RE: Loss of cursor in check-in mode

["Ericsson, Paul" <PEricsson at onconcord dot com>]

Sue --

The staff at my library have also complained to me about the loss of the cursor in several places in MilCirc. I actually think that we even have differences in the "default cursor position" between one circulation computer and another. When I investigated this when we first installed equipment and went online - our City MIS techies (who support our PCs) and III Helpdesk had me ping-ponging between each other - both said that it was the other's problem. I finally gave up and the staff have suffered and gotten used to it. That is - they've gotten used to it most of the time - I am certain that some of the claims ret'd that we have are due to this issue.

If you do move forward with an enhancement request, I would certainly support it. One option might be to change the tone of the beep that confirms that the barcode entry is correct and the checkin was successful, and using a different tone ( a boop?) to indicate that an unsuccessful barcode scan/keyboard entry has occurred. For sure - the "one sound fits all" is not helpful, and does lead to problems.

Thanks for your posting. 

Paul
	___________________________________________

	Paul Ericsson
	Adult Services Supervisor / Automation Coordinator
	Concord Public Library    http://www.onconcord.com
	45 Green St.     Concord, NH 03301     603 230-3697
	pericsson at onconcord dot com
	___________________________________________
		

 



-----Original Message-----
From: innopac-bounces at innopacusers dot org
[mailto:innopac-bounces at innopacusers dot org]On Behalf Of Sue Trombly
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 9:19 AM
To: IUG INNOPAC List
Subject: Loss of cursor in check-in mode


Hi all,
Just wanted to mention a problem we've been having in Millennium
Circulation and are curious as to whether others have noticed it as well.
We have had a number of patrons who come to us after having gotten overdue
notices and swear that they have returned the item. When we check the
shelves, we find the item sitting there, though it was never checked in.
We finally figured out what was happening. Most of the time, the Milcirc
window is open and the Circulation Desk button is selected. When someone
returns an item, the Check-In button is selected and the item is checked
in. 

Most times the staff member will return the screen to the Circ Desk mode,
but occassionally, they will leave the screen in this mode (Check-In). If
the next patron is also returning an item, the staff member occassionally
will not notice that Millen. is already in Check-In mode and will click on
the Check-In button again. This removes the cursor from the text box.

This is where the problem arises. If the staff member is not looking at
the screen and wands in the  barcode of the returned item, the wand will
beep as though it has checked the item in, but in fact, it has not. They
will then return to Circ Desk mode thinking that the item checked in. I
realize this is user error and that we have to teach people to watch the
screen closely, but when it is busy, that is not always easy to do.  

When we contacted III about this, they said the cursor was designed to
work that way (reposition the focus on the Check-In icon, not the text
box) and that it was working properly, but that we could submit an
enhancement for this if we wanted to. We have a pretty small circulation
compared to most of you folks, but we also have quite a few different
people doing circulation and they don't always notice when something is
different in the appearance of the screen. At least now that we know what
is happening, we can watch for it, but I thought it was worth mentioning
and see if others have had a problem with it and if they think an
enhancement is need. 
Thanks, and sorry for such a long message!

Susan Trombly
Technical Services Librarian
The Taft School
110 Woodbury Rd.
Watertown, CT  06795
(860) 945-7782
tromblys at taftschool dot org   




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