Special Webinar: TinyCat Circulation | July 8, 1pm EDT
Original topic subject: Special Webinar: TinyCat Circulation | July. 8, 1pm EDT
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1ZephCraven
Hello! I'll be hosting a special webinar tomorrow (Wednesday) July 8 at 1:00pm EDT on Zoom. This time, rather than a general overview, I'll be covering the various ways you can set up circulation in TinyCat, including how to perform transactions, allow self-checkout, and the benefits of different settings.
This will be especially useful for new folks, but even seasoned TinyCat librarians should pick up a trick or two.
Please join before 1:05pm, as I lock the meeting then to prevent spam.
Zoom link: us06web.zoom.us/j/85882643642
If you can't join tomorrow, the recording will be posted to the LibraryThing YouTube channel soon after the webinar concludes.
Hope to see you on Zoom!
Zeph
This will be especially useful for new folks, but even seasoned TinyCat librarians should pick up a trick or two.
Please join before 1:05pm, as I lock the meeting then to prevent spam.
Zoom link: us06web.zoom.us/j/85882643642
If you can't join tomorrow, the recording will be posted to the LibraryThing YouTube channel soon after the webinar concludes.
Hope to see you on Zoom!
Zeph
2ZephCraven
If you weren't able to join the live webinar today, please feel free to watch the recording on our YouTube channel any time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esQ8e9wiAdQ
As always, feel free to send questions my way!
As always, feel free to send questions my way!
3CBIAustinLibrary
OK, as we gear up to actually circulate books, I had a couple questions after watching this.
Can we use the barcodes that are already on the books that have them, and only apply barcodes to those books that lack them?
Can we use barcodes on the books but not use barcodes for patrons, and stick with their names?
Can the LibraryThing app read the barcodes for circulation purposes, or is it still limited to database management? I read through all the posts I could find about it, and found people asking for this going back almost ten years- but no posts announcing it has been done. Obviously we already have the app downloaded and are using it, and the app can already find the item in our database using our phone's camera as a barcode reader- it seems like a natural extension to then extend to the TinyCat circulation page. That way patrons could check books out themselves using their own phone to rad the book's barcodes- no typing in titles or trying to read tiny numbers. We have a lot of elderly people (vision impairment, decreased fine motor skills) and kids (semi-literate/semi-numerate, decreased fine motor skills), and very limited volunteers (who also have the same impairments)- so having an automated system would make the library far more accessible.
If the barcode scanning capability on the LT app isn't yet useful for TinyCat circulation, can you suggest any barcode reading apps that are? Would need to work for both Android and Iphone. We all (patrons and admins) already have phones with cameras, and apps abound, so I cannot see having to buy a separate piece of equipment that then requires a person to be in a specific place to check out a book.
Thanks tons, for the webinar, and for the answers to any of these questions!
-Eden Myers
library maven
CBI Austin
Can we use the barcodes that are already on the books that have them, and only apply barcodes to those books that lack them?
Can we use barcodes on the books but not use barcodes for patrons, and stick with their names?
Can the LibraryThing app read the barcodes for circulation purposes, or is it still limited to database management? I read through all the posts I could find about it, and found people asking for this going back almost ten years- but no posts announcing it has been done. Obviously we already have the app downloaded and are using it, and the app can already find the item in our database using our phone's camera as a barcode reader- it seems like a natural extension to then extend to the TinyCat circulation page. That way patrons could check books out themselves using their own phone to rad the book's barcodes- no typing in titles or trying to read tiny numbers. We have a lot of elderly people (vision impairment, decreased fine motor skills) and kids (semi-literate/semi-numerate, decreased fine motor skills), and very limited volunteers (who also have the same impairments)- so having an automated system would make the library far more accessible.
If the barcode scanning capability on the LT app isn't yet useful for TinyCat circulation, can you suggest any barcode reading apps that are? Would need to work for both Android and Iphone. We all (patrons and admins) already have phones with cameras, and apps abound, so I cannot see having to buy a separate piece of equipment that then requires a person to be in a specific place to check out a book.
Thanks tons, for the webinar, and for the answers to any of these questions!
-Eden Myers
library maven
CBI Austin
4ZephCraven
>3 CBIAustinLibrary: Hi Eden,
Thanks so much for these questions! Happy to help.
