Library Wizard

The Library policy is used for a number of purposes in SirsiDynix Symphony. Item records are associated with libraries, so catalog searches can be qualified by library. The Library policy is also used for inventory control and transiting between libraries, as well as for allowing circulation policies to vary among libraries in a multilibrary system. Attributes of the Library policy also provide information for locating the library’s address to use for correspondence, for specifying a location for items that are being held, for determining which libraries can display and edit fund records, and for tracking receipt and updating holdings of items under serial control.

From List Policies window, you can display or modify the Library policies. Click Close to exit the wizard.

You can only display or modify Library policies. For assistance in creating or removing Library policies, contact SirsiDynix Customer Support.

If you select a Library policy and click one of the operation buttons the following tabs appear.

This attribute uniquely identifies a Library policy. This name is ten characters or less, and may not include spaces or punctuation, except for dash (–) and underscore (_). Additionally, the pipe character (|) may not be used.

Note: The names ALL, ALL_LIBS, and HERE are reserved by SirsiDynix Symphony and should not be used.

This attribute provides more information about the policy and its use by the library. The description may be up to 60 characters in length. Although the Description attribute may contain spaces and punctuation, the pipe character (|) cannot be used.

Each Library policy must have a corresponding user record in the SirsiDynix Symphony database. The name of the library and the address in the library’s user record displays in notices to users. The user ID of the Library user should be the same as the Library policy name. The Library policy should be created first, with the Name and User ID attributes identical. After the Library policy has been created, the library’s user record should be created, with the user record’s User ID field set to the same value as the User ID attribute of the Library policy. Use the User Search gadget to select a library user.

Important: The user ID of the library must be the same as the Library policy name or some reports will not run correctly.

Note: If you want to include the library’s return address on notices, the address must be entered in the Library’s user record.

Use this attribute to indicate the library’s OCLC code. This attribute is used by the Extract Deletions for OCLC report. This report creates a file of the library’s deleted holdings that can then be used to report deleted holdings to OCLC.

This attribute defines the library's default BLUEcloud Commerce Account policy. SirsiDynix e-Library uses this policy to support BLUEcloud Commerce online bill payment services. For more information on BLUEcloud Commerce Account policies, see the BLUEcloud Commerce Account Wizard topic.

The Loan Period attribute is used if a User Profile policy indicates that the Library policy Loan Period attribute should take precedence when calculating a date due for items charged to a certain type of user. If the User Profile’s Library Precedence attribute is selected, then the due date from the Circulation Map policy is compared to the due date as calculated from the Loan Period attribute in the Library policy. The shorter loan period is used to set the due date. The Loan Period attribute must contain a valid Loan Period policy. Select a loan period from the list. Use the Loan Period Policy helper (Loan Period Wizard) to create new loan periods or modify existing loan periods, if needed.

Each Library policy also specifies whether or not overdue and recall fines should continue to accumulate for days that this library is closed. Select this check box to accrue fines when the library is closed.

Also, for billing structures that suspend a user’s loan privileges rather than impose fines, if this attribute is selected, the days a library is closed will be counted in the loan suspension period.

This attribute contains a list of dates on which the library is closed. No due date ever falls on a day the library is closed. If a due date would normally fall on a closed day it is moved forward to the first open day. Use the Closed Dates gadget to select the dates when the library is closed. Up to 64 closed dates may be selected. Ranges of dates, such as December 24-25, may be used as one closed date.

Important: If the Accrue Fine attribute in this policy is selected, do not remove closed dates when there are patron overdues pending that fall within one of the dates closed. Closed dates should remain in place until sufficient time has elapsed for patrons with overdue books to reach their maximum fine. For example, if overdue fines are $0.25 per day, and the maximum fine is $10.00, that maximum fine would typically be reached when the item is 40 days overdue. If during that 40 day time period, the library is closed for 7 days, it would take 47 days for the patron to reach the maximum fine. That range of closed dates should remain in the Library policy until 47 days have passed to avoid overcharging the patron.

This part of the Library policy sets the regular operating schedule for each library based on the days of the week that the library is open. Each day of the week, Sunday through Saturday, can be selected as Closed. No due date ever falls on a day of the week that the library is closed. If a due date would normally fall on a closed day, it is moved forward to the first open day.

Note: Library staff members can modify the calendars for their individual libraries using the Library Calendar wizard. No other Library policy attributes can be modified using this wizard. To make the Library Calendar wizard available to selected library staff, the SirsiDynix Symphony administrator will need to add the wizard to the appropriate User Access policies.

