From the President's Desk

As another academic year comes to an end I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers for their support over the past year.

COMPanion is having another great year, and we are proud to have added many happy customers to our ever-expanding family. We’ve released major updates for all of our products in the past year, including the release of Alexandria 6.0.3 and Textbook Tracker 4.0, and are expecting some exciting updates yet again this summer. If you haven’t already updated, please keep in mind that these versions will require that you get new registration codes and, as always, are available without charge for those who are current on their yearly software subscriptions.

We have added many helpful product videos to our newly updated website, including archived webinars for version 6 of Alexandria, which provide helpful training tools, and refresher courses to be utilized prior to the upcoming school year. Please access our Alexandria version 6 webinars at the following site in order to take advantage of this new training tool: www.goalexandria.com/webinars.html. Also, our new Wiki, or screen sensitive “Help (?)” within Alexandria and Textbook Tracker provides a valuable resource for broadening your product knowledge and increasing user awareness.

Continuing to create the best products possible while offering first class technical support and customer support is no easy feat, but well worth it when we read the many positive and helpful comments you’ve sent to us, told your friends and posted on list serves. Please continue to provide us with valuable suggestions and recommendations to be used in upcoming releases by sending an e-mail to ideas@companioncorp.com, as we promise to continue providing you with the outstanding products and services you have come to expect from us here at COMPanion Corporation. Thank you, and have a wonderful summer!

—Bill Schjelderup
President ∞

Technical Article

Alexandria 6.1.0

The next release of Alexandria is on the horizon and has many enhancements and features! Here’s what to expect:

• Enhanced Researcher: The researcher interface has been reworked, and it functions a lot faster and more efficient. There is now the ability to leave reviews for items and be able to moderate them! You’ll notice additional features such as “See and See Also” functions, a populated search bar, reservations window for patrons, familiar researcher sounds, and an additional search bar at the top for quickly navigating to other items.

• Web Librarian: You can now use the Title Search through the Web Librarian. Also added is the ability to moderate item reviews left by users.

• Cover Art: Find item pictures for your titles! Alexandria 6.1.0 can automatically search for cover art for your items. This operation runs in the background so it doesn’t create any additional work for you.

• Command Help Search: Now you can easily search among the many available keyboard commands. You’ll notice the search bar in the Command Help tab. It can allow you to quickly locate specific commands for many different operations.

Along with these new items, there are several others worthy of mention: SSL support for Alexandria Web connections, 3rd party billing support, more Bound to Stay Bound functionality, enhanced stability, and we’ve polished the reports system to accommodate how a majority of users utilize reports. As usual, expect to find this new version on our website and update server in the upcoming weeks. ∞

A Day of Alexandria Training for Only $199? You’re NOT Dreaming!

In June, we’re inaugurating a new training option—a full-day Alexandria basic training class for only $199. In this time of tight budgets, this “open” webinar class will enable us to meet your basic training needs at an affordable price. We will schedule one or more full-day webinar classes each month. You’ll be able to experience a training presentation via the web by one of our Alexandria trainers. Watch our website for more details. ∞

Did you know that you can receive a credit towards a new Scanner by trading in an old, outdated, or broken COMPanion Scanner? 

Replace your older scanner inventory, and rest  easy this summer knowing  you’re ready for the upcoming school year! 

Purchase before May 31, 2010 to take advantage of this special offer.

Here are a few examples of the scanners COMPanion offers:

CCD Wedge Scanner - COMPanion offers the industry's most advanced CCD (Charged-Coupled Device) Wedge Scanner for scanning your barcode labels. Special LED technology allows the scanner to read barcodes without having to touch the label.  Includes a 2 year warranty. 

Laser Scanner - The COMPanion Laser Scanner with stand allows barcodes scanned by the Laser Scanner to read quickly and accurately into the Alexandria system.  The scanner also comes with a stand for hands-free operation and is motion activated, giving the operator the flexibility to scan barcodes while working on other projects.  The laser scanner is extremely durable. Its lightweight, compact design ensures that you can use your high-performance scanner for years to come.  Includes a 2 year warranty.

Linear Imager - The COMPanion Linear Imager is a high-performance barcode scanner. It uses linear imaging technology to set a new standard for hand held scanners by combining a bright, sharp aiming line with high resolution imaging delivering exceptional reading performance.  Includes a 4 year warranty.

Wireless Linear Imaging Scanner -The COMPanion Wireless Linear Imaging Scanner offers the convenience of having one scanner to do it all!  Use it for circulation, as well as inventory!  The Wireless Linear Imaging Scanner offers the freedom of mobility by incorporating Bluetooth wireless technology (wireless working range of 100 feet). It communicates wirelessly (in real-time) with its charging cradle that attaches to the USB port of the host computer, allowing you to roam your library to complete your tasks.  Barcodes scanned by the Wireless Linear Imaging Scanner read quickly and accurately into Alexandria.  Includes a 1 year warranty. 