Can we use the barcodes that are already on the books that have them, and only apply barcodes to those books that lack them? Absolutely! You just want to make sure that whatever pre-existing barcode that is on the physical book (e.g., ISBN barcodes) is also present in the digital record on LibraryThing. Scanning in TinyCat is basically a quick way of searching, so the search needs to match on some piece of data. If there isn't one, on the book you can add a sticker and enter that sticker under the Barcode field in LibraryThing!
Can we use barcodes on the books but not use barcodes for patrons, and stick with their names? For sure, you can just use patron names during circulation if you want to!
Can the LibraryThing app read the barcodes for circulation purposes, or is it still limited to database management? The current version of the LibraryThing app has a built-in barcode scanner but it's only for adding books, you can't use it to search in LibraryThing or TinyCat at this point. We are thinking of developing a simpler sort of 'kiosk' mode for checkouts, this feedback is really useful! Tagging @Lauren-at-LT so she can see your notes here.
I don't have any suggestions for barcode scanner apps, but they may exist! I hear you on wanting to allow checkout from anywhere. You can absolutely create a QR code for your catalog using a free online generator and print them out around the stacks so patrons can jump to your TinyCat quickly from their phones. With the current setup, they will need to find the book, but the good news is they can search by pretty much any field. You can also add some helpful search links to your homepage to help people find shorter lists and more quickly find the items they're looking for.
Sorry if this isn't as helpful as I wish it were, but your feedback and ideas are very useful for our current considerations, so thank you again!
Thanks so much for these questions! Happy to help.
Can we use the barcodes that are already on the books that have them, and only apply barcodes to those books that lack them? Absolutely! You just want to make sure that whatever pre-existing barcode that is on the physical book (e.g., ISBN barcodes) is also present in the digital record on LibraryThing. Scanning in TinyCat is basically a quick way of searching, so the search needs to match on some piece of data. If there isn't one, on the book you can add a sticker and enter that sticker under the Barcode field in LibraryThing!
Can we use barcodes on the books but not use barcodes for patrons, and stick with their names? For sure, you can just use patron names during circulation if you want to!
Can the LibraryThing app read the barcodes for circulation purposes, or is it still limited to database management? The current version of the LibraryThing app has a built-in barcode scanner but it's only for adding books, you can't use it to search in LibraryThing or TinyCat at this point. We are thinking of developing a simpler sort of 'kiosk' mode for checkouts, this feedback is really useful! Tagging @Lauren-at-LT so she can see your notes here.
I don't have any suggestions for barcode scanner apps, but they may exist! I hear you on wanting to allow checkout from anywhere. You can absolutely create a QR code for your catalog using a free online generator and print them out around the stacks so patrons can jump to your TinyCat quickly from their phones. With the current setup, they will need to find the book, but the good news is they can search by pretty much any field. You can also add some helpful search links to your homepage to help people find shorter lists and more quickly find the items they're looking for.
Sorry if this isn't as helpful as I wish it were, but your feedback and ideas are very useful for our current considerations, so thank you again!
5CBIAustinLibrary
No, Zeph, thank you! Your efforts and answers are always appreciated, and frequently even moreso when they aren't the answer I came looking for. For example, I think this:
"You can absolutely create a QR code for your catalog using a free online generator and print them out around the stacks so patrons can jump to your TinyCat quickly from their phones."
is brilliant, and will end up being far more useful to our patrons than anything I was already thinking of.
To make sure I understand correctly, the QR code takes them to our TinyCat page, where they search for a book off a curated list we link to on the front page, or if they are in the library they search for the book they are already holding, and then because we have self check out enabled, they click the button to check it out? The impediments of poor vision and poor motor control I still have to find out how to do away with, but the QR codes taking them to the library's TinyCat home page solves a problem I hadn't even thought of- how to get people to navigate to the check out function on TinyCat.
How do I (can I?) enable patrons who are standing in the library holding a book to check that book out on the spot- but only enable someone browsing from elsewhere to place a hold? I don't want people to be able to 'check out' a book if they in fact don't physically have it to take away- and vice versa, I don't want to make patrons who are ready to walk out holding the book they want, have to wait until a library volunteer can be in the library to check it out to them.
I suspect it is all or nothing, either patrons can check books out to themselves or they can only place holds?
Thank you again! I leave here better equipped to serve my community every time.
Eden Myers
library maven
CBI Austin
"You can absolutely create a QR code for your catalog using a free online generator and print them out around the stacks so patrons can jump to your TinyCat quickly from their phones."
is brilliant, and will end up being far more useful to our patrons than anything I was already thinking of.
