| • | Academic Reservations Module Prerequisites |
| • | Policy Configuration for Academic Reservations |
| • | Reservation Records |
Academic Reservations Module Prerequisites
Before offering any reservation services, prerequisite planning and configuration tasks must be completed by all libraries. These day-to-day operations involve placing items on reserve and accepting reservations for the Reserve items, and these tasks must be reflected in the policies. SirsiDynix Symphony catalog, reserve control, item, and user records must be prepared for use with the Academic Reservations module.
Library Planning Prerequisites for Reservations
The library should consider the needs of its users and the resources available to meet those needs. Issues that should be discussed include which Reserve materials may have reservations made on them, the amount of processing time needed to prepare a Reserve item for a reservation, the availability of library staff for the preparation, and which users are eligible for reservation services. Before implementing reservation services, the library should consider the scope of services to be provided. The following considerations affect how SirsiDynix Symphony policies should be structured.
| • | Limit Materials on Which Reservations Can Be Made — A library may decide that certain materials will not be available for reservations by some or all users. Though circulation policies will usually be sufficient to prevent reservation of restricted-use items such as reference works, the library may choose to limit or disallow reservation of some other item types through other policies. For example, videotapes may have reservations made on them by faculty and staff, but no one is permitted to make reservations for maps. |
| • | Limit User Eligibility for Reservation Services — Since the ability to make reservations on Reserve materials is determined by the User Profile policies, the library should determine criteria for eligibility for reservation services. One library might decide that any registered user may make reservations on Reserve items. Another library may wish to limit reservation services to a given user population. The User Profile policy contains an attribute called Eligible for Reservations which determines if users with the specific user profile can make reservations. |
| • | Coordinate Staff Availability — The availability of staff may determine whether certain Reserve items can be made available at particular times. For instance, the library may decide not to allow reservations to be made for times within half an hour of the Reserve Desk's closing time. |
| • | Determine Fees for Services — SirsiDynix Symphony permits a great deal of flexibility in determining which, if any, reservation services will charge a fee. Libraries may elect not to pass any charges to their users or may recover costs by assessing a privilege fee for reservation services for some or all users. |
SirsiDynix Symphony Database Prerequisites for Reservations
Before reservations can be made in a library, a structure needs to be set up to establish which Reserve items can have reservations made on them, and the types of users who may make reservations. These rules are the established in the SirsiDynix Symphony policies defined by the library with the help of SirsiDynix.
| • | Catalog Information — In order for an item to be used in a reservation, it must be in the SirsiDynix Symphony catalog. |
| • | Reserve Control Information — Only items currently on reserve can have reservations made on them. |
| • | Item Record Information— For reservations to be made on a title, the item record must have an item type with a valid reservation profile. |
| • | User Record Information — For a user to make a reservation on an item, the user must be currently registered, and the user record must contain a User Profile policy which permits reservations. |
Policy Configuration for Academic Reservations
Since the Academic Reservations module is integrated with other SirsiDynix Symphony modules, policies in other policy groups can affect the reservation process.
The Academic Reservations module makes use of the following SirsiDynix Symphony policies to determine whether materials may have reservations made on them for a given user, item, date, or time period.
Item Type Policy
For every type of reserved item that can have reservations placed against it, the item's Reservation Profile must be defined in the Item Type policy. SirsiDynix Symphony uses the Reservation Profile attribute to determine the hours the item is available. Items whose Item Type policies do not name a reservation profile cannot have reservations made on them. Multiple item types can share a single reservation profile, though more flexibility exists when one item type is associated with one reservation profile.
For example, a library allows instructors to place personal copies of books on reserve at the Reserve Desk. The MYBOOK Item Type policy is added and used when bibliographic records are created for these items. For an item with the MYBOOK item type to be used in reservations, the library has created a Reservation Profile policy, also named MYBOOK for clarity. This Reservation Profile policy is then used as the value for the Reservation Profile attribute in the Item Type policy.
For more information, see the Item Type Wizard topic.
Reserve Desk Policy
The Reservations section of the Reserve Desk policy defines when reservations are unavailable. You select a default Reserve Desk policy in the Reserves Session Settings. See the Reserve Session Settings Wizard for more information.
For more information about the Reserve Desk policy, see the Reserve Desk Wizard topic.
Reservations Profile Policy
The Reservations Profile policy defines the optional fixed time periods for which reservations can be made, minimum loan periods, expiration time periods, how far in advance reservations can be made on the items, and how much time to allow before the start of a reservation when a loan period must be shortened due to an upcoming reservation.
The policy includes the following attributes:
| • | Fixed Time Slots — This attribute specifies a list of available fixed time slots that may be scheduled by a user. |
| • | Advanced Reservation — This attribute specifies the maximum amount of time you can make a reservation in advance. |
| • | Minimum Loan Period — This attribute specifies the minimum amount of time a user can check out an item before an upcoming reservation. |
| • | Early Return Time — This attribute specifies the minimum amount of time a user has to return an item before an upcoming reservation. |
| • | Expiration Time — This attribute specifies the amount of time after which a user's reservation will expire. |
| • | Message Display Time — This attribute specifies the amount of time before an upcoming reservation that will cause a message to display when the item is discharged. |
For more information, see the Reservations Profile Wizard topic.
User Profile Policy
The User Profile policy contains the following three reservation-related attributes:
| • | Eligible for Reservation — The Eligible for Reservation attribute determines whether a user with a given user profile may make reservations on reserved items. If the attribute is set to Yes, the user can make reservations. If the attribute is set to No, the user cannot make reservations. |
| • | Reservation Limit — The Reservation Limit attribute determines how many items for which a user may have reservations at one time. If a user is not allowed to make reservations on items, the Reservation Limit should be 0. |
| • | Consecutive Reservation Allowed — The Consecutive Reservation Allowed attribute specifies whether or not the user can make reservations for items in consecutive fixed time slots. This attribute corresponds to the Fixed Time Slots attribute of the Reservation Profile policy. |
For more information, see the User Profile Wizard topic.
