Notices (Sierra)

You can print or email the following types of circulation notices, depending on the permissions assigned to your Sierra login.

Table of Contents

Notices That Should be Run by All Members

The notices sent to a patron are determined by Loan Rules for courtesy notices, overdue notices, hold pickup notices, cancellation notices and bill notices.  Other patron notices such as statements of charges or checked-out items can be sent on an as-needed basis by library staff. Notices such as paging slips are generated according to hold parameters. 

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Bib or Title Paging List Notices (Run Daily)

The title-paging list contains a list of items that have been paged to fulfill a title-level hold. A title page is generated when you place a title-level hold and choose to page for the title. 

• According to the Patron Placed Holds (PPH) Best Practices document, the Bib or Title Paging Lists should be run daily at the same time. It is up to the participating library how many times a day these notices are run. 

• ALWAYS scan the item, even if the item is non-circulating. This way, the next library owning the item will get an item or title page slip. Sierra traps a hold for 24 hours. If your library does not want to fulfill this hold, choosing the option “Check in, and do not fulfill the hold” will move the hold to the next available item faster. 

• Paging and the Not Wanted Before Date - If a hold has a Not Wanted Before date in the future, the hold is queued for paging but does not display in the Title Paging list until the Not Wanted Before date has passed.

• Possible duplicate entries occur if there is more than one hold on a title (either for the same patron or for different patrons); the same entry can appear more than once on your location's list. This can occur when two item level holds are placed on the same item. Both holds will appear in the item level paging slips. This will also happen when two holds get placed at almost the same time.  Two simultaneous holds might appear in the bib/tile paging slips, but only one will actually get filled. Unfortunately, it is a system glitch that causes the slips to appear more than once on your notice list.

• Once you run the report, pull the requested items from the shelf and scan the item barcodes using the Check-In (No Patron) function of Sierra. 

  • At this point, the screen will give the choices of:  

  • “Fulfill hold” will fulfill the hold for the requesting patron

  • “Check in, do not fulfill hold” (this option can be used for items that are in disrepair, non-circulating or have other issues.  This will send the hold to another library.

    • ALWAYS scan the item, even if the item is non-circulating. This way, the next library owning the item will get an item or title page slip. 

    • Read the screen to make sure the item is properly routed.  

  • Cancel Hold will cancel the patron’s hold.

    • (Never Cancel Holds from this screen unless the print hold cancellation notice option is chosen. Otherwise canceling a hold will cause the marmot patron to lose their hold on the item without warning. (This process can also be managed by using the Search Holds module or / View Holds report or by moving the patron on the queue option.)  

  • Items to be picked up at your own library can be placed on the hold shelf for patron pick up via standard notification options (e-mail, phone, letter, etc). Items should remain on the hold shelf for eight (8) days. 

  • Returning items can be bundled together with the patron-initiated hold items traveling to the same location. The item barcode will be scanned and checked in when the item(s) reaches the owning library. 

• Missing items & Item status: If an item cannot be located, please change the item status on the computer or if time allows, replace the hold for the patron. The other option is to cancel the hold and send a Hold Cancellation Only notice, which will update the patron or the requesting library that a hold was canceled.

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Creating a Bib or Title Paging List Notice

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

   Open

   

    

2. Click on the New icon.

   Open

   

    

3. The New Job box will appear.  The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue.  Under Locations will be your library or library branch.  Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries.

    

4. Use the Notice Type drop-down menu to change from Overdue to Title Paging List.

    

5. You may want to sort the Title Paging List notice.  Click on the Sort By button.

    

6. This will bring up the Sort Notices box.  To sort the order in which the notices are generated, click Sort By. The system displays the Sort Notices table, which consists of three columns:

   1. Line: The order in which the entry is applied. In other words, the system sorts the notices by the entry in Line 1 and then sub sorts them by the entry in Line 2.

   2. Type: The record type that contains the field by which the system sorts the notices. You can choose fields from three record types: Bibliographic, Item, or Patron.

   3. Field: The field in the selected record type by which the system sorts the notices (e.g., Location or Call #).

       

7. Double click on the box under Type to bring up the Select Me box. For this example, we are going to use the Type of Item.  Click on Item, and click the OK button.

    

8. Next, we are going to double click on the box under Field to bring up the Select Me box again.  This time, we are going to pick the Fixed Field of Location.  This will sort the notices in alphabetical order by the location of each item.

    

9. We are going to add a second line to this sort.  Click on the Append button to add a second line.

    

10. We would repeat steps 7 & 8 to add the Type of Item, and Variable Field of Call #.  This would sort the list first by location and next by the item call # for each of those locations. Click the Save button.

     

11. This will change the information on the button to Sorted By Location, Call#.  Next, we will review the Select Template button.  If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 14.

     

12. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

     

13. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

     

14. Click the Save icon.  This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your Title Paging Lists notice.   The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

15. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice. If you run your notices manually, you could also include how many times to run the notice in the Job Name (i.e. EVG Title Paging Slips 1x a day). You could also use Bib instead of Title.  If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

16. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

17. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The notice drop-down was for Title Paging Lists, but the Notice Type is Bib Paging Lists.  This change is made within the system.

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Bills Notices

Billing for lost items is based on the patron’s home library’s rules (not the owning Library). You must run the highest level of overdue notices in order to generate replacement bills for unreturned items.

Sierra can generate the following bill:

Replacement Bill - The system generates a replacement bill when you mark an item lost or when a patron fails to return a checked-out item. When marking an item lost, it causes the system to bill the item immediately, rather than in the normal cycle of notice printing and billing. Mark an item as lost only if you need to bill it immediately; for example, if a patron wishes to pay for a lost book before a notice has been prepared by the system.

• Billed Items Fee Collection: The home library for the Patron Place Hold (PPH) borrowing patron PH) will collect all billing fees for lost items from their patrons. The item's home library will not collect the money.  According to the PPH Best Practices, you will not charge each other for items lost in the PPH process.

• Billed items to Lost items:  The owning library may contact the lending library to mark items lost on their patron’s record, which will allow the owning library to delete or modify the record as they see fit. 

  • No money is exchanged between libraries for lost items. Lending libraries should contact owning libraries to see if they will accept a replacement copy and if only an exact copy is acceptable or if a newer/different edition is acceptable.  

  • A list of libraries that will accept a replacement copy is available on the Marmot Patron Placed Holds Help. If a replacement is not accepted by the owning library, a replacement copy can be added instead to the borrowing library’s collection, which will make the item available again in Marmot. Each library will determine the price they will bill to their own patrons for lost PPH items.    

  • Stolen and damaged books are handled like any other lost book.  The owning library should work with CLIC if an item is damaged by the courier.  

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Creating a Bills Notice

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

2. Click on the New icon.

    

3. The New Job box will appear.  The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue.  Under Locations will be your library or library branch.   Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries.

    

4. Use the Notice Type drop-down menu to change from Overdue to Bills.

    

   1. Note: if a multi-branch library would only like to have one person or library send out the Bills notice, the Location Served can be set to the main location code for those libraries.

       

5. Click on the Email Subject (Default) button to change what your patrons will see as an email subject line when receiving a notice.  See Sierra Changing the email subject line for notices for more information on how to change the email subject for existing notices.

    

6. Once you click on the Email Subject (Default) button, the Email Subject box will appear. Click on the 4. Billing Notice – Library materials line.  Click OK.

    

7. The Email Subject button will change from Email Subject (Default) to Email Subject (4).  Next, we will review the Select Template button. If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 10.

    

8. If the Include Telephone Number is available, you would click this box to include the patron’s phone number. If the Include Amount Owed is available, you could check the box to include the total amount, if any, that the patron owes the library.

    

9. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

    

10. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

     

11. Click the Save icon. This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your Bills notice.  The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

12. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice.  If you run your notices manually, you could also include how many times to run the notice in the Job Name (i.e. EVG Bills Notice 1x a day). If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

13. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

14. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The Notice Type will show as Bills.

     

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Courtesy Notice (Optional)

Sierra generates courtesy notices for your patrons to inform them that their items are almost due.  Multiple items can appear on a single patron's courtesy notice. The system does not generate courtesy notices for hourly loans.  

• It is recommended that courtesy notices be configured as nightly auto notices or run daily, as the system generates courtesy notices only for the day they are run. 

• The system will not print notices from prior days. Using auto notices to send courtesy notices ensures that patrons receive courtesy notices even on days when your library is closed.  

• When you run courtesy notices, the system also updates the item ODUE DATE field in the item record. This update prevents a second notice from being sent if courtesy notices are run again. Running courtesy notices does not increase the overdue level specified in the # OVERDUE field of the item record.

