Materials Booking Module (Sierra & Pika)

This document explains the basic features of the Sierra Materials Booking module and includes instructions for using Pika to book materials.

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Materials Booking Module Overview

Materials Booking is only for item-level bookings in Sierra. However, in Pika, your patrons will not know the difference and will view this as a title or bibliographic-level booking.

Suppose your library uses Materials Booking, you "book" or reserve library materials for patrons for their future use. Unlike holds, the time period during which the patron will access the booked item is specified when library staff places the booking. You can book bibliographic materials and other materials, such as audio-visual equipment and rooms.

You can book materials for hours, days, weeks, and months. When you place a booking, you can configure Sierra to create additional bookings on the item at specified intervals. For example, you can configure Sierra to create additional bookings for the same time of day for a given number of days in a row or for the same day and time for a given number of weeks in a row. You can place up to 400 bookings on an item record or for a patron record. Bookings use the Sierra Days Closed table to ensure the bookings do not become due on the days you are closed.

With Materials Bookings, you can also create events that can be used to link the different bookings placed for a patron. For example, you might create an event to link all of the bookings associated with a patron event. An event must be associated with a booking. However, a booking can be created without being associated with an event. An occurrence is a booking that is associated with an event. If multiple bookings are placed for the same patron and share the same Start Date and event, they belong to the same occurrence. 

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Enabling Materials Booking Module

To enable the Bookings Module, there are a number of steps that Marmot staff have to perform in both Sierra and Pika.

Sierra

• Marmot staff will update loan rules and loan rule determiners to facilitate the booking.

• Marmot staff will update your Sierra logins to include the Booking tab, Bookings permissions, and the Bookings workflow.

• You must contact Marmot to get your Sierra login permissions and workflow to use the Material Booking Module.

Pika

• Enabling booking in Pika is a toggle on/off function that works in conjunction with loan rules.

• Marmot staff will load loan rules and determiners that allow bookings in your Pika test and production sites.

• Marmot will enable bookings in your test site so you can get familiar with how the bookings work in Pika before you make it live to the public.

• Marmot staff will leave bookable objects as holdable until which point this is live, so you can place hold and schedule item options next to bookable objects in the test site.

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Booking Any Available Item

You can create a booking for any available item instead of a selected item. You can use this method, for example, when creating a booking for a piece of equipment, such as a film projector or video cassette player, and the particular item being booked is not important.

You can book any available item using any of the following methods:

• From the Summary tab in the bibliographic record 

• From the Bookings tab in the patron record

To use the Book Any Available Item button from the Summary tab, click on the Search/Holds function. Search for the item by the title and click the Search button.

Open

Click on the Book Any Available Item button.

Open

Search for the patron by Patron Barcode or name. Use the drop-down menu from patron barcode to patron name or unique ID.

You may need to click on the Select button or double-click to open the patron’s record.

The Book any available item box pops up. Technically, you only need to fill in the Wanted From and Wanted To fields. If you want to know more about the rest of the fields, see Enter in the data for the booking.

You can enter the Wanted From and Wanted To by using the pop-up calendar or typing in the date. When using the calendar, click on the OK button when finished.

The system puts a hold on the first available item on the record. The Booking tab will show the number of bookings.

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Book Any Available Item from the Patron Record

Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) function and search for the patron. You can look at the booking on the patron’s record. You will see the Bookings tab. Once you click on the Bookings tab and check the box under All, the following buttons will become active,  Add Booking, Add Event, View Booking, Cancel Booking, and Print Slips.

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Booking Selected Item(s)

You can book a specific item by using any of the following methods:

• From the Summary tab in the item record

• From the Bookings tab in the item record

• From the Bookings tab in a patron record

The Summary View drop-down list can contain the following options depending on your modules:

• Holds/Bookings 

• Item

• Order (Acquisitions Module)

• Checkin (Serials Module)

• Item 

• All

Booking selected item(s) from the Summary tab in the item record

If you want to reserve a particular item, go to the Summary tab and click on the Search/Holds option.

Retrieve the desired item record. You can find the record by searching for the barcode and clicking the Search button. Another way to search would be to use the dropdown menu and change from barcode to title.

The record will open up in the Summary tab. The item will be highlighted if you search by barcode. If you search by title, you will still need to find the specific item and click on it to highlight it.

Make sure the Holds/Bookings are displayed from the Holds/Bookings dropdown menu. With the item still highlighted, click on the Book Selected Item(s) button.

