by Kelly McElligott on Sep 7, 2020
Jessie and Kelly talk about Lost Statuses
Lost Statuses
In a previous Monday Minutes, Jessie and Kelly talked about Authorized Values:
Monday Minutes: Authorized Values
In Koha, the Lost Status is also an Authorized Value. Koha is pre-populated with the following Lost Statuses:
Lost
Missing
Lost & Paid For
Long Overdue (Lost)
With the introduction to the new Claims Returned feature, another common Lost value that can be added is for Claimed Returned. For more information about the Claims Return Feature:
Defining Lost Statuses
Each library uses Lost Statuses a little different, but a good way to think of each status, is:
Lost- if a patron has truly lost an item.
Lost & Paid for- if a patron has lost an item and has paid for it.
Long Overdue (Lost)- when an item is so overdue, Koha can mark it Long Overdue (Lost).
Missing- when going to where the item should be in the library, it doesn't appear to be there.
System Preferences
Two important system preferences that work with Lost Statuses:
DefaultLongOverdueLostValue
DefaultLongOverdueDays
By default, set the LOST value of an item to _____ when the item has been overdue for more _____ than days.
**With the values entered into this system preference, Koha can run a script (cron) to mark an item a specific Lost Status after the item has been overdue for a specific amount of days. If a library is setting these system preferences up for the first time, the script (cron) that does this will need to be turned on. If a library changes the values in these system preferences and the cron has already been turned on, Koha will adjust the cron.
DefaultLongOverdueChargeValue
Charge a lost item to the borrower's account when the LOST value of the item changes to _____.
For libraries that would like Koha to not only mark an item Lost, but also charge the replacement price of the item to the patron, this system preference can be set. If a library would not like to charge the patron for an item when it is marked Lost, do not set this system preference.
Further Information
There are a few other factors that can go along with this Long Overdue process and the script. One of those factors is the system preference,
MarkLostItemsAsReturned
This blog post breaks down this system preference more in-depth:
New Functionality with Lost Statuses in Koha
There are other blog posts that break down more about Lost Statues and Cron Jobs here:
Deep Dive
Jessie and Kelly will be starting a new tutorial series called "Deep Dive". We will be exploring more complex areas of Koha starting in October! Keep a lookout for this new series!
Read more by Kelly McElligott