This attribute is used to determine whether or not closed dates should be considered when libraries are selected for inclusion in the List Onshelf Items with Holds report and the Onshelf Items wizard. Select the check box to consider closed dates, or clear the check box to ignore closed dates.

When running the List Onshelf Items with Holds report, if the report is set to consider TODAY as the closed date, the report checks to see if the library is closed on the current date. If so, the library’s items are not selected to fill holds. If the option is set to consider TOMORROW as the closed date, the report checks to see if the library is closed the next day; if so, the library’s items are not selected to fill holds for that day.

This attribute is used to determine whether or not an override is required when attempting to renew items whose title has unfilled title level holds. This attribute is enabled by default.

In multi-library systems this configuration is honored based on either the charge or item library, depending on your system’s settings.

Each Library policy also specifies whether or not user photos should display in the user records. This attribute is enabled by default.

Uncheck this check box to disable display of user photos for the selected library.

Note: The attribute you select in the Display Of User Photograph Policy under the Global Configuration Wizard takes precedence over the attribute you select for displaying user photos in the configuration for an individual library in the Library Wizard. If you select the Do Not Display User Photograph attribute in the Display Of User Photograph Policy, the Display User Photographs option will not appear for individual library policies. User photos will not display for any library, regardless of what you may have previously selected for displaying user photos for an individual library's policy.

When a patron wants an item currently checked out to another user, the library may place a hold on the item. When the requested item is returned, it is routed to a named holds location to wait to be picked up by the requesting patron. The name of the holds location must be established in the Location policy. For each library, SirsiDynix Symphony must know the correct holds location name. Select a Hold Location from the list. Use the Location Policy helper (Location Wizard) to create new hold locations or modify existing locations, if needed.

This attribute, used by Demand Management, defines which library’s station operators are generally allowed to place holds on its materials. You can select groups of libraries for this attribute. Groups of libraries are defined in the Library Group wizard.

The Hold Permissions Libraries attribute is consulted both when holds are placed and when copies become available to determine whether a copy could satisfy a particular hold. Select library groups from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

The Hold Group Libraries attribute, used by Demand Management, defines which libraries station operators are considered to be in a “virtual” group with the library regarding holds. Groups are defined in the Library Group wizard. Select library groups from the list. Use the Library Group Wizard to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

Note: Because a library’s Hold Group Libraries configuration defines both the libraries that its station operators belong to (for placing Group range holds), and the group of libraries that its items are associated with (for the hold map “my group only” permission and “my group first” priority), hold groups should generally be created with a reciprocal relationship between libraries. For instance, if Library A is in Library B’s group, then Library B should be in Library A’s group.

The Mail Hold Libraries attribute, used only by Books by Mail, defines the mail hold libraries and includes a list of libraries from which items are pulled to fill holds that are set to be mailed.

In Demand Management, this attribute controls which libraries’ users may place holds on this library’s available items (items already available on the shelf). Use the Policy List gadget to select libraries. Selecting NONE will display a blank in this attribute. ALL_LIBS is the default value.

Note: This attribute does not appear on systems configured for Conventional Holds.

In a multilibrary system, each Library policy specifies the libraries your library staff can access for displaying user bill information. The Bill Display Libraries attribute determines whether your staff will have access to a select group of libraries or all libraries. Groups are defined in the Library Group wizard. A group named ALL_LIBS is delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select one library group from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

Note: You may also need to enable circulation wizard properties to display certain bill information.

In a multilibrary system, each Library policy specifies the libraries your library staff can access for creating user bills. This attribute determines whether your staff will have access to a select group of libraries or all libraries. This can be especially useful for multilibrary consortia sharing a single SirsiDynix Symphony system. Groups are defined in the Library Group wizard. A group named ALL_LIBS is delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select one library group from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

The Pay Maintenance Libraries attribute specifies which libraries your library staff can access for paying user bills. It determines which library’s bills your library staff will be able to pay using the Paying Bills wizard. This is useful for multilibrary consortia sharing a single SirsiDynix Symphony system. The library group definitions are the same for this attribute as they are for the Bill Maintenance Libraries setting. The group names ALL_LIBS delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony also functions within this setting. Administrators select library groups using the dropdown list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

This attribute determines whether your library staff can display circulation information for a select group of libraries. This can be especially useful at multilibrary consortia sharing a single SirsiDynix Symphony system. Groups are defined in the Library Group wizard. A group named ALL_LIBS is delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select one library group from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

In a multilibrary system, each Library policy specifies the libraries your library staff can access for modifying circulation information. This attribute determines whether your staff will have access to a select group of libraries or all libraries. This can be especially useful at multilibrary consortia sharing a single SirsiDynix Symphony system. Groups are defined in the Library Group wizard. A group named ALL_LIBS is delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select one library group from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

Items owned by the library are allowed to float to the libraries included in the selected floating group. Only items designated as part of the “floating collection” can float to these libraries. To identify items that can float to other libraries, see the Floating Map wizard. Select library groups from the drop-down list or select ALL_LIBS. If this attribute is empty, the library’s items cannot float to any library.