The Search For Patron box will appear. It may default to Patron Barcode. Either scan or type the patron’s barcode. To locate the patron, you have two options. You can either enter the barcode and then click on the Search button, or you can use the dropdown menu to switch from Patron Barcode to Patron Name.

You may need to verify the patron and click the Select button to access the record.

Here is the Booked select item pop-up. You will notice the title, call number, barcode, and location displayed at the top of the pop-up box. The rest of the information will need to be filled out using the data for the booking.

Here is an example of what it looks like when you fill in the new Event Name, Wanted From, Wanted To dates, and Booking Note. Once you have finished with the data for the booking, click on the OK button. Currently, your loan rule allows for 7 days, so it automatically populated the Wanted To field.

Here is an example of what happens when you click on the Show item calendar button.

Click on the Close icon to get back to the Booking.

After you click the OK button, you will be redirected to the bibliographic record along with the attached items. The Bookings tab will no longer be zero. 

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Booking Tab in the Item Record

When in the item record, you will see the Booking tab. If a patron has any bookings, you would click on that tab to see that information. When you click on the Booking tab, you will see the patron’s name and the From and To dates. Since we filled in the Event name and Notes, those are also listed. You can also use the Add Booking button to add another booking to the item from the Booking tab.

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Booking Tab in the Patron Record for Selected Item

Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) function and search for the patron. You can look at the booking on the patron’s record. You will see the Bookings tab. Once you click on the Bookings tab and check the box under All, the following buttons will become active, Add Booking, Add Event, View Booking, Cancel Booking, and Print Slips.

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Enter the data for the Booking

• Event Name (Optional): enter a new event name or select an existing event from the dropdown menu list.

• Limit by Location: If the patron wants to limit the booking to the first item that is available at a specific location, select that location from the drop-down list. By default, this field is left blank.

• Wanted From (Required): Specify the date (and time, if desired) the patron wants the booking to start. To automatically populate the following Wanted To field, use the pop-up calendar to specify the Wanted From date.

• Wanted To (Required): After you specify a date and time in the Wanted From field, Sierra uses the library calendar and the Loan Rule that applies to the patron, item, and location to calculate the ending date and time for the booking. If the library is closed during the system-calculated Wanted To date, Sierra adjusts the Wanted To date to a time when the library is open. For daily bookings, Sierra uses the next day the library is open.

• Repeat Bookings: If the patron wants to book an item for a series of dates, use the Repeat Bookings area to specify the dates the specific item is booked. When a booking is set to repeat daily, the designated item will be reserved for the duration indicated in the "Wanted From" and "Wanted To" sections.

• None: No repeat bookings are scheduled; the item is booked only for the period specified in the Wanted From and Wanted To fields.

  • Daily: To repeat a booking for a number of days, specify either the date the series of bookings ends or for how many days after the Wanted From the date the item is booked.

    • Ends on: The date and time of the last booking. The system accepts any date up to and including one year (365 days) after the date entered in the Wanted From field.

    • Ends after: If no time is specified, the system internally sets an ending time of 11:59:59 pm on the specified end date. Note: Do not use 4:00 a.m. because this is when other circulation functions are set to run automatically. The system converts that 4:00 am time to 11:59:59 pm to avoid a potential conflict. The booking will repeat after the number of days specified in the "Wanted From" field from the entered date. The system accepts values between 1 and 365.

• Booking Note: Add an informational note to the booking. Sierra includes this information in the booking slip and the booking display. Only one line of the booking note will print on a booking slip. The number of characters printed depends on your booking slip setup; in most cases, a maximum of 65 characters of the booking note is printed.

• Delivery: Specify how the patron will receive the booked item

  • Patron will pick up: Patron will retrieve the booked item. Note that selecting this option disables the Location field.

  • Deliver to: Staff must deliver the booked item to the location specified in the Location field.

  • Deliver to and pick up from: Staff must deliver and pick up the booked item from the location(s) specified in the Location field.

• Location: Specify where the booked item should be delivered and, if necessary, picked up. You can use this field only if the Deliver to or Deliver to and Pick up from option is enabled. If there is no location mentioned, the customer will have to collect the item.

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Modifying Bookings

You can only modify a booking if its Status is “Current”. Find your booking using the item record, patron record, Bookings Maintenance, and Bookings Event Maintenance.

From the Item record Booking tab. Go to the Search / Holds function. Search for the item by title or barcode.

You can modify the booking using the Booking tab in the item record. Click on the Booking tab.

Next, click on the box under All to make the buttons active. Click on the View Booking button.

