Wrong Cover Shown With Title in ValleyCat

In ValleyCat or the Enterprise catalog, you may occasionally come across a title with the wrong cover art. For example, the following screen shot shows a picture of "Vietnamese Cooking" next to the title for "The Fertility Plan". This anomaly is usually a result of conflicting ISBNs in the Marc record. Report these instances to the Cataloging Department using the Cataloging Correction Form found on Oz.








rev. 8/2017

No Requests on Empty Bib Records

In most cases, every bib/title record in Horizon has one or more copies attached to it. However, there might be a few titles that don't have any copies attached. You cannot place a request on a title that has no copies attached to it. Here's what an "empty bib" looks like in ValleyCat:

If you try to place a request on this empty bib, a rather cryptic message appears which says "visit the full bib page" as shown below:

If you try to do it in Horizon, you'll see the following message:

Empty bib records might occur for one of two reasons:

1. The bib record is very new and the copies have not been attached to it yet. Advise the customer to place the title on their "My List" and check back in a week or two. If it continues to be a problem, follow the instructions below for using the Catalog Correction Form.

2. The bib record is very old and all of the copies have been withdrawn. In you suspect this is the case, report the bib# and title to the Cataloging Department using the Catalog Correction Form found on Oz.  Note: System staff routinely runs a program that removes empty bib records from the catalog.


rev. 8/2017

Hold Notification Block Won't Go Away

There are times when Horizon does not automatically remove the Hold Notification Block even after the borrower checks out the item or the hold expires and the item is returned to the owning branch. You can try to delete the block manually. However, if that still does not clear the block, report the borrower’s name and barcode, and the item’s title and barcode to the Jurisdiction System Administrator so it can be removed by a system-level process.

rev. 2/2018

Caution: Do Not Issue Any Library Cards With Barcode 0000000000

In the past, Fresno may have issued library cards with the barcode 0000000000 – for example the new mother library card program, where babies were given 0 accounts. However, in Horizon, a library card barcode with all zeros causes major problems.

For example, the zero account will “magically” appear in the middle of working with another borrower. This results in that borrower’s items being checked out to the zero account instead of their own. The resulting research and rework to correct the problem is very time consuming.

So, please remember…DO NOT EVER create a library card with the barcode 0000000000.

Library Cards That Expire Based On Borrower’s Age

As of September 1, 2006, Fresno County library cards with the following borrower types were set to expire automatically based on the age of the borrower as noted below. This date overrides the standard five-year expiration date for these borrower types. This should reduce the number of patrons with a borrower type that does not correspond to their age (i.e. a 15-year-old with an FCH card or a 30-year-old with an FYA card.) These are the borrower types that use the borrower's age to set the expiration date of the card:

Age -- Borrower type
12 -- FCH - Fresno Child
12 -- FCHF - Fresno Child Foster Care
12 -- FNRCH - Fresno Non-Resident Child
18 -- FYA - Fresno Young Adult
18 -- FYAF - Fresno YA Foster Care
18 -- FNRYA - Fresno Non-Resident YA

Note:
> Horizon will NOT automatically change the card to the appropriate new borrower type. It will only prompt you to renew the card. Staff must manually change the borrower type.
> The automatic expiration by age will only affect borrowers issued cards after September 1, 2006. It will not automatically update the expiration dates of borrowers issued cards before that date.

rev. 2/2018

Approved Setting in Borrower Record

There is a field called "Approved" in the borrower record. It's just below Borrower Note in the order of the registration screen. Most of the time, this option is check marked. However, if the check mark is removed for whatever reason, the patron will not be able to use their library card to check out materials either at self check or by staff in Horizon (see screen shot below.) They will also not be able to access public computers.To make their account active again, place a check mark next to the "Approved" field and click Save.

Note: They can still use their card to place holds.



rev. 2/2018