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?

• link to the youtube channel for basic training (https://www.youtube.com/user/AlexandriaSoftware/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=2)

• link to the basic training guide (see our Basic Training guides in our Getting Started resources http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Getting+Started+Resources)

1. Using Circulation Commands

You may not remember all of the keyboard shortcuts to getting things done in Circulation. That's okay! Browse through the Command Help tab in Alexandria or the Circulation Commands List in the Support Center for a quick reminder.

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 + 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 Patron Status portal on Researcher if you have it configured. Another option is to give them your specific URL.

4. Running label reports

Getting new inventory means you'll need new labels. 

5. Promoting new items