The View booking for … screen will appear. Click on the Modify button.

This will make all the fields active for editing. Once you have modified the booking, click on the OK button.

Any changes will display in the Booking tab. In this example, we extended the To field one extra day.

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Modifying from the Patron Record

Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) function and search for the patron.

Click on the Bookings tab. Highlight the booking that needs to be modified. Click on the View Booking button. You will get the same popup box that is displayed when using the Booking tab in the item record.

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Modifying using the Bookings Maintenance

Click on Bookings Maintenance from the drop-down menu. You can search for bookings using the Start Date, End Date, or Start or End Date. Highlight the booking you want to modify and click on the View Booking button. You will get the same popup box that is displayed when using the Booking tab in the item record.

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Canceling Bookings

You can cancel bookings using any of the following methods:

• From the item record

• From the patron record

• From the Bookings Event Maintenance Function

Canceling a Booking from the Item Record

To cancel a booked item from the Summary tab, click the Search/Holds function. Retrieve the desired item record. You can find the record by searching for the title and clicking the Search button. Another way to search would be to use the dropdown menu and change from the title to the barcode.

The record will open up in the Summary tab. Click on the Booking tab. Click to check the box under All to make all the buttons active. Click on the Cancel Booking button.

A confirmation box will appear with a warning message asking if you are sure you want to cancel the booking. Click on the “Yes” button to cancel the booking. Click on the “No” button to not cancel the booking.

Clicking on the Yes button will remove the booking from the record.

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Canceling a Booking from the Patron Record

Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) function and search for the patron. You can look at the booking on the patron’s record. You will see the Bookings tab. Once you click on the Bookings tab and check the box under All, the following buttons will become active,  Add Booking, Add Event, View Booking, Cancel Booking, and Print Slips. Click on the Cancel Bookings button.

A confirmation box will appear with a warning message asking if you are sure you want to cancel the booking. Click on the “Yes” button to cancel the booking. Click on the “No” button to not cancel the booking.

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Viewing Bookings

You can view a booking:
For a selected item record, specific patron record, Bookings Maintenance, and Bookings Event Maintenance.

Viewing a Booking from a Selected Item Record

Go to the Search / Holds function and search for the specific item record. In this example, we are looking for the specific item using the item barcode. 

Click on the Booking tab. Click on the box under All to make the buttons active. Click on the View Bookings button.

The View booking box will show all the information associated with that booking. You do have access to the Modify button, Show item calendar button, the Print button, and the Close button. 

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Viewing the Booking from a Specific Patron Record

Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) function and find the specific patron records. Click on the Bookings tab. Check the box under All for any booking you want to view. Click on the View Booking button.

The View booking box will show all the information associated with that booking. You do have access to the Modify button, Show item calendar button, the Print button, and the Close button. 

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Viewing Items Calendars

You can use an item calendar to view all of the scheduled bookings for an item through the next 365 days. To view an item calendar:

• Retrieve the item whose calendar you want to view. You can view an item calendar when you are viewing a booked item, entering data for an item record booking, or modifying a booking.

Choose the Show item calendar button. Sierra displays the item calendar for the item record. In this example, we are viewing a booking with a Wanted To date ending on 08-06-2021.

The calendar highlights the date from when you open the calendar to the end of the Wanted To date. To better understand the calendar, click on the Show calendar legend button.

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Blocking Bookings

If you wish to prevent an item from being booked, simply include a note in its record stating "booking blocked." This will effectively prevent any further bookings for that item. For information on editing item records, see Editing Records and Inserting Variable-length Fields.

Possible Messages (Materials Booking)

This section describes some of the messages that Sierra might display when you use Materials Booking.

• Item has not been booked 

  • This patron can make only x more booking(s) before reaching the maximum limit of 400 bookings per patron. Patrons can book a maximum of 400 items. You attempted to place more bookings for the patron than currently allowed (for example, the patron has 398 bookings, and you tried to add three more). Sierra did not place any of the bookings you specified for the patron. Reduce the number of bookings you are placing for the patron and try again.

• Item has not been booked

  • This patron has reached the maximum limit of 400 bookings per patron. Patrons can book a maximum of 400 items. The current patron has already reached this limit.

• Item is booked during period: <date> to <date>

  • The item that you tried to book is already booked during the period that you specified.

• Item is overdue. Continue booking anyway?

  • Sierra warns you if you try to book an overdue item. To place the booking, choose Yes.

• Item <record #> is not bookable: Cannot book item <record #> because booking blocked.

  • You tried to book a blocked item.