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Creating a Courtesy Notice

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

2. Click on the New icon.

    

3. The New Job box will appear.  The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue.  Under Locations will be your library or library branch.  Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries.

    

4. Use the Notice Type drop-down menu to change from Overdue to Courtesy.

    

   1. Note: if a multi-branch library would only like to have one person or library send out the Courtesy notice, the Location Served can be set to the main location code for those libraries.

       

5. Click on the Email Subject (Default) button to change what your patrons will see as an email subject line when receiving a notice.  See Sierra Changing the email subject line for notices for more information on how to change the email subject for existing notices.

    

6. Once you click on the Email Subject (Default) button, the Email Subject box will appear.  Click on the 1. Courtesy Notice – your Library materials are due soon line.  Click OK.

    

7. The Email Subject button will change from Email Subject (Default) to Email Subject (1).  Next, we will review the Select Template button. If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 10.

    

8. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

    

9. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

    

10. Click the Save icon. This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your Courtesy notice.  The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

11. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice.  If you run your notices manually, you could also include how many times to run the notice in the Job Name (i.e. EVG Courtesy Notice 1x a day). If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

12. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

13. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The Notice Type will show as Courtesy.

     

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Hold Cancellation Only Notice (Run Daily)

The system generates a hold cancellation notice when a hold is canceled, or when unclaimed holds are removed from the hold shelf.  

• Sierra sends hold notices to patrons when you prepare and send hold cancellation notices.

• According to the Patron Placed Holds (PPH) Best Practices document, the Hold Cancellation Notices should be run every day. Hold cancellation notices/letters will be generated and can be sent to patrons. Libraries may choose to address each notice before alerting the patron.

• Run the View Outstanding Holds report at least two times a week. This report lists all the items on the hold shelf. This report is used to troubleshoot holds that have not changed status. It is recommended that the “holds placed before” on the report should be no longer than 7 days unless the item is currently checked out or there are multiple holds on the item, therefore the wait will be longer. In transit, items should not remain in transit status for more than 7 days. 

• The Sierra Clear Expired Holds and Holdshelf function is important to run on a regular basis to keep the virtual hold shelf and actual hold shelf in sync.

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Creating a Hold Cancellation Only Notice 

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

2. Click on the New icon.

    

3. The New Job box will appear.  The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue.  Under Locations will be your library or library branch.  Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries. 

    

4. Use the Notice Type drop-down menu to change from Overdue to Hold Cancellation Only.

    

   1. Note: if a multi-branch library would only like to have one person or library send out the Hold Cancellation Only notice, the Location Served can be set to the main location code for those libraries.

       

5. Click on the Email Subject (Default) button to change what your patrons will see as an email subject line when receiving a notice.  See Sierra Changing the email subject line for notices for more information on how to change the email subject for existing notices.

    

6. Once you click on the Email Subject (Default) button, the Email Subject box will appear.  Click on the 6. Hold Cancellation Notice – your library request line.  Click OK.

    

7. The Email Subject button will change from Email Subject (Default) to Email Subject (6).  Next, we will review the Select Template button. If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 10.

    

8. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

    

9. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

    

10. Click the Save icon. This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your Hold Cancellation Only notice.  The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

11. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice.  If you run your notices manually, you could also include how many times to run the notice in the Job Name (i.e. EVG Hold Cancellation Notice 1x a day). If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

12. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

13. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The Notice Type will show as Hold Cancellation Only.

     

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Hold Pickup Only Notice

When you check in an item that satisfies a hold, the system prompts you to generate a hold pickup notice. Anytime an item with a hold is checked in, there will be a pop-up box asking you to click on one of three choices: Fulfill hold, Check in, do not fulfill hold, or Cancel hold.

• Fulfill hold – This will change the item status to “on hold shelf”

• Check in, do not fulfill hold – This will move the hold to another library

• Cancel hold – This will cancel the patron’s hold.  This should not be clicked unless you know the patron wants their hold canceled.

• When you click the Fulfill hold button, the system adds this hold to your Sierra notices.

• Sierra sends hold notices to patrons when you prepare and send the hold pickup notice.

• An individual hold notice can contain information about multiple items relating to a single patron.

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Creating a Hold Pickup Only Notice 

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

2. Click on the New icon.

    

3. The New Job box will appear.  The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue.  Under Locations will be your library or library branch.  Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries. 

    

4. Use the Notice Type drop-down menu to change from Overdue to Hold Pickup Only.

    

   1. Note: if a multi-branch library would only like to have one person or library send out the Hold Pickup Only notice, the Location Served can be set to the main location code for those libraries.

       

5. Click on the Email Subject (Default) button to change what your patrons will see as an email subject line when receiving a notice.  See Sierra Changing the email subject line for notices for more information on how to change the email subject for existing notices.

    

6. Once you click on the Email Subject (Default) button, the Email Subject box will appear.  Click on the 5. Hold Notification - pick up your request(s) at the library line.  Click OK.

    

7. The Email Subject button will change from Email Subject (Default) to Email Subject (5).  Next, we will review the Sort By button. If you do not want to use a sort, skip to step 12.

    

8. Next, you may want to sort the Hold Pickup Only notice by Holds.  Click on the Sort By button. This will sort the holds by title for your patrons.  This is optional.

    

9. This will bring up the Sort Notices box.  To sort the order in which the notices are generated, click Sort By. 

   1. The system displays the Sort Notices table, which consists of three columns:

      1. Line: The order in which the entry is applied. In other words, the system sorts the notices by the entry in Line 1 and then sub sorts them by the entry in Line 2.

      2. Type: The record type that contains the field by which the system sorts the notices. You can choose fields from three record types: Bibliographic, Item, or Patron.

      3. Field: The field in the selected record type by which the system sorts the notices (e.g., Hold).

          

10. Double click on the box under Type to bring up the Select Me box. For this example, we are going to use the Type of Item.  Click on Item, and click the OK button.

     

11. Next, we are going to double click on the box under Field to bring up the Select Me box again.  This time, we are going to pick the Variable Field of Hold.  Click Save and click the OK button.

     

12. This will change the information on the button to Sorted By HOLD.  Next, we will review the Select Template button.  If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 15.

     

13. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

     

14. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

     

15. Click the Save icon. This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your Hold Pickup Only notice.  The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

16. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice.  If you run your notices manually, you could also include how many times to run the notice in the Job Name (i.e. EVG Hold Pickup Only Notice 1x a day). If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

17. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

18. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The Notice Type will show as Hold Pickup Only.

     

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INN-Reach Paging Slips Notice (Prospector Libraries Only)

Sierra enables a special paging slip for an item requested via INN‐Reach circulation. 

• Sierra enables you to print a special paging slip for an item requested via INN-Reach circulation. 

• INN-Reach paging slip prints for each item paged at an owning site, which can include items currently checked out to another patron. 

• The owning site obtains data for INN-Reach paging slips from the real item record and the virtual patron record. 

• The INN-Reach paging slips contain one-paged item per slip, unlike the INN-Reach paging lists, which contain information on all of the INN-Reach items being paged at your library. 

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Creating INN-Reach Paging Slip Notice

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

2. Click on the New icon.

    

3. The New Job box will appear.  The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue.  Under Locations will be your library or library branch.  Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries.

    

4. Use the Notice Type drop-down menu to change from Overdue to INN-Reach Paging Slip.

    

5. You may want to sort the INN-Reach Paging Slip notice.  Click on the Sort By button.

    

6. This will bring up the Sort Notices box.  To sort the order in which the notices are generated, click Sort By.

   1. The system displays the Sort Notices table, which consists of three columns:

      1. Line: The order in which the entry is applied. In other words, the system sorts the notices by the entry in Line 1 and then sub sorts them by the entry in Line 2.

      2. Type: The record type that contains the field by which the system sorts the notices. You can choose fields from three record types: Bibliographic, Item, or Patron.

      3. Field: The field in the selected record type by which the system sorts the notices (e.g., Location or Call #).

          

7. Double click on the box under Type to bring up the Select Me box. For this example, we are going to use the Type of Item.  Click on Item, and click the OK button.

    

8. Next, we are going to double click on the box under Field to bring up the Select Me box again.  This time, we are going to pick the Fixed Field of Location.  This will sort the notices in alphabetical order by the location of each item.

    

9. We are going to add a second line to this sort.  Click on the Append button to add a second line.

    

10. We would repeat steps 7 & 8 to add the Type of Item, and Variable Field of Call #.  This would sort the list first by location and next by the item call # for each of those locations. Click the Save button.

