How to set circulation rules for parent item types
Item types are used by the fine and circulation rules to determine how many items can be checked out and by which patrons. It is possible to link item types to each other by assigning a parent item type which allows libraries greater control over limiting how many items of a particular type can be checked out. This document will outline how to set fine and circulation rules for parent item types.
Please check our Help Centre for details about item types in general or applying parent item types.
How to set circulation rules for parent item types
To view the circulation rules go to Koha administration > Patrons and circulation > Circulation and fines rules
Please note that this will open the page of standard rules for the library. These are the fallback rules used when there are no appropriate, specific rules set for individual branches. If you have questions about the format of rules on your site, please contact Interleaf Technology.
To add a rule go to the last line on the table, which will have two dropdown menus in the first two columns. The second column is the Item type column, where the item type the rule is for can be selected. The item types will appear alphabetically, with children item types appearing below the overall parent item types.
The parent item type will appear in bold as a header which cannot be selected. Directly below the bold heading the same parent item type will appear with the word (All) to the right hand side. The entry in the format of Parent Item Type (All) can be selected to set a rule to apply to the parent item type and all other item types associated with it. In this example, the Visual Materials (All), should be taken to mean any item with an item type of Visual Materials and any items with children item types of Visual Materials. The children of the parent item type will appear next on the indented list. In this case Visual - Audio and Visual - Audio Equipment.
If Visual Materials (All) is selected then the created rule will apply to any items marked with the item types of Visual Materials, Visual - Audio and Visual - Audio Equipment.
What to know about fine and circulation rules set for parent and children item types
1. It is possible to set overall fine and circulation rules that define how many items with the parent item type can be taken out and by who and then add other rules for the children of the parent item type. This means that staff members can set an overall number of checkouts allowed and then limit children item types to fewer checkouts than the overall rule.
2. If there is one rule for the parent item type and a different rule for one of the children items, the number of checkouts allowed will be determined by whichever number is smaller.
Scenario 1 - There is a rule for the parent item type but no individual rules for the children item types
Result: The parent and children item types will share the same rule.
For example, if the fine and circulation rules are set to allow 5 checkouts for Visual Materials (All) and no other rules for item types under that parent item type are set, then only 5 checkouts will be allowed for any combination of the parent and children item types. If 5 Visual Materials items have been checked out, no more Visual Materials, or any of the associated children item types, can be issued. If there a 3 Visual Materials and 2 Audio - Visual item types checked out, then no more Visual Materials or any of the associated children item types can be issued.
It will not be possible to checkout 5 Visual Materials items and then 5 separate Visual - Audio and 5 separate Visual - Audio Equipment.
Scenario 2 - There is a rule for the parent item type and a separate rule for one or more of the children item types
Result: The child item type will only be allowed the number of checkouts defined in the rule specific to it, unless the specific rule allows more checkouts than defined in the parent item type. In that case, the child item type will be allowed to checkout the amount defined in the parent item type rule and no more. If the specific rule allows fewer checkouts than defined in the parent item type rule, then the amount of checkouts the child item type will be allowed will follow the specific rule.
For example, if there is a limit to 5 checkouts for Visual Materials (All) and another rule allowing 3 checkouts for the item type Visual - Audio, it will be possible to checkout a maximum of 3 Visual - Audio item types, but then it will only be possible to checkout 2 of Visual Materials or any other item type that has Visual Materials as a parent.
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