Introduction to Inventory Supplement to Sirsi Manual 14.02

Why perform an inventory? 1. Locate items that should be on the shelf as AVAILABLE. 2. Locate items that are on your shelf but are actually checked out. 3. Locate items that are on your library shelves but are not included in your catalog. 4. Locate items that are shelved in the wrong section of your library. 2

Inventory Preparation The My Inventory group of reports allows you to inventory items that are currently checked out, load barcode files into the system, create a list of missing items, and finalize your inventory by changing the status of items to MISSING. 3

Getting Ready 1.Remove all old inventory templates and finished reports 4

Getting Ready 2.Shelve all display items and straighten the shelves 3.Run the Items w/ Unusual Status report (Custom tab) 4.Look for any of the items previously marked Missing or Lost items 5

More Getting Ready… 5.If you find previously MISSING or LOST items, check them in 6.Consider having the remaining MISSING or LOST items removed before starting new inventory 6

More Getting Ready… 7.Address any items in TRANSIT –Receive items that are ON your shelf (use the Pending Transits wizard in Special Circulation) –Call other libraries and ask for items not on your shelf 8.Have ITC remove DISCARDS and cancel items on HOLD 7

This concludes Inventory Preparation Inventory Process Finalizing the Inventory Process You are now ready to begin scanning your collection, please review the two PowerPoint selections listed below to assist with completing your inventory: I’m ready to scan! 8

Inventory Process Supplement to Sirsi Manual 14.1 – 14.3

This is the process you will complete for the sections that you plan to inventory. 10 Run Step 1 report – set inventory date Scan selected item groups Load scanned barcode files using Scanner wizard Run Step 2a report and fix any problems Run Step 3 report and look for missing items. Use Inventory Item wizard to inventory “found” items. Step 3 can be rerun each time you find items until you find all you think you will find.

Step 1: Set Inventory Date Report The SET INVENTORY DATE Report accounts for items checked out by adding an inventory date to the item record. 1.From My Inventory tab choose the Step 1) Set Inventory Date report. 11

Step 1 - Set Inventory Date… Select library code. 2.Select the item group(s), that you plan to inventory to completion for THIS inventory. * You can also bullet ‘Exclude selected policies’ to omit an item group. WARNING: If library remains open, run this report each day before scanning items.. 12

Step 1 - Set Inventory Date… 3 3. WRITE DOWN THE DATE THAT YOU FIRST RAN THIS REPORT! You will need to reference this date when running subsequent reports. 13

Step 1 - Set Inventory Date… Generating this report adds the current “date inventoried” date and increments the “times inventoried” counter on the item record. 14

Inventory Worksheet 1.Record Set Inventory Date. 2.Enter pertinent information each time you scan IMPORTANT! The first date on the worksheet will be used in subsequent reports.

Step 2 Begin Inventory – Scan Barcodes Scan using the Inventory Item Wizard (NOT recommended, but available). Scan barcodes into a file using the Notepad application. Which scanning option to use? Use portable data collections (ex: PSC PT200 (Percon), Symbol, etc. 16

A. Scanning into Notepad 1.PC users – Find the Notepad application on your computer:  START button  All Programs  Accessories  NOTEPAD Do not use WordPad! 17

2. MAC users – Find TextEdit application on your computer:  MacIntosh HD/  Applications/  TEXTEDIT (Top menu, FORMAT – select “Make plain text.” 18

3.When saving the file on your local computer or network, create a folder named INVENTORY. Example: E:/Inventory07 4. Name each file a short distinct name, with no special characters for the item group you are scanning. (Save as a.txt file, encoding ANSI). Examples: fiction.txt or nonfic txt A. Scanning into Notepad… Scanning into Notepad does NOT require your computer to have an internet connection or SIRSI installed! 19

5.Begin scanning item barcodes into the Notepad file. There should be a single column of barcode numbers and no blank lines. When appending a file, be sure to set the cursor at the bottom of the list! REMEMBER TO SAVE often! 20 A. Scanning into Notepad…

B. Using portable data collectors Consult scanner documentation and your ITC support staff for procedures for transferring the barcodes from the scanner to your computer. 21 Once your file is created, continue to Step 2a – Loading Scanned Barcodes.

