Rules

Rules are the basis of the library’s handling of circulation, both via the staff interface (Quria) and in the public portal (such as Arena). Using the predefined rules, you can make detailed settings regarding loan periods, overdue fees, routines for reminders, patron blocks, the maximum number of loans etc.

You find and configure rules under Configuration/Settings/Circulation and notifications/Rules.

Users with access to the Configuration section can view and edit rules.

It is common to configure rules on account level in order to let all branches use the same set of rules. But exceptions from the general rules can also be set on authority and branch levels.

Examples of variables that can be used in rules: manifestation type, item type, patron category and age group.

Possible settings vary between different kinds of rules, but all rule settings are constructed using a unit and a value. Sometimes you enter Yes or No, for example if it should be allowed to renew an reserved item, sometimes you need to enter a number, such as the number of days an item may be borrowed or the maximum number of reservations that a patron may make. Using the Currency unit, you can, for example, define the overdue charge per day.

All rules can be set to always apply or only during a particular period.

A rule can apply to anything from the entire consortium (all accounts, authorities and branches in the consortium) to a branch, and when rules conflict:

• The rule lowest in the organization hierarchy has the highest rank.
• The more specific a rule, the higher rank.

For all rules, the organisation must be selected, and when the rules are processed, the organisation has different meanings. For example, when doing a checkout, the rule is based on the current session organisation: to which branch the user has signed in. But when a renewal is done, it is the branch where the item was checked out that determines what rule should apply.

Example - no overdue fee during a limited period of time

The library wants to run a promotion to get overdue books back and decides that no overdue fees should be generated for any items that are checked in during a particular period of time. Use the Overdue fee rule and enter 0 as a fixed charge, and define the period of time when it should be free of charge to check in items.

The more specific a rule is, the higher up in the window it will be positioned. The rules are checked top to bottom.

Organisational level: A rule that applies to a branch is ranked higher than a rule for an account. This means that you can have a general rule that applies to all branches within the account and just enter exceptions for one or some branches. Organisation is a mandatory variable.

Other variables: A rule for an Item type is ranked higher than a rule for a Patron category. This means that a setting to the left of another setting is controlling - an organisational setting is higher ranked than a a setting for a patron category, that is higher ranked than a setting for an item type, that is higher ranked than a setting for age group, and so on.

The most controlling rule is automatically positioned at the top of the window, followed by the second most controlling, and so on.

Example - different number of items allowed to be checked out, depending on item type, patron category and organisation

The municipality has a general rule to allow each patron to borrow a maximum of 100 items, except films, where only 5 are allowed. School staff that check out items as part of their job are allowed 200 items, except films, where the same rule as for everyone else applies (5). One of the branches in the municipality is a library integrated in a school, in order to serve the students and staff of the school. At this branch, the school staff are allowed 500 items and a maximum of 10 films.

Note:

Depending on what and in which order the patron borrows different types of items, the total may vary. A recommendation is to be as general as possible if the total is of importance. In this example, the staff at the integrated school library may check out 510 items if they first borrow 500 items that are not of the item type film and after that 10 films. But if they first check out 10 films, then they can only check out 490 items more = a total of 500.

Regel: Maximum number of loans per patron

Organisation	Patron category	Item type	Age group	Value
Integrated school library branch	School staff	Film	*	10
Integrated school library branch	School staff	*	*	500
Account X	School staff	Film	*	5
Account X	School staff	*	*	200
Account X	*	Film	*	5
Account X	*	*	*	100

Please note that this is only a selection of the variables available when configuring rules.

Note:
There is a delay of a maximum of 5 minutes for any rule that is added, changed or deleted to have impact.

Rules overview

The following rules can be configured in Quria.

Some of the rules are already configured at installation, with a default value (listed in the Default setting column). You find detailed examples for some of the rules by clicking the link next to the rule.