     

11. This will change the information on the button to Sorted By Location, Call#.  Next, we will review the Select Template button.  If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 14.

     

12. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

     

13. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

     

14. Click the Save icon.  This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your INN-Reach Paging Slips notice.   The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

15. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice.  If you run your notices manually, you could also include how many times to run the notice in the Job Name (i.e. EVG INN-Reach Paging Slips 1x a day). You could also use Bib instead of Title.  If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

16. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

17. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The notice drop-down was for Title Paging Lists, but the Notice Type is INN-Reach Paging Slips.  This change is made within the system.

     

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Item Paging Slip Notice (Run Daily)

Sierra enables you to print a paging slip for an item requested. By default, Sierra prints one item paging slip for each paged item. If several items are requested from the same location, the system generates a separate item paging slip for each item.  According to the Patron Placed Holds (PPH) Best Practices document, the Item Paging Slips should be run daily at the same time as the Title Paging Slips. It is up to the participating library how many times a day these notices are run.

• Pull the requested items from the shelf and scan the item barcodes using the Check-In (No Patron) function of Sierra. At this point, the screen will give the choices of:  

• “Fulfill hold” OR “Check in, do not fulfill hold” (this option can be used for items that are in disrepair, non-circulating, or have other issues.  

• ALWAYS scan the item, even if the item is non-circulating. This way, the next library owning the item will get an item or title page slip. 

• Read the screen to make sure the item is properly routed.  

• Never Cancel Holds from this screen unless the print hold cancellation notice option is chosen. Otherwise canceling a hold will cause the marmot patron to lose their hold on the item without warning. (This proceslibrary’s 2 or 3 letter code and the name of the notice.  If you run your notices manually, you could also include how many times to run the notice in the Job Name (i.e. EVG Item Paging Slips 1x a day). You could also use Bib instead of Title.  If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

   

• This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

   

• The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The notice drop-down was for Title Paging Lists, but the Notice Type is Item Paging Slips.  This change is made within the system.

   

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Overdue Notice

Each night the system scans the file of checked‐out items and generates overdue notices for items in the file that have become eligible for a notice since the last time overdue notices were sent. According to the PPH Best Practices document, Library staff should ONLY contact LOCAL patrons concerning items they have borrowed. Library staff from lending/borrowing libraries should never contact patrons from other member libraries directly. Overdue Notices are sent to all patrons via email or USPS, Marmot-wide. It is suggested that all libraries utilize the automatic email notification option in Sierra.  Fines are assessed by the patron’s home library based on the patron’s home library’s loan rules. Notices are generated by the patron’s home library.

• The system produces overdue notices based on the intervals between notices, not on the amount of time that has passed since the item's due date.

• Because the system tracks when the last overdue notice was sent to each patron, it is able to preserve the interval specified in the overdue variables of the applicable loan rule, even when the library does not print notices for a longer period of time than usual (such as a break or vacation).

Overdue Variables

• Max Number of Overdues - the system sends the number of overdue notices decided by a library.

• First Overdue Notice – this is the first overdue notice the patron will receive if they have not returned or renewed an item.  This is generally sent 5 to 7 days after the item’s due date.

• Second Overdue Notice- This is the second overdue notice a patron will receive if they have not renewed or returned an item.  A library decides how many days after the first notice a patron will receive a second overdue notice.  Some libraries may only send two notices.

• Third Overdue Notice or Final Notice - This is the third overdue notice a patron will receive if they have not renewed or returned an item.  A library decides how many days from the second notice a patron will receive a third overdue notice.  Sometimes libraries may only give three notices, and this would be the final notice that patrons receive, or a notice they receive before getting a bill, or a notice they receive before an item goes to collection.  

• Fourth Overdue Notice of Bill Notice – This notice can sometimes be a bill or the last overdue notice a patron receives for lost materials.  The library decides how many days from the third notice a patron will receive the fourth notice.

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Creating an Overdue Notice

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

2. Click on the New icon.

    

3. The New Job box will appear. The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue.  Under Locations will be your library or library branch. Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries. 

    

4. Keep the Notice Type as the default Overdue.

    

   1. Note: if a multi-branch library would only like to have one person or library send out the Overdue notice, the Location Served can be set to the main location code for those libraries.

       

5. Click on the Email Subject (Default) button to change what your patrons will see as an email subject line when receiving a notice.  See Sierra Changing the email subject line for notices for more information on how to change the email subject for existing notices.

    

6. Once you click on the Email Subject (Default) button, the Email Subject box will appear.  Click on the 10.Overdue Notices line.  Click OK.

    

7. The Email Subject button will change from Email Subject (Default) to Email Subject (10).

    

8. When you prepare overdue notices, you can choose which "level" of overdue notices you want to generate.  However, in choosing a level, you will need to create multiple overdue notices.  Instead, libraries leave the Overdue level as the default of “All Levels.” Next, we will review the Select Template button. If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 11.

    

9. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

    

10. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

     

    1. Note: Some school libraries may want to print the overdue notices to give to their teachers.  Use the Sort By to separate the notices. 

        

    2. Here are some suggested Sort By fields. When the notices are printed, it sorts them so librarians can give them to the teachers.

        

11. Click the Save icon. This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your Overdue notice.  The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

12. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice.  If you run your notices manually, you could also include how many times to run the notice in the Job Name (i.e. EVG Overdue Notice 1x a day). If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

13. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

14. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The Notice Type will show as Overdue.

     

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Notices Specific to Certain Library

Statement of Charges Notice (Fines & Bills)

A statement summarizing all outstanding fees owed by a patron. It can also be used to resend billing notices to patrons.  Any library can create and generate this type of notice.  The statement of charges for fines notice is generally used by schools to give a list of fines to either the student or the parent.  The statement of charges for bills can be used by any library.

• This notice can be sent out at the end of the semester or quarter.

• Since this is a shared system, it can take the system a long time to generate these statements.

• Statements of charges list unpaid fines only. Generating these statements does not affect the database.

• If you choose to generate statements for a single branch location or Locations Served, the statement includes fines associated with those location(s) only.

• The system uses different criteria for different charge types to determine whether the notice belongs to the selected location:

  • For manual fines, the location must match the location selected by staff when adding the fine to the patron's record.

  • For all other charge types, the LOCATION fixed-length field in the fined item must match the selected location.

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Creating a Statement of Charges Notice for Fines

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

2. Click on the New icon.

    

3. The New Job box will appear. The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue. Under Locations will be your library or library branch. Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries. 

    

4. Use the Notice Type drop-down menu to change from Overdue to Statement of Charges.

    

   1. Note: if a multi-branch library would only like to have one person or library send out the Statement of Charges notice, the Location Served can be set to the main location code for those libraries.

       

5. Click on the Email Subject (Default) button to change what your patrons will see as an email subject line when receiving a notice.  See Sierra Changing the email subject line for notices for more information on how to change the email subject for existing notices.

    

6. Once you click on the Email Subject (Default) button, the Email Subject box will appear.  Click on the 7. Statement of Charges–Library line.  Click OK.

    

7. The Email Subject button will change from Email Subject (Default) to Email Subject (7).  Next, we will review the Select Template button for libraries that want to print the notices.  If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 10.

    

8. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

    

9. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

    

   1. Note: The school libraries that print their Statement of Charges notices may want to use the Sort By to separate the notices.

       

   2. Here are some suggested Sort By fields. When the notices are printed, it sorts them so librarians can give them to the teachers.  

       

10. Under Options, a Range or Review file can be used.

     

11. If the Range option is chosen, it will limit to all the patrons for the location used for this notice. If you want to limit to just one or a few patron types, click on the Limit by P TYPE button.  Click on one of the P Types you would like to use, and hold the CTRL key to highlight others. Click Save.

     

12. The Charges Incurred and Amount Owed can also be used to limit what patrons will receive this notice. The Change Address is set to use the address 1 field listed in the patron’s record.  This could be changed to display the address 2 field listed in the patron’s record instead.

     

13. If the Review option is chosen, it will bring up a drop-down menu to display all the patron review files available in Create Lists.  You can always create a review file of your patrons who owe money to use for this process.

     

14. Once the Options section is completed, click the Save icon. This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your Statement of Charges notice.  The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

15. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library 2 or 3 letter code and the name of the notice (i.e. EVG Statement of Charges-Fines). If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

16. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

17. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The Notice Type will show as a Statement of Charges-Fines.

     

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Creating a Statement of Charges Notice for Bills

1. Create a review file with the patrons who have billed items. In order to create a review file for billed items for the Statement of Charges, you can only use a Patron review file.  

