1+OPALS+Questions+for+Training

Use this page to start a list of questions for our training sessions on November 9 and 30.

1. Can we make a circulation note? (For example, when a student checks out a Playaway: "This item costs $75.00. You are responsible for this amount if you lose or damage it." If not, is this on the "upgrade" list?

2. Please review Barcode Range and Book Reserves.

3. Is there a way to add a field into a template? For example, I'd like an 852x to come up each time reading LMS Library Budget.

4. Can the description for the icon for audio books on tape, CD and MP3 download be changed from book on tape to Audiobooks?

5. I have 4 new students starting and have to make barcode labels for them. They are all in different grades and teachers. I know I can sort by teacher, homeroom, etc. If all those sorting fields are different, how do I do one list with the 4 of them instead of having to do 4 separate printings?

6. With Follet, the search results was ordered by fiction/non-fiction....all the E's together, the FIC's together, then the dewey numbers. That was one of my frustrations today. Trying to get a nonfiction book about spaceships and having to scroll through fiction and non-fiction that was all jumbled together. Maybe there's a way around that? Also, can the titles be arranged in alphabetical order?

7. What is 'Print Dymo 450 Spine Label'?

8. Which field do we use to be able to search series? 440? 490? 830?

9. How do we put in a circulation note? (For example, "this book is for mature readers.")

10. Is there a way to sort the results (author, call number) when searching for material? I know that we can do this if we're printing out a list, but we would like to see the results differently.

11. There is a conveniently different sound when attempting to check out more than 3 books. (We have set a 3 book limit). But there is no sound when attempting to check out a book when a patron already has an overdue. Can this "different sound" be added to the overdue message in patron loans? It acts as a warning and we need the warning for overdues also.EM

12. Opals circ hung up with a sheer grey screen for 7 minutes this morning after a routine patron loan. We had to close the program and log back in. Then it worked fine. This happens nearly every day at some point. Is there a way to get back into the program without logging out?EM

13. When a book is returned successfully, there is a message printed in yellow - hard to see. Can the print be changed to black?EM

14. I have books that cannot be found in our ASM catalog, using any type search (Title begins with, author, barcode, ISBN). But the same search of the Arlington Schools Libraries shows the book, with a copy at aasm! How can I get to the MARC record so I can re-catalog it? LAM

15. After adding the lastest issue of a periodical to its MARC record, I attempted to save the edited record. I got a message saying something to the effect that the request had been aborted because a tag was missing. Then the entire record disappeared, along with the 24 copies in separate 852 tags! This happened on two separate occasions. What did I do wrong???? LAM

16. I am having difficulty using the standard search to find books that I know we have in our collection. Would it be possible to review each type of search and possibly, which tag(s) will be searched? LAM

17. I want to send my collection to Follett for analysis in Titlewave. How do I do this with OPALS? KA

18.What is the barcode symbology for our opals barcodes? This is a question on the Follett Titlewave cataloging and processing specs. It was code 39 with the Follett barcodes.EM

19. When checking on the status of an item, can the information be found by title instead of barcode? KO

20. A basic cataloging question- what is the difference between 852 k Call # Prefix (R) versus 852 h Classification part (NR)? Does FIC belong in k or h? LOC puts "fic" in h. What do (R) and (NR) stand for? LAM

21. I have books in my collection that I can't find using any search type. But they do show up in a search of Arlington Schools' Libraries, for my building! How can I get to their MARC records? LAM

22. I know there's a way to do a quick item entry, but how do I create a full MARC record, if necessary? How does the template work?

23. How do we add e-books to our MARC records?

24. Is there an acquisition date anywhere? How do I know when a book was acquired and who the vendor is? KF

25. Is there a way to save the notice for damaged and overdue books that are sent home to eliminate retyping the notices every time we send a notice home? In OPAC, we were able to choose a notice that was appropriate for the status of the book. KF

26. We are unable to attach our students to their grades, which is a problem for us. Is this Arlington or OPALS?

27. I would like to change the hours on our web page, which are only in increments of 15 minutes.

New Questions since November 9

28. We need help cataloging our series reference sets. Right now we can't find volume numbers on the migrated volumes, and there are 100's of them!

29. I was glad to learn how to print a list of overdues at the training on 11/9. However, we need to print a list of overdues by grade. We have four grades here at the high school. Is there a faster way to print an overdue list of grade 12 for example without selecting each user in the box on the left side of the report? I have sorted by grade (or graduation year) but it is tedious to check each box to get an overdue report only for one grade.

30. How do we get Follett ebooks to show up in OPALS?

31.If a book is on hold for a student; it comes in ,the student decides she doesn't want it anymore, I take her name out, I do not get notification of the next person who has it on hold. Can this be changed so that I will know who has it on hold next?

32. I am getting an error when I try to use the z-import. It will not allow me to type in a title. I do get hits when I use the ISBN. Why can't I search by title? Further, some of us can search by title. Me, too! (PH/LMS)

33. I want to add an e-book marc record for a title that we have the print version also. When I clone the print marc record, I do not get a 856 tag. How do I add a tag number that is not already in the record? Opals tells me I have to select a field or subfield to add or delete, but the one I want is not there.