Rule type	Descriptor	Comment	Unit	Default setting	Organisation selection is based on
Circulation control	Check-in of items with bill	Determines if an item with bill can be checked in. If no setting is made for this rule, check-in is allowed. Recommended to be configured on Account level or higher.	Yes/No	Yes	Current session organisation
	Checkout	Determines if an item can be checked out. The item types in the system is the basis for these rule settings. See also: Checkout	Yes/No	Yes	Current session organisation
	Enable debt reminder	Enables usage of debt reminders. See also: Enable debt reminder	Yes/No	-	The organisation where the debt was created
	Enable overdue reminder	Determines if the overdue reminder set under Levels should be used. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Enable overdue reminder	Yes/No	Yes	Checkout branch
	Enable overdue warning	Determines if overdue warning should be sent. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Enable overdue warning	Yes/No	-	Checkout branch
	Enable reservation notice	Determines if reservation notice should be sent. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Enable reservation notice	Yes/No	-	Pick-up branch
	Renewal	Determines if an item can be renewed. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Renewal	Yes/No	Yes	Checkout branch
	Renewal of overdue item	Determines if an overdue item can be renewed. Do not set on Workplace level.	Yes/No	Yes	Checkout branch
	Renewal of reserved item	Determines if a reserved item can be renewed. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Minimum number of reservations to count as queue as these rules are related	Yes/No	Yes	Checkout branch
Counts	Maximum number of loans per patron	Maximum number of loans that a patron can have. See also: Maximum number of loans per patron	Number	-	Current session organisation
	Maximum number of renewals per loan	Maximum number of renewals that can be made for a loan	Number	-	Checkout branch
	Maximum number of reservations per patron	Maximum number of reservations a patron can have. Do not set on Workplace level.	Number	-	Current session organisation
	Maximum number of reservations per title	Maximum number of reservations that can be made per patron for a title. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Maximum number of reservations per title	Number	-	Current session organisation
	Minimum number of reservations to count as queue	Condition for something that happens when there is a certain number of reservations waiting for an item, can be used for example to trigger a shorter renewal period. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Minimum number of reservations to count as queue	Number	-	Checkout branch
	Minimum total amount for debt reminder	The minimum debt amount to trigger debt reminders. Recommended to be configured on Account level or higher. See also: Minimum total amount for debt reminder	Currency	-	The organisation where the debt was created
General charges	Maximum overdue fee per item	Limitation of the maximum overdue fine per item. See also: Maximum overdue fee per item	Currency	-	Checkout branch
	Debt reminder fee	An administrative fee for debt reminders. To be set per reminder level. See also: Debt reminder fee	Currency	-	The organisation where the debt was created
	Overdue warning fee	An administrative fee for overdue warnings. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Overdue warning fee	Currency	-	Checkout branch
	Overdue reminder fee	An administrative fee for overdue reminders. To be set per reminder level. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Overdue reminder fee	Currency	-	Checkout branch
	Overdue reminder fee per item	Makes it possible to charge patrons specifically for individual items on the reminder. To be set per reminder level. Do not set on Workplace level.	Currency	-	Checkout branch
	Reservation notice fee	Reservation notice fee, generated as the reservation notice is sent from Quria to the patron. Do not set on Workplace level.	Currency	-	Pick-up branch
	Reservation fee	Reservation fee, generated as the reservation is created. Do not set on Workplace level.	Currency	-	Current session organisation
	Fee for reservations not picked up	Makes it possible to charge a fee when patrons do not pick up reservations. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Fee for reservations not picked up	Currency	-	Pick-up branch
Patron control	Debt amount block	Debt amount that will automatically cause a patron to be blocked. See also: Debt amount block	Currency	-	Current session organisation
	Debt reminder block	An automatic block that is generated at a certain level of debt reminder. To be set per reminder level. See also: Debt reminder block	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation
	Notification block	Blocks patron on overdue reminders and bills. To be set per reminder level. See also: Notification block	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation
	Guarantor required	Determines if a patron requires a guarantor. Recommended to be configured on Account level or higher. Do not set on Workplace level.	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation
	Block patron after age transition	Blocks patron when age group transition occurs. Recommended to be configured on Account level or higher. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Age group transition	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation
	Send email for age transition	Sends email based on Age group transition message text to patron when age group transition occurs. Recommended to be configured on Account level or higher. Do not set on Workplace level.	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation
