Library Management Information System (LIS)

Loan - functions and screens

Borrowers

A number of BORROWER categories may be defined. To maintain the BORROWERS file the following options are available:

The data entry/update procedures are similar to those described above. As an additional option one can produce a reader card when leaving data entry. Other possibilities may be foreseen in the case when a file of employee exists. In such a case the file may be loaded to the BORROWER file. If the employee file exist in an ISIS standard it can be easily connected to the LIS system.

Loaning procedure

Loaning deals with monographs, audiovisual media and journals. It is composed of several functions which are discussed below. The Loaning subsystem is available from the DBA menu, and from the menu available for the staff involved in loaning services. The basic functions are shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 Loan subsystem menu

 1. Register new loan

First action to undertake is to select a borrower, either by his/her name or by the identifier. Some basic information about the borrower is displayed on the top left part of the screen (Fig. 8 ). Then an item should be selected. You can do it either directly by providing a call number or by specifying general information of the monographic or audiovisual record, i.e. saying either the author or title. In the latter case you should point the title you are interested in, and you will get the list of call numbers associated with the title.

There may be some flags displayed at each call number:

Fig. 8 Loan screen for a user

 The screen above provides a menu to select what type of document will be subject of loan - book or tape. Once selected, the catalogue can be browsed by author name, title ISBN, etc.

If a requested item is not available (loaned or reserved) one will be asked whether the borrower wants to be added to a waiting list. Obviously the borrower cannot be registered twice to the same waiting list. 

The loaning process is controlled by several conditions, which are specified by ISIS print format and can be easily changed. For the given application the conditions control:

• • 1. account of the borrower

If a given material is available and can be loaned to the given borrower, the selected item is displayed on the top right part of the screen and you should enter an expiration date. The default date is evaluated by the system depending on the borrower category. After the loan registration is completed you may print the LOAN confirmation, which can be signed by the borrower. Then you are brought back to the item selection menu and a new loan can be registered for the borrower.

2. Return item

After the borrower is selected, the list of call numbers of all items loaned by him/her is displayed. You may select one item. Having completed the return operation you may print the return confirmation. If the expiration date was exceeded, the borrower will have to pay a penalty. The amount of money to be paid depends on the borrower category and is evaluated by a format which can be subject of ease change.

If one is on the waiting list for the item being returned, the item is automatically reserved for the waiting user and an appropriate message is displayed on the screen. The prospective borrower is deleted from the waiting list immediately after having borrowed the requested item. If there are several in spe borrowers on the waiting list the system selects the one who was registered first chronologically.

Fig. 9 Items loaned by the user

 Having this screen one can display a selected item to see the loan conditions.

 3. Extend deadline

When the borrower is selected, the list of call numbers of all items loaned by him/her is displayed. You may select one of the items, then the expiration date can be modified. Having accepted the prolongation one may print the confirmation of this fact.

4. Reservations management

The list of call numbers of all reserved items is displayed. The items, for which the message on reservation was issued to a waiting user, have the flag '!', the other - flag 'R'. So from the table one has to go through the items that are marked by "R" or without any mark. If a position has the mark "R" one can check when the user was informed, and if decided that the item cannot be blocked any longer, the reservation can be canceled.

If a reservation has no mark, it means that a message (letter, e-mail or telephone call) has to be issued. This will change the status of reservation to O.K.; the date of confirmation is added to the LOAN record.

Fig. 10 Confirmation of the reservation

When an item is selected from reservations list, information about the item and the borrower are displayed on the screen. Now, one has three possibilities (Fig. 10):

5. Print a list of loaning with expired return date

The list of all borrowers who exceeded the expiration date of the loan, if there are any, is displayed. You can browse it on the screen or print.

6. Browse library holdings

You may browse monographic and audiovisual media items. For both types it is possible to select either all items or only those loaned.

7. Provisional update of the catalogue

If in the loan time a requested monograph does not exist in the electronic catalogue (not yet entered), though it is available in the traditional library catalogue one can prepare a provisional monographic record which will be marked as provisional and will appear on the list of items to be completed by the cataloguing staff some time later.