An Introduction to the NExpress (Koha) Staff Client

Part 1 – Checking items in:

• Video – Checking Items In (8/10)
• Video – Checking Items In with Holds (8/10)

Part 2 – Checking items out:

• Video – Checking Items Out (8/10)
• Video – Patron Account features in Staff Client, with Checking out demonstrated (11/09)

Part 3 – Issuing new cards and editing patron records:

• Issuing Library Cards Handout (step-by-step)
• Editing Patrons

Part 4 – Managing Holds

• Managing Holds in NExpress (.pdf) – Complete instructions
• Run and Pull Pick List (video 9/10)
• Check in and Confirm Holds (9/10) – for more examples, see the Checking Items with Holds video
• Homework Posts:

• • Transfers to Receive Report – How-to instructions for using this Circulation report to see what items are in transit to your location. Useful for tracking items mis-routed on the Courier.
  • Managing the Holds Shelf - How-to instructions for using the Holds Awaiting Pick Up circulation report to clear out expired holds from your shelf.  The Holds Awaiting Pick Up report is not yet working as expected.  PTFS is working on the issue.

Part 5 – Searching

• Overview of the keyword and advanced search features of the Staff Client
  • Keyword searching hints -
    • add “leavenwrth” or “leavenworth” to improve results
    • Look for and use UNIQUE terms.  Is the author’s last name unusual, like “Evanovich”? Is there a term like “playaway” that will improve results?
    • As in Google, use a combination of keywords from the title, series and author name
    • Keyword searching looks at All fields of All attached items, even mis-cataloged ones
  • Advanced searching hints
    • Title, Author, Series Title searches are exact, so spelling counts but you get faster results
    • Look for unique or unusual subject headings to help narrow your search – “cookery for two”
    • Koha can’t find what is NOT in the record.  If a series title isn’t in the record, no amount of searching will find the book.
  • Use Amazon, use ISBN numbers, use What’s Next in the Series, use NoveList (if available)

Part 6 – Placing  a Hold:

• Video and Post – Known Issues: Placing Holds (3/09)
• Placing a hold in the OPAC
• Placing holds in the Staff Client (silent videos from 9/10)
  • Placing  hold from the Search results
  • Placing a hold from the Details page
  • Placing a hold Using “Search to Hold”
  • Placing multiple holds from the Search results, starting with an Advanced Search

Cataloging Training Materials (reminder: they are permanently located on this page)

• Cataloging and Classifying Items in Koha (includes itypes and ccodes) – Revised 8/10
• Cataloging Overview Presentation (view online) – Revised 8/10
• Adding an Item to an Existing Bibliographic Record – Revised 8/10
• Koha Cataloging Check List – Revised 8/10
• Finding and Importing Records from the Hybrid KLC – Revised 8/10
• Staging MARC Records for Import – Revised 8/10
• Creating Fast Add and Brief Records for ILL

Advanced Training and Homework Posts:

• Managing Suggestions for Purchase - overview video 9/10
  • Must be logged in as TECH or DIRECTOR
  • Step-by-step instructions post, with a video from Royce at Tonganoxie Public Library
  • Patrons are alerted the next time they log into their account of your decision
  • Currently, there are 245 requests!  Patrons DO use this feature.

• Searching and Search Training and Search-related Bugs and Barcode Searching-  These posts include videos and exercises to familiarize yourselves with the search capabilities of Koha’s Staff Client.
  NOTE: Do not include the special characters ( ! ? & ) in searches, it may skew results.
• What to do with Agent Interlibrary Loans – Best practices
• Tags and the Tag Cloud – Ideas from Susan at Hiawatha
• Handling Patron Accounts and Fines – Best practices
• NExpress FAQs

Below is the Annotated Agenda

Welcome : NExpress Shared Catalog Overview and Vision and Values Statement

Introduction to the Patron Catalog (.doc)

• Catalog Overview – Recorded November 2009
• New My Account Overview video for Patrons – Recorded November 2009

Introduction to the NExpress (Koha) Staff Client (.doc)

• Checking In and Check In and Confirm – Silent recordings from April 2010
• Checking Out Items Using the Staff Client – Recorded November 2009
• Post and Video:  Known Issues: Placing Holds
• Issuing Library Cards and Editing Patrons (now Privacy Proof!)
• Staff Client Advanced Search – See below for additional Search help
• Post and Video (upon request): Pulling the Holds Pick List
  • Managing Holds in NExpress (.pdf) – New instructions, May 2010