• No available item to book from <date> to <date>

  • Sierra cannot place a booking on any available item because no item is available on the dates that you specified.

• No bookings will be made until you Save Event. Close anyway?

  • You are creating an event using the Add Event button. To save the event and bookings you created, choose No and then choose the Save icon. To continue without saving, choose Yes.

• No item from <location> available to book from <date> to <date>

  • Sierra cannot place a booking on any available item because no item that belongs to the location to which you limited the booking is available on the dates that you specified.

• The library is closed during this "wanted from" date. Book anyway?

  • Sierra warns you if you try to book an item at a date or time after the library is closed. To place the booking, choose Yes.

• This booking includes one or more closed days. Continue with booking?

  • Sierra warns you if your booking period contains one or more days on which the library is closed. To place the booking, choose Yes.

• There are no bookings at the selected locations within the selected start dates and times

  • While attempting to view bookings in Bookings Maintenance, you selected location(s) and a time period for which there are no bookings.

• There can be no more than 24 hours between the "wanted from" and the "wanted to" times

  • To create a daily booking, there must be less than a 24-hour period between the Wanted To and Wanted From date.

• The "wanted from" date must be before the "wanted to" date

  • The "wanted from" time has already passed.

• This booking requires immediate preparation

  • The Transit Time for Booked Items feature is enabled, and you place a booking whose preparation time begins on the current day.

• The 'book from' date is more than one year from today

  • Sierra cannot place a booking that starts more than one year in the future.

• The 'book to' date is more than one year from today

  • Sierra cannot place a booking that ends more than one year in the future.

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Printing Booking Slips

Unfortunately, patrons will not receive any notification when their booking is available. One workaround is to use Print Slip to send the information to a staff member. You can also print booking slips to verify that items have been booked for patrons and to ensure that those items are delivered and picked up correctly. A slip can be printed as the Patron pickup slips for the patron for whom the booking was placed will pick up the item. All booking slips include a header that contains the Slip Type (Indicates whether the slip is a delivery slip, patron pickup slip, or pickup slip), the Delivery Location (delivery slips and pickup slips only), and the delivery location specified when placing the booking, the Event Name of the event with which the booking is associated if any.

You can print booking slips using any of the following methods:

• From the Bookings tab in the item record

• From the Bookings tab in the patron record

• From the Booking Maintenance function

• From the Booking Event Maintenance function

All booking slips include a header that contains the following information:

• Slip Type: Indicates whether the slip is a delivery slip, patron pickup slip, or pickup slip.

• Delivery Location (delivery slips and pickup slips only): The delivery location specified when placing the booking.

• Event: Name of the event with which the booking is associated, if any.

In addition, booking slips contain the following fields:

• Title: A TITLE variable-length 245 fields from the bibliographic record to which the booked item is attached. 

• Call Number: The CALL # variable-length field from the booked item's record, or if absent, from the bibliographic record.

• Barcode: The BARCODE variable-length field from the booked item's record.

• Note: The booking note that is entered when placing the booking.

• Patron: The PATRN NAME variable-length field in the patron record.

• Pickup at (patron pickup slips only): The booking's pickup location. Displays only if the Transit Time for Booked Items feature is enabled.

• Prep time/Avail (patron pickup slips only): The date and time at which booking preparation must begin and the date and time the item will next be available. 

• From/To:  The bookings wanted from and wanted to dates.

Printing a Booking Slip from the Booking tab in the Item Record

Go to the Search / Holds function to search for the item records.

Click on the Booking tab. Check the box under All to make the buttons active. Click on the Print Slip button.

Here is an example of the booking slip. The slip is either emailed to a staff member or printed to a physical printer depending on the Sierra printers set up for your Sierra login.

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Printing a Booking Slip from the Booking tab in the Patron Record

Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) function and search for the patron record.

Click on the Bookings tab. Check the box or boxes under All to make the buttons active. Click on the Print Slips button.

Here is an example of the booking slip. The slip is either emailed to a staff member or printed to a physical printer depending on the Sierra printers set up for your Sierra login.

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Adding Events

Events are names that are used to link the bookings made for patrons. An event must be associated with a booking. However, a booking can be created without being associated with an event. Events created for different patrons are distinct, even if they share the same name.

You can add an event using any of the following methods:

• While placing a booking for a selected item

• While placing a booking for any available item

• While modifying bookings

• From a patron record

• From the Booking Event Maintenance

Adding an Event for a Selected Item

When creating a booking for a selected item, you can add an event during that process. When you get to the Book selected item box, you would enter the Event Name in that field.

