Retaining Branch Information with the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment Feature

If your library has acquired Floating Collections and wants to retain specific branch locations (shelf assignments) for floating items you check in at your site, you can request that the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment feature be enabled.

When checking in a floating item at a new (non-owning) checkin location, the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment feature enables the system to retain branch information (for example, "fic" for fiction) while updating the general Locations Served code for the new checkin location (for example, from "ea" [East Library] to "we" [West Library]). In this way, an item can automatically retain its shelving information at the new location.

For example, a fiction item floating from the East Library to the West Library arrives at the West Library with a LOCATION fixed-length field code of "eafic" (East Library, fiction shelf). Using the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment feature, the system can check in the item to the West Library with a LOCATION field code of "wefic" (West Library, fiction shelf).

Setting up the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment Feature

To set up the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment feature:

1. Make sure all of the libraries that share floating collection items with your library use the same codes for the same type of branch location (shelf assignment). Each library should agree on codes such as (for example) "fic" for fiction, "bio" for biography, and so on.
2. In the Locations Served table of all the libraries that share floating collection items, make sure for each Location Served entry (for example: East Library, West Branch Library, Hilltop Library) that the general branch location for the whole building is listed first. For example, the general code for the East Library (e.g., "ea") should be the first entry in the Locations Served table for the East Library, the general code for the West Library (e.g.,"we") should be the first entry in the Locations Served table for the West Library, and so on.
3. Ensure that the general branch location codes entered into each Locations Served list match the codes agreed on by all the libraries that share floating collection items.
4. If possible, make sure all of the libraries that share floating collection items with your library use the same number of characters for the general branch location code. For example, "we" for West Library, "ea" for East Library, "mn" for Main, and so on.

If libraries have different general location code lengths, each library must ensure that all potential item location code combinations are contained in their Locations Served list. For more information, see How the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment Feature Works.

5. Contact Innovative to have the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment feature enabled.

How the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment Feature Works

When this feature is set up and enabled, and a floating item is checked in to a new (non-owning) location, the system does the following:

1. In the Locations Served list under the current location's Locations Served entry, the system finds the first code listed. If the Locations Served list is appropriately set up, this code is the general branch location code (e.g., "we" in the West Library list).
2. The system finds the item's LOCATION code (the previous site's general code plus the shelf assignment code; e.g., "eafic").
3. The system overlays the general LOCATION code of the new checkin location onto the item's current LOCATION code. Depending on the lengths of the general branch codes, the resulting item LOCATION code is similar to one of the following:
   • If both checkin locations use general LOCATION codes with the same number of characters (e.g., "we" and "ea", "m" and "r", "hil" and "cos", etc.), the new general LOCATION code supersedes the previous code without impacting the shelf assignment code. In this situation, both libraries can use the same number of characters for their shelf assignment codes (e.g., "fic"). Following the current example, the new potential item LOCATION code is "wefic".
   • If the new checkin location contains a different number of characters than the previous location in its general branch LOCATION code, the new general branch location code either does not completely overlay the previous general branch location code, or the new general branch location code overlays the previous branch location code as well as part of the shelf assignment code.

   For example, if an item with a current LOCATION code of "easfi" (e.g., East fiction) is checked into a new location with a general branch LOCATION code of "we" (shorter than the previous general branch code), the "we" overlays the first two characters of the item location code for a potential item location code of "wesfi". (Note that if "wesfi" is not in the West Library's Locations Served list, the system puts only "we" into the item's LOCATION field.)

   Similarly, if an item with a current LOCATION code of "eafic" (e.g., East fiction) is checked into a new location with a general branch LOCATION code of "wes" (longer than the previous general branch code), the "wes" overlays the first three characters of the item location code for a potential item location code of "wesic". (Note that if "wesic" is not in the West Library's Locations Served list, the system puts only "wes" into the item's LOCATION field.)

4. In the Locations Served list under the current location's Locations Served entry (e.g., the West Library list), the system searches for this potential code.
5. If the system finds a matching branch location code in the Locations Served list, the system replaces the previous code in the item's LOCATION field with this new branch location code (e.g., the system replaces "eafic" with "wefic").

If a matching branch location code is not found, the system discards the potential code and, instead, uses the first code (which should be the general branch location code) in the Locations Served list under the current location's Locations Served entry (e.g., the system replaces "eafic" with "we" in the item's LOCATION field). This functionality is the same as when the Floating Collection Shelf Assignment feature is not enabled (the default).