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

Text File | 2010-05-14 | 11KB | 250 lines

III. CHECKING ITEMS OUT
To check items out, from
the Main Menu you will choose Option 1: CHECK OUT/RENEW BOOKS.
This choice takes you
to the Check Out Books screen.  You will notice that you do not
have to press @Return! when
you make a choice from the Main Menu.
If the computer can anticipate your response, it will begin immediately
executing the command and you do not have to press @Return!.
When you're entering data (names and numbers), the computer has no idea
when you're finished.  As a rule, if the cursor just sits there, press
@Return!.  If the disk drive begins spinning immediately,
do not press anything else.
For your information:
As you make choices, you frequently get further and further
away from the Main Menu.  For example, you could choose to print;
from the Print Menu, you could choose School Printouts; from School
Printouts, you could decide to Print Bills.  Each choice puts you
further away from the Main Menu.
Repeatedly pressing @Esc! while in
an entry screen or at a submenu takes you back to the Main Menu.  It's
like retracing your steps.  While at the submenu, pressing @Esc!
is the same as choosing the last menu option (which is always to
return to the previous menu).  So if ever you are unsure or feel lost or
confused, press @Esc! until you get back to the Main Menu.

 CIRCULATION PLUS** Check Out Books **

 Patron #



Commands:`` (S) Search``  (R) Renew``  (B) Backup``  (X)``
Backup Switch ON (0)

     The top part of the entry screen contains only a heading
with the word "Patron" on the top right side of the screen.  The
bottom contains some commands that will be explained later.  The rest
of the screen is empty.  At this point, the program is expecting a
number to be read in by a barcode scanner.  If you have received this
Demo/Tutorial
     before buying , it's unlikely that you have a barcode
reader.  The program, however, will always
allow you to bypass the use of a barcode scanner and type in a number
directly from the keyboard.  This is useful not only for this
Demo/Tutorial but also for the hard disk system.
It means that if ever the barcode scanner
malfunctions or a barcode is not in hand to be read, the system can
continue smoothly with keyboard entry.  Within the tutorials you will be
instructed to type in a number.  You must understand that when using
, you will actually be scanning a barcode number with a
barcode reader.
To check out a book you must first identify the patron.  This is
done by passing the barcode scanner across the barcode on the patron
card.  As soon as the number is read in by the computer, the full name
of the patron will appear on the screen.  Immediately below the name
will appear a status line with four items:
 CIRCULATION PLUS** Check Out Books **

 Patron # 00040
Saunders, Maria (86)

 Fines: None`Exp Date: None`Overdues: 0
Books Out: 2


 Enter Title #
Commands:```(S) Search```(L) List```(R) Reserve```(F) Fine```
(D) Date
   This is the total amount the patron currently owes
in outstanding fines.
Expiration Date:` This is the date the patron's library card
will expire.  In schools, this will usually contain the word "None".
Schools will probably use graduating year--  which does not appear
here but is shown to the right of the patron's name.
Overdues:` This number indicates how many outstanding
overdue items the patron presently has.
Books Out:` This is the number of items the patron currently
has out.  This number changes constantly as books are returned and new
ones checked out.  This number is not the total books checked out by
that patron since the system became operable; it is only the
number of items presently checked out in the patron's name.
(Cumulative circulations for a patron are displayed in patron searches
and on patron lists.)
The cursor will then be in the title field.  (Additional
commands appear at the bottom of the screen.  These will also be
explained in detail later.)  The scanner is
passed across the barcode on the book
and the full book title appears
on the screen with the due date to the right.  When the cursor reappears
in the title field, the transaction has been recorded.
If you have a second book
to check out to the same patron, you simply pass the barcode scanner
across the barcode of the next book.  You would repeat the operation for
each book to be checked out to a person,
reading their barcodes one right after
another.
To tell the computer that you have finished recording the
transactions to an individual patron, you can read another
 patron  barcode with a barcode scanner or press the @Esc! key.
When you press @Esc!, all data from
the previous check-out will disappear and the cursor will again be in
the patron number field.
  What happens if I read in a book barcode number when
the cursor is in the patron field?
When the cursor is in the patron field, it will accept only a
patron barcode number.  If you try to read in a title barcode number,
a message will appear on the screen telling you that the barcode number
read in is invalid.
TUTORIAL #2
In this tutorial you will check two books out to Maria Saunders
and one book out to Chris Garrison.
When you are using this tutorial and the ones that follow, do not
skip instructions which ask you to perform certain tasks.  In later
sections when overdues and searches are done, we will assume that you
have followed the tutorials and checked out certain books as the
tutorial has directed.
1.From the Main Menu, type a `1``to select
Option 1: Check Out/Renew Books.
2.With the cursor in the Patron # field, type
  `and press @Return!.
 CIRCULATION PLUS** Check Out Books **

 Patron # 40



Commands:`` (S) Search``  (R) Renew``  (B) Backup``  (X)``
Backup Switch ON (0)
The patron information for patron
#40, Maria Saunders, will appear on the screen.  Notice that she
currently has 2 books checked out.
3.With the cursor in the Title # field, type
  `and press @Return!.
The title of book #195, On heroes
and hero worship, and the due date will appear.  The disk drive will
spin for a few seconds and the transaction will be written to disk.
On the hard disk this will take less than three seconds.

