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Sierra Module Offline Circ Training Outline

Sierra Module Offline Circ Training Outline

    Installation

    Windows Link: https://csdirect.iii.com/downloads/offline_circ/offlineCirc-win32-SIERRA-37977.exe

    Mac Link: https://csdirect.iii.com/downloads/offline_circ/install-offline-2025-11-03-mac-64.zip

    If link above does not work please let User Services staff know.

    • This training is centered around the Windows version of the offline circulation module. Mac versions are available, but the processing might be different.

    1. Follow the steps for the installation.

    2. Once you get to the IP address window you can put in the following based on your server

      1. MLN1 → 192.245.61.175 → sierra.marmot.org

      2. MLN2 → 192.245.61.20 → nell.flatironslibrary.org

    3. Make sure that barcode validation is turned off in the View-->Preference-->Uncheck “Check barcode validity” > Choose “Apply”.

    Preferences Settings

    1. Statistic Group

      1. MLN1

      2. MLN2

    2. Date Format

      1. Use mm-dd-yyyy

    3. Barcode Validity

    4. Due Date Slips

      1. One slip per item or patron

      2. Messages

        1. Can enter up to 40 characters of text in both the Line 1 and Line 2 boxes.

      3. Lines (plain text)

        1.  

    5. Patron Registration Template setup

      1. Accepts a specific set of fixed/variable length fields

        1. Fixed length fields

          • 0 → P TYPE

          • 1 → PCODE1

          • 2 → PCODE2

          • 3 → PCODE3

          • 4 → HOME LIBR (Home Library)

          • 5 → PMESSAGE (Patron Message

          • 6 → MBLOCK (Manual Block)

          • 7 → EXP DATE (Expiration Date)

          • 8 → PCODE4

        2. Variable length fields

          • a → ADDRESS

          • h → ADDRESS2

          • b → P BARCODE (Patron Barcode)

          • n → PATRN NAME (Patron Name)

          • t → TELEPHONE

          • p → TELEPHONE

    Navigation

    To change modes (Check-Out, Check-In, Renew, Patron Registration) in Offline Circulation, do one of the following:

    • Select the mode from the Navigation Bar in the left-hand side

    • Select the mode from the Go menu at the top

    • Use the associated marco

      • Check-Out: F1

      • Check-In: F2

      • Renew: F3

      • Patron Registration: F4

    Check Out

    • Change the mode to Check-Out

    • Fill in the prompts for each checkout

      • Scan Patron Barcode

      • Enter due date (Loan rules cannot be referenced by offline circ)

        • Format: mm-dd-yyyy

      • Hourly?

        • Allows you to specify if the checkout is an hourly checkout or not

        • Uses the 24-hour clock (just enter the number so 1 pm becomes ‘13’)

      • Scan Item barcode

      • Continue scanning items. You can set new due dates using the New Due Date button.

      • When you are ready to check out to a new patron, you can click the New Patron button

    Offline circ only allows lookup of patron by barcode

    This process stores the transactions to a .dat file on the computer. Make sure that this file does not get cleared before the transactions get uploaded to Sierra.

    Check In

    • Switch mode to Check-In

    • Scan the item barcodes that you want to check in

    • Press the enter key

    Since the system is not connected to the Sierra server, it cannot process transit or holds the same way that Sierra Desktop can. These items should show errors during processing.

    Renewals

    • Switch mode to Renew

    • Fill in the prompts

      • Scan the Patron Barcode

      • Enter the new renewed due date (Loan rules cannot be referenced)

      • Hourly?

      • Scan the item barcodes

      • Has the same buttons for New Due Date and New Patron

    • To assign a different due date to the the next item you renew

      • Choose the New Due Date button

      • Enter the new due date

      • Continue the renewal process

    • To renew items for a new patron

      • Choose the New Patron button. The system will display the Key or Scan Patron ID Barcode prompt.

    Patron Registration

    • Enter the patron data

      • You can leave fields blank if necessary

      • To clear all data from the patron registration fields without saving the information, choose the Clear button.

    • Once all data has been filled out you can click the “Add” button. Offline Circulation will then

      • Write the patron’s registration information to the patron.dat file

      • Clears the Patron Registration fields

    Patron registration uses the patron.dat file

     

    Uploading Data (once the server is back online)

    Verify Connection

    • Start regular Sierra client to confirm that you can connect

    • If successful proceed to the next step

    Uploading the offline circ and patron files

    • Open offline Circulation module

    • Choose File-->Upload circulation and patron data

    • Prompt to verify server connection, click yes.

    • patron.dat and circ.dat files get uploaded to the Sierra server

      • Files get renamed with rdydate&time format

    • Once the upload is complete the number of uploaded transactions and patron records get displayed

    • Prompt to erase files from the offline circulation machine. This can be completed after confirming that the files get uploaded to the Sierra server.

    Possible Messages

    • Is the server ready to receive data? If so, choose YES to upload data.

    If the Offline Circulation machine is connected to the Sierra server, then choose Yes to upload the data in the circ.dat and/or patron.dat files. To stop the upload process, choose No.

    • Clear circulation file?

    • Clear patron data file?

    • Clear circulation and patron data files?

    Offline Circulation has successfully uploaded the data in the circ.dat and/or patron.dat files. To delete the data from the file(s) on the Offline Circulation machine, choose Yes. To keep the data on the Offline Circulation machine, choose No.

    • Error on server side.

    The system was unable to upload data because of problems with the server or the server connection.

    • Files are empty. No need for upload.

    The circ.dat and patron.dat files contain no data.

    • Are you sure you want to erase circulation transactions?

    The system is about to delete the circulation transactions recently performed by Offline Circulation by erasing all data in the circ.dat file on this machine. If you have already uploaded this data to the Sierra server, choose Yes to erase all circulation transactions in the circ.dat file. To keep the data, choose No.

    • Are you sure you want to erase patron registration data?

    The system is about to delete the patron registration information recently entered into Offline Circulation by erasing all data in the patron.dat file on this machine. If you have already uploaded this data to the Sierra server, choose Yes to erase all patron registration data in the patron.dat file. To keep the data, choose No.

    Processing the Data

    • Open a ticket in the Marmot Helpdesk to let us know that you have uploaded new files

    • Marmot will handle the processing of the files

    • If we get any errors from processing the files we will provide those errors back to the libraries

      • Common errors include

        • Patron barcode not found

        • Item barcode not found