The Support Center has moved!! See the new website https://support.goalexandria.com/  

Alexandria

Space shortcuts

Page tree


Versions Compared

Old Version 30

changes.mady.by.user Morgan

Saved on

compared with

New Version Current

changes.mady.by.user Myra

Saved on

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.
Info

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

    Email Preferences.

     These can be accessed through Preferences > Setup > Email or /admin > Email.

  • Add an email to your 

    Open Links in New Window

    site record. 

  • Make sure

    at least one operator has a Primary Email on their record.?

    Make sure your patrons and operators have a 

    Open Links in New Window

    Primary Email

     on their record so they can receive notifications and messages. Run a 

    Open Links in New Window

    Patrons with No Email report

     to see who still needs to have an email added.

Tip
Open Links in New Window

Use GG4L or Clever to automatically update patron information, such as email addresses.

Automatic Email
Notifications
Notices

Some notifications 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 

Open Links in New Window

  •  turned on in Circulation Preferences.

Some of these

  • Several notifications also require additional preferences to be set. 
Expand
titleHolds
Tip

These notices are Alexandria only.

NotificationRecipientAdditional PreferencesCustomizable Customized Notice Text

Queue Hold

  • Librarian places a hold on an unavailable item through Circulation 
  • Patron places a hold on an unavailable item through Researcher 
PatronN/AN/A

On-Shelf Hold

  • Patron places a hold on an available item through Researcher
LibrarianTurn on Circulation Preferences > 
Open Links in New Window

Circulation Rules

> Email

Turn on Circulation Preferences > Circulation Rules > Email Librarian when an On-Shelf Hold is placed through Researcher.

N/A

In-Stock Hold

  • Librarian bookdrops an on-shelf hold or hold queue item through Circulation, making it in-stock
PatronN/A
Open Links in New Window

In-Stock Hold

Expired Queue Hold

  • Expired pending hold is automatically removed during daily

maintenance		Patron

  • maintenance 

    Note

    Expired in-stock holds are not automatically removed. They stay until the item is bookdropped.

Patron
Open Links in New Window

Set hold expiration dates with the Days to keep a hold request in the queue preference in Patron

Hold expiration dates are controlled by the Days to Keep a Hold Request preference in 

Open Links in New Window

Patron Policies.

N/A
Expand
titleReservations
Tip

These notices are Alexandria only.

NotificationRecipientAdditional Preferences
Customizable
Customized Notice Text

Reservation Placed

  • Librarian places a reservation through Circulation
  • Patron places a reservation through Researcher

Patron

Librarian (at site that owns the reserved copy)

Open Links in New Window

Turn on Circulation Preferences > Circulation Rules > Notify Librarian on New Reservation for the librarian to get a notice.

Open Links in New Window

Patron Notice: Reservation Notice

(Circulation Preferences) and

 and Reservation Placed

(Advanced Bookings Preferences)

Librarian Notice: N/A

Reservation Upcoming

  • Sent when there are a certain number of days before the reservation start date
Patron
Open Links in New Window

Turn on Circulation Preferences > Circulation Rules > Notify Patron of Upcoming Reservations

for patrons to get notices

.

Use Circulation Preferences > Circulation Rules > Days to Look Ahead for Reservations to modify the number of days Alexandria looks ahead before emailing upcoming reservation notifications.

N/A

Reservation Removed

  • Librarian removes reservation through Circulation
  • Patron removes reservation through Patron Status (Researcher)
Patron
Yes (
N/A
Open Links in New Window

Reservation Removed

- AB)

Reservation Return Request

  • Sent when there are a certain number of days before an Advanced Bookings reservation is
new
  • due
Patron
'
Open Links in New Window

Use Advanced Bookings Preferences > Settings > Days Before Item Is Due

To

to Send Out Notice

' at it's default of '0'

to set the number of days before items are due to send the notice.

Open Links in New Window

Reservation Return Request

Expand
titleOverdues
Tip

These notices work for both Alexandria and Textbook Tracker.

Trigger
NotificationRecipientAdditional PreferencesCustomizable Customized Notice Text

Overdue Item/Textbook

Patron
  • Checked out item or textbook becomes overdue
PatronItem Policy > Transaction Period or Hard Due Date, or Period Due Date
Open Links in New Window

Set transaction periods and hard due dates in Item Policies. 

Circulation LetterYes (Circulation Letter)

Lost Item/Textbook

PatronChecked out
  • Overdue item or textbook is declared lost
Patron
Open Links in New Window

Use Item Policy > Overdue > Declare Lost When Overdue

x days

to set the time period after which overdue items will be declared lost.

N/ANo
Expand
titleCharges
Tip

These notices work for both Alexandria and Textbook Tracker.

TT and Alex

NotificationRecipientTriggerAdditional PreferencesCustomizable Customized Notice Text

Charge Incurred

Patron
  • Charge is incurred on the patron's account (overdues, overdue continuing to accrue, item being declared lost or discarded, manual charges from Circulation)
. in the case where a charge was made via the 'Charge' button under the 'Charges' tab in circulation and
Note
If you make the charge manually in Circulation, you must check the option to email a receipt
was checked. Charges
; charges made with the
'
F
'
and
'
DL
' commands had no receipt associated with them.
commands won't send a receipt/notice.
PatronN/ANo

Charge Paid

Patron

  • Charge is paid from Circulation and librarian checks the option to
Email Receipt is checked by librarian
  • email a receipt
PatronN/ANo

Charge Forgiven

Patron
  • Charge is forgiven from Circulation and librarian checks the option to
Email Receipt is checked by librarian
  • email a receipt
PatronN/ANo

Charge Refunded

/ Refunded Credit		Patron

  • Charge
Credit
  • is refunded from Circulation and librarian checks the option to
Email Receipt is checked by librarian
  • email a receipt
PatronN/ANo

Credit Added

Patron
  • Credit is added from Circulation and librarian checks the option to
Email Receipt is checked by librarian
  • email a receipt
PatronN/A

Credit Refunded

  • Credit is refunded from Circulation and librarian checks the option to email a receipt
PatronN/ANo
Report Email
Notifications
Notices

Some notices are set up and sent through 

Open Links in New Window

Reports.

 With these, you can:

  • Send a notice once or 

    Open Links in New Window

    save and schedule

     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

    they

    it can still be edited while setting everything up.

ReportUseCirculation Letter Default
Alexandria and Textbook Tracker

Account Introduction

Give patrons their login credentials and other important library informationAccount Access Information

Account Expiring Notice

Notify patrons whose accounts are expiring in the next 30 daysN/A

Send Email

Send out a customizable email to a selection of patronsN/A

Send Patron Details Email

Email Patron Details to selected patrons

Tip
Open Links in New Window

You can also email or print Patron Details from Circulation.

N/A
Overdue Items Notice *Notify patrons who have items that are overdueCirculation Letter
Alexandria Only
Coming Due Items NoticeLet patrons know their items are due soonCirculation Letter
In-Stock Hold Notice Notify patrons when an in-stock hold is ready for them to pick upIn-Stock Hold
Lost Items Charge Notice Notify patrons who have unpaid lost items chargesCirculation Letter
Overdue Items and Unpaid Charges Notice *Notify patrons who have overdue items and/or unpaid chargesCirculation Letter
Severely Overdue Items Notice Notify patrons who have items that are severely overdueCirculation Letter
Unpaid Charges Notice *Notify patrons who have charges that haven't been paid yetCirculation Letter
Note

* 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). 

© 2023 COMPanion® Corporation | All Rights Reserved | Terms of Service & Privacy Policy