Process Long Overdue Items Report

The Process Long Overdue Items (Longoverdue) report selects items that have been overdue for some time, checks them in, moves them to a special location for later removal, removes the lost item bill (if any), and notes in the user record which titles have been moved. The note added to the LOSTITEM extended information entry is the only connection that will remain between the user and the lost item after the report runs.

The checkin and billing actions this report performs update the Last Activity Date for any applicable users and items.

The report includes the additional options of creating a bill for the user to include the price of the item, a processing fee, and the accrued fine(s) on the item(s), and/or BARRING the user from any more circulation privileges. Since this report does not produce bill notices, you must run a bill notice type report (such as the Generalized Bill Notices report) to notify patrons that they have been billed.

This report is used primarily for items that are excessively overdue, and the library does not expect the items to be returned. Since the charge link between the item and the user are removed by this report, SirsiDynix recommends using this report only when your library is ready to replace or remove the selected long overdue items.

This report is password protected. If you do not know the password, see your system administrator.

The SirsiDynix Symphony Workstation server needs to be running to schedule and run this report, or the report will fail. Do not halt the SirsiDynix Symphony Workstation server until the report displays on the finished list.

If you do not bill for accrued fines, the bills that are created when the item is discharged from the user will be removed, but the user will remain DELINQUENT until the Update User Delinquency Status (Setdelinq) report is run. If the nightly Update User Delinquency Status report is not run, the ”estimated” bills may display at checkout.

If items are recently overdue and there is some chance of recovering them, use the Assumed Lost (Assumedlost) report instead of this report.

This report contains the following tabs.

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Basic Tab: Reports

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Charge Selection Tab

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Copy Accountability Selection Tab

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Item Selection Tab

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Long Overdue Options Tab

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New Location Tab

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Sorting Tab

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Update Option Tab

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User Selection Tab

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User Status Selection Tab

The Process Long Overdue Items report automatically selects only copies that do not have copy level holds so that a hold will not be maintained for a copy that is unavailable. Copies that have any other charge in addition to the selected long overdue charge are also not selected. These selection values are not displayed, and cannot be modified.

By default, the Date Due field on the Charge Selection tab selects only charged items that were due more than 180 days before the report run date. This value may be changed to suit your library’s needs.

The Number of Bills field on the Item Selection tab selects only copies with zero bills by default. This default is recommended because a copy that is linked to a bill cannot be removed, and most of the items selected by this report are typically being selected for removal. If the library plans to retain bills for accrued fines, the Number of Bills equal to zero default may be changed.

The New Location field on the New Location tab specifies the location to which items selected by the report will be moved. This field is required to run the report. The default location is LONGOVRDUE.

The Sorting tab allows you to sort the report results by title, call number, user name, or user ID. The default sort is Title.

When the report is run with the Update Database Records check box selected on the Update Option tab, the following changes are made to your library’s data.

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Selected items are discharged.

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A note with Brief Title information is added to the LOSTITEM extended information entry in the user record of the patron who lost the item. Each LOSTITEM entry contains the title, call number, copy number, item ID, and date due for the item. The LOSTITEM extended information entries display only when a user record is being modified.

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Each item’s current location is changed to LONGOVRDUE, or the location set in New Location tab. The LONGOVRDUE location is the default selection for the New Location field on the New Location tab. The LONGOVRDUE location is delivered as shadowed, so items with this location do not display in the public access catalog. After the Process Long Overdue Items report is run, items with the LONGOVRDUE location are indexed only after the Add, Delete, and Update Databases report is run.

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The bill linked to item is removed. The report can be set up to create a bill that is linked to the user. By removing the link to the item bill, the report enables the item to be removed from the library collection while maintaining a connection between the patron who lost the item and the amount owed for the lost item bill.

Even though this report can create bills, it does not produce bill notices. You must run a bill notice type report (such as the Generalized Bill Notices report) to notify patrons that they have been billed.

When the Update Database Records check box is selected on the Update Option tab, the report log specifies the location of the error file, which contains the discharge transactions that could not be completed. This error file lists the command that failed (Discharge Item), the item ID of the item not discharged, and the reason the why the transaction failed. In addition to this error log, a list of items that were not discharged are listed as the first page of the Process Long Overdue Items report output.

If any billing transaction fails, the report log specifies the location of the error file, which contains the billing transactions that could not be completed. This error file lists the command that failed (Bill User), the user ID of the user not billed, and the reason why the transaction failed. In addition to this error log, a list of users not billed are listed as the second page of the Process Long Overdue Items report output. If both the Bill For Replacement Cost of Long Overdue Item and the Processing Fee For Long Overdue Items options are selected, the failed transactions for the processing fee option will be on a separate page following the failed transactions for the replacement cost option.

If no discharge transactions failed, the failed billing transactions will begin on the first page of the report output.

After running this report, use the Remove Items by Location (Rembylocation) report to complete the processing of long overdue items by permanently removing from the collection the items placed in the LONGOVRDUE location.

The List Users with Bills (Billuser) report may be run to list all the patrons who have bills with the Bill Reasons used for the Process Long Overdue Items report.