You may also find more detailed information about these scanners by clicking HERE.

All COMPanion scanners are supported by our friendly and knowledgeable technical support department.

If you have any questions or if you would like an official price proposal, please contact sales at  sales@companioncorp.com or 1-800-347-6439.  Thank you.

COMPanion Tradeshows

Click here for the list of tradeshows COMPanion will be attending for the rest of the year!

Kaaren's Corner

By Kaaren Linton, Librarian/Alexandria Trainer

Patron Records Cleanup  — Getting Ready for Next Year

Patrons come and go and it is easier to determine patrons that haven't used the library in a while if you use expiration dates; however, most school libraries don't use the Patron Expiration Date feature of Alexandria.  So, let's look at an easy way to ferret out those students who do not return to your school and get rid of those records!

At the End of the Current School Year:

If you are using the scheduled imports feature in Alexandria to keep patron records current, you will want to stop this import before you start this procedure and restart the scheduled imports at the beginning of the new school year.

1. Advance Grades on Student Records.

Your student records currently reflect the current year's grade level. You will use the Advance Grade button in System Preferences to move all students to the next grade level. Students in the top grade will have the Grade changed to Graduated.

2.  Change All Students' Homerooms to NEW  YEAR.

Some students will have been in your school this year, but they will have moved during the summer while others will have graduated. Use the Patron Utility Replace Information to put all students in a homeroom called NEW YEAR. Then, as you do the import of your student records for the new school year, the homeroom will be changed to the new homeroom for the new year and that will leave all students who did not return in the homeroom called NEW YEAR making it easy to identify them and remove them. 

At  the Beginning of the New Year:

3.  Import Patron Download File

At the beginning of the new school year, it is time to enter all the new students. If you are using the scheduled import feature of Alexandria, then you will need to reinstate the scheduled imports.  If you are not using this feature, then you will need to obtain a tab-delimited file of the student information for the new school year to import into Alexandria.

By importing the student records and checking Allow Patron Updates on the Import Data window, the Homeroom field will be changed for all the returning students from NEW YEAR to the new homeroom.  This will leave the non-returning students in the homeroom NEW YEAR thus clearly identifying them.  (Also, if any students who were changed to Grade Graduated in the Advance Grade process did not graduate, they will be restored to their previous grade.)

4. Change Patron Policies for Students.

If you want the policy assigned to the student to match the Grade level, change your policies at this time.

5. Remove All Students in Grade "Graduated."

Students who are no longer at your school because they have completed the top Grade level will have been assigned to the grade Graduated. We will now remove these students.  Before removing them, you will want to run any reports such as Overdue Letters to Parents to put in the students' folders so that their grades or transcripts can be withheld until they pay.  Before patrons can be removed, all outstanding transactions (overdue items, lost items, or charges) must be cleared from the patron's record.  Fortunately, Alexandria has been designed to accomplish this for you if you tell it to do so.

• Go to Tools on the menu bar and select Utilities.

• Click on the Patrons tab, then on the + in the lower-left corner of the window.

• Set the Utility Type to Remove Patrons.  Be sure to check the box Always Remove so that anything that they owe will be declared lost and all monies owed will be forgiven. This allows the records to be removed since all records of fines and items out must be cleared up before they can be removed.  Change the Select By drop-down menu to Grade and fill in Graduated in the Starting With and Ending With fields.

• Click on Run.

• Answer Yes to doing an Archive and that you realize that the patrons will be removed permanently.

6.  Remove All Students with Clear Records in Homeroom "New Year."

Students who are no longer at your school because they have moved will still be listed in Homeroom NEW YEAR. We will now remove these students. Notice that we are not checking the Always Remove button because we do not want to remove students who may return and who still have items out, lost, or owe money. These students will be put into a homeroom called GONE until they are too old to ever return to your school in the next step.  Follow the same procedure as in the previous step with the exception of not checking the Always Remove box.

7. Change All Remaining Students in Homeroom "New Year" to Homeroom "Gone."

During this step, you will be taking all students who have left your school, but might come back, and putting them in a special homeroom called GONE. They should remain in this homeroom until they are too old to ever return. (They will be advanced by Grade each year and, when they reach the Grade level of Graduated, then you will delete them during the step that removes graduated students.) This way, if they ever do return, you still have a record of what they owe. Use the Patron Utility Replace Information and replace the Homeroom with Gone and use the Select By option Homeroom filling in New Year in the Starting With field. ∞