Generous Efforts of Many/gemcd.zip/GEM.CD.A.po/FEATURES:CIRC.PLUS:DEMO.MANUAL/I.txt

Text File | 2010-05-14 | 17KB | 323 lines

I. THE CIRCULATION PLUS DEMO DISK
Only a few years ago, a library circulation system with all the
features contained in  could be found only on large
mainframe computers.  The price of such hardware was beyond the budgets
of most libraries.   brings together inexpensive
microcomputers, a hard disk drive, and barcode technology to produce a
flexible and powerful circulation system designed specifically for
small and medium-sized libraries.  Computerizing circulation in a small
library is a serious decision.  Hardware must be purchased and time
will be expended during the initial set-up procedure.  This
Demo/Tutorial disk allows you to work with  before committing
your library to added expenditures and staff time.
  Demo/Tutorial
contains virtually all the functions of the
hard disk version.  The only differences are those imposed by the
5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive.  The floppy disk, of course, cannot
hold as many patrons and books.  But, more importantly, it cannot
access the data as quickly as the hard disk.  Moving from menu to menu,
pulling up information, printing, and searching will all take a great
deal more time on the floppy disk.  Searching records for any patron or
title (either by full or partial match) can be done on the hard disk in
five seconds or less"  The floppy disk will sometimes take double that
amount of time.  The purpose of this disk, then, is to show you what
 will do, not how quickly it will do it or how great is its
capacity.
 This manual will first explain each function and then walk
you through a short tutorial.  You will check some books out, check
others in, put books on reserve, search records and print notices.  This
will give you a feel for how the system works.  It is possible to skip
from tutorial to tutorial, leaving the explanations for later reading
or referring to them only as necessary.
  The Demo.Program, Demo.Print, and reverse side
of the Demo.Data disks are designed as
write-protected master disks that can be copied repeatedly.  If another
person wants to perform the tutorials in this manual after you
have gone through them,
copy the unaltered Demo.Data files that are on the  back `of the
Demo.Data disk that you used onto a notched
(not write-protected) disk.  (Instructions
for copying disks are on pages 4-6.)  If every person who uses the
Demo/Tutorial begins with a new copy of the original Demo.Data, s/he
will be able to go through the tutorials and find that the books and
check-outs on the Demo.Data disk match the tutorials. Once a Demo.Data
disk is used, the information is changed.
  Demo/Tutorial
does not exhaust each function before moving
on to the next.  Rather you will begin immediately by checking books out
and others back in.  Then you will enter new patrons and books into the
system.  You will then return to the check-out screen to learn other,
very powerful commands.  In this way you will move naturally from menu
to menu as each task requires.
Please remember to always exit the program through the Main Menu
by choosing Option 7: BACKUP/QUIT.
Never just pull the disk out of the disk
drive while in some other menu choice or when the disk drive light is
on.  If you turn the computer off at some other time, you risk
scrambling your data.
In this      manual:
In displaying screen messages and commands that are to be typed
within the text of the manual, the following rules have been followed:
Numbers, letters, or words that are to be typed are shaded; for
example: Type
             ` .
Special function keys are indicated by being enclosed in
delimiters; for example: @Return!.
Screen messages are either set off from the text of the manual
 appear within quotation marks; for
example: The screen will read "FORMAT COMPLETE."
GENERAL INFORMATION
@Control! Commands  As a general rule, when you are asked to
use the @Control! key, you are asked to use it in combination with
another key.  This means that you hold down the @Control! key while
pressing the other key or keys.  The @Control! key is a method of
expanding the keyboard's capabilities.  By using it in combination with
keys, every key on the keyboard can have an additional function assigned
to it.
Apple vs. IBM
Often text in the manual refers to drive 1.  On the IBM,
drive A means the same thing.  When asked to press @Return!, the
IBM owner willpress @Enter!.  In fact, on some IBM's the key is
not really labeled with a word.  Instead, it has a bent arrow that
indicates a carriage return.
Yes or No When Circulation Plus asks a question that can
be answered with a Yes or No response, only a "Y" for Yes or an "N" for
No need be typed.
Sound Effects When you hear a beep and the cursor remains as
it is and no action takes place, that means you have given an incorrect
response.  The computer has refused to accept it and is waiting for
the correct answer.  This will happen if you ask to remove a fine when
the person has no fines, for example.
Booting a Disk When you "boot" a floppy disk, you are
loading its program into the computer's
memory so it can be used.
 On the  Apple  computer a
disk can be booted by having it in drive 1 when the computer is turned
on or by inserting it into the drive and shutting the drive door when
the drive's red light is on.  If
the computer is turned on but the drive's red light is off, insert the
disk, close the drive door, and press @Control! @Open Apple! @Reset!.
In other words, first with your left hand hold down both the @Control!
and the @Open Apple! keys.  Then while still holding them both down,
press @Reset! with your right hand.  Then release all three keys.  The
drive will be "turned on."
