1 Borrowing items: who, what, for how long
2 ========================================
4 Circulation policies pull together user, library, and item data to determine how
5 library materials circulate, such as: which patrons, from what libraries can
6 borrow what types of materials, for how long, and with what overdue fines.
8 Individual elements of the circulation policies are configured using specific
9 interfaces, and should be configured prior to setting up the circulation
12 Data elements that affect your circulation policies
13 ---------------------------------------------------
15 There are a few data elements which must be considered when setting up your
21 Several fields set via the holdings editor are commonly used to affect the
22 circulation of an item.
24 * *Circulation modifier* - Circulation modifiers are fields used to control
25 circulation policies on specific groups of items. They can be added to items
26 during the cataloging process. New circulation modifiers can be created in the
27 staff client by navigating to *Administration -> Server Administration -> Circulation
29 * *Circulate?* flag - The circulate? flag in the holdings editor can be set to False
30 to disallow an item from circulating.
31 * *Reference?* flag - The reference? flag in the holdings editor can also be used as
32 a data element in circulation policies.
34 Shelving location data
35 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
37 * To get to the Shelving Locations Editor, navigate to *Administration ->
38 Local Administration -> Shelving Locations Editor*.
39 * Set _OPAC Visible_ to "No" to hide all items in a shelving location from the
40 public catalog. (You can also hide individual items using the Copy Editor.)
41 * Set _Hold Verify_ to "Yes" if when an item checks in you want to always ask for
42 staff confirmation before capturing a hold.
43 * Set _Checkin Alert_ to "Yes" to allow routing alerts to display when items
45 * Set _Holdable_ to "No" to prevent items in an entire shelving location from
47 * Set _Circulate_ to "No" to disallow circulating items in an entire shelving
49 * If you delete a shelving location, it will be removed from display in the staff
50 client and the catalog, but it will remain in the database. This allows you to
51 treat a shelving location as deleted without losing statistical information for
52 circulations related to that shelving location.
54 image::media/copy_locations_editor.png[screenshot of Shelving Location Editor]
56 * Shelving locations can also be used as a data element in circulation policies.
61 Finally, several characteristics of specific patrons can affect circulation
62 policies. You can modify these characteristics in a patron's record (*Search ->
63 Search for Patrons*, select a patron, choose *Edit* tab) or when registering a
64 new patron (*Circulation -> Register Patron*).
66 * The user permission group is also commonly used as a data element in
68 * Other user data that can be used for circulation policies include the
69 *juvenile* flag in the user record.
74 *Loan duration* describes the length of time for a checkout. You can also
75 identify the maximum renewals that can be placed on an item.
77 You can find Circulation Duration Rules by navigating to *Administration
78 -> Server Administration -> Circulation Duration Rules*.
80 image::media/circ_duration_rules.jpg[]
82 *Recurring fine* describes the amount assessed for daily and hourly fines as
83 well as fines set for other regular intervals. You can also identify any grace
84 periods that should be applied before the fine starts accruing.
86 You can find Recurring Fine Rules by navigating to *Administration -> Server
87 Administration -> Circulation Recurring Fine Rules*.
89 image::media/circ_recurring_fine_rules.jpg[]
91 *Max fine* describes the maximum amount of fines that will be assessed for a
92 specific circulation. Set the *Is Percent* field to True if the maximum fine
93 should be a percentage of the item's price.
95 You can find Circ Max Fine Rules by navigating to *Administration -> Server
96 Administration -> Circulation Max Fine Rules*.
98 image::media/circ_max_fine_rules.jpg[]
100 These rules generally cause the most variation between organizational units.
102 Loan duration and recurring fine rate are designed with 3 levels: short, normal,
103 and extended loan duration, and low, normal, and high recurring fine rate. These
104 values are applied to specific items, when item records are created.
106 When naming these rules, give them a name that clearly identifies what the rule
107 does. This will make it easier to select the correct rule when creating your
110 Circulation Limit Sets
111 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
113 Circulation Limit Sets allow you to limit the maximum number of items for
114 different types of materials that a patron can check out at one time. Evergreen
115 supports creating these limits based on circulation modifiers, shelving locations,
116 or circulation limit groups, which allow you to create limits based on MARC data.
117 The below instructions will allow you to create limits based on circulation
120 * Configure the circulation limit sets by selecting *Administration -> Local
121 Administration -> Circulation Limit Sets*.
122 * *Items Out* - The maximum number of items circulated to a patron at the same
124 * *Min Depth* - Enter the minimum depth in the org tree that
125 Evergreen will consider as valid circulation libraries for counting items out.
126 The min depth is based on org unit type depths. For example, if you want the
127 items in all of the circulating libraries in your consortium to be eligible for
128 restriction by this limit set when it is applied to a circulation policy, then
129 enter a zero (0) in this field.
130 * *Global* - Check the box adjacent to Global if you want all of the org
131 units in your consortium to be restricted by this limit set when it is applied
132 to a circulation policy. Otherwise, Evergreen will only apply the limit to the
133 direct ancestors and descendants of the owning library.