	Enable Membership expiry warning	Sends notifications to patrons whose memberships are about to expire. The rule should only be set on account level. See also Patron memberships	Yes/No	-	-	Current session organisation
	Enable Open Library access	Can be used e.g. if a all patrons belonging to a specific patron category and/or age group should get automatic access to Open library. Can be setup on branch, authority and account level. Any specific open library setting on patron accounts will override the rules. Note: this rule is only taken into account if there are branches marked as Open library branch.	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation
	Membership required	Can be set for patron categories and ages groups. The rule should only bet set on account level. See also Patron memberships	Yes / No	-	Current session organisation
Period charges	Hire charge	Hire charge rule, can be set to for example 10:- per day, 50:- per week, or a fixed charge. The hire charge rule is used both for checkout and renewal.	Currency	-	Checkouts: current session organisation, renewals: checkout branch
	Overdue fee	Overdue fee rule. A period can be set so that the fee can differ depending on the length of the delay, or a fixed charge. See also: Examples - overdue fees	Currency	-	Checkout branch
Periods	Adjustment of due date because of closure	Period to add to due date if the due date is a date when the library is closed in the calendar (not a normal closed day). See also: Adjustment of due date because of closure	Date period	-	Checkouts: current session organisation, renewals: checkout branch
	Loan period	Loan period for a normal checkout See also: Loan period	Date period	28 days	Checkout branch
	Loan period for reserved items	Loan period for a checkout of an item that is reserved by someone else. This rule is related to settings for the Minimum number of reservations to count as queue rule.	Date period	-	Checkout branch
	Debt reminder period	Period for Debt reminder level. To be set per reminder level. See also: Debt reminder period	Date period	-	The organisation where the debt was created
	Overdue grace period	A grace period that can be set to delay fine generation. See also: Overdue grace period	Date period	-	Checkout branch
	Overdue reminder	Period for when an overdue reminder should be sent. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Overdue reminder	Date period	-	Checkout branch
	Overdue warning	Determines how many days before due date an overdue warning will be sent to the patron. Do not set on Workplace level. See also: Overdue warning	Date period	-	Checkout branch
	Renewal period	Normal renewal period. If this is not set, the Loan period will be used.	Date period	-	Checkout branch
	Renewal period for reserved item	Renewal period for reserved items. If this is not set, the Loan period will be used. See also: Minimum number of reservations to count as queue	Date period	-	Checkout branch
	Validity period for reservations	How many days a reservation is considered to be active. Do not set on Workplace level.	Date period	365 days	Current session organisation
	Number of days on reservation shelf	How many days an item should stay on the reservation shelf	Date period	8 days	Current session organisation
Reservation control	Already on loan to the patron	Controls if a reservation can be placed when the patron already has a copy on loan. Do not set on Workplace level.	Yes/No	Yes	Current session organisation
	Item on shelf	Determines if reservations are allowed if there is a copy on the shelf at the pick-up location. Only applies to Arena.	Yes/No	Yes	Current session organisation
	Item reservable	Controls if an item can be reserved by the patron. Do not set on Workplace level.	Yes/No	Yes	Owning branch
	Item trappable	Defines if items should be able to trap reservations or not. See also: Item trappable	Yes/No	Yes	Owning branch
Self-service control	Checkout	Determines if an item can be checked out on a self-service machine. See also: Checkout Used only by SIP2 self-service machines.	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation
	Check-in	Determines if an item can be checked in on a self-service machine. Used only by SIP2 self-service machines. See also: Check-in	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation
	Check-in of items with bill	Determines if an item with bill can be checked in. The corresponding rule for Circulation control is also checked, so if it is generally not allowed to check in an item on a bill then it will also stop the self-service check-in. Used only by SIP2 self-service machines.	Yes/No	Yes	Current session organisation
	Renewal	Determines if an item can be renewed out on a self-service machine. Used by SIP2 self-service machines and by Arena. See also: Renewal	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation
	Magnetic	Determines if an item is sensitive to magnetic pulses. Only applicable if magnetic equipment is used. Used only by SIP2 self-service machines.	Yes/No	-	Current session organisation

Extra settings for the rule

At the bottom of many rules there is a section for Extra settings for the rule. There may be rule-specific extra settings such as preventing that reminders are sent to patrons via SMS.

Default message

In several places, you can add a default message. This message is displayed along with the patron details in the circulation windows. You only enter a text here when you want to show a different message than the pre-defined message. It is recommended to first start using Quria to evaluate if there is any reason to use something other than the pre-defined messages.