Date:         Thu, 3 Nov 2005 08:52:06 -0800
Reply-To:     ILLiad-l Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       ILLiad-l Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
From:         Frank Haulgren <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: overdue fines question
In-Reply-To:  <[log in to unmask]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Perrin -
Western Washington Univesity has been charging fines for overdue ILL
materials for a few years now.  It works like this:

Daily we run an MS Access report to determine all ILL loans that were
returned by the user more than one day past the due date.

That data is dropped into a report that calculates the accrued fine and
that report is sent to the Circulation Manager whose staff enters fines
into the general library record for each patron.  Our Circ system is III
and we do not use it for circulation of ILL loanables.  All that is done
in ILLiad.

We have a one day grace period for fines and after that they are charged
at 50 cents per day with a lost book billing issued at day 25.  We also
charge a no-pickup fine for materials not claimed by the 10th day after
reciept and for PDF files not accessed by the 10th day.  The no-pickup
fine is $5 per item.  Another MS Access report tracks the unclaimed
materials.

You raise an interesting point about renewals.  We do not allow renewals
by the customer once the due date has passed.  However on occasion the
staff will make a renewal request on an overdue item.  In this case a new
due date is set and any accrued fine from the first loan period is lost. I
don't have that big of a problem with this since these are exceptions made
by my staff and if you ultimately let the user have the item for another 3
weeks why charge them for a couple of days in the middle of the overall
checkout period.  That doesn't really sit well with me.

I'd be happy to send you a copy of our Access query if you are interested.

Frank Haulgren
Supervisor for ILL and Document Delivery
Western Washington University

On Thu, 3 Nov 2005, Perrin Lumbert wrote:

> I'm in the process of trying to implement a method of charging students
> for overdue fines, but I'm not certain of the best way to do this, using
> ILLiad.  How are others charging patrons?  I'm not sure exactly how to
> factor in patron-initiated renewals (and by comparison those patrons who
> don't bother to renew) in producing a reliable report of fines.  Any
> help or tips on how others are doing this woud be appreciated!  -p
>
> --
> Perrin Joel Lumbert
> Interlibrary Loan
> Ladd Library, Bates College
> Lewiston, Maine  04240
> [log in to unmask]
> phone (207) 786-6471
> fax (207) 786-6055
> ariel 134.181.176.73
> www.bates.edu
>
>
> You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.   -Colette
>
>
>