Our library team has been conducting inventory of our library. None of us are very familiar with Concourse and the last time inventory was done was before Covid. We have completed the nonfiction, fiction, and DVD items but still have the children's items to do. Can we finalize the inventory and come back to it later to do the children's items or should we finish the inventory before we finalize? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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  • You probably should do all first. I always have done inventory that way. I cant tell you how many times I have found books in the children section that would have been marked LOST if I had not completed. 

  • I would try to finish it all before I finalize it, if possible.   

    It's been a while since I used Concourse, but I think you can do a Full Inventory 2024 and then do subsections for each Dewey category; i.e. 2024 000s.  When the book is marked while using the 2024 000s, it will also be marked in the Full Inventory.  

    Can someone who uses Concourse verify this for me?  

    Rhonda

     

    • In Concourse you can only make one master inventory. In Atriuum, Book Systems' web-based software, you can make a Master Inventory and then individual inventories of each Item Report Class. As you mark items in the individual inventories it will also mark them in the Master Inventory. Concourse does not do that.

       

    • Thank you!

  • If you are using Concourse you can only finalize it once. If you finalize it before you finish your inventory, you will mark all the items not seen as "Lost". In Concourse you can only make one inventory. 

    When I had Concourse I printed the list of each of my Report Classes. By printing the report you can catch mistakes in your cataloging : find misspellings, if an item's call number is different than its spine label, it can help you put your books in correct order, it can help put all the titles of one author in title order (using a comma, period, or having nothing at the end of the author's name will put the list of titles out of order). 

    When you print the report class add the "Item Status" column. That will show you if the book is checked in, checked out, lost, damaged, etc. If a book is marked "Lost" and you find it on the shelf, you just found a book. 

    I hope this has helped you. 

    • Yes, thank you! Unfortunately we finalized it last week. Any advice on those books that have been marked as missing/lost after being finalized?

      • Run a statistical report on items marked LOST by filtering to the date you finalized the inventory. Make an all out effort to find these LOST books. Check all Sunday School teachers class shelves in case they borrowed and didn't sign out. Ask everyone to check at home for any books marked with your library stamp. Wait a few weeks or months to see what comes in. Nothing I dislike more than having to resented a book in database that comes in after LOST is deleted!

      • I think that you might be able to run a report that shows what items were marked lost on the day you finalized the inventory.  Then enter these numbers in a Mark Found dialog box.  I don't think Concourse has a Reclassify tool?  Allison, what do you recommend?

        • Thanks!

        • You can run a report of "Lost Items". For the ones that you know are on the shelf and are not Lost, you can go to the CheckIn window and either scan the barcode of the book, or type in the barcode number. By checking the book in, it will mark it as "Found". 

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