Troubleshooting and Questions

Follow up Training, aka Homework:

• Searching and Search Training and Search-related 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). NOTE: Do not include the “?” character in searches, it will skew your results.
• Managing Purchase Suggestions – instructions and video
• Working with the Koha Label Maker – Special thanks to Claudia at Atchison for this.
• 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
• What to do with Agent Interlibrary Loans – Best practices
• Tags and the Tag Cloud – Ideas from Susan at Hiawatha
• Handling Patron Accounts and Fines – Best practices
• NExpress FAQs
• Known Issues to be aware of:
  • Canceled Holds in Transit Bug

Yet, I think we’ve wrongly assumed for a long time that most people knew how to take a screenshot. Our apologies for that assumption. Here’s some quick and easy instructions for taking a screenshot on your computer, and how to send the screenshot to us.

1. On your PC keyboard, there is a key that says Prnt Scrn or PrintScreen; it’s usually above the Home/Page Up/Page Down keys or the keypad. On laptops, the key will say the same thing, and is usually on the same row as the Function keys. This key is the one you will be using to take a screen shot.
2. When you find something you want to take a screenshot of, hit the PrntScrn key.
3. Open up Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Word Processing or WordPad — basically any type of word processing program; Microsoft Paint also works for this. However, don’t use NotePad for this.
4. Once you have a new document open, go to the Edit menu, and select Paste. The screen image you captured above should appear in the document. Add more screenshots if applicable. If you want to add any text to explain more about what’s on the screen feel free to.
5. Save the document and email it to nexpresshelp@nekls.org as an attachment.

Other options:

• use the key combination of Alt+PrntScrn to capture just the open window.
• Take a look at this 23 Things Kansas Lesson written by Sharon Moreland to learn about even more options for screen capturing, including taking videos of your screen; microphone is optional.

• You can create individual ILL Patron accounts for libraries you send materials to through Agent.  If you create an ILL account, please include the terms ‘ILL’ and Your library name in the Surname field to help differentiate your “Anytown Public Library” ILL account from other libraries.

• You can give these ILL Patron accounts a patron category of Interlibrary Loan or one of your regular Adult patron categories.  The benefit of using the Interlibrary Loan patron category is that we can set up unique default circulation and fine rules for those patrons, for example 35 day loan periods with no fines.  Just let the NExpress team know that you want new rules established for this patron category.
• Another option is to create a single “Agent ILL” or “My Public Library ILL” account and check out ALL of your ILL’s to this account.  Centralia uses this solution and Tonganoxie has recently switched to this solution.
• For items on loan from outside libraries, some libraries use a Fast Add Framework to create a ‘quick and dirty’ Bib/item record for the item on loan. Ottawa also has a procedure established where they put a hold on the item at the time of check out to ensure that the ILL librarian gets the book when it is returned by the patron, so they can send it back and delete the Fast Add record.  Here is a screencast demonstrating how to create and manage a fast add bib/item: http://screencast.com/t/ZWJjNTM1

Are there other options out there worth sharing with the new NExpress libraries?  Please use the comments to add to this discussion.

-Sharon

When a patron is logged into their account in the Online Public Access Catalog, they can place a Purchase Suggestions from the “My purchase suggestions” tab or if they cannot find what they are looking for in a search, they are prompted to make a Purchase Suggestion:

What happens to all of these Purchase Suggestions?
How do you, as the Library Director or Selector, access these suggestions?

Follow the step-by-step instructions below, or watch a video where Royce at Tonganoxie demonstrates this module.

• Log into the Staff Client using a TECH or DIRECTOR account
• Go to the Acquisitions Module (More > Acquisitions)
  
• Select the Manage Suggestions link
  
• Review the Pending Suggestions and select the appropriate Reason, and choose to Accept, Reject or Delete the Suggestions.  The Reason you select will appear on the Patron’s “My purchase suggestions” page.
• Follow through with ordering the item, then update the status again, if you so choose, once it is cataloged and processed.
• The Patron can watch the progress of their Purchase Suggestions.

