FAQs: Handling Floating Collections

Some libraries have found that transiting impermanent or ephemeral materials (such as donated paperbacks and pamphlets) between branches requires too much effort and expense. SirsiDynix has added a floating collection feature to handle these special circulation requirements. You identify types of materials that can be floating items and assign them an Item Type policy with a special Floating attribute selected. As these materials are checked out, then returned, they become a part of the discharging library’s collection. They will not need to be returned to the original owning library.

This floating processing will not occur if the item is needed for a hold, booking, or reserve at another library.

For example, the title Misery has two copies owned by branch NORTHLIB. Copy 1 is assigned an Item Type policy of BOOK which is not a floating item type. Copy 2 is assigned an Item Type policy of FLOATBOOK, a floating item type. Assuming that there are no holds or other commitments for which the books are needed back at NORTHLIB, the following will happen if the two copies are returned to SOUTHLIB instead of their owning library.

Instead of putting the item in transit, the system will instruct library staff to shelve Copy 2. Copy 2 now belongs to SOUTHLIB until it is checked out again and returned to yet another branch. If there is a condition which blocks the item’s library from being edited, library staff will be alerted that the library did not change. If this happens, library staff can edit the library using the Edit Copies wizard, after modifying the condition which blocked the edit.

To control where your library’s floating items can float to, you must have the Float Items by Library Group feature configured for your system. Contact SirsiDynix Customer Support to configure this feature. Once this feature is enabled, you can select the library group to which your floating items can float in the Library policy attribute Floating Group. See the Library Wizard topic for more information.

To determine which items can float to the library group, use the Floating Map Wizard. In this wizard you can establish a hierarchy for floating specific items/item types from specific libraries.

If your system is configured to use the Float Items by Library Group feature, the Floating attribute in the Item Type policies is not available.

In order for an item to float (change ownership to the discharging library instead of going In Transit to the owning library) under the Float Items by Library Group configuration, the following two conditions must be met.

Can I move whole collections of materials, such as a temporary deposit collection, from one library to another?

No. The floating collection functionality is not intended to temporarily move whole collections of materials from one library to another. You assign certain types of items as floating materials, and as these materials are checked out individually, then returned, they become a part of the discharging library’s collection.

Can I shift a permanent collection to a new library, for instance, when we close a branch library and want to move the branch collection to the main library?

In the Floating attribute of the Item Type policy click Yes or No to indicate whether or not items of this Item Type will be included in the floating collection. If an item is assigned an Item Type policy whose Floating attribute is selected, the act of discharging the item at a different library will not put the item in transit to its original owning library, but rather, the system will change the owning library of the item to the discharging library. This will not occur if the item is needed for a hold, booking, or reserve at any library.

Additionally, using the Receive Transit wizard to receive an item that has been transited to a pickup library for a hold, but the hold was removed while the item was in transit, will also change the owning library of the item.

You should create new Item Type policies to reflect materials that will be floating items. For instance, you make create a PBK-FLOAT policy or MAG-FLOAT policy for expendable paperbacks or magazines. An item type of FIC-FLOAT could be created for popular fiction books that do not need to be assigned to any one particular library..

If your system is configured to use the Float Items by Library Group feature, the Floating attribute in the Item Type policies is not available.

It is recommended that you not change an existing Item Type policy to floating. This can confuse your library staff. For instance, circulation staff could get upset because one day paperbacks circulate normally, and the next day paperbacks are changing library ownership. It is suggested that you create new Item Type policies and edit items to reflect the new Item Type policy using the Edit Copies Globally wizard.

The floating item processing is controlled by the Global Configuration policy, Automatic Transit of Items for Circulation. If this global policy is set to transit items (either with or without prompting), the floating item processing will also be automatic. If this global policy is set to not automatically transit items, the floating item processing will not take place. If item transiting is set so that the user is prompted (to approve the item being transited), then the edit library step of the floating library processing will also prompt the user to approve editing the library.