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Adding an Event for Any Available Item

When creating a booking for any available item, you can add an event during that process. When you get to the Book any available item box, you would enter the Event Name in that field.

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Adding an Event when Modifying a Booking

When you are modifying a booking, you can add an event during that process. When you get to the Modify booking box, you would enter the Event Name in that field.

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Adding an Event from the Patron Record

While adding a booking for a selected item or any available item on a patron’s account, you can add an event by clicking on the Add Event button.

This will bring up the Add event box. You would add the Event Name.

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Booking Maintenance Function

Upon accessing the Booking Maintenance function, a Loading bookings box will appear.

The Bookings Maintenance shows the Location, Date, Display, Print Slips, View Booking, and Cancel Bookings. You can search for bookings using the Start Date, End Date, or Start or End Date. The Display will display all the bookings for the search date.

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Viewing Bookings from Booking Maintenance

You can view current, canceled, and expired bookings in Bookings Maintenance. The Bookings Maintenance shows the Location and Date. You can search for bookings using the Start Date, End Date, or Start or End Date. 

• Specify the date range of the bookings you want to view using the following options in the Date pane:

  • Start Date: View bookings with start dates within the specified range in chronological order.

  • End Date: View bookings with end dates within the specified range in chronological order.

  • Start or End Date: View bookings with start dates within the specified range and bookings with end dates within this range. These bookings are ordered as follows: if a booking's start date is within the specified range, it is ordered chronologically by start date with other bookings whose start dates are within the range. If the start date is not within the specified range, the booking is ordered chronologically by end date with other bookings whose end dates (and not start dates) are within the range. 

  • Note: If the start and end dates are within the specified range, the booking will sort by start date.

  • To view the bookings, simply indicate the range of dates and times between the "&" and "fields". By default, Sierra is set to display the booking(s) that begin sometime between the beginning of the current day and the end of the next day. (You can restore these fields to their default values by choosing Reset.)

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Canceling Bookings from Bookings Maintenance

To cancel a booking or bookings while using the Bookings Maintenance function, you must first view the bookings in Bookings Maintenance. Note: Sierra enables the Cancel Bookings button only if you select bookings with Current status.

Select the booking(s) you want to cancel from the table. Click on the Cancel Bookings button. Respond to the cancelation prompts.

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Cancelation Prompts

When you cancel occurrences from the Events tab, Sierra prompts:
Cancel this occurrence?

• To cancel the occurrence(s), choose Yes. To continue without canceling the occurrence(s), choose No. If Sierra cannot cancel any of the booking(s) associated with the occurrence(s), it displays a results dialog.

When you cancel bookings from the Occurrences tab, Sierra prompts:
Remove <title>?

• To cancel the booking, choose Yes. (If you selected multiple bookings and do not want to be prompted to cancel each booking, choose Yes to All.) To continue without canceling the booking, choose No. If Sierra cannot cancel any of the booking(s), it displays a results dialog.

When you cancel bookings using any other function, Sierra prompts:
Are you sure you want to cancel <n> bookings?

• To cancel the booking(s), choose Yes. To continue without canceling the booking(s), choose No. If Sierra cannot cancel any of the booking(s), it displays a results dialog.

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Results Dialog

If Sierra cannot cancel any of the booking(s) you selected, it displays a results dialog. 

For example:

• 1 of 2 bookings were cancelled.

• The following bookings were not cancelled:

• Record <number> in use by system

Choose OK to continue.

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Booking Maintenance Printing Bookings

Go to the Bookings Maintenance function and select the booking (s) you want to print a slip. Click on the Print Slips button.

Here is an example of the booking slip. The slip is either emailed to a staff member or printed to a physical printer depending on the Sierra printers set up for your Sierra login.

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Booking Event Maintenance

Events are names that are used to link the bookings made for patrons. An event must be associated with a booking. However, a booking can be created without being associated with an event. Events created for different patrons are distinct, even if they share the same name. 

Adding an Event in the Bookings Event Maintenance

Choose Bookings Event Maintenance from the Function list. Click on the Add Event button listed under the Events tab. You can also see the Occurrence tab. The word “Occurrence” is only shown until you create your first event.  Note: if you select an occurrence in the Events tab before you choose the Add Event button, Sierra lists the patron associated with that occurrence in this window.

Sierra opens a search window so that you can retrieve the patron record for whom you are creating the event.

You will need to retrieve the desired patron record. Sierra prompts you to enter the data for the event.

