Overdue notification blocks - remove automatically when overdue item is returned
When a patron gets the 3rd overdue notification (after 21 days), we would like the account to be blocked. When the overdue item is returned, we would like the block to be removed. If several items are overdue for 21 days or more, the block should be removed when the last overdue item is returned.
When a patron gets the 3rd overdue notification (after 21 days), we would like the account to be blocked. When the overdue item is returned, we would like the block to be removed. If several items are overdue for 21 days or more, the block should be removed when the last overdue item is returned.
The block functionality in the overdue notification depends on a block rule in the Terms of Use. But there you can only define the amount of days the account will be blocked for. This is not what serves us best.
- We don't want to "punish" the patrons longer than needed. Once (s)he returns the overdue document, the patron should be able to borrow books again.
- We don't know when the book will be sent back. In some cases, the document is returned months after the 3rd overdue notification, after several emails and phone calls. So if we define a block for 10 days and the document is returned after 3 months, the patron can again borrow books after the 10 days even if the book has not yet been returned.
Ideally, a block set by overdue notification would be removed when (and only when) the patron returns the last overdue document.
Martin Gränicher
shared this idea
Hello All,
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Alma Product Team
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Lesli M Moore
commented
Have you set the Maximum Period for Overdue Block in the TOU and then run the Users - Remove blocks job?
On the Terms of Use Details page, select Maximum Period for Overdue Block. The maximum overdue block period policy affects the calculation of the overdue loan block's expiry date. If a block's expiry date is calculated to be later than the maximum, the block will be shortened to match the limit. The default policy does not set a maximum overdue block period.
User blocks that have passed their expiry date are automatically removed when the Users - Remove blocks job runs.
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Kate Webb
commented
An additional discovery is that where we have set an account to be blocked the same day an item is marked as 'Lost' (in order to mitigate loans being allowed following part-payments), this does not work in Alma. Although this does not appear to be documented anywhere, it seems that you can set items to be marked lost at, say, 21 days overdue, and a block to be applied also at 21 days overdue, but if you set both then the block simply doesn't get applied. The 'Block' option doesn't work once the item has been marked as Lost. So we are left with a dilemma as to how to prevent borrowing when the Lost item is still lost.
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Kate Webb
commented
I totally agree Martin. the option of automating the addition of a block without the option of a mechanism to delete it, triggered by a status change, seems like an oversight.
We have set it so that accounts are blocked at 21 days, at the same time as an item is declared Lost, and ideally would like the option for it to be deleted when the lost item is resolved. We have had to implement a workaround whereby a report is run each morning showing patrons with blocks but no longer any lost items on loan, and the blocks are deleted manually. it is a waste of staff time, but currently there is no alternative.