 CIRCULATION PLUS** Check Out Books **

 Patron # 00040
Saunders, Maria (86)

 Fines: None Exp Date: None`Overdues: 0`
Books Out: 2


 Enter Title # 195
 Checkout: On heroes and hero worship   DUE: 04/16/86
Commands:```(S) Search```(L) List```(R) Reserve```(F) Fine```
(D) Date

4.The cursor will return to the title field and wait for you
to check out another title.
Type   `and press @Return!.  This item will also
be checked out to Maria.  You will notice that the number of Books Out
(far right in the status line) now shows that Maria Saunders has four
books checked out.
5.Press @Esc! to indicate that you are now ready to check an
item out to a different patron.  Maria's record will disappear, and the
cursor will return to the Patron # field.
6.Now to patron number 19, check out item number 168.  If
you mistakenly type in the wrong patron number, simply press @Esc! and
type it again.  (Patron number 19 is Chris Garrison.)
Although it is very quick to type the barcode numbers in to check
books out, you must remember that when actually using a barcode reader,
checking books out will be done almost as fast as you can pass the
scanner over the barcodes.
7.When item 168 is checked out, press @Esc! once to return
to the patron # field.  Then press @Esc! again to return to the Main
Menu.
SPECIAL CASES
Patrons with overdues and/or fines:  If the person who wants
to check out a book has overdue items and/or fines, a "beep" will sound
and the password will be requested.  If you do not wish to check
additional items out to the patron, you can
press @Esc! instead of entering the
password.
Patrons for whom you are holding reserve books:  When this
patron's barcode is read, you will see on the screen, following
his year of graduation, this message: "(Reserve Ready)".

ACTIVATING RECORDS "ON THE RUN"
If you attempt to check out a book to a  patron  number
for which no patron information has
been entered, you will be informed that that number has not yet been
activated and asked, "Do You Wish To Activate This Record?"  If you
respond with a
   , lines will appear for typing the patron's
last name and
first name.
An identical procedure is followed to check out an  item
that
has not yet been entered into the system, except that no information is
typed at the time.  Most librarians keep the book cards and enter data
from a number of them at one time during the day, using the  Enter
Titles  option.
TEMPORARY CHECKOUTS
In every library there are items which the librarian will not wish
to bring into the automated system in a permanent way; that is, by
barcoding the item and typing in the bibliographic information.
Periodicals, pamphlets, some nonprint materials, and items on loan from
other libraries may fall into this category.`` allows
you to record these items as Temporary check-outs whenever they leave
your library.
You will decide how many item numbers to reserve for
Temporary Items as one of your System Setup Options.  Title numbers
beginning with #1 and extending as high as #999 can be reserved for
Temporary check-outs.
When installing , you will place the barcode labels
with your Temporary Item numbers on
blank check-out cards and keep a number of these blank check-out
cards at the circulation desk.
Let us say, for example, that you are treating all of your
periodicals as Temporary check-outs instead of barcoding each of them
individually.  Whenever a patron brings a magazine
to the desk, you will take a Temporary check-out card from your file and
attach it to the inside of the magazine with a paper clip.  You would
then scan the patron barcode number as usual.  With the cursor then
blinking in the title field, you would scan the barcode number on the
Temporary check-out card.  Instead of a title appearing, a line appears
on which you may type the title of that item.  The overnight date
appears as the default for date due.  If you wish to use a different
date due, you must type it in.
After the date due is correct and you press @Return!, the item
is checked out.  Any search of the patron's record will
show that item by title.
 CIRCULATION PLUS** Check Out Books **

 Patron # 00040
Saunders, Maria (86)

Fines: None`Exp Date: None Overdues: 0
Books Out: 4


 TITLE: ________________
This is a temporary item.  You must enter the title and due date.

When the item is returned, you check it in by scanning the
barcode number on the card.  The computer will completely erase from the
disk the title you entered for that check-out card.  It is held
temporarily until the patron returns it.  The Temporary check-out card
may be returned to the circulation desk and used over and over again.
Since a name is never written on it, the card never fills up.