Checking In
Answer
Checking In
- You will find Check In (F2) under the Circulation menu.
Check In – Normal mode
When a patron returns an item to the front desk, choose Check In – Normal. It is the top icon on the left-hand bar and will come up automatically when you open Check In.
Fines
- Fines for overdues, if any, are calculated automatically.
- When you attempt to check in an overdue item, a dialog box indicates that a fine is being charged. Follow these steps to pay, waive, or charge a fine to a patron’s account when you check in an overdue item and the Check In - Fine dialog box appears.
- Choose one of the following options:
- To check in the item and confirm that the patron owes money, but you will process the fine later, click Continue. The fine appears in the Patrons/Monies to be transacted list. The entry in this list displays the total amount of all fines for each patron. If one patron has returned several overdue items, it does not list each individual fine. Before you can close the Check In work form, you must resolve each patron’s fine by paying, waiving, or charging the patron’s account.
- To check in the item and waive the fine, click Waive. A record of the waiver appears in the Transaction Summary box for the patron account.
- To check in the item and charge the fine to the patron’s account, click Charge Account. The charge is listed on the Patron Status - Account view, where you can pay or waive the charge later.
Messages
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-Displayed when the item does not belong to your branch. You can put the item in-transit to the item’s assigned branch, or you can keep the item at your branch. If you have set up printing for in-transit slips from this work form, the slip is automatically printed.
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Adding Notes/Block/Messages at Check In
- It is necessary to check every item for damage or notes upon check in. If you do not check your library or your patron may be held accountable for previous damage. Check in the item as usual, then double click on the item in to open the item record. The section below outlines the proper TRAC procedure for applying notes to item records.
- Please make sure when adding a note into an item record that the note is necessary and in the appropriate spot. Below you will find a breakdown of the different note and block fields and what information is appropriate for each.
1. Public Notes
Only the owning library is permitted to enter comments in the public notes field and only if it will be helpful to the general public as any information entered in this field will appear on TRACpac for all patrons to see. No information that is already in the bibliography record would be added to this field. Only pertinent information to patrons regarding the owning library’s item should be placed in the public notes field. If the information applies to all items associated to the bib record it should not be entered in this field. Here are examples of suitable and unsuitable notes for the public notes field:
Suitable Public Notes:
- Map is missing from this book
- Workbook can be found on shelves under 722.538
Unsuitable Public Notes:
- Newberry award winner (this information applies to all the items in the bib record)
- Level 3 (this information would be better suited in the suffix field)
- Give to Bob for cleaning (this information can appear under free text or physical condition)
- Cover is ripped (damaged notes belong in the free text block field)
- Softcover (this information is in the bib record)
- Please give to John Smith (no patron information should appear in this field)
- 8 cds (this information can go in the free text block field)
This note field does not pop up in Polaris when the item is checked in or out.
2. Non-Public Notes
Only the owning library is permitted to enter comments in the non-public noes field. This note does not show to patrons and will not pop up in Polaris when the item is checked in or out. This field is suitable for comments internal to the owning library regarding them.
3. Physical Condition Notes
Only the owning library is permitted to enter comments in the physical condition field. This note will not show to patrons and will not pop up in Polaris when the item is checked in or out. Damaged notes should only go in the free text block.
4. Free Text Blocks
All libraries may use this field for damage notes, reminder notes, contents notes, etc. they wish to alert the owning library or transacting library about. This note does not show to patrons but does pop up in Polaris when the item is checked out. If a transacting library receives an item that is damaged it is important to enter in a damaged note before checking the item out to a patron or returning the item to the owning library. When entering a damage note in the free text field, please include your library’s national code and the date the note was entered. If you are the transacting library do not delete notes that other libraries have placed. Only the owning library may delete notes from the item record when necessary.
Setting Up Your Receipt Printer
- In the Check In screen, click on Tools and from the dropdown, select Options.
- Set the printer to print Fine receipt, In-transit slip and Hold slip. You only need to do this once at your login to save option.
- Choose your receipt printer from the list and hit OK.
Check In – Bulk Mode
When you want to do a fast check in of many items, such as those left in the book drop, use the bulk check-in process. Items are processed more quickly because most blocks and dialog boxes do not appear. For example, overdue fines are charged automatically to patron accounts.
Check In – In House
If your library tracks statistics for materials that do not circulate, but are used by patrons in the library, you check the items in after use with an in-house check in process. (The year-to-date and lifetime statistics for in-house usage are updated in each item record, but the circulation statistics are not updated.)