    

2. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

3. Click on the New icon.

    

4. The New Job box will appear. The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue. Under Locations will be your library or library branch. Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries.

    

5. Use the Notice Type drop-down menu to change from Overdue to Statement of Charges.

    

   1. Note: if a multi-branch library would only like to have one person or library send out the Statement of Charges notice, the Location Served can be set to the main location code for those libraries.

       

6. Click on the Email Subject (Default) button to change what your patrons will see as an email subject line when receiving a notice.  See Sierra Changing the email subject line for notices for more information on how to change the email subject for existing notices.

    

7. Once you click on the Email Subject (Default) button, the Email Subject box will appear.  Click on the 4. Billing Notice--Library materials line.  Click OK.

    

8. The Email Subject button will change from Email Subject (Default) to Email Subject (4).  Next, we will review the Select Template button for libraries that want to print the notices.  If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 11.

    

9. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

    

10. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

     

11. Under Options choose Review from the drop-down. Use the drop-down menu to find your library’s review file for patrons with billed items that you created from step 1. The Include Amount Owed is not necessary for this notice, and using it will duplicate the information with how much money a patron owes in the email or print notice they receive.

     

12. Once the Options section is completed, click the Save icon. This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your Statement of Charges notice.  The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

13. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice (i.e. EVG Statement of Charges - Bills). If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

14. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

15. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The Notice Type will show as Statement of Charges-Bills.

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Statement of Checked-out Items Notice

A statement of checked-out items is a summary of all items checked out to patrons, including virtual item checkouts of INN-Reach items. Sierra sends statements of checked-out items to patrons when you prepare and send the Statement of Checked-out Items notice.

• Since this is a shared system, it can take the system a long time to generate these statements.

• This notice can be sent out at the end of the semester or quarter.

There are several different ways to send out this type of notification.

• To send out reminders to your patrons for items they have on their account 

• To send out overdue reminders to your patrons 

• To send out a review file with billed items to your patrons

Sending Out Reminders

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

2. Click on the New icon.

    

3. The New Job box will appear.  The Notice Type always defaults to Overdue.  Under Locations will be your library or library branch.   Note: Make sure to not change from your library location to All.  This would send out notices to all the Marmot libraries.

    

4. Use the Notice Type drop-down menu to change from Overdue to Statement of Checked-out Items.

    

   1. Note: if a multi-branch library would only like to have one person or library send out the Statement of Checked-out items notice, the Location Served can be set to the main location code for those libraries.

       

5. Click on the Email Subject (Default) button to change what your patrons will see as an email subject line when receiving a notice.  See Sierra Changing the email subject line for notices for more information on how to change the email subject for existing notices.

    

6. Once you click on the Email Subject (Default) button, the Email Subject box will appear.  Click on the 8. Statement of Checked Out Items–Library line.  Click OK.

    

7. The Email Subject button will change from Email Subject (Default) to Email Subject (8).  Next, we will review the Select Template button for libraries that want to print the notices.  If you do not want to use a template, skip to step 10.

    

8. Click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

    

9. The Select Template button will be renamed to include the print template name.

    

   1. Note: The school libraries that print their Statement of Checked-out notices may want to use the Sort By to separate the notices. 

       

   2. Here are some suggested Sort By fields. When the notices are printed, it sorts them so librarians can give them to the teachers.  

       

10. Under Options, a Range or Review file can be used.

     

11. If the Range option is chosen, it will limit to all the patrons for the location used for this notice. If you want to limit to just one or a few patron types, click on the Limit by P TYPE button.  Click on one of the P Types you would like to use, and hold the CTRL key to highlight others. Click Save. 

     

    1. Note: This notice can be used to send a list of checked-out items to just one patron.  Under Options choose Range, and enter the one patron number or .p number in the start and stop boxes.  Make sure to leave the Limit to “All Items” after adding the patron number. 

        

12.  The Change Address button is set to use the address 1 field listed in a patron’s record.  This could be changed to display the address 2 field listed in the patron’s record instead.

     

13.  If the Review option is chosen, it will bring up a drop-down menu to display all the patron review files available in Create Lists.  You can always create a review file of your patrons who have items on their records.

     

14. Once the Options section is completed, click the Save icon. This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your Statement of Checked-out Items notice. The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

     

15. For this example, we are going to pick the E-mail Printer option.  Once the prompts are followed to add an email address, we will get the Save Job As? box. It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library 2 or 3 letter code and the name of the notice (i.e. EVG Statement of Checked-out Items). If you have branches, you should include that information as well. You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

     

16. This will put the Job Name at the top.  Click the Close icon.

     

17. The newly created notice will show up in the Notices for your library or library branch. The Notice Type will show as Statement of Checked-out Items.

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Sending Out Overdue Reminders

1. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

2. Highlight the notice that was created using the Sending Out Reminders instructions. Double click to open the notice, or click on the Edit icon located on the toolbar.

    

3.  We are going to change the Limit to section from “All Items” to “Overdue Items Only.” 

    

4. If you wanted to limit to just one or a few patron types, click on the Limit by P TYPE button. Click on one of the P Types you would like to use, and hold the CTRL key to highlight others. Click Save.

    

5. At this point, you have three options.  

   1. You can click on the Prepare icon, and send these notices.  

   2. You can Save the notice and overwrite the previous notice.  

   3. You can use Save As to create a new notice that will need a different Job Name.

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Sending Out a Review File with Billed Items

1. Create a review file with the patrons who have billed items. In order to create a review file for billed items for the Statement of Checked-out Items, you can only use a Patron review file.

2. Go to Notices from the Sierra Function menu.

    

3. Highlight the notice that was created using the Sending Out Reminders instructions. Double click to open the notice, or click on the Edit icon located on the toolbar.

    

4. We are going to change the Options from Range to Review. Use the drop-down menu to find your library’s review file for patrons with billed items that you created from step 1.

    

5. At this point, you have three options.  

   1. You can click on the Prepare icon, and send these notices.  

   2. You can Save the notice and overwrite the previous notice.  

   3. You can use Save As to create a new notice that will need a different Job Name.

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OTHER NOTICES (INFORMATION ONLY)

Adjustments Notice

This is used for an adjustment bill (a “corrected bill) when an item is returned after a replacement bill has been issued. This will only send adjustment bills to the patron.

Adjusting Charges for Returned Billed Items

When you check in a billed item, renew a billed item, or check out a billed item that is currently checked out, Sierra adjusts the amount the patron owes for a billed item. The system takes the following steps to adjust a bill:

1. Discards the item charge and the processing fee

2. Compares the billing fee to the overdue fine

3. Calculates the remaining balance owed based on the setting of the Check-in of the billed item. Reduce bill to: circulation option

4. Removes the bill from the patron's record and adds an adjustment to the patron's record for any remaining balance 

5. Writes an entry for the automatically adjusted or removed charge to Fines Paid

6. (Optional) Generates an adjustment bill, if adjustment bills are configured

If the patron is present, you can collect the adjusted amount at check-in.

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All Bills and Fines Notice

Type of Bill:

Replacement bills for unreturned items  

Replacement bills for lost items - The system generates a replacement bill when you mark an item lost or when a patron fails to return a checked-out item

The system sends fine notices when you prepare and send the following notice types:

• Fines (all fine notices except manual fines)

• Manual Fines (manual fine notices only)

• All Bills and Fines

Fines Notice

Sierra generates fine notices when patrons owe money for any reason other than item replacement, such as the following: adjustment to existing fine, item returned overdue, manual fine, request charge, immediate rental charge. Fines are assessed by the patron’s home library based on the patron’s home library’s loan rules.  

The system sends fine notices when you prepare and send the following notice types:

• Fines (all fine notices except manual fines)

• Manual Fines (manual fine notices only)

• All Bills and Fines

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Manual Fines Notice

The system generates fine notices when patrons owe money for manual fines.

The system sends fine notices when you prepare and send the following notice types:

• Fines (all fine notices except manual fines)

• Manual Fines (manual fine notices only)

• All Bills and Fines

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Hourly Overdue

When you prepare hourly overdue notices, the system scans the hourly checkouts file and generates hourly overdue notices for items in the file that have become due since the library opened on the current day. 

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INN-Reach Paging Lists Notice

An INN-Reach paging list contains a list of INN-Reach items paged at your library. Unlike INN-Reach paging slips, which contain one-paged item per slip, INN-Reach paging lists contain information on all of the INN-Reach items being paged at your library. Your library must enable the Print Templates feature to generate INN-Reach paging lists. 