To make sure I understand correctly, the QR code takes them to our TinyCat page, where they search for a book off a curated list we link to on the front page, or if they are in the library they search for the book they are already holding, and then because we have self check out enabled, they click the button to check it out? The impediments of poor vision and poor motor control I still have to find out how to do away with, but the QR codes taking them to the library's TinyCat home page solves a problem I hadn't even thought of- how to get people to navigate to the check out function on TinyCat.
How do I (can I?) enable patrons who are standing in the library holding a book to check that book out on the spot- but only enable someone browsing from elsewhere to place a hold? I don't want people to be able to 'check out' a book if they in fact don't physically have it to take away- and vice versa, I don't want to make patrons who are ready to walk out holding the book they want, have to wait until a library volunteer can be in the library to check it out to them.
I suspect it is all or nothing, either patrons can check books out to themselves or they can only place holds?
Thank you again! I leave here better equipped to serve my community every time.
Eden Myers
library maven
CBI Austin
6ZephCraven
Hi Eden,
Thanks so much for the reply and kind words!
That sounds about right! To clarify, they will be taken to your homepage where they can search for any items you've included in your TinyCat using the search bar, OR tap and homepage links you've created for targeted searches to highlight specific collections, authors, etc. if desired. The latter homepage links are optional, but definitely best practice in most TinyCat libraries! Then yes, if they have the book in hand and they have a patron account already, they can press that Check Out button to be prompted to sign in as a patron and complete the transaction. You can update their login requirements here: https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/patronaccounts
You've hit on a good point, which is using the Place Hold vs Check Out buttons from afar vs in the library can be problematic. I would suggest that you either (a) put clear messaging on the homepage about this, or (b) that you don't include a checkout button on the catalog for patrons if you expect them to be accessing the catalog from home. You could in the latter case leave a shared device in the library (assuming the library is unattended by staff/volunteers most of the time) that is signed in as a communal "Volunteer" admin user role (click Keep Me Signed in), thereby anyone can check a book out to their patron account from that device in library only. This would, however, require a lot of trust as they would be able to check items out to any other patron as well. They would also be able to see past transactions if they navigated around a bit. But it's a workaround if you don't think that people will follow a process of not clicking Check Out from home, and if you don't expect a lot of patron-on-patron mischief during checkouts.
It's ultimately up to what you think will work best for your patrons and your team. But let me know if this leaves you with any new questions too!
Very best,
Zeph
Thanks so much for the reply and kind words!
That sounds about right! To clarify, they will be taken to your homepage where they can search for any items you've included in your TinyCat using the search bar, OR tap and homepage links you've created for targeted searches to highlight specific collections, authors, etc. if desired. The latter homepage links are optional, but definitely best practice in most TinyCat libraries! Then yes, if they have the book in hand and they have a patron account already, they can press that Check Out button to be prompted to sign in as a patron and complete the transaction. You can update their login requirements here: https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/patronaccounts
You've hit on a good point, which is using the Place Hold vs Check Out buttons from afar vs in the library can be problematic. I would suggest that you either (a) put clear messaging on the homepage about this, or (b) that you don't include a checkout button on the catalog for patrons if you expect them to be accessing the catalog from home. You could in the latter case leave a shared device in the library (assuming the library is unattended by staff/volunteers most of the time) that is signed in as a communal "Volunteer" admin user role (click Keep Me Signed in), thereby anyone can check a book out to their patron account from that device in library only. This would, however, require a lot of trust as they would be able to check items out to any other patron as well. They would also be able to see past transactions if they navigated around a bit. But it's a workaround if you don't think that people will follow a process of not clicking Check Out from home, and if you don't expect a lot of patron-on-patron mischief during checkouts.
It's ultimately up to what you think will work best for your patrons and your team. But let me know if this leaves you with any new questions too!
Very best,
Zeph
7CBIAustinLibrary
Since the library will be unattended 90% of the time, and my team consists of four volunteers that I can't believe haven't run away screaming already, I think we have to err on the side of accessibility, and enable self check out with a big warning "Do not check out unless you are holding the book in your hands!"
And we will definitely use the ability to put links to each collection and various searches on the landing page. That's a great feature to make the library more interesting and easier to browse.
Thanks!
And we will definitely use the ability to put links to each collection and various searches on the landing page. That's a great feature to make the library more interesting and easier to browse.
Thanks!