If the drive's red light is on but no disk is in the drive,
you can press @Control! @Reset! (twice if necessary) to stop the drive
if you wish.  A prompt
(closing bracket) and a cursor (blinking square) will appear on the
monitor.  Then the disk can be placed in the drive and booted by
typing
    `PR#6` by using the above-mentioned
@Control! @Open Apple! @Reset! procedure.
On the  computer when the system is turned on
or when @CTRL! and @ALT! are held down while @DEL! is hit, the drives
will be accessed.  Drive A will be checked first.  If a floppy
program disk is present, the computer will try to boot it.
 If there is no floppy disk in the drive and the
program on the hard disk executes automatically, the
program will begin.  If there is no floppy disk in the drive and the
program on the hard disk does not execute automatically (like this
Demo/Tutorial) the name of the file must be entered (such as
`cplus`.)
  At other times when booting the IBM system,
you are asked the date and time.  After you enter the information or
press @Enter! in response to the questions, a prompt appears.  The
prompt indicates the drive that will be accessed.  (Drive A is the first
floppy drive, the designation of drive B is always reserved for a second
floppy drive, and drive C refers to the hard disk.) If a C prompt ( C! )
appears and you wish to use a floppy disk in drive A, simply type
an   `and
press @Enter!.  Alternately, if an A prompt were present and you
wished to work with the hard disk, you would type
a   `and press @Enter! to change to a C prompt.
MAKING COPIES USING PRO-DOS`(APPLE)
If more than one person will be following this manual's tutorials,
you must make copies of the write-protected
Demo.Data files on the reverse side of the Demo.Data disk you received.
The following instructions explain how to
make copies using the ProDos System Utilities' ProDos Filer.
Other copying programs--such as COPYA from the Dos 3.3 System
Master, DiversiDos, or Copy II Pluscan be used
instead.   Be very precise and attentive in your copying
procedure in order to avoid copying errors.
1)Place the ProDos System Utilities disk (which currently
accompanies new Apple II floppy drives that are purchased)
in drive 1 and turn on the
computer or reboot the computer with @Control! @Open Apple! @Reset!.
2)From the menu displayed press
                                        `  to
enter the ProDos Filer program.
3)From the Filer Menu press
                                    ` to display the
volume commands.
4)From the Volume Commands Menu press
                                             ` to
copy a volume.
5)Insert the diskette to be copied in drive 1 and a blank
diskette in drive 2.
6)Press the @Return! key five times.  The screen will
indicate that you are copying from slot 6, drive 1, to slot 6, drive 2.
7)The screen will display the name of the diskette to be
copied; i.e., the disk in drive 1.
Press @Return! when the name of the diskette to be copied is
displayed.  That means you want the copy to have the same name as the
disk you are copying.
Do not change the names of any Demo/Tutorial disks.`
This program checks the name of the disk before accepting it.  If you
have renamed a disk to a name the program does not expect, it will not
recognize and accept the disk.
        A message like:```DESTROY "/BACKUP.VOLUME"? (Y/N)```will
be displayed if the diskette in drive 2 is not blank.
Press
 ` to erase the disk in drive 2 and
continue the copy procedure.
8)The diskette in drive 2 will first be formatted and then
the contents of the diskette in drive 1 will be copied to the disk in
drive 2. When the copy procedure is finished, the message ``"COPY
COMPLETE"``will be displayed.
 9)If more disks are to be copied, return to Step 5.
10)Press @Esc! twice to return to the Filer Menu.
11)Press
                 ` to quit the Filer program.
12)Press @Return! when you see PathName.
13)Press
                ` to exit the
ProDos disk program.
To make copies with one floppy drive:  In Step 6,
indicate that you are copying  from  slot 6, drive 1,
slot 6, drive 1.  The copy program will tell you when to switch disks
in order to make the copy.  The original disk will be referred to as the
"source," and the copy will be called the "destination."
MAKING COPIES USING PC-DOS`(IBM)
If more than one person will be following this manual's tutorials,
you must make copies of the write-protected
Demo.Data files on the reverse side of the Demo.Data disk you received.
The following instructions explain how to
make       copies.   Be very precise and attentive in your copying
procedure in order to avoid copying errors.
To make copies on the IBM PC with two disk drives, place the
Dos Disk in drive A and turn the
computer on. When you see the prompt```A!```
Type:``DISKCOPY`A:`B:``(Be sure to leave a space
before the B.)  Press @Enter!.
Put the master ("SOURCE" diskette) in drive A
and a blank disk ("TARGET" diskette) in drive B
when instructed to do so.  Press any key to begin the copying.
  As much data as can be stored in memory is taken from the first
disk and copied to the second disk.  Then the system goes back to
the first for more data.  This process continues until all the
data on the first disk has been copied to the second disk.  When the
copy is complete
the screen displays: Copy another diskette (Y/N)?
