Checking Out an Item to a Remote Site
When the owning site checks out a requested item to the patron site (an act known as the "institutional checkout"), INN-Reach items are checked out for the entire amount of time the item is expected out, including transportation time between the owning site and patron site. The owning site does not check the Days Closed table when calculating the due date. When you perform an institutional checkout, the system:
- Updates the item STATUS to '@' (OFF-SITE).
- Removes the hold from the item's hold queue.
- Retains the INN-Reach message in the item record:
IR00:00-00-00 requested by .p000000000@site1 for pickup at location
- Sends a circulation transaction to the patron site, via the INN-Reach Central Server, which:
- Updates the item record in the INN-Reach Catalog to reflect the due date of the checked-out item, that is, the date on which the item is due back at the owning site. You can view this due date in the Detailed Holdings Display.
- Provides the item barcode and notifies the patron site that the requested item has been sent. At the patron site, this transaction message causes the system to change the STATUS of the virtual item record to 't' (IN TRANSIT).
The system handles institutional checkouts differently from normal circulation checkouts. During an institutional checkout, the out date, due date, loan rule, and item status fields are updated, but the out location and patron fields are not updated. On return checkin to the owning library, the out date, due date, loan rule, and item status fields are cleared, but the LPatron, LCheckin, and In Loc fields are not updated.
Checking Out Paged Items to the Requesting Patron's Site
To check out paged items to the requesting patron's site:
- Choose INN-Reach – Check-Out to Remote Site from the Function list.
- Enter or scan the barcode of an item requested by a patron at another site. No patron information is necessary.
Depending on the current status of the request, the system can display the following messages: - Proceed as appropriate based on the message displayed.
Increasing the Security of Your Patrons' Personal Information during the INN-Reach Request Process
To increase the security of INN-Reach patrons' personal information during the request process, patron address information is no longer included in INN-Reach circulation transactions. Additionally, your system can be configured so that patron telephone number and home library fields are not included in circulation transactions. To exclude these fields from INN-Reach transactions, ask your Central System Administrator to contact Innovative.
If a patron's personal information has been excluded from INN-Reach circulation transactions, the information does not display on screen during checkout to a remote site.
Note that this security feature does not affect transactions created during checkout to visiting patrons.
Request Has Been Cancelled
If the request was cancelled at the patron site after you printed a paging slip for the item, Sierra displays the following prompt:
00-00-00: cancelled by .p0000000@site1
In response to this prompt, choose OK. The system returns you to the Check-Out to Remote Site screen.
Request Is Same-server
An INN-Reach request is considered "same-server" if both the owning site and patron site belong to the same Local Server. The system must convert a same-server INN-Reach transaction to a local hold.
If a request is same-server, Sierra displays the following prompt:
00-00-00 requested by .p0000000@site1 for pickup at location.
In response:
- Choose OK to continue. The system continues displays the following message:Send book to above patron at location. Item has been set to status IN TRANSIT.
- Choose OK to continue. The system converts the request to a standard circulation transaction and displays the item in the summary table with the value "IN TRANSIT" in the Due Date column.
Request Is Active
If the INN-Reach request is still active, Sierra displays the following prompt:
00-00-00 requested by .p0000000@site1 for pickup at location. Item has status PAGED and has been cleared. Send book to above patron at location.
In response to this prompt, choose OK.
The system checks out the item to the patron site and displays the item's barcode, title, delivery destination, and due date in the summary table.
No Record of an INN-Reach Request for the Item
If the system cannot identify a virtual patron record for the item you scanned, Sierra displays the following prompt:
Item has not been requested by remote site patrons
Choose the OK button to clear this message.