• The INN-Reach paging lists:

  • Can include INN-Reach pages for items that are currently checked out or unavailable. If a requested item is checked out to another patron when you print the INN-Reach paging list, the system includes the item on the paging list with additional information about the checkout. When the item is returned and checked in, the system includes it on the list again with updated information. 

  • Do not include items paged as same-server INN-Reach requests. If your library allows patrons to place INN-Reach requests for locally available items, the Local Server processes these requests as if the patrons had placed them locally. As a result, such items display on item paging lists, rather than INN-Reach paging lists. 

  • Do not include a patron telephone number and home library fields if the patron site has been chosen to suppress these fields from INN-Reach circulation transactions. As a result, this data does not display in INN-Reach paging lists. This information is suppressed to increase the security of INN-Reach patrons' personal information during the request process.

  • Prospector prefers that members use the INN-Reach Paging Slips notice. 

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Pickup and Cancellation Notice

Sierra can generate the following types of hold notices:

• Hold Pickup Notices - When you check in an item that satisfies a hold, the system prompts you to generate a hold pickup notice.

• Hold Cancellation Notices - The system generates a hold cancellation notice when you cancel a hold or clear an expired or unclaimed hold from the hold shelf.

• Sierra sends hold notices to patrons when you prepare and sends hold pickup and cancellation notices. The format of hold pickup notices and hold cancellation notices is identical; only the Notice Text value distinguishes the type of hold notice. An individual hold notice can contain information about multiple items relating to a single patron.

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Recall Notice 

When an item is recalled, the system allows a new, earlier due date for the current loan and would generate a recall notice to be sent to the patron.  Marmot does not use the recall feature, due to a large number of shared items available to fill a hold.  For this reason, we ask that you do not use the Recall notice.  Recall Notices should never be used. Exception: Libraries may recall their own items when particular needs arise.

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SAVING NOTICES (Save & Save As)

Notice parameters can be saved to be reused.  When saving a newly created notice this saves the parameters that will be used to run the notice each hour, day, or week.  Saving does not save the notice that was just processed it saves the notice parameters only. The saved notices can be manually prepared or set up as auto notices to be processed by the system overnight.

Save

Once the parameters are set for a notice, click the Save icon. 

This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your notice.   The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

Once the prompts are followed to add an E-mail Printer or a Local Printer, the Save Job As? box will appear.  It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice.  You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

Click the Close icon to get out of the notice.  Go to Sending Manual Notices to prepare and send a notice.

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Save As 

The Save As icon is used when you want to make changes to the notice parameters and create a second notice.  The original notice will not be altered.  This can be used in conjunction with the different Statement of Checked-Out Items notices.

Highlight the notice you would like to make changes to create another notice.  Once the parameters are set for a notice, click the Save As icon.  

This will bring up the Select Form Printer box to set up the printer for your notice.   The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local and E-mail Printer options.

Once the prompts are followed to add an E-mail Printer or a Local Printer, the Save Job As? box will appear.  It is best to do a naming convention that includes your library name or your 2 or 3-letter library code, and the name of the notice.  You cannot save the selected parameters until you choose a Job Name.  When finished with the Job Name, click OK.

Click the Close icon to get out of the notice.  Go to Sending Manual Notices to prepare and send a notice.

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Sending Manual Notices

When notices are generated, the system uses each patron's notification preference, if any, to determine the delivery method for each notice. If the system is unable to send a notice using the preferred delivery method, the system does the following:

• If a patron does not have a set notification preference, the Notice Preference field displays a '- None'. The system attempts to send notices to patrons with no specified notification preference in the following order of delivery method: 

• Email

• Telephone

• Printer

• If the system is unable to accommodate a patron's notification preference, the notice is sent by another method. For example, if the patron prefers to receive notices by phone, but the notice type to be sent is not enabled for telephone/teleform notification system (TNS), the system attempts to send the notice by email. If an email address does not exist in the patron record, the system prints the notice.

According to the  (PPH) Best Practices document, bills and courtesy notices are generated by the OWNING library and sent to their patrons, as well as other libraries patrons who have borrowed their materials.  The text of the notice is from the patron’s home library where the item was checked out, so the borrower does not become confused by receiving a notice from another library. It is best practice NOT to directly contact patrons who do not belong to your library. Instead, contact patron placed hold (PPH) contact for each library listed under the Member Libraries. 

Library staff should ONLY contact LOCAL patrons concerning items they have borrowed. Library staff from lending/borrowing libraries should never contact patrons from other member libraries directly. System-generated emails to non-local patrons are fine, as are snail mail generated overdue and billing notices. 

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Sending Saved Notices Manually

Click on the notice you would like to send to highlight it.  Click on the Prepare icon located on the top toolbar.  

The Select Form Printer box will appear.  The Select From Printer choices will list Local Printer and E-mail Printer.  Choose the printer that works best for your library.  Once a printer is chosen, click the Print button.  

Once the Print button is clicked, the Sierra Notices box will appear to let you know the system is preparing your notice.  

If there are no notices to send the Sierra Notices box will appear with the message, “There are no notices to send.”  This could be due to a library being closed for a reason days or weeks before the notice was sent, and this closure was not listed on the Sierra Days Closed table. As a result, no items circulated that would generate an overdue notice today.  This could also be caused by the fact there really were no notices to send. Click the Close icon to exit out.
     

Continue to Notices Sent to Patron and Paging Notices for the rest of the process on running notices manually.

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Notices Sent to Patrons

Bills Notice

The email notices are sent out first.  Notices are sent to patrons who have a notice preference of email and an email listed on their account.  If a patron has a notice preference of email, but there is no email address on the patron’s record, the emails will be moved to the print queue.  If the patron prefers to receive notices by phone, but the notice type to be sent is not enabled for the telephone/teleform notification system (TNS), the system attempts to send the notice by email. If an email address does not exist in the patron record, the system prints the notice. Depending on the printer chosen, the notices will be sent to a local printer or an email printer. The next notice will be the print notices. 

The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to patrons via email notification or printer. 

• Click the Send Notices button. 

• The email notices will be sent to patrons with emails listed on their accounts.  

• The patrons who have a notice preference set to email or phone, but do not have an email address listed on their account or your library does not use an automated calling system, will have the Move All to Print Queue button active. For the email notices that cannot be sent to a patron’s email address, those notices will either be sent to the email printer, or the local printer.   

• The notice shows how many patrons (75) will receive a notification, and how many items (144).  This means that patrons have multiple items that will be sent on the notice. 

Move All to Print Queue 

This button lets you move all notices within a queue to the Print queue. Any notices you manually move to the Print queue are sent to a local printer or email printer for the current session only; in other words, the next time this notice job is prepared, the system will place email notices in the Email queue.

To move the notices listed in the Email to the Print queue:

• Select the queue that contains the notices you want to print.

• Click Move All to Print Queue. The system prompts you to confirm.

• To print the selected notices, click Yes. 

• To cancel the move and continue to send the selected notices using the current delivery method (email notification), click No.

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear.  

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices. If you have notices to print, go to the next step.  

If you have notices to print, the print notice will be the default notice.  The notice shows how many patrons (7) have a notice preference set to receive a print notification, and how many items (13).  This means that patrons have multiple items that will be sent on the notice. The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to an email or local printer (depending on printer choice). Click the Send Notices button to send the notices.

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear. 

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices.  

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Courtesy Notice

The email notices are sent out first.  Notices are sent to patrons who have a notice preference of email and an email listed on their account.  If a patron has a notice preference of email, but there is no email address on the patron’s record, the emails will be moved to the print queue.  If the patron prefers to receive notices by phone, but the notice type to be sent is not enabled for the telephone/teleform notification system (TNS), the system attempts to send the notice by email. If an email address does not exist in the patron record, the system prints the notice. Depending on the printer chosen, the notices will be sent to a local printer or an email printer. The next notice will be the print notices.

The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to patrons via email notification or printer. 

• Click the Send Notices button. 

• The email notices will be sent to patrons with emails listed on their accounts.  

• The patrons who have a notice preference set to email or phone, but do not have an email address listed on their account or your library does not use an automated calling system, will have the Move All to Print Queue button active. For the email notices that cannot be sent to a patron’s email address, those notices will either be sent to the email printer, or the local printer.   

• However, most libraries do not send courtesy notices through the mail, because the item may become overdue before the patron receives the notice.

• The notice shows how many patrons (182) will receive a notification, and how many items (384).  This means that patrons have multiple items that will be sent on the notice. 

Move All to Print Queue 

This button lets you move all notices within a queue to the Print queue. Any notices you manually move to the Print queue are sent to a local printer or email printer for the current session only; in other words, the next time this notice job is prepared, the system will place email notices in the Email queue.

