In the Library section of Populi, is there a way to mark copies for in-library use (books that are used in the library but not checked out)?
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Grace Craddock Have you added this feature yet? It would help tremendously with required annual reports, as well as with decisions about which books to keep or get rid of. For books that I can't check out, I really want a way to measure if they're being used in the library.
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Adam Sentz The way this is typically handled is to have the resources in a separate Library Location (probably a shelf) called something like "In-Library Use Only" with its own loan policy with a loan time to something like 30 minutes.
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Grace Craddock Thanks, Adam Sentz. But how do I log the use for reporting purposes? I need a way to say "this book has been used" without attaching it to a patron, since in-library use happens all the time and is general anonymous. (I don't look to see who uses the books, I just want to say that they were used.)
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James Hi Grace! One idea would be to make an Anonymous Library Patron and print out their "ID Card" to keep handy at the desk, then just scan it whenever you loan out any resource which you don't want to attach to an actual patron... we've seen this used successfully at several libraries, and it makes reporting simple since the loans to anonymous patrons appear as normal loans alongside everything else.
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Grace Craddock Thanks, James! Weird solution, but it definitely works.
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