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Agenda

9h30 - 10h15

Introduction

10h15 - 11h15

Staff client

11h15 - 11h45

Catalogue

12h15 - 13h30

Cataloguing

13h30 - 15h00

Circulation

15h00 - 16h00

Administration / reporting

Introduction to Conifer

Conifer communication processes

Evergreen General mailing list

Conifer Discussion mailing list

Conifer ticket system

Reporting critical problems directly

Staff client

Staff client permissions

Staff client exercise 1: choosing language

The staff client remembers your preferred language from the last time you logged on. The default language is "English".

  1. Start the staff client by clicking on the Evergreen icon
  2. Change to your preferred language:
    1. From the Localisation drop-down, select your preferred language
    2. Click Appliquer localisation. The interface should change to your preferred language.

Note that there are sections of the staff client that have not yet been translated. The translations are performed on a volunteer basis at http://translations.launchpad.net/evergreen if you want to contribute; most of the Canadian French translation was contributed by Natural Resources Canada.

Staff client library locations

Each Collège Boréal library has a short name and a full name. You will see the short name used throughout the staff client. The mapping for Collège Boréal is as follows:

Short name Full name

BOREALSYS

Collège Boréal

HEBOREAL

Collège Boréal - Hearst

KABOREAL

Collège Boréal - Kapuskasing

NLBOREAL

Collège Boréal - New Liskeard

NPBOREAL

Collège Boréal - Nipissing

OSBO

Collège Boréal - Sudbury

TIBOREAL

Collège Boréal - Timmins

TO22COLBOREAL

Collège Boréal - Toronto (22 College)

TOCARBOREAL

Collège Boréal - Toronto (Carlaw)

Staff client exercise 2: registration

  1. Enter the hostname for your Conifer server in the Nom d’hôte box:
    • Test and training server: boreal-test.concat.ca
    • Production server: boreal.concat.ca
  2. (Test server only): You will be warned that the client certificate has expired.
    1. Close the warning window.
    2. Click the Ajouter une exception SSL button. The Add Security Exception window opens.
    3. Click the Confirm Security Exception button. The Add Security Exception window closes and you can proceed with logging in.
  3. Enter your username and password:
    • Nom d’utilisateur:
    • Mot de passe:
  4. You will be prompted to enter a workstation name. Enter something unique, such as your username and a digit, and click Inscrire.
  5. If you have successfully registered your workstation, you will be prompted to enter your username and password one more time.

Staff client exercise 3: tabs and windows

You can open multiple windows simultaneously.

You can have multiple tabs open in each window.

  1. Open a new window. After logging in, click File → New window or click CTRL-n
  2. Change your current tab to the Search for Patrons interface:
    1. Click Search → Recherche des clients or press F4
  3. To keep your patron search running while you search for a book for a different patron, open a new tab in the window.
    1. Click File → New tab or press CTRL-t
    2. Click Search → Rechercher dans le catalogue or press F3
  4. To switch to a different tab, click on it, or press the ALT-# hotkey
  5. To close the tab that you currently have open, click the red X on the right-hand side of the window.

Staff client exercise 4: Changing the operator

The catalogue

Searching the catalogue

Retrieving an item

Collège Boréal - Sudbury - LB1140.2 .R7 1995 - collection générale (Disponible)

Requesting an item

Making lists (manipulating bookbags)

Managing your account

Cataloguing

Cataloguing concepts

Exercise 1: Add a call number and copy to an existing record

  1. In the staff client, search the catalogue and find a candidate record that you might add holdings to for Collège Boréal (suggestion: search for education curriculum in Sujet). Records for which your library has no holdings display with a grey background.
  2. To display the details of a record, click on its title in the search results. The Compte du bibliotheque window displays.
  3. To add a copy to the record, click Actions pour cet enregistrement → Ajouter des volumes. The Add Volume/Item window displays.
    1. Enter the number of volumes (call numbers) to add in the Nombre de volumes box.
    2. For each volume, enter the call number in the Cote box. (For records that have an appropriate call number defined in the record, you can click the Appliquer button).
    3. Enter the number of copies to add in the Nombre d’exemplaires box.
    4. For each copy, enter the barcode. Write down the barcode - we will use it in subsequent exercises.
  4. When you have entered all barcodes for all copies, you can click the Create with defaults button to immediately create the copies with the default status (En traitement), shelving location, circulation modifier, price, and the like. Most sites click Edit then create to adjust the shelving location and circulation modifier.
  5. If you chose Edit then create, then you must click Modify/create copies to create the copies, or your copies will not be created.
  6. Click Reload in the Compte du bibliotheque window to show the copies that you just added.

Exercise 2: Making a copy visible in the system

Now that you have added the copy to the record, search for the record again in the catalogue in a browser. You might notice that the copy is not visible in the regular catalogue; this is because, by default, the copy is set to the status En traitement which is not a visible status.

Once cataloguing finishes their work with the copy, it is normally checked in at the circulation desk. Checking in the copy sets the status of the copy to Remise des documents sur les rayons - a status which makes the copy visible in the catalogue. This status automatically changes to Disponible after a configurable interval. The default interval is 4 hours.

