Technical Note Summary:

This technical note was written to assist librarians in preparing Alexandria version 6 for a new school year. For procedures regarding advancing patron grades and removing the graduating class, please refer to the technical note End of the Year Procedures found here.

Calendars:

To update your Calendar go to Edit> System Preferences> Calendars (Image 1). The Calendar will display the current month. You will want to go through the calendar, month by month, closing the days that the library is closed.  Click once on a date field to close that day.  The word Closed should appear in red letters.  Click Twice on a date field to set a Period Due Date. The words Period Due should appear in blue letters. Clicking on a date three times will cycle through the options and set the date back to open. To close a day of the week for the entire month, click the day of the week button found at the top of the Calendar. To close a day for the entire year, hold down the Alt key (also called the Option key on Macintosh keyboards) while clicking on the day of the week that you wish to close.

NOTE:  WHEN CLOSING A DAY FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR, BE AWARE THAT THIS IS ONLY FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR.  MOST SCHOOL YEARS ENCOMPASS TWO CALENDAR YEARS, SO YOU WILL NEED TO DO THE SAME OPERATION ON NEXT YEAR'S CALENDAR.

While setting up your calendar you may want to also include Period Due Dates.  Period Due Dates are days that books are required to be returned by, regardless of when the book was checked out.  Typically, one Period Due Date near the end of school is sufficient for most libraries.  One example of when to use a Period Due Date is if your library closes in the middle of the year for inventory.  Another example is if books must be collected at the end of a semester.

Image 1

NOTE:  PERIOD DUE DATES ONLY APPLY TO PATRON POLICIES THAT HAVE THE APPLY PERIOD DUE DATES OPTION ENABLED.  CHECK YOUR PATRON AND CIRCULATION POLICIES TO ENSURE THAT THE PERIOD DUE DATE OPTION HAS BEEN CHECKED.

NOTE:  IF YOU USE HARD DUE DATES IN YOUR POLICIES, NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO CHECK AND POSSIBLY UPDATE THEM.

Updating Patron Information:

Patrons can be entered manually or through importing a tab-delimited file.  Existing patrons can be also be updated using either method.  For details on importing patron data, Please refer to the COMPwiki article titled Importing Patron Information found here. For details on manually adding patrons and other basic functions of the Patron Management Window, please click refer to the Adding Patrons section of the COMPwiki article Patron Management Window Basics found here.

If you need to update information for a group of patrons you may do so through patron utilities. Patron utilities can be found by going to Tools> Utilities> Patrons (Image 2).

Image 2

You may edit one of the existing utilities by clicking EDIT in the lower right on one of the utilities listed or you may create a new utility. To create a new utility click the + sign in the lower left hand corner. This will open a new window where you may choose the utility type and selection criteria (Image 3).

Image 3

Most batch changes to patron information can be done through the Replace Information operation.  The most common operations are replacing the patron policy, changing the patron homeroom and updating card expiration date. 

Alexandria also has two built in commands to update patrons' homerooms or policies from the circulation window.  To modify the homeroom of a group of patrons, type NP in the command line of the Alexandria circulation screen, followed by a space and the new location and then press Enter (Image 4).  Any patron barcode that is typed or scanned while in this mode will automatically be updated to the new homeroom.

Changing a patron's policy is accomplished in a similar manner.  Type UP in the command line of the Alexandria circulation screen, and then press Enter.  This will bring up a list of your patron policies for you to select from.  Select the appropriate policy and click OK. Any patron barcode that is scanned or typed while in this mode will automatically be updated to the new policy. To exit either mode, type a period and then press Enter.

Image 4

Utilities and Backups:

When starting a new year, it is a good idea to make sure your backups and utilities are on schedule.  The rebuild should be run at least once a month.  If you did not rebuild at the end of last year, it is a good idea to start the year off with one.  You will also want to make sure your backup schedule and hardware are in order.  For details on how to back up or on creating a back up schedule, Please refer to the COMPwiki article Backing Up Your Data found here.

This is also a good time to double-check your archive and rebuild options.  To check to see if you have archives and rebuilds scheduled, Go to TOOLS> UTILITIES> DATABASE. Find the DATABASE ARCHIVE and DATABASE REBUILD utilities. The Next date and the frequency the utility is scheduled to run will be on the right of the window in red text. For information on setting up an archive and rebuild schedule, please refer to the Tip of the Week article found here.

NOTE: IF THERE ARE QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT TECHNICAL SUPPORT AT (800) 347-4942.