When the system checks for a floating group, it checks the Floating Group attribute in the Library policy for the item library to see if the discharging or checkin library is included. If the discharging library is included, the item can float. If not, the item is routed back to its owning library.

Note: To configure the Float Items by Library Group feature on your system, contact SirsiDynix Customer Support.

For example, the MORGAN Library policy has listed PUBLIC as a floating group. Floating items owned by MORGAN may float to any library included in the PUBLIC library group.

In a multilibrary system, each Library policy specifies the libraries your library staff can access for displaying user information. The User Display Libraries attribute determines whether your staff will have access to a select group of libraries or all libraries. Groups are defined in the Library Group wizard. A group named ALL_LIBS is delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select one library group from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

In a multilibrary system, each Library policy specifies the libraries your library staff can access to modify user information. This attribute determines whether your staff will have access to a select group of libraries or all libraries. This can be especially useful for multilibrary consortia sharing a single SirsiDynix Symphony system. Groups are defined in the Library Group wizard. A group named ALL_LIBS is delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select one library group from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

This attribute lists the library groups that are allowed to maintain the library’s calendar.

For example, if this policy is for the MAIN library, and the EAST and WEST library groups are listed, then the station login users’ libraries in the EAST and WEST library groups can modify this library’s (MAIN’s) closed dates/days.

In a multilibrary system, each Library policy specifies the libraries your library staff can access to deposit funds to or withdraw funds from patron credit accounts, issue refunds to patron credit accounts, and close patron credit accounts. This attribute determines whether your staff will have access to a select group of libraries or all libraries. This can be especially useful for multilibrary consortia sharing a single SirsiDynix Symphony system. Groups are defined in the Library Group wizard. A group named ALL_LIBS is delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select one library group from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

Important: If your library wants to use patron credit accounts to pay bills at other libraries, SirsiDynix recommends setting up the Library policies to contain the same list of libraries in the Pay Maintenance Libraries attribute and the Patron Credit Maintenance Libraries Attribute. Unexpected results can occur if the list of libraries in the two attributes are different.

For example, the WALKER Library’s Library policy configuration includes the following:

The Walker Library creates a credit account for one of its patrons. The Walker patron is billed by the Smith Library for an item she damaged, and asks the Walker librarian to pay the bill using funds from her patron credit account. Even though the Walker Library would be able to perform patron credit account transactions with the Smith Library, the Walker Library cannot pay the Smith Library bill with any form of payment because the Smith library is not in the Walker Library’s list of pay maintenance libraries.

The Mailing Center Library attribute is available if the system is configured for Books by Mail and specifies the library from which Books by Mail items are processed and shipped. This attribute is referenced if, in the hold record, Mail Item to User is selected and the Delivery Method is identified. The Mailing Center Library list does not include an empty library or ALL_LIBS options.

The Mailing Center Location attribute is available if the system is configured for Books by Mail. When a hold is made available, the item’s mailing center library location is used for the item’s current location.

The Days for Holds to Expire attribute sets a default number of days for holds to expire (the number of days the system will attempt to fill a hold). Type a number of days. When a user places a hold, the hold expiration date by default will be the number of days from this attribute in the Library policy plus the current date. If the user sets a hold expiration date when placing the hold, it will override the default hold expiration value in the Library policy.

For example, the Days for Holds to Expire value is 365. If a user places a hold on 7/29/2005, the hold expiration date will be 7/29/2006.

This attribute calculates the hold pickup by date. It specifies the number of days a hold item can be on the library’s Holds shelf before the hold will expire. Type a number of days, or type NEVER. If NEVER is used, the item will remain on the Holds shelf until the hold expiration date, the default hold expiration date, or until it is manually removed by library staff.

When calculating the hold pickup date, the system will check to see if the hold pickup date falls on a day/date the library is closed. If so, the hold pickup by date will be moved to the next open day/date.