C. Inventory Item Wizard NOT recommended, because... You must watch the screen on each scan for messages and alerts. Scanning is slower. You won’t receive any of the Step 2a reports which assist with locating problem or misshelved items. If you choose to use this method, detailed directions are in Section 14.3b. 22

Step 2a – Load Scanned Barcodes 1.Log in to Workflows. 2.Click Special Circulation Function Wizard. 3.Click on Scanner Wizard. 4.Select inventory device: Select the second selection in the drop- down menu (Intermec 9440 Trakker). 5.Click “Retrieve”. Steps 4 & 5 not applicable on MAC’s 23 5

24 If presented with a pop- up, select EXIT and continue.

Step 2a) Load Scanned Barcodes… 6.Use the gadget to select the file. 7.Select the library. Do NOT change “scanner.dat” filename. 8.Click UPLOAD. 9.Message will appear after successful upload! 10.Repeat the process for each separate scan file

Step 2a –Report 11. Locate the Step 2a) Load Scanned Barcodes” report from All or My Inventory. 12. From the “Item Selection” tab select the appropriate library. After the barcodes have been transferred, they need to be processed using the “Step 2a) Load Scanned Barcodes” report

Load Scanned Barcodes Report… Carefully review the results of this report and reconcile as needed. DO NOT PRINT! THIS REPORT CAN BE VERY LENGHTY! 27

Items inventoried but checked out 28 Retrieve the items and check them in. Load Scanned Barcodes Report…

Scanned items not found in the catalog. 29 Locate each item and scan using the inventory item wizard. These are usually mis-scanned items. Load Scanned Barcodes Report…

Mis-ordered items 30 Find the items and put them where they belong! Don’t stress on perfect a,b,c order. Look for items in the wrong collection or so out of order they would be difficult to locate. Too far from where it belongs. Shelved in wrong item group. Load Scanned Barcodes Report…

Step 3a) Items NOT in Inventory Generate the Items NOT in Inventory report to obtain a list of items that were not scanned in the current inventory (possible missing items). May run more than once as you locate items. 31

Step 3a – Items NOT in Inventory Report… 32 NOTE: Be sure that you have scanned all barcodes in the item group(s) being inventoried and uploaded them to the system (Step 2a). Steps 1 and 2 should be completed before generating this report.

Step 3a – Items NOT in Inventory… 1.Click Item Selection tab. 2.Click the library gadget to select your library code Click the item group gadget to select the item group(s) you have scanned.

Step 3a – Items NOT in Inventory Report… 4. Click on the calendar icon. Click on Before. Select the Date Inventoried. This will be the FIRST day that you ran the Step 1 report!

IMPORTANT: Date Inventoried It is the first date you started scanning your items. It should be the FIRST date you recorded on your Inventory Worksheet. (The date on the Step 1 – Set Inventory Date Report). Even if inventorying several Item Groups, always select the FIRST date! STOP 35 Step 3a – Items NOT in Inventory Report…

Items NOT in Inventory Report… 36 Results

Reconcile When you have scanned the entire item group – review this carefully. Any items that you locate should be scanned with the Inventory Item Wizard (see next slide). Look for things like many lines of consecutive call numbers. You may have missed a shelf! If you miss a shelf, you can either create a new scan file and repeat the Step 2a report or you can scan the item in the Inventory Item wizard. You can rerun the Step 3 report as often as necessary to verify items still missing. Step 3 – Provides a list of items that MAY be missing. 37 Items NOT in Inventory Report…

Step 3b – Inventory Item Wizard 1.Use this method to inventory items found after generating the Step 3 Items not in inventory report. 2. If you add any new items to your database, scan them using this wizard. 3. Use this wizard if you choose to inventory your collection interactively. 38

What does “inventory item” do? 1.Enters date into the “Date Inventoried” field. 2.The “Times Inventoried” counter increments by one. 39

Step 3b – Using the Inventory Item Wizard 1.Click on Special Circulation Wizard Group. 2.Click on Inventory Items Wizard. 3.In the identify item window, scan each item barcode. The insertion point automatically returns to the Item ID box as each item is added to the list, unless an alert/error is encountered. 40 3

Step 3b – Using the Inventory Item Wizard… CAUTION: You MUST watch the workstation screen for error/alert messages. STOP 41

This concludes Inventory Process Once you have reconciled the Step 3A) Items NOT in Inventory Report to your satisfaction, you are ready to finalize your inventory. Call your INFOhio Support person or continue to Step 4 IF you are comfortable. I’m ready to finalize! 42

Want to print this tutorial? 1.Select All or specific slide numbers. 2.Select Handouts. 3.Select number of slides per page. 4.Select Grayscale. This will remove the background from the slides

Tutorial created by INFOhio from Sirsi copyrighted documents with prior permission of Sirsi Corporation. Copyright ©2006, SirsiDynix Corporation. All rights reserved. Please contact your ITC if you have further questions. 44