  1. Open a new tab in the staff client. From the main menu, select Circulation → Check in items. The tab changes to the Entrée des articles window.
  2. Type in the barcode for one of the copies you just added. A summary of the copy should be displayed in the table.
  3. Display the status of the item by changing the attributes that are displayed in the table.
    1. Click the column picker (small square) in the top right corner of the copy table. A list of copy attributes displays.
    2. Select the Statut entry from the list of copy attributes. The Statut column is added to the table, showing the status of the copy that you checked in.
    3. Change the width of the columns by dragging the bars on the headers of the table left and right. Remove the Bill # column by using the column picker.
  4. If you like the new configuration of the table, click Actions relatives à la liste → Enregistrer la configuration de la liste on the bottom left corner of the window to save the configuration.
  5. Refresh the catalogue to ensure the copy is now visible.

Exercise 3: Modifying existing holdings for your library

Copies and call numbers together are often referred to as holdings. Evergreen includes an interface for modifying existing holdings on a given record, including adding, editing, and deleting copies and call numbers.

  1. In the staff client, search the catalogue and find a record for which Collège Boréal already has holdings (suggestion: search for education sante).
  2. Display the record details by clicking on the record title.
  3. Enter the holdings maintenance interface by clicking Actions pour cet enregistrement → Tenue à jour des articles mis en réserve. The Tenue à jour du fonds documentaire panel displays.
  4. The default display shows the list of parent libraries down to the library your workstation is registered with, along with the number of volumes and the number of copies held at each library.
    • To display the volumes by default, click Afficher les volumes
    • To display the copies by default, click Afficher les exemplaires
    • To display all copies for all libraries in the Collège Boréal system, change OSBO to BOREALSYS.
    • NOTE: These changes do not take effect until the next record you display
  5. To edit a call number label, click a volume to select it, then right-click on the volume or click Actions pour les rangées and select Modifier les volumes to edit the call number label.
  6. To print a spine label, click on a copy to select it, then right-click on the copy or click Actions pour les rangées and select Imprimer l'étiquette au dos de reliure des articles. The Étiquette au dos de la reliure window opens. NOTE: You must set up your spine label printer as the default printer on the workstation and adjust the printer settings for the spine label.

This screen offers many other actions, such as transferring copies to a different call number, deleting copies and volumes, and marking copies as lost or damaged.

Exercise 4: Adding a new record by Z39.50 import

If you can not find an existing record in Conifer for one of your items, you can try copy cataloguing - using the Z39.50 service to search for a matching record at other libraries across the world.

  1. Open a new tab in the staff client. From the main menu, select Catalogage → Importer le compte de Z39.50
  2. In the Service et justificatifs d’identité panel, select McGill University.
    • Some services have options for user names and passwords: in some cases, authentication is required to get any results; in others, such as AMICUS, an authenticated user gets results with full records.
    • You can search multiple services at once, but searching takes longer and you will see fewer results per service.
  3. In the Titre box, enter education sante and press <Enter> to submit the search.
  4. Highlight one of the results from the Résultats box.
    1. Click Affichage MARC to view the MARC record and decide if you want to import it
    2. Click Éditeur du MARC pour l'Împortation to open the MARC record in a MARC editor. The MARC Editor window opens.
  5. Click Import Record to import the record into Conifer. The Comptes de bibliothèque window opens; from here you can add volumes and copies as normal.

Exercise 5: Replacing a barcode

Occasionally a barcode becomes damaged or falls off and needs to be replaced. In addition to the Holdings Maintenance screen, Evergreen offers a quick way of replacing an existing barcode for an item.

  1. From the main menu, select Catalogage → Remplacer le code à barres. The barcode replacement dialogue opens.
  2. Enter the old barcode in the dialogue.
  3. Enter the new barcode in the dialogue. Write down the new barcode - we will use it in subsequent exercises.
  4. Verify that the barcode has been changed. Retrieve the item using the Afficher l’article window, either by selecting Catalogage → Afficher l’article or pressing F5, then entering the barcode.

NOTE: You can use either the keyboard or a barcode scanner to enter barcodes anywhere in the staff client.

Circulation overview

Exercise 1: Creating a patron account

  1. From the main menu, select Circulation → Register patron. The Inscrire le client window opens.
  2. Enter the required information. If you leave the password at the default 4-digit value, the patron will be forced to change their password to something more secure the first time they log into their account.
    • This is on purpose; we hand the patron their new card, tell them their 4-digit password, and ask them to immediately log onto a public terminal and change their password to something containing at least 1 digit, 1 letter, and at least 7 characters long.
    • You can click the Show only required fields link to hide the optional values.
    • An address is not mandatory; you can click the X to delete the address fields from the registration from
    • The Home Library field defaults to the library with which you registered your staff client workstation.
  3. Click the Save button when you have completed entering the data for the new patron. The form resets, ready to register another patron.

Exercise 2: Searching for a patron

Objective: Explore the ways you can search for and retrieve a patron record.

