Waive vs Change Amount

If you wish to reduce a customer's fines because they returned an item, use "waiver" rather than "change amount." It's more like saying 'they owed us that money, but we forgave the debt.' Fresno discovered problems with their Debt Collect reports when fees are changed rather than just waived.

 

The appropriate use for "change amount" is when the customer was actually charged the wrong amount for a lost item or a processing fee. Use this to change the amount due for an individual block, rather than completely wiping it out.

In short, waive = forgive and change amount = oops.

Floating Collection Codes

The following collection codes are currently floating. Updated 12/14/12 - kks

fabefcx - Adult, Eng Fic
fabegrx - Adult, Eng Graphic Novel
fabesfx - Adult, Eng Sci-fi
fabewex - Adult, Eng Western
fabeyyx - Adult, Eng Mystery
fabjfcx - Adult, Japanese Fic
fabjnfx - Adult, Japanese Non-fic
fabknfx - Adult, Khmer Non-fic
fabmnfx - Adult, Hmong Non-fic
fabnfcx - Adult, Korean Fic
fabnnfx - Adult, Korean Non-fic
fabpbix - Adult, Panjabi Biography
fabpfcx - Adult, Panjabi Fic
fabpnfx - Adult, Panjabi Non-fic
fabrbix - Adult, Russian Biography
fabrfcx - Adult, Russian Fic
fabrnfx - Adult, Russian Non-fic
fabsbix - Adult, Spa Biography
fabsfcx - Adult, Spa Fic
fabsgrx - Adult, Spa Graphic Novel
fabsnfx - Adult, Spa Non-fic
fabvnfx - Adult, Vietnamese Non-fic
fabwfcx - Adult, Persian Fic
fabwnfx - Adult, Persian Non-Fic
fabzfcx - Adult World Lang Print Fic
fabznfx - Adult World Lang Print NF
facxmax - Adult CD Music-sacred
facxmbx - Adult CD Music-blues
facxmcx - Adult CD Music-classical
facxmex - Adult CD Music-easy Listen
facxmfx - Adult CD Music-folk
facxmhx - Adult CD Music-R&B
facxmjx - Adult CD Music-jazz
facxmkx - Adult CD - Spoken Word
facxmlx - Adult CD Music-latin
facxmmx - Adult CD Music-musicals
facxmnx - Adult CD Music-new age
facxmpx - Adult CD Music-rap
facxmrx - Adult CD Music-Rock & Pop
facxmsx - Adult CD Music-seasonal
facxmtx - Adult CD Music-soundtrack
facxmux - Adult CD Music-country
facxmwx - Adult CD Music-world
facxmxx - Adult CD Miscellaneous
faczfox - CD Music Folio / Oversized
fadcxxx - Adult Chinese DVD
fadebix - Adult Eng DVD Biography
fadenfx - Adult Eng DVD, Non-Fic
fadexxx - Adult Eng DVD Fic
fadhxxx - Adult Hindi DVD
fadpxxx - Adult Panjabi DVD
fadsnfx - Adult Spa DVD Non Fic
fadsxxx - Adult Spa DVD Fic
fadwxxx - Adult Persian DVD
fadznfx - Adult, World Lang DVD Non Fic
fadzxxx - Adult, World Language DVD
faoebix - Adult Eng Book On CD, Biography
faoefcx - Adult Eng Book On CD, Fic
faoenfx - Adult Eng Book On CD, Non-Fic
faosfcx - Adult Spa Book on CD, Fic
faosnfx - Adult Spa Book on CD, Non-Fic
faozxxx - Adult, World Lang Audio
faqefcx - Adult Book on Media Player
fawsxxx - Adult Spa Media Kit
fcbebbx - Child, Eng Boardbk
fcbegrx - Child, Eng Graphic Novel
fcbeibx - Child, Eng IBT
fcbeicx - Child, Eng I Can Read
fcbepbx - Child, Eng Picbk
fcbsbbx - Child Spa Boardbook
fcbsbix - Child Spa Biography
fcbsfcx - Child Spa Fiction
fcbsgrx - Child, Spa Graphic Novel
fcbsibx - Child Spa IBT
fcbsicx - Child Spa I Can Read
fcbsnfx - Child Spa Non-fic
fcbspbx - Child Spa Picbk
fcbzfcx - Child World Lang Print Fic
fcbznfx - Child World Lang Print NF
fccsmxx - Child Spa CD Music
fccxmxx - Child CD Music
fcdebix - Child, Eng DVD Biography
fcdenfx - Child, Eng DVD Non Fic
fcdexxx - Child, Eng DVD Fic
fcdsxxx - Child, Spa DVD
fcdzxxx - Child, World Language DVD
fcoexxx - Child Book on CD
fcosxxx - Child Spa Book on CD
fcpeibx - Child, Eng IBT Paperback
fcqefcx - Children's Book on Media Player
fcwsxxx - Child, Spa Media Kit
fcxerax - Child Eng Read-along
fcxsrax - Child Spa Read-along
fcxxprx - Child Parent's Shelf AV
fcxxvgx - Child Video Game
febefcx - Easy Eng, Fic
fybefcx - Teen, Eng Fiction
fybegrx - Teen, Eng Graphic Novel
fybsbix - Teen, Spa Biography
fybsfcx - Teen, Spa Fiction
fybsgrx - Teen, Spa Graphic Novel
fybsnfx - Teen, Spa Non-fic
fydxnfx - Teen DVD Non Fic
fydxxxx - Teen DVD Fic
fyoexxx - Teen Books on CD
fyqefcx - Teen Book on Media Player
fyxxvgx - Teen Video Game
fzbefcx - Large Print, Eng Fic
fzbsfcx - Large Print, Spanish Fic

Troubleshooting Problems With A Request

There are various reasons why Horizon/ValleyCat will not allow a customer to request an item. Many times the message the software returns when it encounters a problem is not clear. Here's a list of reasons why the request did not go through and the resulting message to help you troubleshoot the issue.