134 * *Linked Limit Groups* - Add any circulation modifiers, shelving locations, or circ
135 limit groups that should be part of this limit set.
138 Your library (BR1) allows patrons to check out up to 5 videos at one time. This
139 checkout limit should apply when your library's videos are checked out at any
140 library in the consortium. Items with DVD, BLURAY, and VHS circ modifiers should
141 be included in this maximum checkout count.
143 To create this limit set, you would add 5 to the *Items Out* field, 0 to the
144 *Min Depth* field and select the *Global* flag. Add the DVD, BLURAY and VHS circ
145 modifiers to the limit set.
147 Creating Circulation Policies
148 -----------------------------
150 Once you have identified your data elements that will drive circulation policies
151 and have created your circulation rules, you are ready to begin creating your
152 circulation policies.
154 If you are managing a small number of rules, you can create and manage
155 circulation policies in the staff client via *Administration -> Local Administration ->
156 Circulation Policies*. However, if you are managing a large number of policies,
157 it is easier to create and locate rules directly in the database by updating
158 *config.circ_matrix_matchpoint*.
160 The *config.circ_matrix_matchpoint* table is central to the configuration of
161 circulation parameters. It collects the main set of data used to determine what
162 rules apply to any given circulation. It is useful for us to think of their
163 columns in terms of 'match' columns, those that are used to match the
164 particulars of a given circulation transaction, and 'result' columns, those that
165 return the various parameters that are applied to the matching transaction.
167 * Circulation policies by checkout library or owning library?
168 - If your policies should follow the rules of the library that checks out the
169 item, select the checkout library as the *Org Unit (org_unit)*.
170 - If your policies should follow the rules of the library that owns the item,
171 select the consortium as the *Org Unit (org_unit)* and select the owning library
172 as the *Item Circ Lib (copy_circ_lib)*.
173 * Renewal policies can be created by setting *Renewals? (is_renewal)* to True.
174 * You can apply the duration rules, recurring fine rules, maximum fine rules,
175 and circulation sets created in the above sets when creating the circulation
178 Best practices for creating policies
179 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
181 * Start by replacing the default consortium-level circ policy with one that
182 contains a majority of your libraries' duration, recurring fine, and max fine
183 rules. This first rule will serve as a default for all materials and permission
185 * If many libraries in your consortium have rules that differ from the default
186 for particular materials or people, set a consortium-wide policy for that circ
187 modifier or that permission group.
188 * After setting these consortium defaults, if a library has a circulation rule
189 that differs from the default, you can then create a rule for that library. You
190 only need to change the parameters that are different from the default
191 parameters. The rule will inherit the values for the other parameters from that
192 default consortium rule.
193 * Try to avoid unnecessary repetition.
194 * Try to get as much agreement as possible among the libraries in your
199 image::media/circ_example1.png[]
201 In this example, the consortium has decided on a 21_day_2_renew loan rule for
202 general materials, i.e. books, etc. Most members do not charge overdue fines.
203 System 1 charges 25 cents per day to a maximum of $3.00, but otherwise uses the
204 default circulation duration.
208 image::media/circ_example2.png[]
210 This example includes a basic set of fields and creates a situation where items
211 with a circ modifier of "book" or "music" can be checked out, but "dvd" items
212 will not circulate. The associated rules would apply during checkouts.
216 image::media/circ_example3.png[]
218 This example builds on the earlier example and adds some more complicated
221 It is still true that "book" and "music" items can be checked out, while "dvd"
222 is not circulated. However, now we have added new rules that state that "Adult"
223 patrons of "SYS1" can circulate "dvd" items.
225 Settings Relevant to Circulation
226 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
228 The following circulation settings, available via *Administration
229 -> Local Administration -> Library Settings Editor*, can
230 also affect your circulation duration, renewals and fine policy.
232 * *Auto-Extend Grace Periods* - When enabled, grace periods will auto-extend.
233 By default this will be only when they are a full day or more and end on a
234 closed date, though other options can alter this.
235 * *Auto-Extending Grace Periods extend for all closed dates* - If enabled and
236 Grace Periods auto-extending is turned on, grace periods will extend past all
237 closed dates they intersect, within hard-coded limits.
238 * *Auto-Extending Grace Periods include trailing closed dates* - If enabled and
239 Grace Periods auto-extending is turned on, grace periods will include closed
240 dates that directly follow the last day of the grace period.
241 * *Checkout auto renew age* - When an item has been checked out for at least
242 this amount of time, an attempt to check out the item to the patron that it is
243 already checked out to will simply renew the circulation.
244 * *Cap Max Fine at Item Price* - This prevents the system from charging more
245 than the item price in overdue fines.
246 * *Lost Item Billing: New Min/Max Price Settings* - Patrons will be billed
247 at least the Min Price and at most the Max price, even if the item's price
248 is outside that range. To set a fixed price for all lost items, set min and
249 max to the same amount.
250 * *Charge fines on overdue circulations when closed* - Normally, fines are not
251 charged when a library is closed. When set to True, fines will be charged during
252 scheduled closings and normal weekly closed days.