LINC Update for April 25, 2006

April 25, 2006

2006 - 046

LTLS RECEIVES GRANT TO AUTOMATE 8 LIBRARIES

We’ve just received a grant from the Illinois State Library to help eight Lincoln Trail libraries join the LINC automation consortium. Although we can’t announce the libraries until official confirmation, this is exciting news. We will be working with these libraries over the summer to begin the process of coming online with LINC. Stay tuned for the official list of libraries in the next few weeks.

2006 - 047
LIBRARY EMAIL ACCOUNTS

Some time ago, each LINC library was given an email account on the Ltnet server. This was done so we could set up an email box to handle your ‘bounced’ Horizon email notices (email notices that cannot be delivered because the patron’s email address is invalid). It is essential to check this email account periodically and clean out these messages. Your library’s email login will be xxxlib, where xxx is the 3 letter code for your building. If you do not know your password for this login, contact Rita Johnson, rjohns@lincolntrail.info.

2006 - 048
SCHOOL LIBRARIES – SUMMER RECESS

As the school year winds to a close, remember to notify us about important dates so we can change your settings in Horizon. Please send an email to Helen Neal, hneal@lincolntrail.info, with the following information:

-Date for "turning off" holds
-Date for "turning on" holds (if known)
-Date you want to use as a "fixed due date" (last day of school, etc.)
-Date you want the above "fixed due date" implemented

2006 - 049
SCHOOL CALENDAR UPDATES

If your library is closing for the entire summer, this should be reflected in your Horizon calendar. There are two ways to do this:

1. Enter each summer recess date you will be closed in Horizon>Calendar Exceptions. Unfortunately, you cannot enter a range of dates so you will need to enter each summer date individually. This can be done ahead of your closing date.

OR

2. Change the normal days you are open in your Horizon>Typical Library Week to indicate that you are not open any day of the week (take out the open/close times for Monday through Friday). This can only be done when you have actually closed the library. Also, this needs to be corrected when you come back in the fall and open the library.

2006 - 050 DEMONSTRATION OF LINC ACQUISITIONS MODULE
On Thursday, April 20, Donna Schaal presented a demonstration of the LINC Acquisitions module. There were 19 participants. The goal of this demonstration was to showcase the strengths of the Acquisitions module. During the discussion several issues, suggestions, and requests about the module were defined. LTLS will be pursuing a consortial purchase of B&T's Title Source III. LTLS will begin discussing the module with Sirsi/Dynix personnel to hopefully make the module more efficient for those who do not want to use all of it's resources. As more information is obtained, LTLS will continue to keep the LINC membership up-to-date.

2006 - 051 REMINDER NOTICES - SCHOOL LIBRARIES

For school libraries: To print a list of who owes what, Reminder Notices are still the best option. To get your Reminder Notices, go to Circulation, Reports & Notices, click on Notices, Notice Output. Click on New batch, click on Reminder Notice, pick your library. This will create a batch and put it on the list.

Instead of just sending the batch to output. Highlight your batch in the list, click on Select. This actually opens up the batch so you can review the names. It will list the patron’s names and what amount of money they owe. You can sort this list by the names of the patrons or by the amount of money owed. The rest of the patrons on the list that have zero amounts are overdues (with no fines), hold requests, hold cancellations, etc.

If you need to, you can then highlight any name on the list and click on Force Print at the bottom to send the reminder notice to the printer. You can also send just a list of the names to the printer by either selecting all the names on the list or highlighting the ones you want and clicking on the print button at the top left side of the screen.

Reminder notices can be generated every day until the school year ends.

April 25, 2006
2006 - 046	LTLS RECEIVES GRANT TO AUTOMATE 8 LIBRARIES
	We’ve just received a grant from the Illinois State Library to help eight Lincoln Trail libraries join the LINC automation consortium. Although we can’t announce the libraries until official confirmation, this is exciting news. We will be working with these libraries over the summer to begin the process of coming online with LINC. Stay tuned for the official list of libraries in the next few weeks.

2006 - 047	LIBRARY EMAIL ACCOUNTS
	Some time ago, each LINC library was given an email account on the Ltnet server. This was done so we could set up an email box to handle your ‘bounced’ Horizon email notices (email notices that cannot be delivered because the patron’s email address is invalid). It is essential to check this email account periodically and clean out these messages. Your library’s email login will be xxxlib, where xxx is the 3 letter code for your building. If you do not know your password for this login, contact Rita Johnson, rjohns@lincolntrail.info.

2006 - 048	SCHOOL LIBRARIES – SUMMER RECESS
	As the school year winds to a close, remember to notify us about important dates so we can change your settings in Horizon. Please send an email to Helen Neal, hneal@lincolntrail.info, with the following information: -Date for "turning off" holds -Date for "turning on" holds (if known) -Date you want to use as a "fixed due date" (last day of school, etc.) -Date you want the above "fixed due date" implemented

2006 - 049	SCHOOL CALENDAR UPDATES
	If your library is closing for the entire summer, this should be reflected in your Horizon calendar. There are two ways to do this: 1. Enter each summer recess date you will be closed in Horizon>Calendar Exceptions. Unfortunately, you cannot enter a range of dates so you will need to enter each summer date individually. This can be done ahead of your closing date. OR 2. Change the normal days you are open in your Horizon>Typical Library Week to indicate that you are not open any day of the week (take out the open/close times for Monday through Friday). This can only be done when you have actually closed the library. Also, this needs to be corrected when you come back in the fall and open the library.

2006 - 050	DEMONSTRATION OF LINC ACQUISITIONS MODULE
	On Thursday, April 20, Donna Schaal presented a demonstration of the LINC Acquisitions module. There were 19 participants. The goal of this demonstration was to showcase the strengths of the Acquisitions module. During the discussion several issues, suggestions, and requests about the module were defined. LTLS will be pursuing a consortial purchase of B&T's Title Source III. LTLS will begin discussing the module with Sirsi/Dynix personnel to hopefully make the module more efficient for those who do not want to use all of it's resources. As more information is obtained, LTLS will continue to keep the LINC membership up-to-date.

2006 - 051	REMINDER NOTICES - SCHOOL LIBRARIES
	For school libraries: To print a list of who owes what, Reminder Notices are still the best option. To get your Reminder Notices, go to Circulation, Reports & Notices, click on Notices, Notice Output. Click on New batch, click on Reminder Notice, pick your library. This will create a batch and put it on the list. Instead of just sending the batch to output. Highlight your batch in the list, click on Select. This actually opens up the batch so you can review the names. It will list the patron’s names and what amount of money they owe. You can sort this list by the names of the patrons or by the amount of money owed. The rest of the patrons on the list that have zero amounts are overdues (with no fines), hold requests, hold cancellations, etc. If you need to, you can then highlight any name on the list and click on Force Print at the bottom to send the reminder notice to the printer. You can also send just a list of the names to the printer by either selecting all the names on the list or highlighting the ones you want and clicking on the print button at the top left side of the screen. Reminder notices can be generated every day until the school year ends.