web viewthe inventory process, in destiny is one that is often misunderstood and seemingly daunting...

The Library Collection Inventory Process

Destiny Library Manager / B.C.P.S

The inventory process, in Destiny is one that is often misunderstood and seemingly daunting for those who have never successfully completed one. This guide will help with the process, and hopefully allow you to perform a successful inventory on your library collection, soon!

SOME GROUND RULES

The starting guidelines are simple - you must be logged in as a Library Media Specialist to Start or Finalize an inventory. If you have helpers on your staff with BCPS login credentials, they can be given Library Staff permissions, and they will be able to scan copies in your inventory, they just will not be able to Start / Finalize an inventory! Contact your Destiny Administrator to have these permissions added for your credentialed staff members.

INVENTORY STATUS IN DESTINY - EXPLAINED

An inventory in Destiny in its simplest terms is just a procedure to mark each copy in your collection either ACCOUNTED FOR or UNACCOUNTED FOR. Setting up an Inventory and scanning each copy changes an invisible, internal record “flag” from Unaccounted For to Accounted For. Your job is to try to “account” for every copy in your collection with your scanner! Destiny wants to help you with this process, by automatically pre-marking records in your inventory section as Accounted For – IF they meet specific criteria. Items that will automatically be marked Accounted For are items that are Lost, Stolen, At The Bindery, and Checked Out! Depending on your collection and your circulation activity, this can often result in an Accounted For percentage of 10% to 40%, BEFORE you scan even one book. Pretty Cool!

Once logged in, switch the View drop down to Library View, go to the Back Office tab and select the Inventory option.

of 14Destiny Library Inventory Procedures Rev. 6/2015

These three steps will move you into the Inventory Module in Destiny. Try to avoid using your browser’s “Back” buttons while working on inventory, as Destiny will often boot you out, or give you a page error for this little slip-up. Instead, try to use the “bread crumbs” that appear on the upper dark green bar, found just below the tabs on each of Destiny’s screens for navigation. If all else fails, you can simply click the Inventory option, again to regain your bearings.

There are a host of features inside the Inventory section of Destiny, and we will attempt to go over most of those in this document.

You will also need your circulation desk scanner (or one just like it) connected to your laptop device, to perform an inventory. Extra scanners (for Library Staff) can be purchased from CDW-G, or borrowed from the Office of Digital Learning for a two week period.

So, Where Do I Begin…?

If you are really lucky, you will find that all inventories previously started have been finalized, and your Destiny Inventory module will be a fresh blank canvas from which to begin your inventory! See below…


In the above example, you are ready to have a look at your “Lost Items” before you begin your inventory work. Clicking the View “Lost” button will bring up the following screen.

The View Lost list is a good place to get a sneak peek at what has already been marked lost, and is a rough idea of the overall inventory condition of your Catalog. Each item that is marked LOST, also appears that way in your Catalog. While this saves your patron’s a trip to the shelves to try and find the item, it still represents a title that is no longer available, and one whose copy record is taking up space in your statistics and therefore artificially inflating your collection size. This will impact your allocated funding! While it is a good practice to give Lost items time to “surface” and not just delete them as soon as they are marked lost, it is also a good practice to delete Lost Items that have been “lost” for more than one year! Scrolling to the bottom of the Lost Items list in this window will give you the ability to “Batch Delete” your lost items, based on the date that they were marked lost, OR – Reset all copies marked Lost, if you do not trust the information you are looking at!


BEFORE STARTING YOUR INVENTORY

So, you know how to get into the Inventory Module in Destiny, you know how to see the copies in your collection that have been marked Lost previously, and you have some sense of what Inventory is all about! Now it is time to setup your first inventory section, so you can start to scan your books! A word to the wise here… Keep your sections small and manageable! Many an inventory was never finalized, simply because of great intentions to inventory the “Whole Collection” all at the same time! Break your collection down into smaller, more manageable sections for inventory. Start with Everybody or Reference, to get the feel of the process, and then build up to larger sections. Free Advice: Complete a section and Finalize it before moving on.

It is possible to start and have your staff scanning more than one section at a time. Destiny will currently permit you to have 99 inventory sections “working” at the same time, however this is not advisable unless you are well versed in the inventory process, and you have access to a well trained staff to assist you!

WHEN CAN I SCAN COPIES?

You can work on an inventory and scan copies into your Destiny inventory sections anytime you want! There is no need to close the library to perform an inventory! Scan the copies in a section any time you have time available for the task! Also important to note – you can never scan a specific copy too many times! When in doubt as to whether or not you scanned a copy – scan it again. No harm will be done!

SAVING YOU INVENTORY PROGRESS

No need to worry about this. All inventory work (including scanning) is automatically saved! You may stop work on a section, and return to it later, at any time.

