Barcodes

The collection I'm working on is cataloged, but I want to assign numbers to each volume so that I can print out barcodes and use a scanner for checkout. I have no idea how to go about doing this. I'd appreciate any advice.

For each book, at the bottom of the edit page there is a barcode field where you can input your own barcode numbers. You can then use a scanner to search for them.

You can also show the field in your catalog view (and enter the codes from there) by adding it to one of your display styles. You can change your display styles by clicking the settings button at the top of your catalog.

>1 downtownlittleschool: You might find some useful documentation on our Barcode abilities here: http://blog.librarything.com/main/2015/06/new-feature-barcode-support/, especially if you want to manually add your own. You can also opt to auto-generate barcodes as you catalog.

Additionally, we sell barcode labels in the LT store, here: http://www.librarything.com/more/store/barcodes

downtownlittleschool:
I highly recommend buying barcodes from LT, I have a set and they are wonderful!

So when I buy barcodes from LT, will the barcodes already be assigned to the books I have scanned in my collection, or will I have to go through and assign each individual barcode to each copy online? I definitely want to use barcodes for ease of checkout for my church library...I'm just trying to figure out how it will work! I appreciate any and all advice from those who are using barcodes for inventory and check out!

>5 dmaples:
You buy a set with a number range, and you assign those to your books yourself. Now there is an automatic option for that, or you can do it manually, whichever fits your workflow.

>5 dmaples: To expand on >6 divinenanny:, you can find how to apply/manage your barcode numbers in LT through your Barcode Settings page, here: https://www.librarything.com/settings/barcodes. I also include a help sheet with all barcode label orders, which will show you how to get set up and use your labels. Of course, if you have further questions you can always email us! info@librarything.com, or my personal email at kristi@librarything.com. I'm happy to help.

So having assigned barcodes to all our books and DVD's, when we buy barcodes, do we automatically get given the correct numbers on the barcode labels?

If you follow the link in >3 lorannen: you will see that you chose a range of bar codes. 1-500, 501-1000, etc.

Thanks

Thanks

What do you do if you have multiple copies of a given title? Or a title has multiple volumes? How can add additional barcodes to a catalog record?

Thank you.

There are various mentions in April and May of trying for better copy management. Until that happens, you would need separate entries for multiple copies/volumes.

New to this. Working on creating a church library. Is there an efficient way to print lables for the spine of the book so that they can be organized on the shelves easily?

>16 FrArthur: Welcome! You can generate your own labels by exporting your book data from LibraryThing (see https://www.librarything.com/more/import) and running a Mail Merge of sorts.

There's a Talk thread where other members discuss what they've done here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/97585. I hope this helps.

I would like to know how to assign barcode numbers to the patrons so that I may send notices for overdue books, since the option to place the patrons' e-mail addresses has been taken off on our online catalogue of books

>18 shiloh_baptist: Do you mean that your organization is not allowing email addressed to be put into TinyCat, or that you just don't have access to them in TinyCat? If the latter, this is because your Patron Settings have the Email address field de-selected. You can re-enable that field by checking it here: https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/patronsettings, then you should be all set to start recording email addresses.

You'll also see settings for the patron's Barcode/ID on that page, where you can choose to have us (LT) automatically assign barcodes as you add/import patrons to the system, or you can manually enter/generate them yourself. I hope this helps.

How do you handle adding barcodes when you have 2 or more copies of a title? There only seems to be room for one barcode on a record. Am I missing something?
Thank you.

>20 StarBethlehem: If you want to be able to have two barcodes, and/or to track borrowing for two copies, you need two entries.

>20 StarBethlehem: I just add copy 2, copy 3 etc to my titles. That way you can still use the ISBN.

We purchased the barcode stickers from LT. They start at 00001. We found that the zeroes at the front end of the number is removed in our catalog after we entered the numbers as "00001," "00002," etc. So now they are showing as "1," "2," etc. Is there a way to correct this or is this the way it is supposed to be?

That is the way the number is displayed, but when you scan-to-search the barcode it should still find it. Let me know if you have any troubles!

Is there a way to have patrons use their phone to scan barcodes so they can do self-checkout? Maybe with the app under their TinyCat account?

>25 HomegrownHeroes23: Thanks for your question! I'll certainly pass along the interest in a phone/app scanner that works for TinyCat libraries, but we don't have that option right now. The barcode scanner in the LibraryThing app only adds books to your library, currently. Luckily TinyCat doesn't need an app, and works well in browsers on pretty much any device.

The closest you would get to the scanning idea would be to create and print a QR code of your TinyCat homepage and place it somewhere patrons can scan it. That would quickly bring them to your homepage through their phone's browser. From the homepage, they will still need to search for the item by typing in the title, author, barcode, or other search term, then they can press the Check Out button and proceed with the transaction on their own.

However, it doesn't look as though you've enabled self-checkout options for patrons in TinyCat yet! To enable self-checkout, you'll first need to enable patron accounts on TinyCat. There are two types of patron accounts you can have: either Simple Circulation, where all the patrons share one common password, or Full Circulation, where each patron gets their own login.

You can enable patron accounts from your Patron Account Settings on your TinyCat's Admin portal: https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/patronaccounts (Help page here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/TinyCat:_Settings_%C2%BB_Patron_Accounts..., and you can enable your "Check out" and/or "Place hold" buttons from your Circulation Settings: https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/circsettings (Help page here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/TinyCat:_Settings_%C2%BB_Circulation).

You can also check out our Tiny Tutorials covering these features on LibraryThing's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHdpcxqVcUR4rXciaInacPQ.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

This was very helpful! Thank you!

>27 HomegrownHeroes23: Any time!