Re: self-check out from OPAC?

Posted by pedroparkero on Aug 26, 2011; 7:23am
URL: http://ngl.70.s1.nabble.com/self-check-out-from-OPAC-tp6723761p6727680.html

I am talking about when a book is still available, and nobody has borrowed it yet. The patron may see it in the open shelves, bring it to the OPAC terminal, and search for its record. If he sees the same exact accession number as the one he has in his hands, then the suggested feature will let a patron "self-check out" or "claim" that item via OPAC. Then he will just go to the circulation desk for it to be verified by the librarian. The librarian won't have to input the item's number because it will already be appended to the patron. All the librarian has to do is click "verify" and the patron may leave with the book.

Another suggestion is an alternative implementation of a "reserve thru OPAC" feature: a patron can reserve an available book (that no one has borrowed yet) for overnight or one-week loan thru OPAC, and this means he will come by the library at 4pm or before the library closes that day to claim the book. Other people won't be able to bring the item outside the library unless it's in a quick short term loan (3hrs or before 4pm). This kind of reservation is for that day only, and will be reset the following day. Likewise, in this scenario, the librarian doesn't have to input the book to the patron because the patron already selected the book and it automatically appended to his account already.

These are just suggestions though. But it would be nice to have in future versions of NGL.