New Features: Version 17 - 18

New features in Circulation Module:

1. *Automatic removal of Process Status:*
   The system may be configured to remove specific process statuses automatically when the item is circulated by its barcode. This is useful if the process status has been placed to signify that the item is lost, missing or otherwise removed from the library's stack. The item being circulated by its barcode should therefore trigger removing such a process status.
   
   Any of the process statuses that are listed in this variable will be removed if the following applies:
   
   Item is loaned or returned.
   Item information is changed in the Circulation GUI.
   Item is requested by using its barcode.
   Item is renewed by its barcode.
   
   Status: Decision was made to hold off this feature by RSTG as report tool is not available for use.
   
   
2. *Hold Shelf:* -to have different time frame for items to stay on hold shelf at each pickup location.
   The amount of time that the item is kept on the hold shelf is configured depending on the pickup location. This means that the following considerations depend on the request's pickup location and not on the item's owning sublibrary:
   1. How many days the item is held is determined in tab44. This is set according to the request's pickup location and not the owning library.
   2. Closed days. These days are not counted when determining until when the item will be held. The days are calculated based on the pickup location's closed days.
      
      
   Status: RSTG and circ subgroup voted to continue to use the current time frame for items to stay on hold shelf. This feature will not be implemented.
   


3. *Library Open hours Management Interface:*
   The Library Open Hours Management Interface is designed to enable circulation staff to view and update the library's opening hours' schedule without requiring the assistance of the system librarian. The interface is password-protected.
   
   The interface has been added as the Open Hours node in the Circulation GUIs Loan tab.
   
   Once a sublibrary has been selected, user with calendar privileges, can view and update two forms of information regarding the library's opening hours ' a weekly schedule and the exceptions schedule. If changes are made, clicking the Apply command saves the changes on the server's tables. Please refer to the online Help for more information.
   
   Status: Function was tested on test server. The test result turned out that the function does not work properly for USMAI libraries as it claimed. No implementation.
   
   
4. *Printing Utility:*
   A new printing utility has been added to ALEPH with improved handling of printing redirection.
   
   Status: Local configuration required. A step by step instruction on how to implement this feature was sent to campus. If help needed, please contact ITD.
   Instruction file can also be found at the following link: Printer Despatching
   


5. *Sounds:*
   It is now possible to use sounds for Circulation functions. Up to 100 different sounds can be defined for circulation activities.
   
   Status: Step by step instruction was sent out to campus in May 2008, local configuration needed.
   

New features in the OPAC:

1. *Renew All/Renew Selected* (implemented January 2009)
   Renew All (available in "my account") enables the patron to renew all items that he has on loan. If some items have not been renewed, he will receive a report of the items which were not renewed followed by the items which were renewed so that the total number of items (not renewed and renewed) will be the number of all the items loaned by the patron. Information explaining why a certain item was not renewed appears in the Reason for non-renewal column.
   
   A patron may want to renew several loans only. To do this, he needs to select the check boxes of the items to be renewed and click Renew Selected. If some items have not been renewed, he will receive a report of items which were not renewed followed by a report listing the items which were renewed. The total number of items (not renewed and renewed) appearing in the report will be all of the items selected for being renewed.
   
   Sometimes, items are not renewed for the whole renewal period. If an item has been renewed, but not for the whole period, a message appears in the "Due Date" column of the renewed items section, stating: Renewal for the full loan period is not possible. New due date has been set to dd/mm/yy. The message will not specify why the item was not renewed for the entire period.
   
   
2. *SDI*
   A patron can set up an SDI (Selective Dissemination of Information) request from the current Results List and Previous Searches screens. The SDI function is designed to alert patrons to recently added or updated records in their specified area of interest. This is particularly important for researchers and scholars for whom access to the latest information is essential (for example, medical or legal updates). The SDI function can be tailored to fit the interest profile of a specific individual or group.
   
   The SDI mechanism enables sending notification about new publications on a specific field as well as new journal issues that arrive at the library.
   
   An SDI request defines a search query, a sublibrary to search (a patron may also set his SDI request regardless of location), a list of bases to search, a frequency with which the SDI query will be run, expiry date for the SDI request, the suspend period, and the character set. When the library activates a special service, the system runs the query and retrieves records that have been added to the database since the last time the query was run. The resulting set is sent by e-mail to the patron. The format of the records is defined in the patron's SDI profile.
   
   A patron must have SDI permission in his profile in order to be able to create SDI requests.
   
   

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