How to Check Books In and Out (as well as other library materials) A tutorial for librarians who use Agent VERSO

This tutorial is in three sections. The first section is preparation that is similar to both, such as finding your way to the correct starting screen. The second section is how to check library materials IN. The third section is how to check a book or other item OUT. Any library staff member can check items both IN and OUT.

Checking Items In or Out First, log in to your library staff account.

Checking Items In or Out Next, click the tab for “Staff Menu.”

Checking Items In or Out Then, click the tab for “Circulation.”

From the Circulation Tab, you can select “Patron Status and Checkout” or “Checkin.”

To check IN an item, click “Checkin” from the Menu at the left of the screen.

This is the Checkin screen. You have to be on this screen, before you can check in any items. There is not another Checkin screen anywhere else.

With the item in your hand, locate the LIBRARY BARCODE.

Type or scan the barcode into the first field, at the top of the Checkin screen. Click Submit.

The next screen displayed is this. Sometimes, an item does not check in properly. To verify Checkin, or to confirm other books from the same patron, click the Patron’s name to bring up their record. If you Checkin by typing the barcode, instead of scanning, be sure to also verify that you typed the barcode correctly, by comparing the title of your item with the title on the screen. This extra step prevents “but I turned it in!” from being your fault.

Checkin was effective – AND this patron has no more books out.

To check OUT an item, click “Patron Status and Checkout” from the Menu at the left of the screen.

This is the Patron Checkout or Lookup Screen

If the student presents a student ID, then enter the ID number in the place for “username.” Click SUBMIT (in the upper right hand corner of the screen) to bring up the Patron Record.

It is highly recommended that you require students to present their ID badges. The ID badges have a picture on them, which allows you to positively identify the person presenting it. This protects THEM from impersonation. It also PREVENTS them from impersonating others. However, if the student does not have their student ID with them, they MUST present another picture ID to verify their identity. Impersonation – especially by students pretending to be faculty – is a current problem on at least one of our campuses. We need to be aware of this possibility at all campus libraries, and be ready for it. Requiring a photo ID from everyone – even staff and faculty WHOM YOU KNOW – will absolutely prevent one patron from impersonating another. Requiring a photo ID from staff and faculty will also prevent students from impersonating them and fooling you. This is for THEIR protection – and yours.

To look up the Patron Record by name, first select your campus from the drop down menu.

Next, enter their Last Name in the blank for Username (or enter the first 4 or 5 letters). Click SUBMIT (in the upper right hand corner of the screen) to bring up the list.

Select the Patron Record from the list, by clicking the link in the Username column at the left. With a photo ID that does not have a student number, verify patron’s street address!!

If the street address is different, ask the patron (including employees) if they have recently moved. Then ask what their previous address was. Chances are few that someone other than them will bother to memorize their address. Then, if a student, encourage the student to bring their student ID to the library always. If it still doesn’t match, do not continue checkout. Also notice that when faculty or staff appear in this list, their NAMES and USERNAMES are fully capitalized. This becomes important for you to know, if you ever add a patron “on the fly.”

Verifying the street address is also a good way to determine the difference between two Patron Records with similar (or identical) names. Since we have now determined we have the correct Patron Record, click the link under User Name, to bring up the Patron Record.

It is important to realize that STUDENT WORKERS will have two accounts: their student account (by ID number) and a STAFF account (by lastname1234). In the case of a student worker, DO NOT USE their staff account to check out library materials. Instead, Block and Disable the staff account (see other tutorial on how to do that), so that you and others in your library will use only the STUDENT account to check out materials to that patron.

Now that we have brought up the Patron Record, this is what it looks like with no items out.

To check out a book, DVD, or other item, type or scan the barcode of the item into the blank as follows. Click SUBMIT or press ENTER.

The resulting screen displays the item associated with that barcode in the system, along with title, the due date, and other item information. It is a good idea to VERIFY that this is the correct item, especially if you typed it. If the patron wants to check out more than one item, you can simply type or scan the barcodes of the other items here, one at a time, remembering to press ENTER or click SUBMIT after each entry. When you are finished checking out items, click CLOSE, and the Patron Record will display, once again.

Here is the Patron Record, after checking out items is completed. If a patron has checked out 4 or more items, or if they already have other items out, and their total items is 4 items or more checked out, you may wish to provide them with a printout, showing what titles and barcodes they have checked out, along with their due dates.

To cause Printing of a page in Autographics, you must use Keyboard Shortcuts. There is no icon or button to print. The Keyboard Shortcut to Print is CNTL P. That means you hold down the CNTL key, then press the letter P, releasing both at the same time. This brings up the Print Dialog Box. Simply click OK, and the page you are on will print to your default printer. As a customer receipt, you may choose to print either the screen on which you entered today’s checkouts, or you may choose to print their Patron Record screen (especially if they have other items out).

That’s it! It’s easier than it looks, and it’s easy to learn.

This tutorial was created by Jennifer Carless, Library Director at the Orlando campus for Keiser University, on December 1, 2009