When a group of items needs to be tracked by transaction, a Circulation Group can be created to help manage those items. Circulation Groups are used in reports as selection and sort options. Circulation Groups are typically used to augment policies, providing much more detailed information without the need of creating a new set of rules. Information such as the course name, teacher, period, the school, and homeroom can all be included as part of a Circulation Group.

Creating, Modifying, and Removing Circulation Groups

Customers coming from Textbook Tracker v2 may notice that Textbook Tracker v3 does not contain Classes. Rather than requiring users to complete complex tables of classes, courses, teachers, and periods that would need to be updated each year or semester, Textbook Tracker v3 relies on Circulation Groups. Circulation Groups can be as general or specific as needed, combining both flexibility and easy implementation in this single function to create a powerful tool for textbook management.

Circulation Groups can be created, removed, or modified. To change the Circulation Group settings, go to Edit and Preferences, and then select Circulation and Global from the top dropdown menus. Click on Edit Circulation Groups to open the Circulation Groups window.

Preferences - Circulation Groups window.

A new Circulation Group can be created by clicking on Add. A Circulation Group Code and a Description must be entered for each Circulation Group. The Circulation Group Code should be unique and short (up to eleven characters). It may include the initials of the teacher that the Circulation Group is designed to cover.

Preferences – Add Circulation Group window.

The Description should depict the specifics of the Circulation Group and might include the course name, the name of the teacher providing the course, the classroom number, the period in which the class is taught, or any other relevant information. Once both the Circulation Group Code and Description fields are filled out, clicking Save will close the Add Circulation Group window and store the new Circulation Group.

To modify an existing Circulation Group, highlight a single Circulation Group and click on the Edit button. Both the Circulation Group Code and the Description can be modified. To remove an existing Circulation Group, highlight the Circulation Group and click the Remove button.

A Circulation Group which is in use cannot be removed. All items checked out using the Circulation Group must be checked back in before the Circulation Group can be removed.

Circulation Groups are tied to transactions. At the end of each year, once all the fines have been assessed, all the reports run, and a backup of the data created, it may be beneficial to clear out the previous year’s Circulation Groups. To quickly remove all Circulation Groups, click on Clear All. A confirmation dialog will appear to verify that the Clear All button was not clicked by mistake.

NOTE: IF THE CIRCULATION GROUPS ARE CLEARED USING THE CLEAR ALL BUTTON, THEY CAN ONLY BE RETURNED BY RECOVERING FROM A BACKUP OF THE DATA.

Assigning and Removing Items in Circulation Group

To use a Circulation Group, from the Circulation window, type CG, and then <Enter>; this will display a list of all the available Circulation Groups to choose from.

Circulation Groups Selection window.

In the Circulation window, a new field called Group will appear. The Group field displays the Circulation Group Code. All items that are checked out will be assigned this Circulation Group.

To clear the Circulation window of the current Circulation Group, type CG and then <Enter> in the Command Line of the Circulation window. Unlike many of the circulation modes and commands, the selected Circulation Group will not terminate if the circulation mode is changed or if a period “.” is entered in the Command Line. Circulation Groups are assigned only on check out. Items scanned in other modes, such as bookdrop, inventory, or statistics mode will not inherit the Circulation Group. The selected Circulation Group will persist from mode to mode for convenience. This enables the user to check items in or perform inventory and then continue checking items out with the selected Circulation Group.

To remove the Circulation Group from an item, bookdrop the item or check it out to another patron while another Circulation Group or no Circulation Group is selected. The current Circulation Group assignment is stored with the transaction and only persists as long as the item is still checked out to the patron.

To change the Circulation Group that an item is listed under without checking the item in, type CN into the Command Line of the Circulation window and choose the new Circulation Group. All items that are scanned while in this mode will be assigned to the new Circulation Group. To exit this mode, type a period “.” and then <Enter> in the Command Line.

Reporting

Because Circulation Groups are assigned at check out, only Circulation Reports will have Circulation Group sorting and selection options.

The Loaned Items report is a perfect example of a Circulation Report that can use Circulation Groups to bring up specific transactions.

To run a Loaned Items report for a specific Circulation Group, go to Reports and then Circulation Reports. Loaned Items is the first report under Report Name. Choose Circulation Group Code under the Select By menu to print a report for a single Circulation Group or a range of Circulation Groups.

Circulation Reports – Loan Items selected by Circulation Group Code.

To print a list of all loaned items divided by Circulation Groups, run the same report but select by All Transactions and Sort by Circulation Group Code.

Circulation Reports – Loan Items selected by Circulation Group Code

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT CIRCULATION GROUPS, PLEASE CONTACT TECHNICAL SUPPORT AT 1-800-347-4942 OR WRITE SUPPORT@COMPANIONCORP.COM