Circulating bundles

This feature adds the ability to create bundles of items that can be checked out as a single entity. A bundle could for example be a box of related items from your library or a collection of musical scores which need to be circulated together.

You create a collection level bibliographic record and add items to it in the usual way. Those items can then be converted to a bundle by adding existing item records to them using their barcodes. The items will remain attached to their original records and be marked as ‘not for loan’.

Configuration

First you need to make some configuration choices.

Item types - you may want to create a separate item type to identify your bundles.

Circulation rules - you can optionally create circulation rules for your bundle item type.

There are two system preferences which control the status values used with bundles:

BundleNotLoanValue.

BundleLostValue.

Creating bundles

The bundle functionality will only be displayed if you create a catalogue record with the Leader, (000 MARC tag) position 7 set to ‘c’ for Collection.

Note

It might be useful to have a separate MARC bibliographic framework for bundles with the ‘c’ set as a default value if you will use bundles regularly. You can also add any custom fields to the template that might be unique to bundles such as size or weight.

Your catalogue record will contain information to identify the content of the bundle.

For example, if the bundle is a box of resources for school children on the topic of oceans, the catalogue record might look something like the one shown below.

Add an item record for each physical bundle. It is likely that you will want a specific item type for bundles so that you can identify them easily and create circulation rules for them. In this case the bundle has the item type COLLECTION.

An item record attached to this type of catalogue record can be converted into a bundle via the Manage bundle button on the far right-hand side of the holdings table for each item as shown below.

Adding items to bundles

Click on Manage bundle and then the Add to bundle button to add items to the bundle using the barcode of the item.

You will see a message telling you that the item has been added successfully.

When you have finished scanning in items you can click on Close and view the bundle contents. The bundle contents list can be exported or printed if required.

Warning

Items added to bundles are still attached to their permanent catalogue record, however, they cannot be checked out individually. When added to a bundle an item’s Not for Loan status is updated and can be viewed in the holdings table of the permanent record along with a link to the bundle. The Not for Loan status can be defined in the BundleNotLoanValue system preference.

If an item is already found to be attached to the bundle, a warning message will be displayed.

If an item has an item-level hold, a warning message will be displayed. To add the item to the bundle anyway, click ‘Ignore holds and add to bundle’. To cancel, click ‘Close’.

If an item cannot be added to the bundle for any other reason a failure message will display.

Removing items from bundles

To remove an individual item from a bundle you can click on the Remove button from the Actions column of the bundle contents list.

To remove multiple items from the bundle you have two options:

Use the ‘Remove from bundle’ button from within the Manage bundle display

Scan in barcodes in the same way as you add items to bundles. You will see a confirmation dialogue to let you know the item has been removed.

If the item couldn’t be removed you will see a Failure message.

The second way to remove multiple items is to scan the barcode of the item into the checkin box and you will be given the option to remove the item from its bundle.

When you have finished working with a bundle you can close the contents list by clicking on the Manage bundle button again.

Circulating bundles Checkout

You can checkout a bundle in the usual way from Circulation using the barcode of the bundle. If required you can create specific circulation rules for bundles based on their item type.

Remember, once an item is within a bundle it cannot be checked out individually. If you try to do this the following alert will be displayed.

You can see the checkout from the patron’s list of checkouts.

You can also see that the bundle is checked out from the status column of the Holdings table of the catalogue record.from the catalogue record display.

Checkin

Check in bundles in the usual way from Circulation. You will then be prompted to verify the presence of each item that belongs in the bundle.

If you need to skip the verification process, click the ‘Confirm checkin without verifying bundle contents’ button. You will be able to verify the contents later.

A list of the items currently attached to the bundle, and expected to be returned, will display at the top of the dialogue. Beneath the list will be a ‘Barcodes’ box where you are expected to scan the barcodes of the returned items one by one.

As you scan items, the matching row in the list will be highlighted to give some visual feedback. You also see a running total of items that have been checked in on the right hand side.

When you have finished scanning the returned items you can click on ‘Confirm checkin and mark missing items as lost’ or you can cancel the checkin.

If all the bundle items were marked as found you will be presented with a message to say the checkin is complete.

You can view and print a contents list.

Missing items

If some items were found to be missing during the verification stage the check in will proceed but you will be alerted to the fact that the bundle content has changed and you will be given the option to view and print an updated contents list.

You can also view a list of the missing items.

Any items that were missing during the verification stage will automatically be marked with an appropriate Lost status and a return claim added to track which checkout lost the contained item. You can add your own lost statuses in the LOST authorized value category and you can control which lost status is used via the BundleLostValue system preference. For example, a ‘Missing from bundle’ status as shown below.

In the Manage bundle contents view, the missing item displays with the date last seen.

Claims returned process

Within the patron record the missing items are listed as claims returned and can be viewed from the Claim(s) tab in the Checkouts table.

Click on the numbered square to view the missing items for the patron.

If an item is found it should be checked in. The checkin dialogue box will include a button to ‘Resolve’ the claim.

You are required to add a resolution reason and can optionally change the lost value of the item.

Inventory (checking bundle contents at any time)

A verification can be triggered at any time by checking the bundle in. If the system detects that the bundle was not checked out at this point, a modified confirmation dialogue is displayed which will include all items expected to be present in the bundle, even those currently marked as lost.

This allows for a quick view of what should be in the bundle and what’s currently marked as missing. You can optionally cancel the checkin or choose to rescan the items to perform the verification, marking items as found or subsequently missing. As this is a checkin that is not associated with a checkout, if new items are found to be missing, we will mark them as lost but cannot associate them with a checkout and returns claim.