Most Circulation commands and operations are designed to modify individual pieces of data one entry at a time; utilities, however, can change large amounts of information in your database at once. The Utilities window allows you to create your own set of essential utilities; we provide the general templates that help you build utilities that modify, transfer, remove, update, or verify the information you require. Once you've created custom utilities, there won't be a need to adjust the particulars very often.

Take some time to explore the categories and subcategories and set up some Saved utilities for which you'll be able to easily access and run in the future.

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Utilities Interface

The Utilities interface may look complicated at first glance, but it was designed with simplicity in mind—placing everything in an easily navigable window that allows you to quickly find, modify, and run utilities. Additionally, the Utilities interface allows you to create utilities that only modify, clear, or clean required information: records of interest, title/copy policies, patron histories, and all types of circulation transactions. In order to become a utility wizard, there are only three essential things you need to understand: utility categories, utility templates, and creating custom utilities.

The Utilities interface uses the familiar three-panel layout found in most Alexandria management interfaces.

• Categories. The left-hand side of the window is home to the Categories pane, containing a list of all existing utility categories (e.g. Titles) and subcategories (e.g. General). Selections from this pane act as filters, allowing you to narrow your focus and display only relevant utilities.

• Quick/Saved tabs. Choose if you want to run a quick, one-time utility or a saved utility. 

• Utility Selection pane. This is where you'll select the utility you want to view, modify, or run. The list depends on if you have the Quick or Saved tab selected. 

• Selected Utility pane. Contains settings and options for the selected utility, housed in the following tabs: Overview, Selections, Options, Notification, and Schedule.

• Switch Site. In a Central Union, click the  icon in the top-right corner to change the site you're working in. 
  
  
  

Categories Pane

The first step in running a utility is picking the proper category. The Categories pane on the left-hand side of the window is a collection of categories that can reduce the number of results that appear in the Utility Selection pane (i.e. the Quick and Saved tabs) on the right.

You are able to expand or contract associated subcategory sections by clicking the icon located to the left of the main category name. Selecting (highlighting) one of the main category—or subcategory—names (e.g. Titles) will reveal all of the utilities available for that category (or subcategory). For example, if you want to run an Advance Patron Level utility, you can’t do it with the Circulation category selected—they're Patrons (category) utilities. Selecting All Utilities at the top of the categories filter will populate the Quick and Saved tabs with all available utility options.

• All Utilities. This category contains all the available utility types.

• Patrons. Patron utilities allow you to modify or remove packs of patrons. For example, you can change patron policies, renew expired cards, or advance patron grades.

• Titles. Title utilities allow you add, modify, and remove information for any number of titles in your collection. For example, you can change a group of title policies.

• Copies. Copies utilities allow you to add, modify, and remove information for any number of copies in your collection. For example, you can remove lost copies, replace copy locations, or change call number prefixes on copious copies.

• Circulation. Circulation utilities are used to clear patron histories, correct batches of incorrect due dates, or verify and update your circulation records.

• Periodicals. Acquisition utilities are used to remove select route and subscription information.

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Utility Selection Pane

The larger, right-side of the Utilities interface is dedicated to the currently selected utility and contains all of the utility's configurable settings and options.

Directly below the control strip is the Utility Selection pane; this pane changes dynamically depending on whether you have the Quick or Saved tab selected. Remember, the utilities that appear in the Utility Selection pane directly relate to the category (or subcategory) selected from the Categories pane and/or the information that is entered into the Filter bar.

Filter Bar

The Filter bar, in conjunction with the Categories pane, can be used to further filter the results of the Utility Selection pane. In some ways, this is the consummate utility filter—far surpassing the Categories pane. In fact, you may find yourself never using the Categories filters again, preferring instead to check against All Utilities using the Filter bar.

For example, if you select Periodicals from the Categories pane and then type “remove” in the Filter bar, you would only see periodical-related utilities in the Utility Selection pane. If you have All Utilities selected from the Categories pane and type “remove” into the Filter bar, you would see results matching all periodical utilities.

The results of the Filter bar depend on whether you have the Quick or Saved tab selected and what category filter is being applied.

If you would like to search the entire collection of utilities you will first need to select All Utilities from the Categories pane and then provide a term in the Filter bar. For instance, if you’re looking for a simple copy-based utility and don’t want to bother with the category filters, simply select All Utilities and start typing “copy” in the Filter bar.

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Selected Utility Pane

The Selected Utility pane, located at the lower-right of the Utilities interface, is dynamic; the available tabs, fields, and options change depending on the utility you currently have selected in the Utility Selection pane and whether Quick or Saved is selected from the control strip. These tabs contain settings that allow you to configure selection options essential to how your utility is performed.

The bottom of the Selected Utility pane has some controls that change dynamically depending on whether you have the Quick or Saved selected.

• Show Additional Selections. Some utilities have uncommon or infrequently used selections initially hidden from view. When they are, a Show Additional Selections box is available. Once checked, the hidden selection options become available.

• Create Saved Utility. If you would like to save the Quick utility you’ve been modifying, click Create Saved Utility. After adjusting the default utility name (optional), your new utility, with custom settings, will be added to the Saved tab. This option only appears for Quick utilities.

• Run. Performs the utility and send a report to the Operations Management queue; every utility you run will be documented in the Show My Operations log in Operation Management.

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