IN_PROGRESS INVENTORIES

Often, you will find that your Destiny system has an inventory already setup, that was never finalized by your predecessor. Or, you may be returning to the Inventory Module after some time away, and find an Inventory Section that you had previously started. If you started this section, or it was recently started by someone else,


you may want to continue to scan this section, and then Finalize it! In either case, the screen will look much like the screen, below…

There are numerous details on this screen, including the name of the section: Everybody – Started 5/19/2015, a percentage of items completed link (76.84%), a View In-Progress & Completed Inventories link, a Start New and Finalize button, and a place to enter your copy barcodes with your scanner (Scan or enter one-at-a-time.) NOTE: There is no need to upload a file (from a memory scanner) for our inventory process! If you want to know more about these uploads, and the memory scanners that can perform them, read the next section!

A WORD (OR TWO) ABOUT MEMORY SCANNERS

Often, you will see adds for “memory-type” inventory scanners that allow you the freedom of working quickly and un-tethered from your computer to complete your inventories faster and easier than ever! The problem here is, Destiny can UPLOAD a memory scanner file, however these files load so quickly, that Destiny cannot warn you about items that need your attention (copies previously checked out that are on the shelves, but were never checked in, or copies that are NOT in the call number range of the section you are working on!) To keep up with the file upload speed, Destiny places all issues and concerns in an Exception File, that you will need to review (and address) after the upload completes! Whoa – this can be quite a list, and you must then re-locate each item on the shelves you just scanned to correct the issue.

When using the suggested scanning method in this document (Scan or enter barcodes one-at-a-time) Destiny will warn you at every issue with a tone and a message on your screen, and in many cases (e.g. books not


checked in) it will resolve the item for you, right on the spot! So, save the money spent on a fancy memory scanner for other important initiatives, and save the time and aggravation of having to address inventory issues, after the fact, by using the inventory procedures, suggested in this guide! Enough said!

CHECK SHELF ORDER

This is a matter of personal preference. Some librarians do, and some do not - check this box. It will add time to your process, and you must scan the section in ascending Dewey order. Copies scanned out of order will be announced with a tone. Pull these copies and place them in the correct order on the shelves, or simply pull them for later shelving in the proper location. The choice is yours on this matter!

BACK TO THE IN-PROGRESS INVENTORY

You have the choice of finishing the scanning work for the In-Progress Inventory (above) working to scan as close to 100% of the copies in this section (Everybody) as possible, or Finalize this old section, and begin your own section. If you choose to scan – that is easy. Scan all of the books in that section, again and you should get mighty close to the goal of 100%. If you previously started this section, and you know where you left off, that is even better! Finish the section, and again you should try to reach 100%. If you chose to FINALIZE this old section (now, or later) see the section in this guide about FINALIZING AN INVENTORY.

STARTING A NEW INVENTORY

When you choose to Start New, (by clicking the button) you will see the screen, below. Entering the specific details requested by this screen will make or break your efforts. It is important to get these answers (and details) right on this one screen. Please – slow down and take your time here!

INVENTORY NAME: Include the section and the date started. This only a label!

CALL NUMBERS from: Weird problem here… As soon as you type a “space” the field box stops reading your reply! So, the call number REF 399.99 ABC is read as only – REF! The call number E A is read as E! Simply put, you can only use the prefix here for those call numbers that have prefixes (eg F to F or E to E or REF to REF) You will be doing the entire (Fiction, Everybody or Reference) section as a single inventory section! Sorry, no way around this! For the Nonfiction section, things work a little better, but the space is still a problem! Enter 399.999 ABC and Destiny will read and understand 399.99 only! The space and anything after it is ignored, we know that! But the decimal places have a limit, too (two places after the decimal point!) So, there you have it! Call number entry guidelines for your Inventory!

CIRCULATION TYPES: Please – do not accept the default – All Circulation Types! Click the UPDATE button found here and select ONLY Regular OR Regular and the specific Circ Type you are working in (eg. Reference, Professional, etc.) If you allow E-Books or Safari Videos to remain selected, you will NEVER find these items to scan, and your inventory will NEVER reach 100%! You have now been warned!

All COPIES MEETING THE ABOVE CRITERIA…: This one is simple – Do Not Change This Date!


Here is a screen shot to help clarify the choices you will find on the Start Inventory screen!

Click OK to accept your selections from this screen, or CANCEL to back away from this new inventory section!

OOPS! - I MADE THE WRONG SELECTIONS AND CLICKED – OK!

Oops! It happens, and there is an easy way to “KILL” an inventory section that was started in error! Details matter here, so be careful, but the process is rather easy! Here are the five steps, with screen shots…

1. Start by clicking the FINALIZE button on the inventory scan screen for the section you want to KILL! A new screen and message will appear.


2. Be sure to change the default setting in this window to IGNORE! Failing to do so will mark a whole lot of books – LOST! Then, click YES!

3. Go to the Back Office tab / Inventory Option screen, and click the “View In-Progress & Completed Inventories” link.


4. Click on the COMPLETED sub-tab.

5. Click the REMOVE button, adjacent to the section you wish to Kill. All traces will be removed!

NOTE: The 5 steps above are also helpful in “killing” an older, outdated inventory started by a predecessor!