To move the notices listed in the Email to the Print queue:

• Select the queue that contains the notices you want to print.

• Click Move All to Print Queue. The system prompts you to confirm.

• To print the selected notices, click Yes. 

• To cancel the move and continue to send the selected notices using the current delivery method (email notification), click No.

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear.  

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices. If you have notices to print, go to the next step.  

If you have notices to print, the print notice will be the default notice.  The notice shows how many patrons (76) have a notice preference set to receive a print notification, and how many items (162).  This means that patrons have multiple items that will be sent on the notice. The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to an email or local printer (depending on printer choice). Click the Send Notices button to send the notices.

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear. 

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices.  

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Hold Cancellation Only Notice

The email notices are sent out first.  Notices are sent to patrons who have a notice preference of email and an email listed on their account.  If a patron has a notice preference of email, but there is no email address on the patron’s record, the emails will be moved to the print queue.  If the patron prefers to receive notices by phone, but the notice type to be sent is not enabled for the telephone/teleform notification system (TNS), the system attempts to send the notice by email. If an email address does not exist in the patron record, the system prints the notice.  Depending on the printer chosen, the notices will be sent to a local printer or an email printer. If your library had a TNS (Telephone Notification System) those would be sent next. 

The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to patrons via email notification or printer. 

• Click the Send Notices button. 

• The email notices will be sent to patrons with emails listed on their accounts.  

• The patrons who have a notice preference set to email or phone, but do not have an email address listed on their account or your library does not use an automated calling system, will have the Move All to Print Queue button active. For the email notices that cannot be sent to a patron’s email address, those notices will either be sent to the email printer, or the local printer. 

• The notice shows how many patrons (35) will receive a notification, and how many items (37 items).  This means that patrons have multiple items that will be sent on the notice. 

Move All to Print Queue 

This button lets you move all notices within a queue to the Print queue. Any notices you manually move to the Print queue are sent to a local printer or email printer for the current session only; in other words, the next time this notices job is prepared, the system will place email notices in the Email queue and telephone notification notices in the Teleforms queue.

To move the notices listed in the Email or Teleforms queue to the Print queue:

• Select the queue that contains the notices you want to print (e.g., 35 to E-mail or 0 to Teleforms).

• Click Move All to Print Queue. The system prompts you to confirm.

• To print the selected notices, click Yes. 

• To cancel the move and continue to send the selected notices using the current delivery method (email or telephone notification), click No.

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear.  

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices. If you have notices to print, go to the next step.  

If you have notices to print, the print notice will be the default notice.  The notice shows how many patrons (9) have a notice preference set to receive a print notification, and how many items (10 items).  This means that patrons have multiple items that will be sent on the notice. The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to an email or local printer (depending on your printer choice). Click the Send Notices button to send the notices. 

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear. 

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices.  Also see the Holds Process for Sierra, Pika, and Prospector for more information about holds.

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Hold Pickup Only Notice

The email notices are sent out first.  Notices are sent to patrons who have a notice preference of email and an email listed on their account.  If a patron has a notice preference of email, but there is no email address on the patron’s record, the emails will be moved to the print queue.  If the patron prefers to receive notices by phone, but the notice type to be sent is not enabled for the telephone/teleform notification system (TNS), the system attempts to send the notice by email. If an email address does not exist in the patron record, the system prints the notice. Depending on the printer chosen, the notices will be sent to a local printer or an email printer. The next notice will be the print notices. Some libraries run this notice several times a day.  Libraries will run it once in the morning, and again after they finish processing items from the courier.

The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to patrons via email notification or printer. 

• Click the Send Notices button. 

• The email notices will be sent to patrons with emails listed on their accounts.  

• The patrons who have a notice preference set to email or phone, but do not have an email address listed on their account or your library does not use an automated calling system, will have the Move All to Print Queue button active. For the email notices that cannot be sent to a patron’s email address, those notices will either be sent to the email printer, or the local printer. 

• The notice shows how many patrons (3) will receive a notification, and how many items (3).

Move All to Print Queue 

This button lets you move all notices within a queue to the Print queue. Any notices you manually move to the Print queue are sent to a local printer or email printer for the current session only; in other words, the next time this notice job is prepared, the system will place email notices in the Email queue.

To move the notices listed in the Email to the Print queue:

• Select the queue that contains the notices you want to print.

• Click Move All to Print Queue. The system prompts you to confirm.

• To print the selected notices, click Yes. 

• To cancel the move and continue to send the selected notices using the current delivery method (email or telephone notification), click No.

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear. 

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices. If you have notices to print, go to the next step.  

If you have notices to print, the print notice will be the default notice.  The notice shows how many patrons (1) have a notice preference set to receive a print notification, and how many items (1).  The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to an email or local printer (depending on your printer choice). Click the Send Notices button to send the notices. 

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear. 

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices.  Also see the Holds Process for Sierra, Pika, and Prospector for more information about holds.

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Overdue Notice

The email notices are sent out first.  Notices are sent to patrons who have a notice preference of email and an email listed on their account.  If a patron has a notice preference of email, but there is no email address on the patron’s record, the emails will be moved to the print queue.  If the patron prefers to receive notices by phone, but the notice type to be sent is not enabled for the telephone/teleform notification system (TNS), the system attempts to send the notice by email. If an email address does not exist in the patron record, the system prints the notice. Depending on the printer chosen, the notices will be sent to a local printer or an email printer. The next notice will be the print notices. 

The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to patrons via email notification or printer. 

• Click the Send Notices button. 

• The email notices will be sent to patrons with emails listed on their accounts.  

• The patrons who have a notice preference set to email or phone, but do not have an email address listed on their account or your library does not use an automated calling system, will have the Move All to Print Queue button active. For the email notices that cannot be sent to a patron’s email address, those notices will either be sent to the email printer, or the local printer. 

• The notice shows how many patrons (356) will receive a notification, and how many items (550).  This means that patrons have multiple items that will be sent on the hold pickup only notice. 

Move All to Print Queue 

This button lets you move all notices within a queue to the Print queue. Any notices you manually move to the Print queue are sent to a local printer or email printer for the current session only; in other words, the next time this notices job is prepared, the system will place email notices in the Email queue and telephone notification notices in the Teleforms queue.

To move the notices listed in the Email or Teleforms queue to the Print queue:

• Select the queue that contains the notices you want to print (e.g., 35 to E-mail or 0 to Teleforms).

• Click Move All to Print Queue. The system prompts you to confirm.

• To print the selected notices, click Yes. 

• To cancel the move and continue to send the selected notices using the current delivery method (email or telephone notification), click No.

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear. 

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices. If you have notices to print, go to the next step.  

 If you have notices to print, the print notice will be the default notice.  The notice shows how many patrons (148) have a notice preference set to receive a print notification, and how many items (241).  This means that patrons have multiple items that will be sent on the hold pickup only notice. The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to an email or local printer (depending on your printer choice). Click the Send Notices button to send the notices. 

The Sierra Notices box will appear that allows you to check that the notices are printing, before clearing them.  Once you check that you have received the notices, click the Finish Printing button.  If the notices did not print, click the Resend button.

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear.

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices. 

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Paging Notices

Bib or Title Paging Notices

Once this notice is run, it can be run again.  These notices are only print notices.  However, a library can decide if they want to physically print these notices, or have them sent to a library email.   

The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to patrons via email notification or printer. 

• Click the Send Notices button. 

• The notice shows how many patrons (127) have requested titles, and how many items have been requested (127).  

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear.

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices.  Also see the Holds Process for Sierra, Pika, and Prospector for more information about holds.

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INN-Reach Paging Slips

Once this notice has been run, you cannot run it again.  With this notice, it might be beneficial to use the Do Not Clear checkbox and verify the notices have been printed or were sent to an email printer, before clearing them. These notices are only print notices.  However, a library can decide if they want to physically print these notices, or have them sent to a staff email.   

The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to patrons via email notification or printer. 

• Click the Send Notices button. 

• The notice shows how many patrons (1) have requested titles, and how many items have been requested (1).  

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear.

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices.  Also see the Holds Process for Sierra, Pika, and Prospector for more information about holds.

Item Paging Notice

Once this notice has been run, you cannot run it again.  With this notice, it might be beneficial to use the Do Not Clear checkbox and verify the notices have been printed or were sent to an email printer, before clearing them. These notices are only print notices.  However, a library can decide if they want to physically print these notices, or have them sent to a staff email.   

The Send Notices button lets you send the prepared notices to patrons via email notification or printer. 

• Click the Send Notices button. 

• The notice shows how many patrons (1) have requested titles, and how many items have been requested (1).   

