Fine Notices
Sierra generates fine notices when patrons owe money for any reason other than item replacement, such as the following:
- adjustment to existing fine
- item returned overdue
- manual fine
- request charge
- immediate rental charge
The system sends fine notices when you prepare and send the following notice types:
- Fines (all fine notices except manual fines)
- Manual Fines (manual fine notices only)
- All Bills and Fines
For more information, see the following:
- Setup and Functionality Information
- Customizing Fine Notices
- Default Fine Notice
- Example Default Fine Notice
Setup and Functionality Information
- Customizing the Text of Fine Notices
- The following settings control which text from the Text of Circulation Notices table prints on each type of fine notice:
Type of Fine Notice How Text is Configured Overdue fines Msg Fines loan rule element Fine adjustments Circulation option Fines/Bills: Text # for bill for charge adjustments Manual charges Circulation option Manual Charge: Text # Request charges OPAC option Requests: Amount to charge Immediate rental charges Rental Circtext loan rule element If you have not defined a notice text for a particular type of fine notice, the system does not generate that type of notice.
- Limiting the Maximum Fine
- If the LIMIT FINE TO PRICE element of the Loan Rule is set to "YES," the system limits the maximum fine (excluding manual fines and rental charges) for the item to the amount specified in its PRICE fixed-length field or the DEFAULT ITEM COST element of the Loan Rule.
- Limiting Fine Notices by Location
- If you choose to generate statements for a single branch location or set of locations served, the notice includes fines associated with those location(s) only. The system uses different criteria for different charge types to determine whether the notice belongs to the selected location:
- For manual fines, the selected location must match the location selected by staff when adding the fine to the patron's record.
- For all other charge types, the LOCATION fixed-length field in the fined item must match the selected location.
- Positioning Item Information on the Notice
- The setting of the Fines/Bills: Where to print Bill Info circulation option determines the positioning of the item information on a fine notice.
- Printing Single or Multiple Items per Fine Notice
- The setting of the Fines/Bills: Number of Items per Bill circulation option determines whether the system prints a single item or multiple items per fine notice.
- Setting a Minimum Fine Amount for Printing
- The setting of the Fines/Bills: Minimum charge for fines notice to print circulation option specifies the minimum charge required for the system to print a fine notice. Sierra does not print fine notices for amounts lower than this value.
- Suppressing Fine Notices
- If you have not specified a notice text for a particular type of fine notice, the system does not generate that type of notice. In addition, if the Fines/Bills: Library itself collects fines circulation option is set to "NO", the system does not generate notices for adjusted fine amounts.
Customizing Fine Notices
Your library can customize fine notices as follows:
- Default Notice—The default fine notice is described below. If you choose to use the default notice, you can customize the fine notice text. To configure the notice form used for all default notices, see Formatting Options for Default Notices.
- Print Templates—If your library has enabled the Print Templates feature, you can use the third-party Jaspersoft Studio application to create or modify the following print templates:
Default Fine Notice
The default fine notice is composed of the following elements:
- Library Information
- The library's mailing address. The system obtains this information from the Address element of an entry in the Branch Addresses table. The system selects the entry that corresponds to the first item on the notice.
- Date
- The date on which the bill is printed.
- Patron Information
- Patron information includes the patron name and mailing address.
- Notice Text
- Text from the Text of Circulation Notices table. For information about how Sierra determines which text to print on a notice, see Customizing the Text of Fine Notices.
- ITEM
- Information about the unreturned item, including the title, author, reason for charge (for example, "OVERDUE"), and the name of the branch to which the item belongs.
- Amount
- The fine amount for the individual item.
- TOTAL
- The total amount owed for the fines listed in this notice.
- Text of Circulation Notices Number
- The number of the Notice Text in the Text of Circulation Notices table.
- Print Sequence Number
- Indicates sequential position of notice in print job. Each print job begins with sequence number 1.
Example Default Fine Notice
The following is an example default fine notice:
Main Library 03-12-10 5850 Main St. Emeryville, CA 94608 Cass Kim 5850 Shellmound Way Emeryville, CA 94608 The following fines are now due and payable. Please make payment to the cashier's office. ITEM Amount German guided missiles of the Second World War / Pocock, Rowland F. OVERDUE Main-Nonfiction 1110001442009..............................$4.00 German pronunciation and phonology. / Bithell, Jethro, OVERDUE Main-Nonfiction 1110001924328..............................$4.00 German raiders of World War II / Muggenthaler, August OVERDUE Main-Nonfiction 1110001571495..............................$4.00 German surface vessels / Lenton, H. T. OVERDUE Main-Nonfiction 1110001490929..............................$4.00 German surface vessels / Lenton, H. T. OVERDUE Main-Nonfiction 1110001442214..............................$4.00 TOTAL $20.00 13:5 |