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this page has been moved to https://support.goalexandria.com/knowledge-base/email-notices-best-practices/ |
Communicating with everyone is essential when running a busy library, and email is usually the easiest route! Whether it's notifying patrons about holds that are ready to be picked up or letting a librarian know about upcoming reservations, Alexandria and Textbook Tracker offer a variety of notices.
There are two different kinds of email notices: those that are automatic and those that can be set up in Reports. Depending on your library's needs, you can use one or both.
options in communicating w/ patrons
Requirements
In order for any email notifications notice to work, you need to make sure several things are set up in Alexandria:
Configure your
Open Links in New Window These can be accessed through Preferences > Setup > Email or /admin > Email.
Add an email to your
Open Links in New Window
Make sure your patrons and operators have a
Open Links in New Window on their record so they can receive notifications and messages. Run a
Open Links in New Window to see who still needs to have an email added.
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Automatic Email
NotificationsNotices
Some notices go out automatically when certain events happen in Alexandria or Textbook Tracker. Here are a few things to note about these:
In order for patrons and librarians to get these notices, you must have
turned on in Circulation Preferences.
- Several notifications also require additional preferences to be set
- .
Some notice text can be customized and some can't. Those that can be customized are managed in Circulation Letters or Advanced Bookings Notices.
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Patron Librarian
Yes (Reservation Notice and Reservation Placed (Advanced Bookings prefs - patron notice) | Reservation Upcoming | Patron | is enabled, this is being sent to the patron during daily maintenance 5 days prior to the reservation start date, which is what my Circulation -> Circulation Rules -When Preference -> Circulation Rules -> Notify Patron of Upcoming Reservations No | Reservation Removed | Patron |
Yes (Reservation Removed - AB) | Advanced Bookings Reservations
Patron | This is being sent to the patron during daily maintenance when they have an item checked out which was a reservation and was checked out through advanced bookings. Confusing, but I did this: I created 3 patrons and 3 items. One item I checked out normally, due on the 25th. The other two I placed reservations on, by separate patrons, ending the 25th. I then checked out one reservation through circulation and the other through advanced bookings. I left '
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Report Email
NotificationsNotices
Some notices are set up and sent through
With these, you can:
Send a notice once or
Open Links in New Window it to go out on a regular basis.
- Use selections to be more specific about which patrons get a notice.
Customize the notice text. Some notices have default text that's determined by
Open Links in New Window Circulation Letters, but
theyit can still be edited while setting everything up.
indicates the report is also available in Textbook Tracker
| Report | Use | Circulation Letter Default | ||||
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| Alexandria and Textbook Tracker | ||||||
| Give patrons their login credentials and other important library information | Account Access Information | |||||
| Notify patrons whose accounts are expiring in the next 30 days | N/A | |||||
| Send out a customizable email to a selection of patrons | N/A | |||||
Email Patron Details to selected patrons
| N/A | |||||
| Overdue Items Notice * | Notify patrons who have items that are overdue | Circulation Letter | ||||
| Alexandria Only | ||||||
| Coming Due Items Notice | Let patrons know their items are due soon | Circulation Letter | ||||
| In-Stock Hold Notice | Notify patrons when an in-stock hold is ready for them to pick up | In-Stock Hold | ||||
| Lost Items Charge Notice | Notify patrons who have unpaid lost items charges | Circulation Letter | ||||
| Overdue Items and Unpaid Charges Notice * | Notify patrons who have overdue items and/or unpaid charges | Circulation Letter | Overdue Items Notice | Notify patrons who have items that are overdue | Circulation Letter | |
| Severely Overdue Items Notice | Notify patrons who have items that are severely overdue | Circulation Letter | ||||
| Unpaid Charges Notice * | Notify patrons who have charges that haven't been paid yet | Circulation Letter | ||||
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* When using the Email format for these notices, you can choose whether to send the notice to only the Primary Email or all emails on selected patron records. This allows you to notify both patrons and parents/guardians if necessary. If there are emails you want for reference but don’t want to use for notices, we recommend putting them in the General Notes section of patron records. For automatic notices and other email notices, emails send to only the first email in the patron record (the Primary Email). Open Links in New Window | |