HOW IS MY CURRENT INVENTORY PROGRESSING?

To see how you are progressing during the scanning phase of an inventory, click the % Completed link.

The next screen that opens will share many details and reporting options.

The “Copies that are ‘Unaccounted For” report is helpful in seeing the titles, barcodes and call numbers of the items that still have not been located and scanned. Possibly these items are in a showcase, or were lent to another staff member? This list will often “jog” your memory about such things!


Once you have explored the contents of his window to your satisfaction, simply click the CLOSE button in the upper right corner of the window to return to the inventory scanning screen.

FINALIZING AN INVENTORY

Once you have scanned as many copies that are part of your inventory section, and you have used your “Copies Unaccounted For” list to find the remaining copies, it is time to “FINALIZE” this inventory section. Finalizing one section has NO bearing on any other sections that may still be opened. Click the FINALIZE button, located in the Inventory scan screen to proceed.

A new window will appear that states “This will finalize this inventory.” It will also tell you howm many copies are still unaccounted for. To actually Finalize this section, LEAVE the default setting (Mark all unaccounted for copies “lost”) and click – YES! To back away from this process, click - NO!


That’s it! You have completed an inventory section in Destiny, and successfully marked your “truly missing” books – LOST! You will want to complete the same process for the remaining sections in your collection, and finalize each one.

SPECIAL SUGGESTIONS & IDEAS ON INVENTORY

The old adage – ‘Many hands make much work light’ is applicable to the Inventory process in Destiny. Why not have an Inventory Party with a few other Library Media Specialists. Each member of the group agrees to help the other with their library inventory, in exchange for assistance with their own inventory. Each brings their laptop device and a scanner, and some refreshments for snacking during the day. The Host librarian provides lunch for the team (Subway, Panera, or homemade) and sets up the Inventory Sections in advance of everyone’s arrival. The host should also prepare a Section Responsibility Table, so that each person in the group can sign-up for a section to be responsible for, and to certify that all items have been scanned. The host will still be responsible for Finalizing each section when the scanning is done!

MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS

When working in the Inventory Module, Destiny saves your scanning work, automatically! No need to save your work.

You may stop working on a section, at any time. Noting where you left off the last time you had a scan session will make it easier to pick-up again where

you left off! When in doubt, it will not hurt anything to re-scan a part (or all) of a section. While an inventory section does not have to be completed in one session, the sooner you can

complete the scanning of a section after starting it, the better. For additional information about Destiny Inventories, please consult the Destiny Help section. The last page of this document includes a simple Inventory Progress Table, to help you keep track of

your inventory work, as you proceed. It is also helpful when you have more than one person scanning your collection in different sections of your library.

MY INVENTORY NOTES:


Inventory Progress Table Section Assigned To:

This Section Setup In Destiny

Section Scanned

Section FinalizedInventory Section

Everybody -

Call Range (E to E)

Fiction –

Call Range (F to F)

Graphic Novels –

Call Range (GN to GN)

Nonfiction 0-299

Call Range (000.00 to 299.99)

Nonfiction 300-699

Call Range (300.00 to 699.99)

Nonfiction 700 -999

Call Range (700.00 to 999.99)

Reference

Call Range (Ref to Ref)

Professional

Call Range (Pro to Pro)

Other -

Other -

Other


To Use The Progress Table:

Place the initials or first name of the staff member assigned a given section in the first column. Place an “X” in each of the last three columns of the table, as each task is completed for a given section.

Other Inventory Reminders:

To Begin: Back Office / Inventory / Library Materials (If: View All) –“ Start New” button! When Starting An Inventory – Always: Assign An Inventory Name (include details about section and start date!) E.G. –

Fiction 7/21/2014 or Reference 7/21/2014 Set The Call Number Range (Do Not Leave Blank – You Will Have To Inventory The Entire Collection!) Break the job into

smaller chunks. Sections Above Are Good Breaks. Entry can be a compete PREFIX or the Dewey Number (Nonfiction) to 2 places AFTER the decimal point. Destiny does not understand any Call Number entries after typing a (SPACE.)

Select specific CIRCULATION Types! Please exclude: EBOOK(S), SAFARI VIDEOS, MAGAZINES, or ANY Circtype you are NOT Likely To Find!

In the “ALL COPIES MEETING… “ Field, put TODAYS Date! During the school year, never set this date to more than 10 days in the Past!

Click - OK to setup this Inventory Section! Scan barcodes into Destiny, one at a time. No harm is done if a barcode is scanned more than once in a section! Capture and segregate any book identified as Unknown. These must be sent t Carla Weber for re-import into the

collection! Inventory Auto-Saves ALL Entries and Scans. You may Start / Stop your inventory work at any time, and pick up again later without any ill effects.


web viewthe inventory process, in destiny is one that is often misunderstood and seemingly daunting...

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