Getting Started

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options in communicating w/ patrons

Requirements

In order for email notifications to work, you need to make sure several things are set up in Alexandria:

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

Add an email to your
site record.

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

Make sure your patrons have a
Primary Email
on their record so they can receive notifications and messages. Run a
Patrons with No Email report
to see who still needs an email added.

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

Automatic Email Notifications

Some notifications go out automatically when certain events happen in Alexandria. In order for patrons and librarians to get these notices, you must have

Enable Automatic Email Notifications

turned on in Circulation Preferences. Some of these notifications also require additional preferences to be set in order for them to send.

Notification	Recipient	Additional Preferences	Customizable Text
Queue Hold Librarian places a hold on an unavailable item through Circulation Patron places a hold on an unavailable item through Researcher	Patron	N/A	N/A
On-Shelf Hold Patron places a hold on an available item through Researcher	Librarian	Circulation Preferences > Circulation Rules > Email Librarian when an On-Shelf Hold is placed through Researcher turned on	N/A
In-Stock Hold Librarian bookdrops an on-shelf hold or hold queue item through Circulation, making it in-stock	Patron	N/A	In-Stock Hold
Expired Queue Hold Expired pending hold is automatically removed during daily maintenance	Patron	Hold expiration dates are controlled by the Days to Keep a Hold Request preference in Patron Policies	N/A

Notification	Recipient	Event	Additional Preferences	Customizable Text
Reservation Placed Librarian places a reservation through Circulation Patron places a reservation through Researcher	Patron Librarian (at site that owns the reserved copy)		Librarian notice: Circulation Preferences > Circulation Rules > Notify Librarian on New Reservation	Patron notice: AB Reservation Placed + Reservation Notice (A) Librarian notice: N/A
Reservation Upcoming There are a certain number of days before the reservation start date	Patron		Preference > Circulation Rules > Notify Patron of Upcoming Reservations Circulation > Circulation Rules > Days to Look Ahead for Reservations	N/A
Reservation Removed	Patron	Librarian removes reservation through Circulation Patron removes reservation through Patron Status (Researcher)		Yes (Reservation Removed - AB)
Advanced Bookings Reservations
Reservation Return Request	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 'Days Before Item Is Due To Send Out Notice' at it's default of '0', which I believe means ON the due date, and began advancing my system clock ahead one day at a time, allowing daily maintenance to run plus a little time for notices to go out. On the 25th I received ONE notice for the patron that had a reservation which was checked out through advanced bookings. The other patrons whose items were also due this day but checked out differently did not receive any notice. Evidently there is something in the database indicating it was an advanced booking reservation and this notice only applies to those currently. I believe this to be T8TRpendingAbItem Myra's original question: wait, how do we know it was a reservation? It should just be a regular checkout. - is this working? Or is it reminding people of regular coming dues? or needed for reservation?

Notification	Recipient	Trigger	Additional Preferences	Customizable Text
Overdue Item/Textbook	Patron	Checked out item or textbook becomes overdue	Item Policy > Transaction Period or Hard Due Date, or Period Due Date	Yes (Circulation Letter)
Lost Item/Textbook	Patron	Checked out item or textbook is declared lost	Item Policy > Overdue > Declare Lost When Overdue x days	No

TT and Alex

Notification	Recipient	Trigger	Additional Preferences	Customizable 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 the option to email a receipt was checked. Charges made with the 'F' and 'DL' commands had no receipt associated with them.	No
Charge Paid	Patron	Charge is paid from Circulation and the option to Email Receipt is checked by librarian		No
Charge Forgiven	Patron	Charge is forgiven from Circulation and the option to Email Receipt is checked by librarian		No
Charge Refunded/ Refunded Credit	Patron	Credit is refunded from Circulation and the option to Email Receipt is checked by librarian		No
Credit Added	Patron	Credit is added from Circulation and the option to Email Receipt is checked by librarian		No

Report Email Notifications

Some notices are set up and sent through

Reports.

With these, you can:

Send a notice once or
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
Circulation Letters, but they can still be edited while setting everything up.

indicates the report is also available in Textbook Tracker

Report	Use	Circulation Letter Default
Account Introduction	Give patrons their login credentials and other important library information	Account Access Information
Account Expiring Notice	Notify patrons whose accounts are expiring in the next 30 days	N/A
Send Email	Send out a customizable email to a selection of patrons	N/A
Send Patron Details Email	Email Patron Details to selected patrons You can also email or print Patron Details from Circulation.	N/A
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

The Suspended Patrons report and Damaged Items Notice only have letter formats.

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Getting Started

Email Notices/Notifications

Requirements

Automatic Email Notifications

Report Email Notifications

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