The following fields are identified in the Item wizard properties.
| • | Bill Reason |
| • | Circulate |
| • | Use Entries |
| • | Format or Record Format |
| • | Home Location |
| • | Item Category Fields |
| • | Item Type or Type |
| • | Permanent |
| • | Search Preferences |
| • | Shadow Item or Shadow Title |
This required field describes why the user is being billed. SirsiDynix Symphony only recognizes reasons defined in your library’s policies.
Your library’s circulation Map policies govern how any item is to be circulated based on the library, the Item Type of the item being circulated, the user profile of the user who wants the item, and the circulation rule. For a particular item, however, you can determine that the system-generated rule can be overridden. This is done using the Circulate field.
If the Circulate field is available on an item that typically could not be charged, or if the Circulate field is unavailable on an item that typically could be charged, an override must be entered before the copy can be circulated.
For example, usually any public library user can check out a FICTION item, but American Psycho was identified by the local school principal as sensitive material that should never circulate to young students. The circulate field check box on each copy is cleared. An adult user wants to check out the title, so an override is entered, and the adult can check out the fiction item. However, when a 12-year old student tries to circulate the copy, and the staff member is prompted for the override, she must determine whether the student’s parents have filed written permission before entering the override.
The synonyms ALL, FULL, BRIEF, or TEMPLATE can be used in the Use Entries field any time you are creating or modifying bibliographic records. For each format, these synonyms represent an entry ID established in the library’s entry ID policies. Each entry ID policy contains the name of the entry ID, and a list of entry IDs used for that entry ID.
This field contains the name of a Format policy. The Format policy controls the display, editing, data validation, and indexing of all fields in bibliographic, authority, and holdings records and in extended information fields in every type of record used in SirsiDynix Symphony.
This field shows where the item belongs in the owning library. Home location names usually correspond to the various collections in the library. All locations defined in your library policies display from the drop-down list, including special status location types, which may be preferred for titles entered for that purpose.
The purpose of the optional category fields is to denote a copy’s special characteristics for collection management and statistical analysis. The library determines if these fields display on the screen, what characteristics these fields represent, what policy names are allowed in these fields, and the screen label name for each category field. When creating or modifying an item, select category values from the drop-down list.
When qualifying a search using item categories, the search or browse will only locate titles with at least one copy grouped in the specified category.
The Item Type or Type field identifies the item’s circulation characteristics. Through the SirsiDynix Symphony policies, the library defines rules for the loan period and fines for each Item Type. Additionally, the Type field is used to denote special characteristics for the workstation user or for statistical analysis purposes. All Item Types are defined by the library in the SirsiDynix Symphony policies. Typical item types are BOOK, PERIODICAL, MAP, PROJECTOR, VCR, FILM, and FILMSTRIP.
When qualifying a search by Item Type, the search or browse will only locate titles that have at least one copy with this Item Type policy.
This field determines whether items are permanent or only in the library collection temporarily, and allows such items to be easily identified. Temporary items might include copies on loan from another library, copies in a traveling exhibit, ephemeral items such as photocopies, or academic reserve materials owned by an instructor. This field can also be used for temporary records entered for permanent items so that overlays can be easily identified. Disable (clear) this option to create temporary items.
Search preferences is located on the properties screen of the following Item wizards: Add Items wizard and the Delete title, Call Numbers or Items wizard. You can set the default preferred search to display when you start the wizard. The search preferences you can set are Type, Index, and Library.
| • | Type – You can select a different default to design your most effective workflow. Options are typically Keyword, Browse, or Exact. |
| • | Index – The values that display in the list can include Author, Call Number, Item ID, Periodical Title, Series, Subject, Title, and Title Control Number. |
Note: For information on how indexes are searched and how each search type is implemented, go to Keyword Search, Browse Search, and Exact Search.
| • | Library – The Library property sets the default library to be searched within a library system. You can choose to search either a single library or have Full access to all libraries. |
To search all libraries in the system at once, select Full Access to All Libraries from the library drop-down list. To search a single library, select the library name in the Library drop-down list. If the titles have item records belonging to other libraries, the wizard will display them.
For example, if you set your search library property to MADISON, only titles that have at least one MADISON item record will be retrieved.
The Shadow Item or Shadow Title check box determines whether or not the item or title is part of the shadow catalog.
The shadow catalog allows the library to retain full catalog records searchable only by library staff. For example, the library might want to hide or shadow records that cannot be used by patrons such as lost or missing items or items still being cataloged by technical services that are not yet available to the public. Users at public workstations can search and display items only from the standard catalog. Users at staff workstations may search and display items in either the standard catalog or the shadow catalog. The shadow catalog also contains some title, call number, and copy records, which can be displayed only by library staff.
As titles, call numbers, and items are created, each level can be shadowed. Everything below the highest shadow level is shadowed: all items and call numbers on a shadowed title are shadowed or all items on a shadowed call number are shadowed. The status of any shadow level can be changed so that it moves from the standard catalog index to the shadow catalog, or from the shadow catalog to the standard catalog.
Note: Shadowed items generally do not display in a browse search. However, call number browse will display shadowed items because it accesses the call number database rather than the browse headings database.
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