New UI: Fulfillment Tasks - Circulation Desk Operator

Owned by Cynthia Schwarz (Unlicensed)
Oct 05, 2017
8 min read


This document will go through several tasks that front-line circulation desk operators need to be able to do at the desk to best assist patrons. A separate document will be available for circulation desk managers and tasks specific to that group.

Step-by-step guide

Checkout an Item

Log into Alma with your Accessnet username and password. Access Alma at https://temple.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/SAML

If this is your first time logging into Alma, go to the center of the top of your screen GPS icon and select your location from the drop-down menu. Alma will remember your selected circulation desk on future logins.

Once you have selected your circulation desk, open the Manage Patron Services screen. There are two ways to do this.

First, you can navigate to the menu across the top of the screen, select Fulfillment → Manage Patron Services.

The alternative method to reach the Manage Patron Services screen is to click on the star icon  and then Manage Patron Services.

Enter the patron's identification. You can swipe their ID in the ID swipe or you can manually enter the patron's TUID number or name. If the patron does not have their OwlCard, click on the  icon between the search box and the Go button to look up the patron by name. Click Go. 

This will open the patron's brief record.

To check out an item to the patron, scan or manually enter the barcode in the box. Click Go. The item will then appear below the patron information. 

Be sure to click Done at the top right corner when you have finished checking out all items. Do this before any other tasks for this patron or another patron. Clicking the Done button will generate an email loan receipt. 


View a list of checked out items

To view all items that are currently checked out to the patron, navigate to the middle left side of the screen and select the drop-down next to Loan Display and select All Loans.

This will display the full list of the patron's checked out items. 

Renew or Change Due Date

Method #1

Check the box next to the item or items that you would like to renew or change the due date.

Select Renew Selected or Change due date from above the list of loans.

Method #2

From the list of all checked out items, select the Actions icon  next to the item. 

Select Renew or Change due date. Please note that the Renew option will only appear if the item is eligible for renewing according to the applicable terms of use policy. 

When an item is renews or a due date is changed and you select Done on the patron's account, a notification will be sent to the patron that looks like the Loan Receipt notification. 

**A note on pop-up notes: 

Notes that will pop-up include the following: 

  1. Item Notes that are tagged as "fulfillment notes". These include notes on items such as DVDs or multi-piece items. 
  2. When a patron attempts to check something out that goes against the established loan or requested rules, either because of the patron's status or because of the item's status. 

Notes that will not pop-up: 

  1. Notes that have been manually added to the patron record. 


Look up an Item

Locate the search box in the middle towards the top of the screen.

In the drop-down next to the search box, select Physical Items. 

Select the search criteria from the second drop-down box. The default of "Keyword" should be fine. But you can also search by barcode or title. Options are listed alphabetically.

 

From here, you can see the item. 

Notice a couple of things: 

  1. Status: The status of this item is not in place. This is because the item is checked out. 
  2. Process Type: The process type for this item is Loan. Other options for status type is Request, Technical Services, and several others.

To view the patron that has this item checked out, select Loan. 

 

From here, click on the person's name to view their record. From this screen, you can also renew the item or change the due date. 

Look up a Patron

Once logged in, navigate to the to of the screen where you should see a star icon . Click on the star and then select Manage Patron Services. 

Begin typing the patron's name. If the name appears in the drop-down list of suggestions, click on it there. Otherwise, click the hamburger icon  to view a full list of names that match your search. You can also scan the patron's ID in the ID reader. Once you have the correct patron. Click Go. 

This particular patron has exceeded the amount of fines and is therefore blocked. A message like this will appear. 

If you have the circulation desk manager role, you will be able to override this block. But for now, click Ok. 

This is the screen that a circulation operator will see. Most student workers have the circulation operator role. 

Active Balance: The circulation operator can see the current balance of money owed, but cannot see historical data and does not have the option to collect payment. Click on the dollar amount to view a breakdown of the current fines and fees.

From the patron's record, you can send a list of all items current checked out and a report of current requests using the Send Activity Report and the Send Requests Report links. The reports get emailed directly to the patron's email address on file.

Send Activity Report Email: 

Send Requests Report Email: 

To the right, you can see that this patron has two overdue items and has one item on the hold shelf.

Click on User Notes to view any other relevant notes about the user. 

Below patron information, there are three tabs, Loans, Returns, and Requests. The blue squares indicate that there are items for each one of these tabs. Click each tab to view the items. 

Add a note to a patron's record

From the patron's account screen, click on the patron's ID number. 

The patron's account will open. Click on the Notes tab. 

On the next screen, you will see a complete list of the patron's notes. Select Add Note at the top right of the list. 

Complete the fields of the Add Note form.

Leave the box "Add as an external" unchecked.

Select whether or not to make the note visible to the patron by checking or unchecking the "User Viewable" box. 

Select Add and Close to add the note.

Return Items

There are two ways to return items. The first is without looking up a patron account. This is best used when checking multiple items returned from the bins. The second method is with a specific patron's record open.

Method #1: General checkin, no specific patron.

Once logged in, click on the star icon  and then click Return Items.

Enter the barcode. Leave the "Place directly on hold shelf" set to No. If you need to select a different return date and/or time for the item, select the new date/time in the "Override return date and time" box. Click OK next to the barcode.

You will receive a confirmation that the item was returned. The Next Step column should read "Reshelve to Main Stacks". 

Methods #2: Return items on a patron's record

Once logged in, click on the star icon  and then click Manage Patron Services

Begin typing the patron's name. If the name appears in the drop-down list of suggestions, click on it there. Otherwise, click the hamburger icon  to view a full list of names that match your search. You can also scan the patron's ID in the ID reader. Once you have the correct patron. Click Go. 

On the patron's record, select the Returns tab.

Scan in the barcode for the item. Select Go to check the item in. Please note that you cannot change the return date from this screen. 

The item will appear below with the returned date and "Reshelve to Main Stacks" in the Next Steps column. Click Done to generate a return receipt to the patron. 

A Return Receipts Letter that is automatically sent to the patron via email.

Place a request on an item for a patron

Once logged in, navigate search box at the top of the screen, click the drop-down and select Physical Items. Type in the title or a keyword. 

On the left side of the screen, select "Paley Library" to limit to items only available at Paley. Look at the first item. First, notice that this item has a status of "Item in place." That means that the item is available. Second, notice the Item policy as "Normal Circulation per location". Click the Request link to the right of the record.

On the Create Request, select "Patron physical item request" from the drop-down menu. 

This will open additional fields. Next, scan the patron's ID card, enter their ID number of type the patron's name. Then select the Pickup At location from the drop down list. Click Submit to place the request.

You will see a confirmation at the top of the screen.