Folio currently does not offer an option to manage so-called “loans to the reading room”. In contrast to regular loans, certain media (e.g. manuscripts, other valuable works...), which are usually located in closed stacks or other locations that are not freely accessible, can only be viewed on site in a library reading room. In order to avoid time-consuming paper solutions in the future, it is necessary to document in the system where the media is currently located:
Available for pick up in a specific reading room
Media is currently being used in a specific reading room
Media is deposited for further use at the relevant service point for the requester
The existing issue UXPROD-1835 largely covers our use cases. For documentation reasons, the following table describes the process, as it is required by most academic libraries in Bavaria, supplemented by RFID functionalities. The phrase “service point designated as a reading room” is abbreviated to SP-RR throughout this document.
Criteria: M = Must ; S = Should
No.
Criteria
Label
Description
1
M
Configuration of service point
In Settings – Tenant – Service points, there is a pull-down menu (Yes/No) for specifying whether the service point (SP) is a location for reading room check outs.
1.1
S
Configuration of the
service points
Items that are requested at a SP that has been designated as a reading room (SP-RR) and that are checked in there [see point 2]:
May not be checked out at any other SP
At check-out at another SP, a notification indicates the relevant SP-RR
click OK to cancel the check-out in another SP
“override” enables a normal check-out to offer a home check-out in exceptional cases
May not be checked in at any other SP
At check-in at another SP, a notification indicates the relevant SP-RR
click OK to cancel the check-in at another SP
“override” enables a normal check-in to clear the user account. If configured, it generates a return receipt and a “in transit” service slip
A permission to override the check-in/check-out at another SP can be selected and assigned to individual users or a permission set (it is not linked to other permissions in the check-in/check-out area).
Items checked out via a normal SP cannot be returned to an SP-RR.
2
M
Check-in of item at relevant service point after request
An item that is sent to an SP-RR must be checked in when it arrives at this SP-RR
the item receives the status „Available for pick up for use in reading room“
if configured, users receive a notification that the requested media is available in a SP-RR
3
M
Check-in at SP-RR
An item checked out via an SP-RR generates a pop-up during the check-in
Final check-in?: YES / NO
3.1
M
Final check-in (regular check-in)
In case of YES:
the patron´s account is cleared
if configured, a return receipt (see point 5.1) is sent to the patron
depending on the configuration of the SP-RR, the staff slip “transit” is generated
3.2
M
Item is deposited for further use at the relevant SP-RR (soft check-in)
In case of NO
the item remains in the patron´s list of open loans
the status of the item changes to “Checked out available for use in the reading room”.
the configured loan period continues
4
M
Repeated check out to SPRR (soft check-out)
If the patrons checks out the items again at a later point in time within the loan period
the status of the item changes again to “Checked out in the reading room”
the configured loan period continues
4.1
M
Change between soft check-in and soft check-out
Changing between the status „Checked out
available for use in the reading room“ and „Checked out in the reading room“
is possible for an unlimited number of times during the current loan period
has no effect on the regular loan period
has no influence on the “Patron Info” or “Staff Info” assigned to this check out process
in the event of patron block set after check out, the regular pop is displayed
Override: Soft check-out
Close: No Soft check-out
If configured, patrons can be sent notifications of the “Loan” and “Automated fee/fine charge” categories (see point 5)
5
S
Notifications
Notifications can be configured for items that are requested to and checked out at an SP-RR
5.1
S
Notifications for category „Loan“
In the notifications, the SP-RR at which the medium was checked out can be inserted via a token so that patrons can recognize that they have not borrowed this medium home.
➔ Category “Loan”: new token necessary, e.g. {{loan.servicePointPickup}}
6
S
Status lists for items at an SP-RR
Lists can be generated for a selected SP-RR via the Lists app, which can be used to display the current status of items
requested to the SP-RR including request date
available for pick up in the reading room including availability date
Checked out in the reading room” including the loan due date
7
M
RFID check-Out of SP-RR
Media with RFID labels that are checked out via an SP-RR should not be unlocked at the (soft) check-out. The RFID security label is set to / remains “in house”
EDIT after talking to BVB: Two ideas on how RFID could work for reading rooms:
The RFID module recognizes from some marking that Service Point XY is a reading room SP and does not unlock the label when bookings are made at this SP.
The collegues could also imagine adding a checkbox in the RFID module that can be ticked if you do not want the label to be unlocked. This would be independent of whether it is a reading room SP or a “normal” one
I think this should be slip out as a separate feature. This concept would also be useful or other restricted items like special collections, ILL items and reserves.
Woudl the hold shelf experation date cover this need?
This may be possible with the lists app and requests. - Would adding option columns to the requests UI cover some or all of this need?
The devs would need specifics on this but I don’t think it would be possible because FOLIO is a web based app, and the restrictions places on websites by browsers.