Once the Send Notices button has been used, the Sierra Notices box will appear.

Click the Close icon.  This will bring you back to the notice page for the notice you just ran.  You will have to click on the next Close icon to get back to the list of notices.  Also see the Holds Process for Sierra, Pika, and Prospector for more information about holds.

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Other Notice Features

Auto Notice Settings

When notices are generated, the system uses each patron's notification preference, if any, to determine the delivery method for each notice. If the system is unable to send a notice using the preferred delivery method, the system does the following:

• If a patron does not have a set notification preference, the Notice Preference field displays a '- None'. The system attempts to send notices to patrons with no specified notification preference in the following order of delivery method: 

• Email

• Telephone

• Printer

• If the system is unable to accommodate a patron's notification preference, the notice is sent by another method. For example, if the patron prefers to receive notices by phone, but the notice type to be sent is not enabled for telephone/teleform(TNS) notification, the system attempts to send the notice by email. If an email address does not exist in the patron record, the system prints the notice.

If your library has configured circulation notices to use the Auto Notices setting, the system automatically prepares and sends notices in the morning of the days the auto notices job(s) are scheduled. The system sends only the notices that you have set up to send as auto notices.

To update notice from a manual notice to auto notice, highlight the notice you want to update, and click on the Edit icon.  Otherwise, the following steps can be used when creating a new notice job.

This will open the notice job.  The Auto Notices Settings are located under the Sort By and Email Subject buttons. 

Check the Enabled box, uncheck the Move all notices to Print, and uncheck Send via FTP.  You can choose whether or not to leave the Don’t run on Days Closed option checked.

Click on the Schedule button to pick the days of the week the notice will be run automatically.

This will bring up the Schedule box of Select Day(s).  All the days will be highlighted.  If you want to change the frequency of the days your notices are sent, you can click on any of the days to remove the highlighting.  You will need to click on each day and use the Ctrl key to highlight the specific days you want the system to run the auto notices.  When finished, click the Save button. 

• Auto Notices are set to run early in the morning around 4 a.m and generally finish around 10:30 a.m. 

• Any newly changed or created auto notices will not run until the following morning. 

• Note: When you select a printer for auto notices, you must choose either an email printer or a file save printer. Auto notices cannot be printed on a physical printer. 

• When auto notices that are configured to be delivered by email are unable to be sent to patrons, the system sends the unsent email notices in a batch process to the printer with which you saved the auto notices job (either an email or file save printer). The system does not enable unsent email auto notices to be sent to another type of printer.

• Auto notices can also be run manually, so you can run a notice multiple times a day (for example the title/bib paging notice can be run manually to update a list of titles).

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Deleting Notices

A notice should only be deleted when you no longer want to run the notice manually or have it run as an auto notice.  Deleting a notice means that you will have to recreate the notice parameters and save the notice to have it show up under the Notices function.  If you delete an auto notice and recreate it,  the auto notice batches like notices together.  Your newly created auto notice would be at the back of the grouping.

To delete a notice, click to highlight the notice you would like to delete.  The Delete icon will become active.  Click the Delete icon.

The Warning box will appear with the message, Delete selected job?”  Click Yes to delete the notice.  Click No, if you want to keep the notice.

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Editing Notices 

When you select notice parameters, the system uses your assigned login. If you edit saved parameters that were last modified by someone who uses a different login, Sierra may prompt you to save, even if you did not make any changes. The system displays this prompt to determine whether it should save the information assigned to your login. For example, if you save parameters that include a printer that is not available to your login, the system prompts you to choose another printer.

If you would like to make changes to the notice parameters, click on the notice to highlight them.  This will make the Edit icon active.  Make the changes and either Save the notice or choose Save As.  

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Email Subject Button

When you do not select an Email Subject for each notice type, the system sends the generic subject “Email notice from the Library” for any notices that do not have an email subject selected.  Your patrons will not know which notice they are receiving until they see the body of the email.  If you want your patrons to know which notice they are receiving, you will need to set up the Email Subject button on each of your notices.

The Email Subject (Default) button will show for all the notice subjects.  Click on the button to choose which subject to add to each notice.

The Email Subject box will appear listing all the email subjects for all the notices.  Pick the email subject that matches the notice you are creating or updating.  Click OK.  See “Sierra Changing the email subject line for the notices” for more information.

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How Often To Run Each Notice Type

• Bib or Title Paging Notice - According to the Patron Placed Holds (PPH) Best Practices document, the Bib or Title Paging Lists should be run daily at the same time. It is up to the participating library how many times a day these notices are run.

• Bills Notice - It is recommended that the bill's notice be run daily.

• Courtesy Notice - It is recommended that courtesy notices be configured as an auto notice or run daily, as the system generates courtesy notices only for the day they are run.
  The system will not print notices from prior days. Using auto notices to send courtesy notices ensures that patrons receive courtesy notices even on days when your library is closed.

• Hold Cancellation Notice - The system generates a hold cancellation notice when a hold is canceled, or when unclaimed holds are removed from the hold shelf.  Sierra sends hold notices to patrons when you prepare and sends hold cancellation notices. According to the Patron Placed Holds (PPH) Best Practices document, the Hold Cancellation Notices should be run every day.

• Hold Pickup Notice - When an item is checked in that satisfies a hold, the system generates a hold pickup notice. It is recommended that the hold pickup notice be run daily, so your patrons are notified by email or phone to know they have a hold ready for pickup. Some libraries run this notice several times a day.  Libraries will run it once in the morning, and again after they finish processing items from the courier. 

• INN-Reach Paging Notice (Prospector libraries only) - Sierra enables you to print a special paging slip for an item requested via INN-Reach circulation. It is recommended that the INN-Reach paging notice is run daily.

• Item Paging Slips Notice - According to the Patron Placed Holds (PPH) Best Practices document, the Item Paging Slips should be run daily at the same time as the Bib/Title Paging Slips. It is up to the participating library how many times a day these notices are run.

• Overdue Notice - Since the max number of overdues the system sends depends on your library notice configuration, it is recommended that the overdue notice be run every day.

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Print Template

you can specify the data that appears on customized notices. You can also control font selection and layout, and you can incorporate graphic images into notice templates. Customized circulation notices can be printed or sent to patrons via email. On the notice, click on the Select Template button to add a Print Template.  If you do not have a Print Template in your preferred templates, you will see everyone’s print templates.  Contact the User Services Manager or ILS Administrator to have a print template created for your library.  If you see your template, highlight it and click Select. If you want to use a Print template, but your Select Template button is grayed out, contact Marmot.

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Printing Notices 

The Sierra Printer Setup explains more about the Local Printer and E-mail Printer options. When notices are generated, the system uses each patron's notification preference, if any, to determine the delivery method for each notice. If the system is unable to send a notice using the preferred delivery method, the system does the following:

• If a patron does not have a set notification preference, the Notice Preference field displays a '- None'. The system attempts to send notices to patrons with no specified notification preference in the following order of delivery method: 

• Email

• Telephone

• Printer

• If the system is unable to accommodate a patron's notification preference, the notice is sent by another method. For example, if the patron prefers to receive notices by phone, but the notice type to be sent is not enabled for telephone/teleform(TNS) notification, the system attempts to send the notice by email. If an email address does not exist in the patron record, the system prints the notice.

Patron notices (courtesy, bills, hold cancellation, hold pickup, and overdue) are sent to the patrons who have email addresses first. If the patron does not have an email address, the system sends the notices to a staff email address or a local printer. In libraries that have the Teleforms (telephone) notification system, their patrons will receive a phone call about their items.  Other libraries may have patrons who have signed up to receive SMS notices instead of an email.  

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SMS & Voice Notices  

Marmot libraries use the Shoutbomb SMS notification system.  Each library is responsible for marketing this service to its patrons.  Marmot has the “Shoutbomb - SMS Notices for Sierra” page with more information.

MLN1 Libraries Shoutbomb Voice or SMS Notices

Use the w Shoutbomb Notice Preference from the Insert menu in a patron record.

You would choose one of the following letters for the Shoutbomb notice preferences. The field is a variable length field and you can set it to one of the following;

• v = voice

• s = SMS

• vs = voice and SMS

MLN2 Libraries Shoutbomb Voice or SMS Notices

Use the PCODE4 field in a patron record.

You would choose one of the following numbers for the Shoutbomb notice preferences. The field is a fixed length field and you can set it to one of the following;

• 1 = voice

• 2 = sms

• 3 = voice and sms

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Sort By Button 

The Sort By button is used to sort the order in which the notices are generated.  There are only a few notices that would actually benefit by including a sort order they are bib/title paging slip, hold pickup only slips, inn-reach title paging slips, and item paging slip. 