Bill Reason Policy
If users who make reservations are to be billed for the reservation service using the Bill a User wizard, a new Bill Reason policy may need to be created.
For example, if a public library decides to assess a fee for making a reservation, a new Bill Reason policy must be created. Each time a reservation is made, library staff uses the Bill a User wizard to create a bill (with the new Bill Reason policy) for the amount of the reservation fee. The Bill Reason policy Name could be RESERVATION, and the Associated with Item attribute would be set to Yes.
For more information, see the Bill Reason Wizard topic.
Circulation Map Policy
The Circulation Map policy determines the circulation characteristics of a given combination of user profiles, item types, and libraries by linking them to a circulation rule. Before a user can make a reservation on an item, there must be a Circulation Map policy that permits charging of that item type by that user's profile and library. Additionally, the Circulation Map policy will reference the circulation rule that controls the loan period of the item. If a requested reservation time exceeds the loan period, staff will be prompted to enter an override code.
For example, if a library permits reservations to be made by off-campus faculty members, the library must create a Circulation Map policy that permits users with the OFFCAMPFAC User Profile policy to charge items with the MYBOOK Item Type policy. (If the user wanted to make a reservation for the MYBOOK Item Type for longer than three hours, an override prompt might allow staff to grant the request.) The Circulation Map policy could be called OFFCAMPFAC-MYBOOK; the User Profile attribute of this policy would be OFFCAMPFAC; the Item Type attribute would be MYBOOK, and the Circulation Rule attribute would be 3HRS. A Library policy would also need to be specified in the Library attribute, such as MAIN.
For more information, see the Circulation Map Wizard topic.
Circulation Rule Policy
The Circulation Rule policy determines whether the combination of library, user profile, and item type is chargeable. If it is chargeable, the first test of whether a reservation can be accepted for an item has been passed. The Circulation Rule policy also dictates the loan period of a given combination of library, user profile, and item type. If the reservation period requested is greater than the loan period specified in the Circulation Rule policy, and the circulation rule can be overridden (Overridable attribute set to Yes), an override prompt would allow staff the opportunity to grant the request.
For example, a library allows off-campus faculty users to make reservations on an instructor's personal copy at the Reserve Desk for up to five consecutive days. A new Circulation Rule policy, 5DAY, should be created to allow certain types of items to circulate for five days without overdue fees being charged. A User Profile policy, OFFCAMPFAC, and an Item Type policy, MYBOOK, should have been created. For off-campus faculty users to make reservations on the instructor's books, a new Circulation Map policy, which uses the OFFCAMPFAC User Profile, the MYBOOK Item Type, and the 5DAY Circulation Rule must be created. A Loan Period policy, 5DAY, should also have been created; this policy would be used as the value in the Loan Period attribute of the Circulation Rule policy. The Circulation Rule policy Chargeable attribute would be set to Yes, and the Overridable attribute would be set to Yes.
For more information, see the Circulation Rule Wizard topic.
Library Policy
The Library policy contains a Dates Closed attribute, which impacts Reserve Desks. When making a reservation on a reserved item, the system checks the dates closed of the owning library. If the requested reservation falls within any of the dates listed, the item is said to be “Unavailable for reservations,” and the reservation is not allowed. When a Reserve Desk policy is created, staff can indicate whether the Reserve Desk will observe the dates closed or the holiday schedule specified in the existing Library policy.
For example, the Library policy's Dates Closed attribute could be set to 1/1/2004, 5/31/2004, 7/5/2004, 9/6/2004, 11/25/2004-11/26/2004, 12/24/2004-12/27/2004. You could also set the Days Closed attribute to Sunday, and the Accrue Fine attribute to No.
For more information, see the Library Wizard topic.
Loan Period Policy
The Loan Period policy describes the specific length of time an item may be charged before becoming overdue. Although a loan period of five days may be indicated in the Circulation Rule policy, the actual loan period can be less than five days if the requested reservation period is shorter than the loan period, or longer than five days. If the requested reservation period is greater, an override is supplied to permit the extension. Also, the loan period can be cut short if there is another reservation that starts sooner than the requested reservation end time.
For example, if an off-campus faculty member makes a reservation on an instructor's personal copy at the Reserve Desk (MYBOOK Item Type) for a period ending at 14:00, the book would not be overdue until the time that the library closes (such as 17:00) because once the book is charged, it uses the 5DAY Circulation Rule policy. This Circulation Rule policy references the 5DAY Loan Period policy. If the faculty member made a reservation for eight days by using the override allowed in the 5DAY Circulation Rule policy, the reservation period would end at 14:00 on the eighth day as requested, but the item would not be overdue until after 17:00 (or the time that the library closes) on the eighth day. In this example, the Loan Period Name would be 5DAY; the Type would be DAILY; the Time Due would be 17:00, and the Length/Due Dates attribute would be 5DAY(S).
For more information, see the Loan Period Wizard topic.
SirsiDynix Symphony creates a reservation record to track information about the Reserve item and the user who made a reservation for it. The following information is included in the reserve record.
| • | Starting date and time of the reservation |
| • | Ending date and time of the reservation |
| • | Reservation creation date |
Reservation records may be created, displayed, edited, and removed. To view reservation record information, use the Display User Reservations and Display Item Reservations wizards.