self-check out from OPAC?

[pedroparkero]

May I ask if this feature can possibly be implemented? Students can check out the materials themselves and the librarian will just verify the materials at the exit.

[Verus Open Source Support]

Hi,
Can you present the use case in more detail?
Regards

On 08/25/2011 02:42 PM, pedroparkero [via NewGenLib] wrote:

May I ask if this feature can possibly be implemented? Students can check out the materials themselves and the librarian will just verify the materials at the exit.

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[pedroparkero]

Aside from reserve, a student can be able to check out an open-shelf book from OPAC himself, as long as the book is already available and it is in his hands. The book's info will already be appended to his account, pending verification of the librarian. Then, before he leaves the library, he will have to go through the librarian at the circulation desk, who will check out the patron's ID and already see the book info, without entering it. Then he will just check if the item on hand is the exact same item that the student self-checked out. After verification, then the patron will be given the check out slip.

[Verus Open Source Support]

1. If all the copies of the book are checked out then only the system allows reservation.

2. Once a reserved title is checked in. The system intimates the library staff at the circulation desk that the item is reserved. And should not be returned to circulation racks. Because if some other user may request for check out of that item.

3. Hence the reserve item is always at the circulation desk.

Please clarify


On 08/26/2011 07:16 AM, pedroparkero [via NewGenLib] wrote:

Aside from reserve, a student can be able to check out an open-shelf book from OPAC himself, as long as the book is already available and it is in his hands. The book's info will already be appended to his account, pending verification of the librarian. Then, before he leaves the library, he will have to go through the librarian at the circulation desk, who will check out the patron's ID and already see the book info, without entering it. Then he will just check if the item on hand is the exact same item that the student self-checked out. After verification, then the patron will be given the check out slip.

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[pedroparkero]

I am talking about when a book is still available, and nobody has borrowed it yet. The patron may see it in the open shelves, bring it to the OPAC terminal, and search for its record. If he sees the same exact accession number as the one he has in his hands, then the suggested feature will let a patron "self-check out" or "claim" that item via OPAC. Then he will just go to the circulation desk for it to be verified by the librarian. The librarian won't have to input the item's number because it will already be appended to the patron. All the librarian has to do is click "verify" and the patron may leave with the book.

Another suggestion is an alternative implementation of a "reserve thru OPAC" feature: a patron can reserve an available book (that no one has borrowed yet) for overnight or one-week loan thru OPAC, and this means he will come by the library at 4pm or before the library closes that day to claim the book. Other people won't be able to bring the item outside the library unless it's in a quick short term loan (3hrs or before 4pm). This kind of reservation is for that day only, and will be reset the following day. Likewise, in this scenario, the librarian doesn't have to input the book to the patron because the patron already selected the book and it automatically appended to his account already.

These are just suggestions though. But it would be nice to have in future versions of NGL.

[Verus Open Source Support]

Yes, it is much clear to us right now. We are convinced about its utility. Issue registered at http://code.google.com/p/newgenlib/issues/detail?id=70
Will try to make it available in version 3.0.4 or earlier. Thank you for presenting us this feature.



On 08/26/2011 12:53 PM, pedroparkero [via NewGenLib] wrote:

I am talking about when a book is still available, and nobody has borrowed it yet. The patron may see it in the open shelves, bring it to the OPAC terminal, and search for its record. If he sees the same exact accession number as the one he has in his hands, then the suggested feature will let a patron "self-check out" or "claim" that item via OPAC. Then he will just go to the circulation desk for it to be verified by the librarian. The librarian won't have to input the item's number because it will already be appended to the patron. All the librarian has to do is click "verify" and the patron may leave with the book.

Another suggestion is an alternative implementation of a "reserve thru OPAC" feature: a patron can reserve an available book (that no one has borrowed yet) for overnight or one-week loan thru OPAC, and this means he will come by the library at 4pm or before the library closes that day to claim the book. Other people won't be able to bring the item outside the library unless it's in a quick short term loan (3hrs or before 4pm). This kind of reservation is for that day only, and will be reset the following day. Likewise, in this scenario, the librarian doesn't have to input the book to the patron because the patron already selected the book and it automatically appended to his account already.

These are just suggestions though. But it would be nice to have in future versions of NGL.

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[pedroparkero]

Thank you very much and glad to be part of this development. :-)

[nsid]

My only objection just for the discussion, is that, considering time, it needs much more time to be done the check out from the patron.

The classical loan procedure is:

1)The patron choose the book
2) He brings the book to the librarian for the check out

if we leave the check out to be done by the patron ...then:
1) The patron choose the book
2) The patron does the check out
3) The librarian verify the whole procedure

and what will happen if the patron do a check out and then leaves the book (without canceling the check out). Then a verification will pending.

These are just thought for discussion :-)

[pedroparkero]

Good points. My take on this is that if the patron doesn't verify his check out, then it will cancel automatically by the end of the day or after a certain amount of time (say after one hour). Should another student wish to borrow the book that is pending verification and it is in his hands already, the librarian still has the power to cancel the prior check out transaction of the previous student. Because remember, a patron should only self-check out an item if it is already in his hands (so he knows the exact accession number). You can setup this guideline and require students to already self-check out books on their own so that it will lessen the work of the librarian.
But this is different from the "reserve the available book" that is my second suggestion. If someone reserves the available book thru OPAC, then the reservation will be until that library day ends (he should get it after 4pm or just before the library closes). Other patrons cannot check it out (unless it's for a quick 1 hour loan for class use or before 4pm). And to be fair for others, those who did not get their reserve books that day will be marked 'delinquent'. Optionally, we can also charge a fee for this kind of reservation.

[Verus Open Source Support]

1. The user "Requests for hold" for an item that is currently available in the library.
2. The system allows the librarian to define a "Validity period" in the "Circulation privilege matrix". Validity period will be allowed in days/hours
3. If a user other than the one who blocked it, tries to check out the book. The system warns the person at the circulation about the hold. It also gives details about the person who has requested the hold. However this can be overridden. If overridden, the user who has "Requested for hold" will be intimated about its unavailability.

This facility is especially useful for libraries whose users access OPAC from their desktops. For those libraries which access OPAC only on "OPAC Systems" in the library itself, this facility will more be a overhead than convenience.

On 08/27/2011 06:24 AM, pedroparkero [via NewGenLib] wrote:

Good points. My take on this is that if the patron doesn't verify his check out, then it will cancel automatically by the end of the day or after a certain amount of time (say after one hour). Should another student wish to borrow the book that is pending verification and it is in his hands already, the librarian still has the power to cancel the prior check out transaction of the previous student. Because remember, a patron should only self-check out an item if it is already in his hands (so he knows the exact accession number).
But this is different from the "reserve the available book" that is my second suggestion. If someone reserves the available book thru OPAC, then the reservation will be until that library day ends (4pm or before the library closes). Other patrons cannot check it out (unless it's for a quick 1 hour loan for class use or before 4pm). And to be fair for others, those who did not get their reserve books that day will be marked 'delinquent'.

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[nsid]

I am very happy that I heard your points. I believe that NewGenLib is on the right way :-).

Thanx for the instant responses Pedro and team.