You would enter the Event Name, Wanted From, and Wanted To dates. Next, you must use the Book Item button to book an item for the event. To see more about all the available options, go to enter the data for the booking.

The Search For Item box will appear. You can search by title or barcode.

To book the desired item, simply locate it on the record and select the "Book Any Available Item” button.

Checking the box under All will make the Remove Items button active if you need to remove the booking. If everything looks good, click on the Save button.

You may notice that the word “occurrence” has changed to the event's name. You will still have access to the Add Events button. You now have access to several buttons, including Cancel, Print Slips, Event Calendar, and Modify.

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Viewing Booking from the Bookings Event Maintenance

If you want to check out the bookings in Bookings Event Maintenance, simply select Bookings Event Maintenance from the Function list.

Sierra displays the Bookings Event Maintenance table. When you view bookings in Bookings Event Maintenance, Sierra displays the Bookings Event Maintenance Table. 

This table consists of two tabs:

• Events: Displays all of the current occurrences (that is, bookings that are assigned to events and whose Status is "Current").

• Occurrence: Displays all of the booked items that belong to the first selected occurrence in the Events tab. 

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Modifying Occurrences from the Bookings Event Maintenance

To change the attributes of the booking(s) that belong to an occurrence, you can View bookings in Bookings Event Maintenance. Choose the Events tab if it is not already displayed. (By default, the system opens to this tab.)

Select the occurrence you want to modify. You can only modify one occurrence at a time. If you select more than one occurrence, Sierra disables the Modify button.

Sierra displays the Modify Occurrence box. You can modify the following attributes as desired:

• Event Name: Drop-down list of events (current and expired) with which the patron is associated.

• Wanted From: Starting date/time for the occurrence.

• Wanted To: Ending date/time for the occurrence.

• (Optional) View the associated event calendar by choosing Show event calendar.

Choose OK to save your changes and return to the Events tab. Choose Cancel to return to the Events tab without saving your changes.

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Canceling Bookings from the Bookings Event Maintenance

Use the Bookings Event Maintenance function; you can cancel all item booking(s) that belong to an occurrence. For example, if you cancel the second occurrence of a repeating event that involves booking three items. The bookings for these three items are canceled for the date and time of the second occurrence. You can also cancel the individual item(s) that belong to an occurrence. For example, you can cancel only one item but keep the two other items.

Canceling All Booked Items for an Occurrence

View the bookings in Bookings Event Maintenance. Choose the Events tab if it is not already displayed. (By default, the system opens to this tab.) Select the booking(s) you want to cancel from the table.

Choose Cancel or Cancel Occurrence from the right-mouse menu.

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Canceling Individual Items within an Occurrence

View the bookings in Bookings Event Maintenance. Choose the Occurrence tab. Select the item(s) you want to cancel from the table. Choose the Remove Items button or Remove Item from the right-mouse menu.

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Printing Bookings from the Bookings Event Maintenance

View bookings in Bookings Event Maintenance. Choose the Events tab if it is not already displayed. (By default, the system opens to this tab.) Select the occurrence for which you want to print slips.

Here is an example of the booking slip. The slip is either emailed to a staff member or printed to a physical printer depending on the Sierra printers set up for your Sierra login.

Viewing Event Calendars from the Bookings Event Maintenance

An event calendar contains all of the scheduled bookings placed for an event. View bookings in Bookings Event Maintenance. Choose the Events tab if it is not already displayed. (By default, the system opens to this tab.) Select the occurrence for which you'd like to view the associated calendar. Choose the Event Calendar button. 

The event calendar lists all of the scheduled bookings for that event through the next 365 days. Choose the Show calendar legend button to see what each color means for your booking.

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Checking In a Booked Item

Go to the Check-in (No Patron) function to check in a booked item. Type or scan the item's barcode and click on the Search button. If the item does not have a numeric barcode, you may need to add the letter “b” before the barcode.

The Message box will appear with the patron’s name, patron record number, and date of booking. Click OK.

The item information will display in the Check-In (No Patron) function. It will display a Status of Not Checked Out. Click on the Close icon. This is where your workflow for placing the patron’s name with the item should happen to make sure the item is ready for the person to pick up.