  1. From the main menu, select Search → Rechercher des client. The Recherche de client window opens.
  2. Enter one or more search terms. For example, in the Nom de famille field, enter boreal. Notice that the patron search fields are insensitive to case, as the family name being displayed is Boreal.
    1. Clear the search fields.
    2. In the Prénom field, enter test. Notice that 3 records are now retrieved, one with a family name of Boréal. The patron search does distinguish between letters with and without accents.
    3. Clear the search fields again.
    4. In the Nom de famille field, enter bor. Notice that 3 records are retrieved. The patron search matches anything starting from the left-hand side.
  3. Select the patron record you want to retrieve. A summary of the patron information displays on the left-hand pane as you highlight each patron.
  4. To retrieve the full patron record, click Récupérer un client. The Client window opens.

Searching for patrons from other campuses

Exercise 2: Opt a patron into your library

Objective: Confirm that patron opt-in works

  1. Search for a patron in the normal patron search interface using the user name (in the OPAC Login field) boreal. You should see the 3 staff training accounts.
  2. Use the opt-in process to pretend that a patron from a different Collège Boréal library has walked into your library and is interested in borrowing a book.
  3. From the main menu, search for the patron by barcode by selecting Search → Rechercher des clients par code à barres or press F1.
  4. Enter the barcode that your instructor gives you. The Confirmation de l’acceptation du client ou de la bibliothèque dialogue opens.
  5. Click Acceptation to confirm that the client wishes to opt-in to sharing their account information at this library.
  6. Confirm that the patron can now be found via the normal patron search interface.

Exercise 3: Checking out an item to a patron

When you loan an item to a patron, the checkout interface is within their patron record.

  1. Retrieve the record for the patron that you just opted into your library in the last exercise. Use any patron search method you like to display the patron record.
  2. Unless an alert message has been added to the patron record, the display defaults to the Sortie tab of the patron record, with the focus automatically in the Code a barres field.
  3. Scan the item barcode or enter it by hand. Use the barcode that you created during the cataloguing exercises.
    • NOTE: There is currently a bug that a dialogue will open stating that the name of the status could not be retrieved. You can click Oui to override the warning.
  4. The item due date and title are displayed in the Sortie table. The due date is automatically calculated based on the rules for your library for the combination of patron type (student or staff), circulation modifier on the copy attributes, and many other factors.
  5. Once you check out all of the items to the patron, you have the option of printing a receipt for them by clicking the Imprimer le reçu button.

Exercise 4: Setting a specific due date

To override the due date that will be set by the circulation rules for your library, you can set a specific due date as follows:

  1. As in the last exercise, retrieve the patron record.
  2. Check the Specific due date box on the top right corner of the Sortie panel.
  3. Select the specific date and time that the item will be due.
    • TIP: You can invoke a calendar widget to set the date by clicking the down-arrow to the right of the date field.
  4. Check out an item and confirm that the due date is what you set.

NOTE Once you have finished overriding the due date, do not forget to clear the Specific due date box or subsequent check outs will set the same due date.

Exercise 5: Checking in items

To check in items, perform the following steps:

  1. From the main menu, select Circulation → Check in items or press F2. The Entrer ou traiter un article window opens with focus automatically set to the Entrer le code à barres field.
  2. Scan the barcode of the returned item. Information about the last transaction for the item displays in the Entrée table.

You can set a number of options that affect the check-in operation:

Exercise 7: Creating a bill for a patron

Most bills in Evergreen are generated automatically by overdues, or as a result of an item being marked damaged or lost. However, it is possible to manually create a bill for a given patron.

  1. Retrieve a patron, as in previous exercises.
  2. Click the Factures tab of the patron record. The Factures panel displays.
  3. Create a bill by clicking the Facturer le client button on the left-hand side of the panel. The Assistant de la facturation du client window displays.
  4. Select the type of transaction from the Type de transaction list. The only option is Épicerie.
  5. Select the type of bill from the Type de facturation list. The list of options reflects Conifer’s history and needs to be rationalized.
  6. Enter the amount of the bill in the Montant field.
  7. Enter details about the bill in the Note field.
  8. To save the bill, click the Transmettre cette facture button. The Assistant de la facturation du client window closes and the Factures panel shows the updated total bills owed by the patron.

Exercise 8: Recording a payment for a bill from a patron

  1. Retrieve the patron, as in previous exercises.
  2. Click the Factures tab of the patron record. The Factures panel displays.
  3. Select the bill to which you want to apply a payment.
  4. Select the type of payment from the Type de paiement list.
    • Note that Pardonner is one of the options. We have found the Forgive payment is a better way of clearing fines that we want to go away than voiding fines entirely.
  5. Enter the amount of the payment in the Payment received field.
  6. Click Appliquer le paiement!

Note that a bug on the test server means that the result of the payment is not visible on the patron record until you completely reload the patron record. Not even the Actualiser button works.

Bill payments can get very complex and very difficult to untangle problems, so while there are options like automatically splitting a payment over multiple bills, I recommend keeping things as simple as possible and paying only a single bill at a time, or paying the complete set of bills at once. Partial payments can get very complex.