Prepare Overdues Report (Sierra)

To be included in the “Overdues Report,” patron accounts need to include data in the homeroom variable-length field of the patron record. The "Overdues Report" depends on that data. Only patron accounts with a homeroom code will be included in the Overdues Report. Patrons must also have an overdue or billed item and belong to a location in which the Overdues Report is generated. Contact Marmot if you are interested in using this report.

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Reasons to Use the Overdues Report

• The school librarian likes to provide the classroom teacher with a list of students whose materials are overdue the day before the class has scheduled library time. This enables the teacher to remind the students to bring in their specific overdue materials.

• An academic library would like a list of what materials are overdue to their Interlibrary loan patrons. If the ILL patron accounts contain a code in the homeroom field, that list can be obtained.

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Generating an Overdues Report

Choose the Prepare Overdues Report from the Function list.

Open

Every night the system generates a list of all the overdue items in the system. If you have not prepared an Overdues Report since yesterday, the system indicates the date on which you last generated the Overdues Report.

Choose one of the following options: Create New Report which creates and displays a new Overdues Report, or Use Current Report which displays the current Overdues Report. You can also see the last date the report was run.

Open

Creating new report box will appear. The first time the report is run will take a longer amount of time. Once the report is run the first time, you will not see the button to Create New Report or Use Current Report. You will only see the Prepare Reports button.

You will see the two options of Home Libr (Home Library) and Homeroom in the dropdown menu.

The Homeroom information will automatically change when you change the Home Libr in the dropdown menu.

Click on the Prepare Reports button for your library. This will show all the patrons who have overdue items. It will display the patron’s home library, homeroom, patron barcode, patron name, item barcode, the title of the bibliographic record, the due date of the item, item call number, and the price of the item as listed in the item record.

If you set the Home Library List to "ALL", Sierra disables the Possible Values List. For example, if you set the Home Library List to "ALL," the system includes all patrons who have overdue items and whose patron records' contain the homeroom variable-length field in the Overdues Report.

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The Overdues Report contains the following elements

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Printing an Overdues Report

The Overdues Report can be printed or exported. Choose the PRINT icon in the upper right corner. If you have not selected a standard printer, the system prompts you to choose one. The report can be printed to the local printer or to an email account. If printed to an email account, the report can then be parsed out to email to classroom teachers or to other staff. This list of overdue materials differs from the overdue notices because it only provides the list to library staff. No message is sent to patrons.

If the patrons at a location share the same specified field value, the system generates one report for that location. If the patrons at a location have different specified field values, the system generates a separate report for the patrons with each value.

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Exporting an Overdues Report

To export a generated Overdues Report to a different application, such as Excel, choose the Export button or Tools | Export from the top left of the Prepare Overdues Report window.

Once you click on the EXPORT icon in the upper right corner you will see the Select an export method box. If Excel is installed on your computer, click on the Open in Excel button. The application will launch and the data will display in the spreadsheet.  Excel automatically launches and displays the table as an overdue_report<#####>.xls file. (The appended <#####>is the timestamp of the export down to the second, used to distinguish the current exported file from previously exported files.) 

• You can also Print to a file that will allow you to save the file to your computer. Print to a file table entries is separated by spaces. 

• The Save it as comma-separated values (CSV) text will also allow you to save the file to your computer. Save as comma-separated values (CSV) text table entries are separated by commas.

• The Save it as tabbed text will also allow you to save the file to your computer. Save as tabbed text table entries are separated by tabs.

• The Export dialog box enables you to choose a folder and enter a name in which to save the exported Overdues Report. The table is saved as a "File" type of file. To view the file, select a program with which to open the file. 

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Closing the Prepare Overdues Report

When the report is closed, the list that was generated is not saved. Click on the Close icon to close out the current run report.

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