Hi All,

Since participating in the Hackfest, I'm curious about this... As with the 
attached example,  I see many instances on the General email list that a very 
busy contributor generously takes the time to give a comprehensive answer to a 
question.  Would it be beneficial simply to add the text Launchpad to insure, 
if not already present, that the information resides in the documentation to 
perhaps become a starting point to fill it in.

... or maybe that's another action item for DIG to comb the General  list 
discussions to pull out items that are useful to add... or perhaps someone has 
already done it?

June

From: open-ils-general-boun...@list.georgialibraries.org 
[mailto:open-ils-general-boun...@list.georgialibraries.org] On Behalf Of Rogan 
Hamby
Sent: Monday, December 16, 2013 2:11 PM
To: Evergreen Discussion Group
Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Question regarding circulation policies

Hi Deana,

Your question touches on the issues of weighting.  Policies are made to use 
weights as you define them under Admin -> Server Administration -> Circulation 
Matchpoint Weights.  So, if you put no weight to a given variable (user groups, 
location, circ mod, etc...) it actually won't matter at all.  When a 
circulation is invoked the variables for the circulation are compared to those 
weights and the policies that could potentially be matched are looked at to see 
which is invoked.  In case of a tie the lowest value id on in the table is 
used, IIRC.

So, it's not so much a hierarchy as a which is the best match.  Now, you could 
use weights and design your policies to create your own hierarchy (as we've 
done where each county has its own rules).  To accomplish this our circ 
libraries have a very high weight so that their rules take effect.

>From there it actually benefits the more specific not the more generic.  The 
>next part I'm in danger of not explaining well and it's been a long time since 
>I had to do so but I will try.  Let's assume that you have a structure like 
>Users -> Patrons -> Juveniles.  Technically, a Juvenile is also a User but the 
>Juvenile is more specific.  So now let's assume that you define a policy so 
>that it applies to all Users but another that specifies Juveniles (and all 
>other variables are the same) and a patron goes to checkout.  The patron is a 
>Juvenile and thus by definition a User as well.  But the Juvenile policy will 
>take effect since it's a closer match to the patron and thus will end up with 
>more weight.

Does that make more sense?  So, the more specific the better but depending on 
how you create your weights even a very specific match can be over ridden by 
something more general if you've given that other variable more weight.

On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 1:53 PM, Deana Cunningham 
<deana.cunning...@granvillecounty.org<mailto:deana.cunning...@granvillecounty.org>>
 wrote:
Hello again,

We have a mishmash of circulation policies due primarily to my ignorance when 
we suddenly went live without a circ policy in sight! I ended up creating them 
"on the fly" as they were needed, and now I have a problem with items not 
charging the correct fines. The only place I've noticed it so far is with staff 
accounts, and we are all aware that Evergreen is charging staff fines when it 
shouldn't be, so we correct them as we go. What I am more concerned about is 
the patrons, who haven't got a clue whether we are over- or undercharging them.

Anyway, my question is in regards to the hierarchy of policies. If there is a 
policy set at the "Users" level, does that policy supersede the "Patron" level 
policy? Common sense tells me that the lower level ("Patron", in this example) 
should supersede "Users", but I am just not sure.

I am also in a bit of a conundrum about how to change circ policies with items 
currently circulating. We are getting a test server set up so I can try some 
things, but I'm not ever sure how I would tell what the ramifications are 
unless I set up fake checkouts on the test server for every type of item/patron 
combination, then change the circ policies and see what impact that has on 
current checkouts. Other areas of Evergreen seem to hold with the information 
available at the time of the transaction (i.e. if a book is checked out today 
with a circ policy that says it charges .15/day late fees, then tomorrow the 
policy is changed to .10/day late fees, the item will still be charged .15/day 
as that was the rule in place when it was checked out). Am I right about this?

Thanks!

Deana

Deana Cunningham
Branch Manager, South Branch Library
1550 S. Campus Dr.
Creedmoor, NC 27522
Phone: (919) 528-1752<tel:%28919%29%20528-1752>
Fax: (919) 528-1376<tel:%28919%29%20528-1376>
deana.cunning...@granvillecounty.org<mailto:deana.cunning...@granvillecounty.org>



--

Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA
Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services,
York County Library System

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
― C.S. Lewis<http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis>
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