Acquisitions Workflows, Record Types and Automatic Processes

This section provides an overview of the workflows, record types, and automatic processes used in Polaris Acquisitions.

Acquisitions Workflows

Your library can choose from a variety of ordering, receiving, and invoicing workflows to accomplish tasks in Acquisitions.

Acquisitions Record Types

In Polaris Acquisitions, various records store information about a library’s budgeting, ordering, and invoicing activities. Some Acquisitions records are also linked to Cataloging or Serials records. Acquisitions records, like other Polaris records, are displayed in workforms.

Fiscal Year Records

Fiscal year records track and manage funds for a specific period of time. You can create an unlimited number of fiscal year records, and they can have overlapping durations. Each fiscal year record can link to an unlimited number of fund records.

When you set up the acquisitions budget, you start with a fiscal year record. You name the record, give it a start and end date, select the owner of the record, and include any notes. Then create the fund records that are linked to the fiscal year record. See Setting Up Fiscal Years.

Fund Records

Fund records track the purchase of library materials and services. You can set up funds for budget allocations, gifts, grants, donations, deposit accounts, and endowments. From the fund workform or from a fund record displayed in the Find Tool results list, you can go directly to purchase orders or invoices that are linked to this fund, whether the fund is used to pay for header charges or to pay for copies of the title. See Managing Funds.

Supplier Records

Supplier records contain information about suppliers’ accounts with your library, including the supplier’s name, alternative name, contact person, account information, Standard Address Number (SAN), currency code, telephone numbers, addresses, instructions, electronic ordering information, claiming information, and notes. If the supplier accepts orders via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), and your library wants to send orders electronically, the EDI ordering information is set up in the Supplier record. Each purchase order and invoice is linked to a supplier record, except Miscellaneous invoices, which do not require a linked supplier record. See Setting Up Supplier Records.

Selection List Records

Selection lists contain titles that a staff member (requestor) assembles as suggested purchases. The titles are then reviewed and approved or rejected by the appropriate individual (selector). Selection list line items can be copied from one selection list to another. Once approved, the titles can be copied to a purchase order. See Setting Up Selection Lists.

Selection List Line Item Records

Selection list line item records include bibliographic and distribution information for each title on a selection list. The distribution information is listed in individual line item segments that show the quantity, destination, collection, and fund for the copies of the title.

Purchase Order Records

Purchase order records contain instructions, cumulative totals, header charges, and notes as well as line items for each title ordered. When you create a purchase order, you can select a template that includes the order type, payment method, claim information, discount, library name, supplier, and distribution information. See Ordering.

Purchase Order Line Item Records

Purchase order line item records contain bibliographic, claiming, and distribution information for the title being ordered. The distribution information is in segments that specify the quantity, destination, collection, and fund for the title. The segment data can be copied to a new line. Line items can be copied to invoices and to other purchase orders.

Invoice Records

Invoice records contain itemized lists of the materials shipped to the library. An invoice may also include header charges for services provided by the supplier, such as cataloging and shipping, as well as any credits from the supplier. The EDI file name appears if the invoice was sent electronically. See Creating Invoices.

Invoice Line Item Records

Invoice line item records contain information about specific titles. Within each invoice line item are segments that specify the quantity, destination, collection, fund, fiscal year, payment status, and charges related to the copies of the title.

Claim Records

When an item is not received as expected, you can claim the item and a claim record is created automatically. You can use the Claim workform to specify why the item was claimed, to enter a response from the supplier, or to view an item’s claim history. See Claiming.

Automatic Processing of Polaris Records

The Polaris Acquisitions menu also includes options for automatic processing of records:

Claim Alert List - This workform lists items eligible for claiming and pending claims for items that have not been received. See Claiming.
Templates - When you select Templates > Purchase Orders from the Acquisitions menu, you can search for purchase order templates to use to create new purchase order records. You can also select a template when you select File > New > Purchase Order. See Setting Up Templates for Acquisitions.
EDI Services - This menu item includes the following submenu:
- Check In Shelf-Ready Materials - See Checking In Shelf-Ready Items.
- Process EDI Invoices - See Process EDI invoices for partial shipments.
- Receive ASN Shipments - See Receive using the Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN).
Purchase order release and on-order item records - When a purchase order is released and the user opts to create on-order item records, the matching process attempts to match an on-order item template to the purchase order line item. See Matching Using Branch, Collection, and/or Material Type.