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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>
9 <li>same library, same patron type, same item type</li>
10 <li>same library, same patron type, all item type</li>
11 <li>same library, all patron types, same item type</li>
12 <li>same library, all patron types, all item types</li>
13 <li>all libraries, same patron type, same item type</li>
14 <li>all libraries, same patron type, all item types</li>
15 <li>all libraries, all patron types, same item type</li>
16 <li>all libraries, all patron types, all item types</li>
19 <p style="background-color: #ffe599;">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>
21 <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>
23 <h2>Default Circulation Rules</h2>
25 <p>Using the issuing rules matrix you can define rules that depend on patron/item type combos. 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>
27 <p>From the matrix you can choose any combination of patron categories and item types to apply the rules to</p>
29 <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>
30 <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>
31 <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>
32 <li>Define the period of time and item can be checked out to a patron by entering the number of days in the 'Loan Period' box.</li>
33 <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 all items of the type defined are due on, before or after the date you specify.</li>
34 <li>'Fine Amount' should have the amount you would like to charge for overdue items</li>
36 <li>Important
Enter only numbers and decimal points (no currency symbols).</li>
38 <li>The 'Fine Grace Period' is the period of time an item can be overdue before you start charging fines.</li>
39 <li>Enter the 'Fine Charging Interval' in days (ex. charge fines every 1 day, or every 2 days)</li>
40 <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</li>
41 <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>
42 <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>
43 <li>Finally, if you charge a rental fee for 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>
46 <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>
48 <p>To save time you can clone rules from one library to another by choosing the clone option above the rules matrix.</p>
50 <p>After choosing to clone you will be presented with a confirmation message.</p>
52 <h2>Default Checkouts and Hold Policy</h2>
54 <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>
56 <p>From this menu you can set a default to apply to all item types and patrons in the library.</p>
58 <li>In 'Total Current Checkouts Allowed' enter the total number of items patrons can have checked out at one time</li>
59 <li>Control where patrons can place holds from using the 'Hold Policy' menu</li>
61 <li>From Any Library: Patrons from any library may put this item on hold. (default if none is defined)</li>
62 <li>From Home Library: Only patrons from the item's home library may put this book on hold.</li>
63 <li>No Holds Allowed: No patron may put this book on hold.</li>
65 <li>Once your policy is set, you can unset it by clicking the 'Unset' link to the right of the rule</li>
67 <h2>Checkouts Per Patron</h2>
69 <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>
71 <p style="background-color: #ffe599;">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>
73 <h2>Item Hold Policies</h2>
75 <p>For this library, you can edit rules for given itemtypes, regardless of the patron's category. Currently, this means hold policies.</p>
77 <p>The various policies have the following effects:</p>
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 <p style="color: #990000;">Important: Note that if the system preference AllowHoldPolicyOverride set to 'allow', these policies can be overridden by your circulation staff.</p>
86 <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>
88 <p><strong>See the full documentation for Circulation and Fine Rules in the <a href="http://manual.koha-community.org/3.6/en/patscirc.html#circfinerules">manual</a> (online).</strong></p>
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