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

Catalog Overview – Recorded November 2009

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

The “Transfers to receive” report is on the Circulation page, under the Holds Ratio report:

What this report shows is a list of items coming to your library from other libraries in the NExpress Shared Catalog, either to fill a hold for your patron or to be re-shelved.

We recommend looking at this report weekly or monthly to help find and locate missing items, items that were not transferred correctly and/or items that have accidentally been shelved at the wrong library.
(Typical clean up and maintenance that is needed when libraries do interlibrary loan!)

When you first run this report, you will see that some items have been in transit between libraries for MONTHS!

How do you go about ‘cleaning up’ this list? We’ll talk about it at the November 5 Users Group meeting, but I think a simple phone call and shelf check will do the trick in most cases.  If an item is truly lost in transit between libraries, follow your library’s procedures for managing lost ILL items.  You may want to refer to this post about the Materials Replacement Fund.

Images updated Jan. 14, 2010 by Sharon

Managing the Holds Shelf (updated 9/10 for a Managing Holds in NExpress Handout)

Overview -

• Using the Holds Awaiting Pickup Report, you can quickly see which holds have expired and need to be returned or moved on to the next hold.
• Using the ‘Cancel Hold’ buttons provided, you can remove the item from the patron’s account and initiate a transit of the item back Home OR confirm and transfer the item to fill another hold.
• PTFS Harley Note: This report does not yet limit to pick up library, as it did prior to the upgrade.  The report also has some issues, the biggest being that you are not prompted to print a transfer slip.
  Other existing issues:
  Bug 3288 (Transit prompt not immediately triggered after hold is canceled) and
  Bug 3270 (Canceling a hold request after transfer initiated orphans item)

Steps (with illustrations below):

1. From Circulation, Open the “Holds Awaiting Pickup Report” (just under the Holds Pick List)
2. By default, the report is in reverse date order – newest holds at the top.
3. Click on the arrow buttons next to the “Available Since” heading to resort the report.
4. Now the oldest holds are at the top of the report. Many will say “Hold Over” – these have been on the Holds shelf for at least 7 days.
5. If the item and the patron who has the item on hold both belong to YOUR library, you will see the “Cancel Hold” button.
   • Clicking on Cancel Hold will remove the hold from the patron and check in the item.
   • You may double check this by checking in the item a 2nd time – it should say Available and Not checked out.
6. If the item is from a different library, you will see the “Cancel hold and return to: LIBRARY” button.
   • Clicking on this button with remove the hold from the patron and initiate a Transit from your library back to the home library IF there is not another hold on the item.
   • To double check this, using the Search the Catalog box, type in “barcode: XXXX” The status should say “In transit from Bonner Springs to Linwood” for example.
7. If the item is from a different library AND on hold for a different patron, you will still see the “Cancel hold and return to: LIBRARY” button.
   • However, when you click on this button, you will get a message saying, “Holds awaiting pickup for your library on: 08/21/09 Hold find for (The boyfriend) must be transferred – This hold placed by Patron at the library LIBRARY. Please transfer…” and SUBMIT QUERY
   • After you submit query, you will be returned to the Holds Awaiting Pickup Report
8. To print a transfer slip, check in the item and Confirm, transfer and print slip (as normal)

Agenda (and Reports Fest Presentation (.ppt)):

• Reports module overview
• Statistical reports – the Wizards
• Editing a Saved Report
• Creating a new report
  • Pose the question
  • Determine where the data is stored
  • Determine what to show
  • Add limitations and filters

Other Helps:

NExpresslibrary.org > Training > Reports Training

Useful Koha Database Tables (.doc) or the Full List of Koha Tables

Useful NExpress CCodes and Item Types (.pdf)

NExpress Library Branch Codes:

• ATCHISON
• BALDWIN
• BASEHOR
• BONNERSPGS  (note abbreviated spelling)
• EFFINGHAM
• HIAWATHA
• LINWOOD
• LYNDON
• MCLOUTH
• MERIDEN
• NEKLS
• NORTONVLLE  (note the abbreviated spelling)
• OTTAWA
• OVERBROOK
• SILVERLAKE
• TONGANOXIE
• VALLEYFALL  (note the missing “s”)
• WELLSVILLE
• WETMORE
• WILLIAMSBG  (note the abbreviated spelling)
• WINCHESTER

Nicole’s presentation on MySQL from KohaCon: