Circulation policies

In order for items to circulate correctly, library staff need to carefully set up three specific areas. Loan rules determine the circulation period, and Item types, and Location codes are 2 of the 3 components that determine the loan rule (the third being Patron type). We'll look at each of these in more detail.

Loan Rules

For each different circulation period you want to create, you will need to create a loan rule. For example, if you have five patron groups that each have different circulation periods for the same type of material, you would need to create five loan rules. A library can set up as many as 1000 separate and distinct loan rules.

For additional information, refer to the Innovative Guide and Reference, Page # 105408: .





There are many elements to creating a loan rule, but when dealing with reserves, you need to pay special attention to the code. You can choose to have loan periods measured in days (code R) or hours. If you choose hours, you can be very specific about how the hourly items will circulate:

    H = Hours, rounded to nearest hour, overnight loan allowed

    I = Hours, rounded to nearest hour, no overnight loan

    J = Hours, rounded to nearest minute, overnight allowed

    K = Hours, rounded to nearest minute, no overnight

H and I round off a loan period so that it will always be due on the hour. If a patron checks out a 3 hour reserve item at 3:25, the item would be due at 6:00, as the hour is rounded down. J and K round to the nearest minute, so that patrons receive the full loan period.

Whether or not reserves can be checked out overnight is also determined by this code. If no overnight loan is allowed, the item will be due at the location's closing time, as entered in the Hours Open table, even if that means that the patron will not get the full loan period specified. If overnight loan is allowed, and the due time would normally fall after the library's closing time as entered in the Hours Open table, the item will be due one hour after the library opens (or more specifically, one hour after the opening time as shown in the Hours Open table). Thus, manipulation of the Hours Open table allows the library to manage the times that they want material to be returned, regardless of the actual opening and closing time of the building.

NOTE: If the library wants the reserve history saved in bibliographic records, Innovative staff can set up the field. See .

For additional information, refer to the Innovative Guide and Reference, Page # 105406: .

Item types

Each distinct type of material or distinct circulation period should be given its own Item Type, so that the library can be as specific as it chooses in creating loan rules. A library may have one Item Type for 2 Hour reserves, another for 3 Hour reserves, and another for 4 Hour reserves. Or they may have 3 Item types for 2 Hour reserves, one with overnight allowed, one without overnight, and one for media which has a higher fine amount. There are 256 Item Types available, so there are many possibilities.

An Item Type consists of a numeric code (0-255) and a label (identifying name for the code), e.g. 24:Musical Scores.

For additional information, refer to the Innovative Guide and Reference, Page # 106052: .

Location codes

Libraries may choose to have a separate reserves location. This would display in the OPAC and would indicate the change of location for items that are normally shelved in one place but are moved to a special location while in a reserve status. A separate location also allows for the possibility that the reserves location may have hours that differ from those of the main library. This would be useful if there were no overnight reserves allowed and the library wanted to ensure that all reserve items are returned before closing. Location codes are maintained in the Branches file.

For information on the Branches file, please see Innovative Guide and Reference Page # 106049: .

In the loan rule determiner table, libraries can either specify a location or use a wildcard to allow all locations to use the same loan rule for the specified Item Type.

Circulation Options

There are two circulation options your library can set to control reserves. Both options can be seen in the Character Based system using the menu path Management >Information>System>Circulation. They can be set to different values using the Additional System Functions menu path.

84 > Reserves: Allow hold cancel in reserve list maintenance?...............NO

If this option is set to "YES," you can cancel holds on items from the Reserve List Maintenance menu.

For additional information, refer to the Innovative Guide and Reference, Page # 102475: .

85 > Reserves: Store course reserve history in item and bib records........YES

Set to "YES" to have the system add a RESERVE NOTE field to item records when you place them on active reserve. The RESERVE NOTE contains the date the record was placed on active reserve or taken off reserve, and the course name. When the record is taken off active reserve, the RESERVE NOTE field stores the number of times the record circulated.

Please Note: This option refers only to storing reserve history in items. If the library has requested that Innovative set up the ability to store course history in bibs, and Innovative has completed this set-up, the system option will display as 'Call Innov'. If you choose to add the reserve history to the bibliographic record, you lose the ability to turn this option on and off and would have to contact Innovative to make a change.

As mentioned earlier in this tutorial, you can set the system up to retain the reserve circulation information in the bib and item records. If the Retain Number of Checkouts from Reserve Circulation feature is enabled, when you remove an item from reserve or change its status to inactive, Millennium Circulation includes the total number of times that the item circulated while it was on active reserve in the item record's TOT CHKOUT fixed-length field. To have this feature enabled, contact Innovative. Keep in mind that items on reserve may circulate far more often than they would when in the regular collection, and this additional activity will be reflected in the TOT CHECKOUT. Circulation statistics will include activity by the reserve Item types and Locations, which will enable the library to see the numbers of circulations for reserve items in the collection.

NOTE: If the library wants the reserve history saved in bibliographic records, Innovative staff can set up the field.