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Checking Out a Booked Item

When you try to check out a booked item, Sierra determines whether the current checkout will overlap the existing booking period and whether the patron checking out the item is the same as the patron who booked the item and prompts you accordingly:

• Checkout Does Not Overlap Booking

• Checkout Overlaps Booking by Another Patron

• Checkout Overlaps Booking by the Same Patron

Checkout Does Not Overlap Booking

A checkout and a booking period do not overlap if one of the following conditions is met:

• The due date for the current checkout expires before the booking begins. For example, the checkout expires 08-09-21, and the booking period begins 08-10-21 at 4:00 pm, or the checkout expires 08-10-21 at 3:30 pm, and the booking period begins 08-10-21 at 4:00 pm.

• The due date for the current checkout expires at the exact date and time the booking begins. For example, the checkout expires 08-10-21 at 4:00 pm, and the booking period begins 08-10-21 at 4:00 pm.

• If the current checkout and existing booking period do not overlap, the system displays the booking information before it allows you to check out the item. For example, the Item booked by Smith, Holly .p1106843 for Tu 08-02-21 to F 08-12-21.

Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) function and bring up the record of the person who wants to check out the item they booked. Type in the barcode of the item and click the Search button.

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Checkout Overlaps Booking by the Same Patron

Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) function and bring up the record of the person who wants to check out the item they booked. Type in the barcode of the item and click the Search button.

The Message box will allow staff to use the booking date as the due date. To use the booking date, click the Yes button. If you want to give the patron the entire date (if they pick up the booking after the beginning Wanted From date), you can click on the No button.

Here is an example where clicking on the “No” does not give the patron the original booking date which was 08/07/2021. It will give the patron the full checkout date if no one else has booked the item.

The item will display in the Check Out tab. You can see the due date of the item. Once the item has been checked out to the patron, click on the Close icon.

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Checkout Overlaps Booking by Another Patron

Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) function to check out an item to a patron. Find the patron, and enter the item's barcode to be checked out. In this example, the current patron does not have any items booked.

If another patron has booked the item and the current checkout overlaps the beginning of the booking period, Sierra asks if you want to override the booking. Click Override to check it out to the current patron. Click Do Not Override to not check it out to this patron.

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Clearing Canceled and Expired Bookings

When you enter Bookings Maintenance or Bookings Event Maintenance, the system removes expired bookings from the Bookings tab in the patron and item records. If Sierra clears all of the bookings associated with an event, then the event is also cleared. To see your bookings, enter a start and end date and click the Display button.

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Checking In a Booked Item

Go to the Check-in (No Patron) function to check in a booked item. Type or scan the item's barcode and click on the Search button. If the item does not have a numeric barcode, you may need to add the letter “b” before the barcode.

The Message box will appear with the patron’s name, patron record number, and date of booking. Click OK.

The item information will display in the Check-In (No Patron) function. It will display a Status of Not Checked Out. Click on the Close icon. This is where your workflow for placing the patron’s name with the item should happen to make sure the item is ready for the person to pick up.

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Booking Materials Using Pika

The process that Pika uses to enable booking in the catalog is called screen scraping. Screen scraping pulls all the information from the booking module in Sierra. Any error codes or messages that return when booking materials in Pika are coming from Sierra via the screen scraping process. Pika has no control over any errors or messages returned while booking.

Booking an Item (Pika)

You would log into Pika to book materials. In this example, the library has a Tool Library displayed in the Browse the Catalog section.

If an item has a Schedule Item button next to it instead of Place Hold, it is bookable. When you click on an individual item, you will get a pop-up box where you can schedule the item. Click on the Schedule Item button to proceed. 

You can also click on the More Info button to learn more about the item.

Depending on how things are configured for your library, you may see Copies information to let you know the Last Check-in date as well as the More Like This section to show more items similar to the one you are booking. You can use the Schedule Item button from this page as well. 

Once you have clicked on the Schedule Item button, you can enter dates for the booking. Once you enter the Start Date and End Date, you will click on the Schedule Item button.

By clicking on the Show/Hide Hourly Calendar button, you can view the open hours as well as the days on which the facility is closed. Once you put the day and time for your booking, you will click the Schedule Item button.

You will get a Scheduling message box that your request is being processed.

If the item is unavailable on the requested date, an error message will be displayed. Click on the Close button and try again.

If you choose too long of a date for the booking, you will get an error message that the booking period has exceeded the maximum time for that booking. Click on the Close button and try again.

If you have found an available booking period, you will get a Success message with the date the item is booked. You can click on the Close button, or you can click on the View My Scheduled Items button.

After clicking on "View My Schedule Items," you will be directed to the "My Scheduled Items" page. This page displays all the items you have booked. You can also see the start and end dates and the scheduled dates. You can also cancel items from this page as well.

