The beginning of a new school year is coming up, and you probably haven't had to work with Alexandria for a few months. That means there's a good chance you don't remember how to do some simple things. And that's okay! Whether you're brand new to Alexandria or a returning user, reviewing how to do these five things will help make the beginning of the school year run smoothly.

Top 5 Things to Review in Alexandria

Alexandria Refresher

When librarians get back at the end of the summer, sometimes they forget how to do the simple things. So we want a 'refresher' page that ties in to the Beginning-of-year article. This can be part of the BOY article—or a separate page, because it could also be a very basic ' Getting Started ' article for new users. (dual-purpose)

Here are the top five things to remember about Alexandria as the school year starts:

1. Circulation Commands

2. → You might not remember all the shortcuts to get stuff done in Circulation. That’s ok. Use Command Help, or browse through our Circulation Commands directory for a refresher (http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Circulation+Commands).

3. adding patrons / items → It’s a new school year, which might mean new patrons and new inventory. Remind yourself how to add patron records manually (http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Add+Patron+Record – hint, you press the plus icon) or through imports (http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Import+Patron++Records). If you use Clever to sync SIS records, and have disabled Clever for the summer, you’ll want to enable it (http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Clever#EnableClever). To add a Title Record (http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Title+Records), press the plus icon to use Title Assistant (http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Title+Assistant) and add the title manually, or review what it means to import titles (http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Import+Items).

4. logging into patron status → your patrons might be asking about their holds and checkouts their first day back! You can always pull up their Details in Circulation (Q command), but you can also teach them to log in to their Patron Status. Show them how to get to Status from Researcher, if you have it configured, or give them your specific URL (e.g. demo.goalexandria.com/status).

5. running label reports → New inventory means new labels! Review how to run Reports in Alexandria (http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Reports), and take advantage of the Custom Label Reports (http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Custom+Label+Reports).

6. promoting new items → Pro tips for new items: a) The Reordering Details report gives you info on discarded items so you can reorder those that were loved to death. b) Check out books to the For Library Use patron (barcode 3) for all your book displays. c) In Search, use Search Strings(http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Search+Strings) to find recently added titles ((accession::# %today -180)), add those titles to a list(http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Search+Lists), and turn that list into a Slideshow(http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Slideshow)!

Need more refreshers?

1. Using Circulation Commands

You may not remember all of the keyboard shortcuts to getting things done in the Circulation module. That's okay! Browse through the Command Help tab in Alexandria Librarian or the Circulation Commands List in the Support Center for a quick reminder. You could also print a Circulation Commands chart to keep near your computer. Here are a few important commands to remember:

• B starts Bookdrop mode, which checks in all items scanned or inventories items if they're already checked in.
• R starts Renewal mode, which renews multiple checked-out items
• X clears the Current Patron and Current Item panes

2. Adding patrons and items

It's a new school year, which probably means new patrons and inventory. Here are a few things to review:

• If you use Clever to sync student information system (SIS) records and have disabled Clever for the summer, you'll want to enable it.
• Remind yourself how to add patron records manually or through imports. 
• To add a title record manually in the Items module, press the plus icon + the Image Added at the bottom left to use Title Assistant. Or, review how to import titles.

3. Logging into

Patron Status

Your patrons might ask about their holds and check outs on the first day back! You can always pull up their Details in the Circulation module by using the Q command. But you can also show them how to get to the their Patron Status portal on Researcher if you have it configured. Another option is to give them your their specific URL (e.g. https://demo.goalexandria.com/status).

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4. Running label reports

Getting new inventory means you'll need new labels. ! Once you've brushed up on how to run reports in Alexandria, learn how to create Custom Label Reports to customize your barcode and spine labels.

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5. Promoting new items

Once new materials come, you'll want to let your patrons know what's now available. Here are a couple tips when it comes to handling new items:

• Run a Reordering Details report in Tools > Reports > Copies > Reordering Details. This will give you information on discarded items so that you can reorder what was popular.
• Need to use some books for a display? Check out books to the Library Use patron (barcode 3) in the Circulation module so you can still keep track of them.
• Create a slideshow of new items so your patrons know what just arrived. In Researcher's Search function, use the ((accession::# %today -180)) Search String to find recently added titles, then add those titles to a list, and turn that list into a slideshow. You can then display the slideshow on a TV monitor, computer, or tablet.

Need more resources?

• Check out the Alexandria Basic Training Guide video collection on YouTube.

• Read through the Alexandria Basic Training Guide in the Getting Started Resources.