1. Customer already has the title requested. The following message appears: "Unable to place request. You have the maximum number of requests allowed for this title".


2. Borrower type of the customer does not allow requests (i.e. btype=FSURF). The following message appears: "This title is not available for requests".

3. Itype of the item does not allow requests. Examples include if a child/teen btype tries to request an R-rated movie (itype=fvir). Or the customer tries to request a reference item (itype=fre). The following message appears: "Your request cannot be filled because no requestable items exist for this title".

4. Status of the item does not allow requests. An item cannot be requested if it has a status of damaged, librarian review, lost, missing, relocation in progress, trace, weeded or withdrawn. The following message appears: "This title is not available for requests".

Request Problem: Single Disk DVD on a Multi-Disk DVD Record

It is FCPL's practice on multi-disk DVD items to keep all the disks together as a one unit in a single case. These sets are linked to a title/bib record that reflects this. For example, see bib# 1965885 - Glee. Season 1, volume 1, Road to sectionals [DVD]. There are 4 disks in the set. If a customer places a request on this bib record and it is filled by a FCPL copy, they will get all 4 disks at one time. That is what they expect to happen.

However some SJVLS members split up these DVD sets into single-disk cases then link them to the same title/bib# that contains multi-disk items. This can cause problems for the customer. The request could be filled by one of the single-disk items instead of the entire set. So the customer expects to get disks 1-4 and only receives disk 2.

Some jurisdictions are making efforts to correct this problem. However at this point in time, it is still possible one of your customers could be surprised and disappointed when their request arrives with only a single disk instead of the entire series. In the short term, you can help your customer by placing another request for them through Horizon. Either locate another title/bib record that contains only multi-disk items or place an item specific request on a multi-disk item. In the long term, we will continue to work with other SJVLS members to reduce or eliminate the instances where this is occurring.

Since this is a known issue that is being resolved at the cataloging level, there is no need to place a note in Horizon or on the single-disk itself telling the other jurisdiction to fix it. Branch staff receiving the note do not usually have the ability/authority to make the change. These records are being identified in other ways.

End Session Button

In the upgrade to Horizon 7.5.1 in March 2011, a new button appeared at the bottom of the borrower checkout screen: End Session. It is like the Payment button on the Blocks screen.

Click the button and the following Session Payment window appears. Make the desired payment/waiver to the account. At the end of the transaction, the borrower's record will automatically be cleared.

If the End Session button was selected inadvertently, click Close.

If you do not watch the screen while performing other tasks, you could accidentally activate the End Session button and even the Payment button and make a payment on the account.

New and Now Browsing Collection

What is the New and Now collection? New and Now is a browsing collection that consists of high demand materials. Here's the Horizon/ValleyCat related information to this special collection:

• CKO time: 3 weeks
• No renewals
• No holds allowed
• Collection code: FXXENNC - New and Now
• Itype: FFI
• The items are not visible to customers in ValleyCat. However they are visible to staff in Horizon.
• Pilot locations: Central, Clovis, Politi, Kerman, Kingsburg, and Auberry.

For complete information on the New and Now collection go to http://fcplbooknotes.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-now-collection.html

How To Export Horizon Data To Excel

In some cases, data can be exported from Horizon into another program. The following shows how to export data from Item Group Editor or the Redistribution report.

Part I: Export the List

• Pull up a list of items in Horizon.
• Highlight the items to export. Ctrl + A highlights all the items at once.
• Menu Bar --> File --> Export Record(s).
• Enter a file name --> Leave File Type blank --> Save
• Select "Columns Separated by Tabs" --> OK. The list has been exported and saved to the named file.

Part II: Configure for Excel* 

• Open the file with Excel using your preferred method.
• Change “Files of type” to All Files --> highlight the file --> Open
• Leave “Delimited” checked on this window --> Next

• Leave Tab selected --> Next

• Leave all defaults unchanged --> Finish

• The file is still in a tab delimited format. To save the data as an Excel file and preserve changes, go to File - Save As. Under "Save as type", select Microsoft Office Excel Workbook.

*The method is similar for opening the file in Microsoft Word, Wordpad, etc.

Search by Partial Item Barcode

If you only have a portion of the item barcode, you may still be able to find the item in Horzion. This might happen more often with a DVD or CD that has been separated from its case and only has the last 4 digits of the barcode written on the disk. The following steps assume this scenario. You can adapt them as needed for your situation.

• Open an item barcode search window in Horizon.
• The asterisk (*) serves as a wildcard symbol in the search. For example, if the last 4 digits are 7743, enter the search as *7743. This will return any items that end in 7743 regardless of whether they are 10 or 14 digit barcodes.
• If the search returns too many items, click the Limit button.
• Hightlight the field Medium (gmd).*
• With "contains" selected, enter text into the Limit Text field. Typically DVD or CD narrows it down to just that format. Since the title is usually included on the disk itself, you can pinpoint the record from there.

*gmd is a cataloging acronym for "general material designation" or a fancy way of saying "format".

Quick Fix for "Proxy Number Required" Message

When making a new library card registration, you may have encountered the message "Proxy Number Required" when you tried to save the record. This message appears if you accidentally click on a field in the Proxy Borr area of the registration form. There is a way to clear this message and save the record without having to start the registration from scratch.

Go to the Proxy Borr section of the form. Click the Delete button. This should clear any phantom characters in that section and allow you to save the record.

The same fix (click the Delete button) works if you encounter a similar problem in the Home Service area of the registration form.