CIRCULATION ADMINISTRATION
Chapter 4. DEFINING LOCATIONS AND COLLECTIONS
About Floating Collections
In multi-branch library settings, if a borrowed item is returned to a location other than the “owning branch” (the permanent location for the item), the standard practice is for the branch that checked in the item to return it to the owning branch. However, some multi-branch libraries prefer to employ “floating collections,” whereby materials are allowed to move freely between branches. A system may be configured to support either “standard” floating collections or “smart” floating collections.
Floating collections are created by designating the desired material types and collections to “Allow Float” between branches. Both the material type (see Adding a Material Type for details) and permanent location (see Managing Collections for details) of a given item must be configured to “Allow Float” in order for the item to be considered part of a floating collection.
Additionally, for systems configured to support “smart” floating collections, Floating Collection Limits must be established for each library location configured to “Allow Float” (see Setting Floating Collection Limits for details), and a Float Default library must be selected (see Managing Libraries for details) to receive floating items when the checkin library has exceeded its floating collection limit.
When an item from a floating collection is checked in at a branch other than the branch from which it was checked out, disposition of the item depends on whether the system is configured for “standard” or “smart” floating collections. An overview of checkin processing is shown below.
For systems configured to support “smart” floating collections, collection names must be configured uniformly across all libraries and branches. Additionally, collections names must accurately describe the material type with which the collection is associated (Example: “Main Library-Juvenile-Non Fiction DVD” is an unambiguous location as opposed to “Main Library-Juvenile-Non Fiction” as a location and “DVD” as a material type. If an exact match to the collection name found in the Permanent Location field of the item record for the item being checked in cannot be found at the checkin branch, and disposition of the item is accomplished in accordance with the processing steps for a “traditional” collection.
|
Step |
“Traditional” Collection |
“Standard” Floating Collection |
“Smart” Floating Collection |
|
1 |
Item is checked out to patron. |
Item is checked out to patron. |
Item is checked out to patron. |
|
2 |
Patron returns item to branch other than the “owning” branch. |
Patron returns item to branch other than the “owning” branch. |
Patron returns item to branch other than the “owning” branch. |
|
3 |
On checkin, staff notes that item must be returned to “owning” branch. |
On checkin, staff notes that item is “new” to the branch, and displays Item Edit screen with new permanent location. |
The system automatically checks the Collection Count for the checkin branch to determine if the checkin will cause the branch to exceed its Collection Limit. See Setting Floating Collection Limits for more information. |
|
4 |
Item is labeled or marked with destination branch. |
Item is shelved at new location. |
If the checkin will not cause the branch to exceed its Collection Limit, the permanent and temporary locations for the item are set to the checkin branch/ collection and the Collection Count is incremented by one. Item is shelved at new location. |
|
5 |
Item is placed “In Transit.” |
|
If the checkin will cause the branch to exceed its Collection Limit, the item is placed “In Transit” to the Float Default location. See Managing Libraries for more information. |
|
6 |
Upon receipt at “owning” branch, item is checked in. |
|
Upon receipt at the Float Default location (see Managing Libraries for more information), item is checked in. The permanent and temporary locations for the item are set to the Float Default location. |
|
7 |
Item is shelved |
|
Item is shelved at Float Default location. |
In cases where active holds are present against an item or the item has a current status of “in transit,” the floating process is suppressed, and disposition of the item should be accomplished in accordance with standard procedures.