For example, Library A is configured to hold items on the hold shelf for ten days, and the library is closed Saturdays and Sundays. A hold becomes available for pickup at Library A on 12/04/2008. When the system calculates the hold Pickup By date, it will add 10 days to the date hold is available. As a result, the hold pickup by date falls on 12/14/2008 (Sunday) which is a day the library is closed. Since the date falls on a closed date, the system moves the hold pickup by date to next open date, which is 12/15/2008.

When the hold expires, the Expire Available Holds report will mark the hold as expired with an inactive hold reason of “Hold Expired While On Shelf” (EXP_ONSHLF).

When the Require Hold Block Override for Renewals field is disabled, this field specifies the set number of items, not counting the items used to satisfy any title level holds, that must be available before a renewal is allowed.

An item is considered to be available or “on shelf” if each of the following conditions are met:

When a user attempts to renew an item, the server checks for any unavailable holds on that item. If there are no copy level holds, the system checks for unavailable title level holds and ensures that, after checking for other items that could satisfy the holds, the set number of items are available before allowing renewal of the checked-out item. This field defaults to 0.

For example, if there are three items attached to a title, with one item checked out, one title level hold, and one copy level hold on the second item, the renewal of the charged item is allowed when the Number of Available Items Require to Allow Renewal field is set to 1. This is because the charged item cannot fill the copy-level hold for the second item, and after the title level hold is filled there is still one available item on the shelf, which satisfies the server’s requirements to allow the renewal when one item is available. However, if there were two title level holds, the two available items could fill those holds and no copies would be available to satisfy the requirement for renewal.

The Text Index is a label (up to four characters) that identifies the database index files for the SirsiDynix Symphony database. As delivered, all Library policies use the UNI (Union) Keyword Index policy, which allows you to search all libraries as well as restrict searches to a given library without having to build a separate index for the library. This attribute does not appear in SirsiDynix Symphony K12 systems.

Important: Do not attempt to modify this policy attribute unless instructed by SirsiDynix Customer Support. The text index name must be obtained from SirsiDynix Customer Support.

The NUC Symbol attribute is used to specify the library’s National Union Catalog symbol. The NUC symbol is written into the 852 subfield a when MARC holdings records are output. This attribute does not appear in SirsiDynix Symphony K12 systems.

If the Warn When Removing the Last Copy in the Group WorkFlows behavior property is selected, this attribute determines which library groups will be checked for the existence of another copy before displaying a warning message. Groups are defined in the Library Group policy. A group named ALL_LIBS is delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

The Call Number Maintenance Libraries attribute determines whether your staff will be able to modify call number records for a select group of libraries or all libraries. Maintenance checks have been added to cataloging wizards to allow or prevent modifying call number information. Groups are defined in the Library Group policy. A group named ALL_LIBS is the default value delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select libraries from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

For example, in order to be able to add or modify call number information for MAIN library call numbers, the Library policy linked to your login, BRANCH1, must have the MAIN library listed in the Call Number Maintenance Libraries attribute.

Note: If you plan to use the floating item processing feature, you should take care in making selections for the Call Number Maintenance Libraries and Item Maintenance Libraries attribute.

The Item Maintenance Libraries attribute determines whether your staff will be able to modify item records for a select group of libraries or all libraries. Maintenance checks have been added to cataloging wizards to allow or prevent modifying item information. Groups are defined in the Library Group policy. A group named ALL_LIBS is the default value delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select libraries from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

For example, in order to be able to add or modify item information for MAIN library items, the Library policy linked to your login, BRANCH1, must have the MAIN library listed in the Item Maintenance Libraries attribute.

Note: If you plan to use the floating item processing feature, you should take care in making selections for the Call Number Maintenance and Item Maintenance Libraries attributes.

The MARC Holdings Maintenance Libraries attribute determines whether your staff will be able to modify MARC holdings records for a select group of libraries or all libraries. Maintenance checks have been added to cataloging wizards to allow or prevent modifying MARC holdings information. Groups are defined in the Library Group policy. A group named ALL_LIBS is the default value delivered with SirsiDynix Symphony and includes all libraries on the system. Select libraries from the list. Use the Library Group Policy helper (Library Group Wizard) to create new library groups or modify existing groups, if needed.

For example, in order to be able to add or modify MARC holdings information for the MAIN library, the Library policy linked to your login, BRANCH1, must have the MAIN library listed in the MARC Holdings Maintenance Libraries attribute..

For more information about making Call Number, Item, and MARC Holdings Maintenance Libraries selections, see FAQs: Understanding Displays and Maintenance Libraries.

