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3 <h1>Circulation and Fines Rules</h1>
5 <p>These rules define how your items are circulated, how/when fines are calculated and how holds are handled.</p>
7 <p>The rules are applied from most specific to less specific, using the first found in this order:</p>
10 <li>same library, same patron type, same item type</li>
11 <li>same library, same patron type, all item type</li>
12 <li>same library, all patron types, same item type</li>
13 <li>same library, all patron types, all item types</li>
14 <li>all libraries, same patron type, same item type</li>
15 <li>all libraries, same patron type, all item types</li>
16 <li>all libraries, all patron types, same item type</li>
17 <li>all libraries, all patron types, all item types</li>
20 <p>Tip: If you are a single library system choose your branch name before creating rules (sometimes having only rules for the 'all libraries' option can cause issues with holds)</p>
22 <p style="color: #990000;">Important: At the very least you will need to set a default circulation rule. This rule should be set for all item types, all libraries and all patron categories. That will catch all instances that do not match a specific rule. When checking out if you do not have a rule for all libraries, all item types and all patron types then you may see patrons getting blocked from placing holds. You will also want a rule for your specific library set for all item types and all patron types to avoid this holds issue. Koha needs to know what rule to fall back on.</p>
24 <h4>Default Circulation Rules</h4>
26 <p>Using the issuing rules matrix you can define rules that depend on patron/item typecombos. To set your rules, choose a library from the pull down (or 'all libraries' if you want to apply these rules to all branches)</p>
28 <p>From the matrix you can choose any combination of patron categories and item types to apply the rules to</p>
31 <li>First choose which patron category you'd like the rule to be applied to. If you leave this to 'All' it will apply to all patron categories</li>
32 <li>Choose the 'Item Type' you would like this rule to apply to. If you leave this to 'All' it will apply to all item types</li>
33 <li>Limit the number of items a patron can have checked out at the same time by entering a number in the 'Current Checkouts Allowed' field</li>
34 <li>Define the period of time an item can be checked out to a patron by entering the number of units (days or hours) in the 'Loan Period' box.</li>
35 <li>Choose which unit of time, Days or Hours, that the loan period and fines will be calculate in</li>
36 <li>You can also define a hard due date for a specific patron category and item type. A hard due date ignores your usual circulation rules and makes it so that allitems of the type defined are due on, before or after the date you specify.</li>
37 <li>'Fine Amount' should have the amount you would like to charge for overdue items
39 <li style="color: #990000;">Important: Enter only numbers and decimal points (no currency symbols).</li>
42 <li>Enter the 'Fine Charging Interval' in the unit you set (ex. charge fines every 1 day, or every 2 hours)</li>
43 <li>The 'Fine Grace Period' is the period of time an item can be overdue before you start charging fines.
45 <li style="color: #990000;">Important: This can only be set for the Day unit, not in Hours</li>
48 <li>The 'Overdue Fines Cap' is the maximum fine for this patron and item combination
50 <li style="color: #990000;">Important: If this field is left blank then Koha will not put a limit on the fines this item will accrue. A maximum fine amount can be set using the MaxFinesystem preference.</li>
53 <li>If your library 'fines' patrons by suspending their account you can enter the number of days their fine should be suspended in the 'Suspension in Days' field
55 <li style="color: #990000;">Important: This can only be set for the Day unit, not in Hours</li>
58 <li>Next decide if the patron can renew this item type and if so, enter how many times they can renew it in the 'Renewals Allowed' box</li>
59 <li>If the patron can place holds on this item type, enter the total numbers of items (of this type) that can be put on hold in the 'Holds Allowed' field</li>
60 <li>Finally, if you charge a rental feefor the item type and want to give a specific patron type a discount on that fee, enter the percentage discount (without the % symbol) in the 'Rental Discount' field</li>
63 <p>When finished, click 'Add' to save your changes. To modify a rule, create a new one with the same patron type and item type. If you would like to delete your rule, simply click the 'Delete' link to the right of the rule.</p>
65 <p>To save time you can clone rules from one library to another by choosing the clone option above the rules matrix.</p>
67 <p>After choosing to clone you will be presented with a confirmation message.</p>
69 <h4>Default Checkouts and Hold Policy</h4>
71 <p>You can set a default maximum number of checkouts and hold policy that will be used if none is defined below for a particular item type or category.</p>
73 <p>From this menu you can set a default to apply to all item types and patrons in the library.</p>
76 <li>In 'Total Current Checkouts Allowed' enter the total number of items patrons can have checked out at one time</li>
77 <li>Control where patrons can place holds from using the 'Hold Policy' menu
79 <li>From Any Library: Patrons from any library may put this item on hold. (default if none is defined)</li>
80 <li>From Home Library: Only patrons from the item's home library may put this book on hold.</li>
81 <li>No Holds Allowed: No patron may put this book on hold.</li>
84 <li>Control where the item returns to once it is checked in
86 <li>Item returns home</li>
87 <li>Item returns to issuing branch</li>
90 <li>When an item floats it stays where it was checked in and does not ever return 'home'</li>
95 <li>Once your policy is set, you can unset it by clicking the 'Unset' link to the right of the rule</li>
98 <h4>Checkouts Per Patron</h4>
100 <p>For this library, you can specify the maximum number of loans that a patron of a given category can make, regardless of the item type.</p>
102 <p>Tip: If the total amount loanable for a given patron category is left blank, no limit applies, except possibly for a limit you define for a specific item type.</p>
104 <h4>Item Hold Policies</h4>
106 <p>For this library, you can edit rules for given itemtypes, regardless of the patron's category. Currently, this means hold policies.</p>
108 <p>The various Hold Policies have the following effects:</p>
111 <li>From Any Library: Patrons from any library may put this item on hold. (default if none is defined)</li>
112 <li>From Home Library: Only patrons from the item's home library may put this book on hold.</li>
113 <li>No Holds Allowed: No patron may put this book on hold.</li>
116 <p style="color: #990000;">Important: Note that if the system preference AllowHoldPolicyOverrideset to 'allow', these policies can be overridden by your circulation staff.</p>
118 <p style="color: #990000;">Important: These policies are based on the patron's home branch, not the branch that the reserving staff member is from.</p>
120 <p>The various Return Policies have the following effects:</p>
123 <li>Item returns home: The item will prompt the librarian to transfer the item to its home library
125 <li style="color: #990000;">Important: If the AutomaticItemReturnpreference is set to automatically transfer the items home, then a prompt will not appear</li>
128 <li>Item returns to issuing branch: The item will prompt the librarian to transfer the item back to the library where it was checked out
130 <li style="color: #990000;">Important: If the AutomaticItemReturnpreference is set to automatically transfer the items home, then a prompt will not appear</li>
133 <li>Item floats: The item will not be transferred from the branch it was checked in at, instead it will remain there until transferred manually or checked in at another branch</li>
136 <p><strong>See the full documentation for Circulation and Fine Rules in the <a href="http://manual.koha-community.org/3.10/en/patscirc.html#circfinerules">manual</a> (online).</strong></p>
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