If for some reason the system cannot edit the library of a floating item, an error message will appear alerting the user that the item still belongs to the original owning library, but the item is still successfully discharged. The item’s entry in the discharge list will indicate that the item still belongs to its owning library.

The Location policy assigned to the item will not change, only the library assigned to the item. If your libraries use library-specific locations, you may consider changing the location of floating items to consistent, generic locations, such as FICTION or PAPERBACKS.

The Call Number Maintenance and Item Maintenance attributes set in the Library policy may interfere with your ability to use floating item processing. You should take care in setting these attributes. In spite of the Call Number Maintenance and Item Maintenance settings, the floating items will automatically be transferred to the discharging library.

How should I configure the Exclude or Include option for the Item Type in a floating map?

If you select the Exclude option, the items listed are excluded from floating. However, all other items not listed will be considered as floating. The exclude is intended to be used as a way to list item types that do not float if more item types float than do not. For example, if at your library all item types float except for DVDs, CDs, and videos, you can add a single line in the floating map to exclude all three item types from floating. The unlisted item types will float.

If you select the Include option, the item types listed will float. All unlisted item types will not float. For example, at your library CDs, DVDs, and paperbacks float, but at all the other libraries only paperbacks float. You can add a single line in the floating map for your library to include CD, DVD, and PAPERBACK. The default map line for all libraries will include only PAPERBACK.

The following examples are different ways you can set up Floating Map policies for your system.

Solution: You can create a floating map for ALL libraries and exclude the specific item type PAPERBACK.

Solution: You can create a floating map for ALL libraries and include the item type PAPERBACK to float. Create map line for the MAIN library to include item types CD and DVD. Add a map line for the HUNT library to include item types CD and DVD. (HUNT and MAIN are part of a floating group.) CDs and DVDs will float only for HUNT and MAIN, and PAPERBACK item types will float for all libraries, including HUNT and MAIN.

Solution: You can create a default line for ALL libraries to exclude the item type PAPERBACK from floating. At the very bottom of the map create a line for AV-CENTER library to exclude item types CD and DVD from floating. When you check in an item type PAPERBACK that belongs to AV-CENTER, the paperback will float. CDs and DVDs that belong to the AV-CENTER will not float.

Solution: You can create a default map line to exclude the CD and DVD item types for ALL libraries. Add a line underneath for MAIN to include item types CD and DVD to float. When you check in item types CD and DVD that belong to MAIN, these items will float. When you check in other item types that belong to MAIN, these items will also float (based on the ALL map line). But, when you check in the item types CD and DVD that belong to libraries other than MAIN, these items will not float.

Solution: You can create default map line for ALL libraries and include CD, DVD, and PAPERBACK for floating. Beneath this line create map lines for the MAIN library to include CD and PAPERBACK to float and the HUNT library to include CD to float. (MAIN and HUNT are part of a floating group.) When you check in a PAPERBACK item that belongs to HUNT at the MAIN library, the item will not float based on the map line for HUNT. When you check in CDs for other libraries (other than MAIN and HUNT), they will float, based on the ALL map line.

For overdue bills, the bill library is the library of the charge, which may or may not be the same as the item’s owning library. When a floating item’s owning library is changed, the libraries of any bills associated with the item will remain the same.

No. It is recommended that you assign floating items unique item IDs and call numbers. Because floating items can change their owning library when they are discharged at other libraries, the auto-generated item IDs (or call numbers) must be updated to match the new internal sequence numbers in the databases. These numbers must be modified to prevent duplication, which can cause database errors. As a result, it could be difficult to locate these items because the item IDs or call numbers have been modified. When floating items are assigned unique item IDs and call numbers, there is no problem with duplication when the owning library changes.

Do floating collections honor the settings in the Call Number Maintenance and Item Maintenance attributes in the Library policies?

No. In spite of the Call Number Maintenance and Item Maintenance settings, the floating items will automatically be transferred to the discharging library. So, care should be taken in setting the Call Number Maintenance and Item Maintenance attributes of the Library policy if using the floating item feature.