  If you wish to make more than one copy, type
                                                 `Y`
and repeat the procedure.
If you have one drive,  simply type the command
` ` and you will be instructed to switch disks as
necessary.
 HOW THE HARD DISK
SYSTEM WORKS
  requires a dedicated computer at the
circulation desk with not only a hard disk drive but also one floppy
disk drive. The floppy drive is used to back up data from
the hard disk and also allows the "batching in" of records from
floppy disks.
Attached to the computer is a barcode scanner which is
used to read barcode numbers on both the books checked out and the
patron cards.  provides an easy and efficient method
of setting up your library for automation.  Many other systems require
that you barcode every book in your library before you check out the
first item.  does not; it allows you to put barcode
numbers on the books "on the run" as items are checked out and to add
patrons as they come to the desk to check out materials.
 Barcoding Patrons
Patron barcode numbers range from 1 to 8,000 or 1 to 15,000.
The numbers are preceded by the letter "P" for patron.
Information about your patrons must be entered
into the computer.  The information can be as brief as
name, location, and graduation year or contain (for public libraries
especially) full address, telephone number, and card expiration date.
You may customize the patron entry for short or full information.
Since many libraries have less than 2,000 patrons, even those libraries
that prefer to have all patrons entered into the system before "opening
day" can have
 installed and running in a matter of days after
purchase.  Barcodes are put on some kind of patron cards and the
computer is told that a specific barcode number is attached to a
certain name.  In school libraries we highly recommend the use of a
large Rolodexfile which is kept at the circulation desk.  On
each Rolodex card will be put the patron's name, graduation year, and
the barcode number. To make this task easier, there is a print routine
in  which will automatically print this information on
tractor-fed Rolodex cards.  This means that once you've entered
this information onto batch disks or the hard disk, the Rolodex
cards can be printed for you.  Then the matching barcode is applied
to the printed Rolodex card.
   You can, of course, put barcodes on existing library cards
or issue new ones which the patrons then carry with them instead        r
of--
in addition to--  the Rolodex card.
 Barcoding Items
Item barcodes range in numbers from 1 to 30,000 or 1 to 65,000,
and the numbers are preceded by the letter "T" for title. When a book is
barcoded, the adhesive-backed barcode label is put in a secure place on
the book.  Some librarians prefer to place the label inside the book
near the location of the pocket or date due slip.  Others,
preferring not to open each book during inventory, place them on the
outside near (but not on)
the spine.  The barcode is then read or its number is typed
into the computer.  Then the title (and other bibliographic information)
is entered into the record.  From then on whenever the computer reads
that number, it will instantly "know" all the other information also.
     Barcoding the books can be done all at once or "on the run."
If time and staff permit, you could take each book in your library off
the shelf and barcode it and type in the bibliographic information.
, however, allows you to
barcode the books as they are checked out.  If you choose to do this,
you will keep a sheet of barcodes at the circulation desk. When a
patron checks out a book that does not yet have a barcode number, you
will quickly peel off the next barcode label and put it on the book.
When the barcode reader scans across the barcode, the book title does
not appear on the screen; instead, a message appears telling you that
the record is being activated.  Each barcode comes with a second
smaller label that shows only the barcode number.  The smaller label is
peeled off the sheet and put on the circulation card that is in the
pocket of the book.  The card is taken out of the book pocket, the ISBN
or LCCN number is jotted on the card, and it is
put to one side.  Later in the day or early the next morning,
the information from the circulation card is typed into the computer.
This then completes the record.
     You can see that if you employ this system to barcode your
collection, the busiest day will be your first day when none of your
books will have barcode numbers.  Within a short time, however, your
most popular books will have received barcode numbers.  Then you can
turn your attention to systematically barcoding the rest of your
collection.  When a patron brings to the circulation desk a book
that already has a barcode on it, checking it out is a simple matter
of running the barcode scanner first across the patron card and then
over the barcode in (or on) the book.
     The goal, of course, is to eventually barcode all of your
books.  When that is done, you may take advantage of the inventory
option in  and have the computer print a list of
missing books after inventory is taken.  Inventory is done by scanning
the barcodes of the books on the shelves.  The computer then
looks through the books checked out and automatically counts them
"not missing" for inventory purposes.
     The question arises whether it is possible to use barcode
numbers that correspond to an accessioning system already in use.
There are many ways of accessioning books. Some systems use pure
numbers, others use a combination of numbers and letters, and still
others include the year of purchase.  It is not economically possible
to produce barcode numbers for all combinations.  Also by
predetermining the range of numbers used, we can be both most efficient
in allocating memory space on the hard disk and extremely fast
when accessing a record during a search.
To check books out, the barcode reader is first used to
scan the barcode label on the patron card.  You then scan the barcode
label of the books that the patron wishes to check out, one
right after the other.  The system prints due date slips and those are
slipped into the pockets of the books so that the patron will know
when to bring them back.