branch are mismatched. This item belongs to Bonner Springs, not NEKLS HQ:
To fix the bug, determine with a shelf check where the item is physically located and manually update the Item Record:
Looking for a specific barcode? Add the text ‘barcode:’ before typing or scanning the barcode to go directly to the Bib record associated with that barcode. For example:
- Sharon
Step 1:
Step 2:
Hello…we had an unexpected Web site upgrade and will be methodically replacing information, forms, documents and images over the next few weeks. Please contact the nexpresshelp team with individual requests for documents and we will send those to you via email.
Thank you for your patience.
Sharon Moreland
Below are some instructional videos useful for Koha training. The videos in this post and in the referenced posts have been reactivated by Sharon January 14, 2010.
Updating a Patrons OPAC Log in and logging into the OPAC - (Silent video) November 2009
Written instructions for Updating an OPAC log in and password – Written November 2009
New Catalog Overview – Recorded November 2009 (sorry, duplicate video, I’ll hunt down the right one)
New My Account Overview video for Patrons – Recorded November 2009
Checking Out Items Using the Staff Client – a Quick and Dirty video recorded 11/09
Placing Holds – the information is still current, even if the interface has changed slightly since I first recorded these.
Pulling the Holds Pick List (from March 2009) – While the screen shots are dated, the process is the same.
Follow up Training:
Searching and Search Training and Search Bugs and Barcode Searching- These posts include videos and exercises to familiarize yourselves with the search capabilities of Koha’s Staff Client, along with an explanation of a Known Issue related to Subtitles NOT displaying in the Staff Client (while they DO show up in the OPAC).
Transfers to Receive Report – How to instructions for using this Circulation report to see what items are in transit to your location
Managing the Holds Shelf - How to instructions for using the Holds Awaiting Pick Up circulation report to clear out expired holds from your shelf
As a result of today’s Koha Explorer’s Group meeting today, I am sharing the NExpress Orientation Packet created to help with the migration of four Winnebago and three Follett libraries into the Koha catalog. Heather managed the actual data extraction from these systems and can be contacted directly with questions and procedures.
NExpress Orientation Packet – Table of Contents
Hi,
I happened to be in the office this evening when Carolyn got a ‘Dead Box’ – a box of mislabeled materials sent to her by Henry Industries for re-labeling. I noticed that several of the offenders were NExpress libraries…sending holds to other NExpress libraries. We understand that NEKLS libraries have to unlearn and relearn this courier business, whereas the rest of the state just has to learn the ‘Henry’ way.
So, please, pretty please, go to the Kansas Library Express site or visit the Henry Industries site and verify, double check, spot check, or have a look-see that the label you are using to route materials is correct, up-to-date, accurate, complete, new, and right. This includes your library’s return label…
This may mean finding and deleting a file off of your computer and using the document stored at the Henry Industries site. It could also mean throwing away old labels that have already been laminated. A small price to pay to avoid the Dead Box…
Did you know that the labels changed December 11, 2009? Route designations, hours of delivery, library names, and other key bits of information that are incorrect or incomplete on your label can lead to the Dead Box…
Using the wrong label not only creates work for Carolyn, but also delays the delivery of holds for patrons.
Thank you for your care, concern, thoughtfulness, attention to detail, cooperation, and help.
- Sharon