The system displays the Sort Notices table, which consists of three columns:

• Line - The order in which the entry is applied. In other words, the system sorts the notices by the entry in Line 1 and then sub sorts them by the entry in Line 2.

• Type - The record type that contains the field by which the system sorts the notices. You can choose fields from three record types: Bibliographic, Item, or Patron.

• Field - The field in the selected record type by which the system sorts the notices (e.g., MONEY OWED).

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Notice FAQs

Are there alternate methods for retrieving the records associated with overdue and bill notices that were sent and cleared?

• Answer: Yes.  Patrons who should have received the overdue notices or billed notices that were accidentally cleared, can be recreated using the Statement of Checked Out Items notice and/or the Statement of Charges-Bills notice and Create Lists.

• 1. To locate patrons who should have received an overdue notice:
  Create Lists, create a list of patrons using the item fields:

  • Libraries with one branch or who run notices for all the branches

  • Store Record Type - Patron

  • Type [Item], Field [Agency], Condition [equal to], Value A[your library’s patron agency] 

  • Append Line

  • Type [Item],  Field [ODUE DATE], Condition [equal to], Value A[today's date]

  • Append Line

  • Type [Item], Field [#OVERDUE], Condition [greater than or equal to], Value A [1]

  • Append Line

  • Type [Item], Field [STATUS], Condition [not equal to], Value A [n]

    • Run the Statement of Checked Out Items using a review file of patrons with overdue items & limit to overdue items.

  • Libraries running this notice for only one branch at a time

  • Store Record Type - Patron

  • Type [Item], Field [Location], Condition [equal to], Value A[branch location code] 

  • Append Line

  • Type [Item],  Field [ODUE DATE], Condition [equal to], Value A[today's date]

  • Append Line

  • Type [Item], Field [#OVERDUE], Condition [greater than or equal to], Value A [1]

  • Append Line

  • Type [Item], Field [STATUS], Condition [not equal to], Value A [n]

    • Run the Statement of Checked Out Items using a review file of patrons with overdue items & limit to overdue items

• 2. To locate patrons who should have received bills:
  Create Lists, create a list of patrons using the item fields: 

  • Store Record Type - Patron

  • Type [Item], Field [Agency], Condition [equal to], Value A[your library’s patron agency] 

  • Append Line

  • Type [Item],  Field [ODUE DATE], Condition [equal to], Value A[today's date]

  • Append Line

  • Type [Item], Field [STATUS], Condition, [equal to], Value A [n]

    • Run the Statement of Charges-Bills using the review file of patrons with billed items.

Does the Days Closed table affect the overdue and billing schedule? 

• The overdue and billing schedule is not affected by the Days Closed table. Overdue notices are sent on the same schedule regardless of closed days in between. 

• The overdue notice and billing cycle is absolute and simply counts the number of days since the due date to generate the notice or bill. For example, a book is due on Saturday, December 30th, and the Library is closed on December 31st. The system does not count the Library closure on December 31st, and an overdue notice will be generated on January 1st.

How can I check that notices have run successfully?

• Go to the Check Out (Circulation Desk) Function| Tools| Notice History.  Unfortunately, it does not do a good job filtering by location.  Filtering by Job Name will put all the notices in order by location.  Any libraries that have not assigned a JOB Name to their notices will appear at the top of the list. You will need to scroll down the list to see your notices in order. Look for the Date Sent for the notice you would like to verify. Filtering by Notice Type will show your location with everyone’s location.  The history shows the last date and time a notice was sent. It also shows how many items were sent for each notice.

If I change a notice from a manual notice to an auto notice will it run immediately?

• Auto Notices are set to run early in the morning around 4 a.m and generally finish around 10:30 a.m. 

• Any newly changed or created auto notices will not run until the following morning.  The system needs to update a field in the item records after sending the notices, and if the record is busy, things can get mixed up.

• There are a few notice types that are generated only once per day, regardless of how many times auto notices are scheduled to run, these are:
      - Replacement bills (but not replacement bills for items reported lost)
    -  Courtesy notices
      - Overdue notices (but not hourly overdue notices)
  All other notices are generated each time the auto notice job runs.

Is it possible to resend notices that have been cleared?

• Scenario: You accidentally cleared your notices. Can Marmot or Innovative reinstate my notices for me? 

• Answer: No. Once you click yes to the Clear all notices? prompt, the system permanently deletes notices from the system. Exceptions are statements of charges, statements of checked-out items, and title paging lists. These are "at will" notice types, and staff can rerun these notices at any time.  See the alternative methods to find out how to retrieve the records associated with overdue and bill notices that were sent and cleared.

What can I do if a patron has not received the email notification?

• Try the following steps to determine whether the patron's spam filter or other factors might be responsible:

  • Verify that the email address in the patron record is correct. 

  • Ask the patron to check personal email spam filters.

  • Ask if the patron whitelisted your library's email address.

  • If the patron directs the notices to an email address where spam filtering may be especially rigorous, and the patron cannot whitelist your library's email address, the patron should try using a different email address for library email.

  • To determine if the issue might be related to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) spam filter, temporarily insert a staff non-library email address into the patron's record and generate a notice. (You can send a statement of checked out items for testing or wait until a notice is due.) If the staff member receives the notice, then the ISP is the cause of the problem. Note that the library's own spam filters may complicate the issue.

  • Some spam filters look for specific phrases or terms. For example, an overdue notice for "The eBay survival guide: how to make money and avoid losing your shirt" might be filtered based on the phrase "how to make money".

What can I do if the staff created and saved a notice job but cannot see it in the saved notices?

• The staff member is using a login with a location served, and the notice job was for a different location served, for all locations, or for a specific item location outside the login's locations served. Unless the Notices Administrator Feature is enabled, these jobs are not visible in the saved notices table. 

• The staff may not have permission for a certain notice type.  Contact Marmot to have someone check the notice preferences for a Sierra login.

 What should I do if I get the error message "Failed to initialize notices sending" when preparing notices:

• Solution: A printer must be selected when preparing notices, even if all notices are to be sent by email or the library does not want to print notices.

• Go to File | Select Printer | Form printer. Select a printer and click OK (even if it appears that a valid printer has been selected already).

• Prepare notices again. If this does not work, restart your Sierra session.

What happens if the ADDRESS1 field is used for a notice job and a patron has no data in the ADDRESS1 field but has data in the ADDRESS2 field?

• For notice jobs set to use the Address1 field, if a patron has data in the Address2 field but none in the Address1 field, then the Address2 field will be included in the notice.

What can I do if the notice fails to print?

• Problem: Printing in Sierra works except when printing notices. This is for all notices being physically printed (both standard and print templates).

• Solution 1: Update the printer drivers, to the latest ones from the printer manufacturer (applicable to the workstation operating system).  

• After installation, restart the workstation and printer.

• Solution2:  A printer must be selected when preparing notices, even if all notices are to be sent by email or the library does not want to print notices.

• Go to File | Select Printer | Form printer. Select a printer and click OK (even if it appears that a valid printer has been selected already).

• Prepare notices again. If this does not work, restart your Sierra session.

Where is the "Do Not Clear" Check Box used in sending notices in Sierra?

• If the "Do Not Clear" check box is not visible in the Notices function after preparing a notice job in Sierra,   you will need to enable Java 8 with the Sierra Desktop Application.  Contact Marmot if you need assistance. 

Why did my patron miss getting an overdue notice before receiving a bill?

• Cause: If an item is checked in while a courtesy notice is being sent for that item, the checked-in item will be left with ODUE DATE and # OVERDUE fields populated. 

• When the item is next checked out, if that patron lets the item become overdue, the first notice received will be the next level of notice after the first level. Because one overdue notice has been skipped, the item will be billed early.

• Solution: Avoid checking in items while sending courtesy notices. 

• Innovative recommends using courtesy notices in conjunction with Auto Notices, so that notices can be sent at a time when the system is not checking in items, such as when the library is closed. 

Why does my library have no overdue notices to print, or overdue items did not receive notices as expected?

• Cause: The library was closed for a holiday or for another reason days or weeks before the notice was sent. As a result, no items circulated that would generate an overdue notice today.

• Resolution: No resolution is required. Library staff may contact Marmot to find out what Days Closed is listed for your library.

Why is the Edit icon for Notices greyed out?

• In the Circulation Notices functions, generally, if the Edit icon is greyed out, it means the user does not have permissions set to allow access to that function.

• If you have permission to edit notices, the notices need to be highlighted for the Edit icon to be enabled.

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