Cataloging - Policy Lists

Cataloging - Policy Lists

About

This article lists all the Symphony policies that are currently available for members' use in drop-down menus within the WorkFlows Cataloging Module. The article also defines the purpose of each Policy Type 

Item Type

Item Types describe a segment of your library’s collection that all need to circulate in the same way. Historically, Item type policy names were used to designate the items' physical format. That information has been shifted to a statistical field and descriptive item types now indicate how an item behaves for circulation.

Item Type Configuration Controls:
  1. how items circulate in conjunction with Circulation Rules and Circulation map.
    1. circulating or non-circulating
    2. checkout length
    3. renewable and number of renewals
    4. limits to the number of items of that type that can be checked out at once
  2. whether an item can be trapped to fill a hold.

Home Location

Home Location designates the general shelf location of material. Historically, home locations were used to designate the area of the library where an item is shelved or stored, as well as genre. That information has been shifted to a call number fields and statistical fields and descriptive home locations have been streamlined to cover the various configuration options.

Home Location Configuration Controls:
  1. holdability - whether holds can be placed in conjunction with the Item Type and Holds Map.
  2. availability - if an item will show as available to trap a hold in the onshelf hold wizard or upon check-in.
  3. visibility - if an item displays in the OPAC (shadowed/unshadowed). 

Item Categories General Information

Item Categories are used for statistical tracking and other collection management needs. Item categories do not affect or govern any system functions. Each of the 5 item categories has its own parameters, with additional options for the school, academic and special member libraries. Item categories are not intended to replace subject headings or other fields in the bibliographic record or for patron searches in the online catalog.

Item Category 1

Item Category 1 is a purely statistical field. It designates the material's physical format.

Item Category 2

Item Category 2 is a purely statistical field. It designates the material's audience level.

Item Category 3

Item Category 3 is a purely statistical field. It designates the material's genre.

Item Category 4

Item Category 4 is a purely statistical field. It designates the material's ratings, levels, and specifies holiday (if 'holiday' is selected in Item Category 3).

Item Category 5

Item Category 5 is a purely statistical field. It designates the material's origin, fund, or vendor.

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