A collection of common questions (and answers) posed by prospective Public Libraries about what FOLIO can do, what limitations exists, and what the state of “must have” features are.
This FAQ is open to any community members to contribute to.
Leave a question if you have one or address a question in need of an answer!
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Table of Contents
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Cataloging and Acquistions
Q. How do you print spine labels in FOLIO?
A.
Q. What is the acquisition workflow look like in FOLIO?
A.
Catalogs (discovery layer)
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Q. Can you print a receipt for a patron when they’re done checking out and can it be customized?
A.
Q. Does FOLIO have floating collection functionality?
A.
Collections Management
Q. How does Shelf Reading work in FOLIO?
A.
Q. How would one do a branch “inventory audit” of their materials in FOLIO?
A.
Financials
Q. Does FOLIO have a method for accepting payments for lost and overdue items?
A. Yes, staff can accept cash or checks payments in FOLIO and card-present solutions can be enabled leveraging SIP.
Hosting Options
Q. Can FOLIO be self-hosted?
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A. Some institutions have implemented SMS and email notices through a 3rd-party service provider such as Patron Point.
Privacy
Q.
Reporting
Q. Does FOLIO ship with out-of-the-box reporting tools?
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A. FOLIO does have a SIP2 module , and the following codes/fields can be found <here>. and is constantly being developed and extended.
Information about what features are supported can be found here:
https://github.com/folio-org/edge-sip2?tab=readme-ov-file#implemented-messages
Automated Material Handling
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A. MeeScan, M3, Envisionware, and MK Solutions are all supported using SIP2.
User Management
Q. Does FOLIO allow parents to monitor what their kids do? (Family groups?)