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Scheduled Items Tab (Pika)

Once you are logged in from the My Account page, they will see the Scheduled Items tab. If you had previously booked an item, it would display under the Scheduled Items tab.

Once you have clicked on the Scheduled Items tab,  you will see all the items that have been booked. You can see the start and end dates for the booking. You can cancel the booking by clicking on the Cancel Item button.

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Canceling a Booking (Pika)

To cancel a booking, click on the box next to the item from the My Scheduled Items page. Click on the Cancel Item button or Cancel Selected button. You can also use check the box next to each item and click on the Cancel All button if you want to cancel all your bookings. 

Once you click on the Cancel button, you will get the Confirm message. Click Okay to proceed. Click Close not to cancel the booking.

If you click on the Okay button, you will get a Cancel Booking message letting you know you have canceled the scheduled booking. 

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Using Web Management Reports

The Booking report displays an analysis of booking activity (that is, when patrons reserve the use of library materials for future dates and times).

• For MLN1 libraries, use this link to access the report http://sierra.marmot.org/manage

• For MLN2 libraries, use this link to access the report https://nell.flatironslibrary.org/manage

To view the Bookings report:

• Choose Circ Activity from the reports menu.

• Choose Booking from the reports menu.

• Choose one of the following date ranges from the Dates section of the reports menu:

  • Yesterday

  • 2 days ago

  • 3 days ago

  • MTD (month to date)

  • YTD (year to date)

  • User spec (Select a starting and ending month and year for the report. Enter these dates by choosing the checkbox to the left of the Starting and Ending months.)

  • Last mo (last month—When you choose this option, the report includes a comparison to the previous month's activity and the activity for the same month in the previous year.)

• Choose one of the following options under the Locations section of the reports menu:

  • System: Creates one report for all locations in the system.

  • Separate: Creates a separate report for each location in the system.

  • One only: Creates one report for the locations served by the current statistics group.

  • Special: Creates one report for up to ten specified locations.

• Choose one of the following options under the Type section of the reports menu:

  • PTYPE Displays booking statistics by patron type (PTYPE is defined by the library).

  • PCODE3: Displays booking statistics by patron code (PCODE3 is defined by the library).

  • HOME LIBR: Displays booking statistics by the patron's home library.

  • ICODE1: Displays booking statistics by item code (ICODE1 is defined by the library).

  • ICODE2: Displays booking statistics by item code (ICODE2 is defined by the library).

  • ITYPE: Displays booking statistics by item type (ITYPE is defined by the library).

  • LOCATION: Displays booking statistics by item location.

  • CALL NUMBER: Displays booking statistics by material call numbers.

• Choose Submit.

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Materials Booking Checklist

The following checklist is meant to be a guide to help you organize the day-to-day administration of the Sierra System. The frequencies we suggest are only recommendations. Depending on your needs and policies, your library may perform certain activities more or less often.

1. Print booking slips

2. Maintain events in Booking Maintenance (Add events, change event information, etc.)

3. View Bookings Circulation Reports

4. Clear canceled and expired bookings

5. Contact Marmot if you need to update your Days Closed or Hours Open for your library.

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Bookings FAQs

When does an unfilled booking expire? Is it possible for the booking to be considered "expired" and automatically removed from the patron's record 15 minutes after the booking start time?

The system does not consider an unfilled booking as having expired until two things happen: 

• The end of the booking period is reached.

• Staff clear expired bookings (Expired bookings are cleared automatically when a staff person enters Bookings Maintenance mode). 

What should I do when I find a broken Booking?

• First, ensure that neither the patron record nor the item record, nor the item record's associated bibliographic record, is busy.

• Contact Marmot to either completely cancel the booking or reinstate it.  Marmot staff will fill out the Innovative Service Commitment to report broken bookings.  Please let the Marmot staff know if the booking should be canceled or reinstated.  You should provide the item, patron, and bibliographic numbers (we do not need the barcodes or title).

Is it possible to disable the drop-down box for minutes in the Bookings Calendar in the Classic Catalog?

• There is no way to disable the drop-down box for minutes when self-booking items. The display of this drop-down comes from the <!--{timedayhour}--> and <!--{endtimedayhour}--> tokens, which are hard-coded to include drop-downs for a date, hour, and minute.

Can you enable the Checkout of Booked Items in Express Lane or in the SIP2 Circulation Interface?

• You can enable checkout and renewal of booked items at either Express Lane stations or SelfCheck units or both; your library is not required to enable checkout and renewal of booked items for both products in order to enable this feature for one of these products.

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Related Documentation