The following is a guideline for a fast and successful inventory with your Alexandria 3 Library Automation System.

Purpose of Taking Inventory

The reason for taking inventory of your collection is the same as any company or warehouse that takes inventory of its stock: you want to see what is available in your collection and what is missing. Taking inventory can also provide you the opportunity to place all your items in correct call number order on your shelves.

Alexandria assists in this process by printing copy lists, tracking physical inventory, and creating reports based on data gathered during inventory.

Getting Started

It is recommended that you review the section in the Alexandria User's Manual regarding Inventory Control. If you have a portable scanner, it is recommended that you review your documentation on that scanner. It is also recommended that you have the latest version of Alexandria installed, and that you have the latest software for any portable scanners you are using.

Alexandria performs a running inventory of items as they are checked in or out throughout the year. Any time a book is checked in or out, the inventory date is updated. The inventory date for items can also be updated by scanning the item while Alexandria is in Inventory Mode (which can be started by typing I and enter at the command line of Alexandria) or in Inventory Bookdrop Mode (which can be started by typing IB and enter at the command line). The inventory date of items scanned in these modes will be updated to today's date.

NOTE: IF YOU NEED TO QUIT INVENTORY OR INVENTORY BOOKDROP MODE, YOU CAN DO SO BY SELECTING ANOTHER MODE. YOU CAN ENTER BOOKDROP MODE BY TYPING A B AND ENTER, OR YOU CAN ENTER CHECK IN/CHECK OUT MODE BY TYPING A PERIOD (.) AND ENTER.

Check the date on your computer to ensure it is correct, otherwise your items will receive the wrong inventory date. Inventory mode updates the inventory date, while inventory bookdrop mode will check in any books that may still be checked out. Inventory bookdrop is useful if you wish to ensure that all items on your shelves are available and not still showing as checked out.

 

You can view the inventory date of any item by going to Show-Items. Find your item, and then highlight the copy in question. Click on the Items menu and then click on Modify Copy. In version 5, the inventory date will be in the lower right corner, as shown in Image 1. In version 3, the inventory date will be in the lower left hand side, as shown in Image 1.

As was mentioned previously, Alexandria keeps a running inventory; that means that there is no special set up required before scanning books into inventory or inventory bookdrop mode. That also means that you can stop inventorying books at anytime and start back up without losing anything. Circulation and other library functions can continue as normal during the inventory process.

Performing Inventory

To perform an inventory, you must scan all the books in your library. There are three methods to accomplish this task: use a portable scanner; bring the books to your Circulation Station; or bring your Circulation Station to the books.

Using a portable scanner is by far the easiest method available. A portable scanner allows you to inventory the books while they are still on the shelf — saving you time and pain. There are a variety of portable scanners and the methods of downloading information from them, and ways to import it into Alexandria also vary (and will not be covered by this document). Please refer to your scanner's documentation on how to download scanned barcodes.

NOTE: PORTABLE SCANNERS CAN FAIL FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS. ONLY SCAN AS MANY BOOKS INTO THE SCANNER BETWEEN DOWNLOADS AS YOU ARE WILLING TO LOSE, SHOULD SOMETHING GO WRONG.
NOTE: IF YOUR PORTABLE SCANNER CREATES A DOWNLOAD FILE, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU KEEP YOUR FILES UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED INVENTORY.

As mentioned earlier, Alexandria can assist you in placing your books in call number order. The Alexandria log will tell you if your books are in order, or if they need to be rearranged. In Alexandria, each book that is inventoried will appear in the log. If the item inventoried has a call number less than the previous call number, a double question mark (??) will appear in the log, indicating that the item is out of call number order. Please refer to Image 2 for an example of this. You may print the log by typing a triple plus sign (+++) and then hitting enter at the command line of Alexandria. You can use the log as a guide to see where the inconsistencies are on your bookshelves.

 

 

Inventory Reports

Once you have scanned all the books in your library or all the books in a particular call number range, you can then run inventory reports to show what is accounted for and what is still missing.

Go to Reports-Item Inventory. You will see a list of the various reports on inventory that are available. All reports require a date range to calculate inventory. If you need to limit the report by call number or policy, you can choose those options under Select by.

Since Alexandria uses a running inventory that is constantly updating, using the correct date range is important. Please be aware that as you circulate, the Inventoried Date of the circulated items updates. How the selection date affects your report results can best be demonstrated in an example. Suppose you inventory from May 10th to May 12th, and continue circulation, then run the report on May 15th with a date range of May 10th to May 12th, then all the books that had been circulated from May 13th through May 15th . They would all show as not inventoried because the Inventory Date for those circulated items falls outside the range you selected. If you want a complete inventory in this example, your range should be from May 10th to May 15th.

NOTE: TO ENSURE ACCURATE INFORMATION, IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU ALWAYS USE TODAY'S DATE AS THE ENDING DATE.