Checking Out an Item to a Visiting Patron

INN-Reach enables your library to check out material to patrons who belong to another INN-Reach site. Full patron verification is performed, and checkout is denied if the patron is blocked at his home library or the INN-Reach loan rules governing the material type and patron type do not allow the checkout. The Visiting Patron checkout eliminates the initial steps of requesting, printing paging slips, and shipping materials. Once the book is checked out to the visiting patron, the patron can return the item to either the owning site or the patron site.

When visiting patrons present an item for checkout, they must volunteer the information that they are patrons at a different site. The patron must belong to an INN-Reach site on a different Local Server than yours to be considered an INN-Reach patron. If the visiting patron belongs to your Local Server, use standard circulation processes to check out materials to the patron.

Note that any material checked out to visiting patrons must have a barcode.

When you check out an item to a visiting patron, the system creates INN-Reach circulation records at both your site and the patron's site. The system:

• Changes the item's STATUS to '@' (OFF SITE).
• Adds a virtual patron and an INN-Reach message field to the item record.
• Sends a circulation message to the patron site, which causes the system to add a virtual item with STATUS '-' (CHECKED OUT) to the patron's record.

To check out an item to a visiting patron:

1. Choose INN-Reach – Visiting Patron Check-Out from the Functions drop-down list. The system displays the following prompt, along with a drop-down list of sites in the INN-Reach System:
   
   
   Choose patron's affiliated institution
   
   The list of sites from which you can choose does not include your site or any other site that belongs to your Local Server. Use the scroll bar to view the complete list.
2. Select the visiting patron's site in the list.
3. Choose Select. The system prompts you for patron identification data as required by the patron site (for example, the patron's barcode).
4. Enter the patron's identification data. If the patron site requires a PIN for verification, the system prompts you to enter the patron's PIN.
   
   The system uses a secure connection to the patron site to verify the patron. Depending on the success of the patron verification, the system does one of the following:
   • If the patron can be verified and is allowed to make INN-Reach requests, the system displays patron information in the upper righthand pane of the display if the request is successful. You can continue to the next step.
   • If the patron cannot be verified or cannot make INN-Reach requests, the system displays a message indicating that the patron cannot check out the materials. You cannot continue to the next step.
5. Scan the item or items to check out, or enter an indexed item field and choose Search.
   
   The system determines if the item can be checked out to the patron. For example, you might have reserve materials with local I TYPEs that allow them to circulate locally; however, these local I TYPEs might translate to a "LOCAL USE ONLY" I TYPE in the INN-Reach Catalog. These items are available to visiting patrons unless your local Loan Rules and the Loan Rule Determiner table are set up to make these items non-circulating for central P TYPE patrons. The visiting patron's P TYPE is translated to a central P TYPE. There is no translation of the item's local I TYPE to a central I TYPE during the visiting patron checkout process.

   Visiting Patron P TYPE Mapping

   Your Central System Administrator can modify your INN-Reach system so that visiting patrons are assigned a Central P TYPE that is different from the Central P TYPE assigned to patrons making requests on the INN-Reach Catalog. See Patron Type Mapping File for more information.

   
   If the item can be checked out to the patron, Sierra applies the institutional circulation loan rule to determine the appropriate due date.
6. (Optional) Alter the due date with the Change the Due Date button. For more information, see Overriding the Calculated Due Date.
7. Choose Close to clear the display.

See also:

Possible Messages (Checking Out an Item to a Visiting Patron)