The Acquisition Display Libraries attribute determines whether all libraries or specific libraries can view certain acquisitions information associated with this Library policy. If the field is blank, all libraries are permitted to display your acquisitions information. If a list is selected, only those libraries may display your acquisitions information. If No Access is selected, no libraries may display this library’s acquisitions information. Select libraries from the list. The Acquisition Display Libraries attribute does not use the Library Group policy feature.

Note: Properties to display order information must be enabled for the item and user wizards.

The Acquisition Maintenance Libraries attribute determines whether all libraries or specific libraries can modify certain acquisitions information associated with this Library policy. If the field is blank, all libraries are permitted to modify this library’s acquisitions information. If a list is selected, only those libraries listed may modify this library’s acquisitions information. If No Access is selected, then no libraries can modify this library’s acquisitions information. Select libraries from the list. The Acquisition Maintenance Libraries attribute does not use the Library Group policy feature.

The Standard Address Number (SAN), on the Acquisitions tab of the Library policy, is a unique seven-digit identifier used to signify a specific address of an organization in (or served by) the publishing industry. This attribute is used to support EDI transactions.

A SAN should be unique to a Library policy. Multiple Library policies cannot share the same SAN. When ordering is centralized, and one library orders for several libraries, it is the library that “owns” the orders that should have the SAN listed. EDI X12 depends on a one-to-one relationship between the library SAN and the Library policy. It is acceptable for the Standard Address Number field to be empty for Library policies where the library does not “own” orders/invoices being processed through X12.

Note: The SAN is an American National Standard, initiated and maintained by R.R. Bowker. As the U.S. SAN Agency, Bowker assigns SANs to firms in the U.S., as well to some locations outside of the U.S. For international sites that do not use a R.R. Bowker number, these sites need to agree on a number with their vendors and trading partners and consistently use that number. For more information, see http://www.isbn.org.

Each Library policy specifies whether users from other libraries in a multilibrary system can view this library’s serial control information. If this attribute is cleared, all libraries are permitted to display this library’s serial information. If a list is selected, only those libraries listed may display this library’s serial information. If No Access is selected, then no libraries can display this library’s serial information. Select libraries from the list. The Serial Display Libraries attribute does not use the Library Group policy feature.

Each Library policy specifies whether users from other libraries in a multilibrary system can modify this library’s serial control information. If this attribute is cleared, all libraries are permitted to modify this library’s serial information. If a list is selected, only those libraries listed may modify this library’s serial information. If No Access is selected, then no libraries can modify this library’s serial information. Select libraries from the list. The Serial Maintenance Libraries attribute does not use the Library Group policy feature.

For more information about setting the display and maintenance attributes, see FAQs: Understanding Display and Maintenance Libraries.

Display and maintenance attributes will not appear on single library systems.

Open URL Resolver information is used by the new ERMS wizard in the Serial Control and Acquisitions modules. This ERMS wizard accesses the Serials Solutions ERMS, a third-party electronic resource management application. The WorkFlows Open URL Resolver presents links to the Serials Solutions resources the library’s users have access to.

This attribute stores the base URL for the WorkFlows Open URL Resolver. This URL can vary by library. The maximum length for this field is 256 characters. The WorkFlows Open URL Resolver presents links to the Serials Solutions resources the library’s users have access to.

The Cash Management tab does not display in libraries using ISAM systems because Cash Management functionality is not supported for ISAM systems in 3.4.1 Service Pack 5.

This attribute determines whether to enable the Cash Management wizard and its related functionality in WorkFlows.

This attribute determines whether an override should be required to allow refunds of sale items. If you want to require this override, you need to add the Refund Override command to any appropriate override operator policies. If needed, create a new operator policy using the Operator Wizard.

Note: This attribute is automatically disabled if the Enable Cash Management attribute is disabled.

This attribute determines whether an override should be required to allow voids of point of sale transactions. If you want to require this override, you need to add the Void Transaction Override command to any appropriate override operator policies. If needed, create a new operator policy using the Operator Wizard.

Note: This attribute is automatically disabled if the Enable Cash Management attribute is disabled.

This attribute determines whether an override should be required to allow no sale transactions. If you want to require this override, you need to add the No Sale Transaction Override command to any appropriate override operator policies. If needed, create a new operator policy using the Operator Wizard.

Note: This attribute is automatically disabled if the Enable Cash Management attribute is disabled.

This attribute determines whether an override should be required to allow price changes of sale items. If you want to require this override, you need to add the Price Change Override command to any appropriate override operator policies. If needed, create a new operator policy using the Operator Wizard. This attribute is enabled by default when Cash Management is enabled.

Note: This attribute is automatically disabled if the Enable Cash Management attribute is disabled.