Working with Collections

A collection record names a collection, tracks which branches use the collection, and designates which branches (if any) are potentially eligible to receive items from the collection if it is allowed to float from branch to branch. After you set up collection records in Polaris Administration, they are available for selection in item records, selection lists, serial holdings records, purchase orders, and invoices. In addition, you can sort and filter searches for item records by collection in the Polaris Find Tool. Collection abbreviations are also used in designation fields of bibliographic records when these are imported for bulk-adding to purchase orders or selection lists, and for shelf-ready cataloging.

Each branch may have its own set of collections, and collections can have the same names used by other branches. In addition, a collection can belong to more than one branch for rotating collections or for shared collections, and you can designate collections as potentially eligible to float from branch to branch. Certain circulation reports also list items by collections.

Special considerations:

Children’s items - If you offer Polaris PowerPAC Children’s Edition to your patrons, consider setting up collections specifically for children’s items, such as children’s periodicals, if you do not already have them. You can then filter Children’s PAC searches to target these collections.
Floating collections - If your system uses floating collections, allowing items from certain collections to float from branch to branch at check-in, consider setting up these collections so that all branches that participate in the floating arrangement use the collections.