Circulation - Lost Items Overview

Circulation - Lost Items Overview

About

This article covers the life cycle of a lost item and explains what happens in the system when an item is lost, returned, paid for, or neither returned nor paid for. Best practices for handling lost items are covered in separate articles.
This process occurs regardless of whether a library is fine-free or fining.

Item Not Returned

Once a checked out item hasn't been returned, WorkFlows will recognize the item as lost in one of two ways: staff will mark it as lost ( LOST-CLAIM) or the system will mark it as assumed lost ( LOST-ASSUM).

LOST-CLAIM

When informed by the user that s/he lost the item, staff should mark an item lost using the Mark Item Lost wizard or right-click functionality. When staff mark an item lost:
  1. The item's current location / status changes to LOST-CLAIM.
  2. The user is charged a LOST fee, depending on your library's settings in the Mark Item Lost wizard.
  3. The checkout stays on the user's account with an inactive status.
For more information on marking items lost manually, see Circulation - Marking Items Lost.

LOST-ASSUM

The Assumed Lost (AL) report runs weekly on Tuesdays. When an overdue checkout meets your library's criteria for the AL report -- 30, 60 or 90 days overdue -- the report automatically makes the following changes:
  1. The item's current location / status changes to LOST-ASSUM.
  2. The user is charged a LOST fee; the amount depends on your library's settings.
  3. The user is charged a PROCESSFEE; the amount depends on your library's settings.
  4. The user is barred, depending on your library's settings.
  5. The checkout stays on the user's account with an inactive status.
If you would like items to be marked assumed lost at 90 days overdue, your PLO report criteria (see Item Not Returned, Not Paid For section) must be set for 120 or 180 days overdue.

Item Returned / Claims Returned (Before PLO Report)

Item Returned

If the user returns the LOST-CLAIM / LOST-ASSUM item without having paid for it, but before it meets your library's criteria for the Process Long Overdue (PLO) report, and staff check the item in:
  1. The LOST charge for the item is automatically removed.
  2. PROCESSFEE fines are removed, depending on your library's settings.
  3. If the user has been barred, staff will need to reinstate the user's privilege manually.
  4. The item will re-shelve normally.

User Claims Returned

If the user claims to have returned the item after it's marked LOST-ASSUM but  before it meets your library's criteria for the PLO report:
  1. The LOST charge for the item is automatically removed.
  2. PROCESSFEE fines are removed, depending on your library's settings.
  3. OVERDUE fines are removed if staff select a claims-returned date of on or before the item's due date. 
  4. If the user has been barred, staff will need to reinstate the user's privilege manually.
  5. The checkout stays on the user's account with an inactive status.

Item Paid For (Before PLO Report)

When the user pays for an item,  staff should process the payment using the Pay Bill wizard or right-click functionality. When the bill is paid in full:
  1. The item's current location / status remains LOST-CLAIM or LOST-ASSUM.
  2. The link between the user account and the item is removed.
  3. A daily report changes the home location of these items to LOST-PAID, allowing staff to review these items to decide whether to discard or replace them. The LOST-PAID List is available in BCA by clicking BCA MTSC > Shared Reports > Collection Maintenance > List Reports for Catalog Clean-Up.
If you'd like LOST-PAID items automatically moved to DISCARD or REPLACE, please open a help desk ticket.
An item with a LOST-CLAIM or LOST-ASSUM status that isn't checked out and doesn't have an active LOST bill on it can be removed from the system. Please open a help desk ticket if you'd like MSC system administrators to set up reports to help you find these items so they can be discarded.

Item Not Returned, Not Paid For (PLO Report)

The Process Long Overdue (PLO) report runs monthly on the 5th of the month and makes it possible for items that weren't returned after the AL notice to be removed from the system or re-ordered. When a LOST-ASSUM item hasn't been paid for and meets  your library's criteria for the PLO report -- 90, 120 or 180 days overdue -- the report automatically makes the following changes:
  1. The item's current location / status changes to LOST, DISCARD, or REPLACE, depending on your library's report settings.
  2. The link between the user account and the item is removed.
  3. The LOST bill is replaced with a LOSTX bill that doesn't include an item barcode.
  4. The PROCESSFEE bill (if there is one) is replaced with a PROFEEX bill that doesn't include an item barcode.
  5. A LOSTITEM note appears in the patron's Extended Info tab, including the item title, call number, copy number, item ID, and the original due date of the item in yyyymmdd format.
If your AL report marks items assumed lost at 90 days overdue, your PLO report criteria must be set for 120 or 180 days overdue.

Item Returned / Claims Returned (After PLO Report)

Item Returned

If the user returns the LOST item without having paid for it, but  after the PLO report runs, and staff check the item in:
  1. Staff will see an "item not charged" pop-up; unlike LOST-ASSUM items, items that have gone through the PLO process won't prompt you at check-in with a notification. (This is because the item is no longer checked out to a user account.)
  2. The item should re-shelve normally.
  3. Staff can remove the LOSTITEM note from the user's account.

User Claims Returned

If the user claims to have returned the LOST item without having paid for it, but after the PLO report runs, staff will need to look at the user's account to do a few things: double-check the item status, resolve the bill accordingly, and remove the ITEMNOTE.
  1. To double-check the item status:
    1. Look up the user in the Display User wizard.
    2. Click the Extended Info tab.
    3. Copy the item ID corresponding to the correct LOSTITEM note.
    4. Look up the item in Item Search and Display using the Item ID index.
      1. If you get an "item does not exist" pop-up, the item has been discarded or removed from the system. 
      2. If the current location is anything other than LOST, DISCARD, or REPLACE, the item has likely been returned (it may even be checked out to another user) and staff can waive the bills and remove the LOSTITEM note from the user's account.
  2. To resolve the bill:
    1. Depending on the item's status (see step 4a-b above) and the library's internal procedures for determining whether a user must pay a bill, staff can waive the bill or not using the Pay Bill wizard.
  3. To remove the LOSTITEM note:
    1. Pull up the user's account in the Modify User wizard.
    2. Click the Extended Info tab.
    3. Click inside the text field of the LOSTITEM note you want to delete.
    4. Click the button with a red 'X' through it. This will delete the field entirely. (If you only press backspace to delete the content, the system still thinks the field has information in it, which will cause irritating pop-ups down the road.)
    5. Click Save.

Item Paid For (After PLO Report)

When the user pays for a LOST item,  staff should process the payment using the Pay Bill wizard or right-click functionality. When the bill is paid in full, staff will need to remove the ITEMNOTE from the user's account.
  1. To remove the LOSTITEM note:
    1. Pull up the user's account in the Modify User wizard.
    2. Click the Extended Info tab.
    3. Click inside the text field of the LOSTITEM note you want to delete.
    4. Click the button with a red 'X' through it. This will delete the field entirely. (If you only press backspace to delete the content, the system still thinks the field has information in it, which will cause irritating pop-ups down the road.)
    5. Click Save.

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