Configuring Loans

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This page describes how to configure loans including automatic loan renewal rules, overdue and lost loan profiles, etc.
For links to all the main fulfillment documentation pages see Fulfillment.

Configuring Block Preferences

To configure block preferences, you must have one of the following roles:

General System Administrator
Fulfillment Administrator

Watch the Overdue and Lost Loan Profiles video.

Block preferences let you control how various scenarios are handled at circulation desks within the institution based on an item's or user's status. For more information on blocking users, see Blocking and Unblocking Users. When an item is blocked it can't be loaned to the user; see Creating a Request from the Institution. For details on policies for loan recall requests, see here.

A typical scenario may be as follows:

A patron brings a book to a circulation desk and attempts to borrow the book. When the circulation desk operator enters the book’s ID into the system, it is discovered that the book was requested by another patron, preventing the user from borrowing it. Depending on the block preferences and the staff member’s permissions, the block may be overridden.

For configuring user blocks including demerits, consortial blocks, overdue loans, etc., see Configuring User Blocks.

The block preferences that are defined for the institution appear on the Block Preferences page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Block Preferences).

Block Preferences Page

Block preferences can be configured at the institution level only. Select the required institution from the Configuring filter on the Fulfillment Configuration page.
The Not Renewable – Item Has Request(s) entry indicates the system behavior when there are title level requests on the renewed item. Select Handle Automatically to permit request renewal when title level requests exist for the loaned item that is being renewed. Select any other option to reject loan renewal when title level requests exist for the loaned item that is being renewed. This parameter also controls the system behavior when attempting to renew material that was shipped for a lending resource sharing request (using resource sharing request renew) and there are title level requests for the resource. If you select Handle Automatically, it means that renewal requests will be automatically accepted and the shipped material is automatically renewed to the requested new due date even though there are title level requests for the resource. Select any other option to reject the renewal requests.
The Item cannot be loaned to patron – insufficient due date block indicates that the item cannot be loaned because the due date does not allow the item to be returned. For example, this block appears when an item’s due date is in the past, or when an item is due tomorrow but delivery of the item cannot be completed for 3 days.

The list of block preferences is predefined. You cannot add or delete a block preference, but you can modify a block preference’s settings. The preferences that you set apply to all libraries within the institution.

Editing Block Preferences

The details that you can modify are configured with the following fields on the Workbench Preferences page:

Actions – Defines the global action to perform in a given scenario

Handlers – Defines the action to perform automatically when the Action field is set to Handle Automatically or one of the Override by options
Handlers can be edited only when there is more than one option to choose from for an action.
Blocks – Defines which types of transactions to block (Loan, Renew, or Both)

The available actions are:

Block – The item is blocked and the patron cannot borrow the item.
Override by Manager – The block on the item can be overridden only by a staff member with the Circulation Desk Manager role at the current circulation desk.
Override by Operator – The block on the item can be overridden only by a staff member with the Circulation Desk Manager or Circulation Desk Operator role at the current circulation desk.
Override by All – The block on the item can be overridden by any staff member with either the Circulation Desk Manager, Circulation Desk Operator, or Circulation Desk Operator–Limited role at the current circulation desk.
Override in Another Institution - This option may be used by Fulfillment Network members to configure whether the block may be overridden by staff in another institution if the block happens when the member’s item is being loaned at the circulation desk of another member institution.
Handle Automatically – Specific actions are to be performed by Alma. These actions are specified in the Handler field, and are predefined by Ex Libris. Handler options can be configured only if you select Handle Automatically or one of the Override by options.

The block preferences Item has not been received by Acquisitions Department, Item cannot be loaned due to booking request, Item cannot be loaned to patron - insufficient due date, A resource sharing request must be renewed by the resource sharing library, and Item does not belong to this institution contain only a single Action (Block), which cannot be overridden.
The block preference Not Renewable - Item has Requests is relevant only if PATRON_PHYSICAL = Yes on the Loan Recalls Mapping Table page (see Configuring Loan Recall Requests).
When working with external users, the block preference Patron is Expired indicates that the patron has expired in the external system, and the block preference Patron is not Active indicates that the patron is not active in the external system.
When selecting Item cannot be loaned from this circulation desk, Item cannot be returned at this circulation desk, or Not Renewable – Item has Requests, no Handler options are available when Handle automatically is selected. In these cases, Alma ignores the block and the item is loanable.
Selecting an override action for the Item is Not Renewable preference causes the Override button to appear on the warning box from the Renew option on the Action button of the Manage Patron Services Loan tab. It does not affect the Renew Selected or Renew All buttons.

The block preferences descriptions are:

Block Name	Description	Available Actions	Handlers
The loan regular due date conflicts with booking request	Checkout is blocked when the normal due date (as determined by the TOU, for example) conflicts with the start of an existing booking request.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Shorten the due date to the last possible date
The renew due date conflicts with booking request	Renewal of an existing loan is blocked when the normal renewed due date (as determined by the TOU, for example) conflicts with the start of an existing booking request.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Shorten the due date to the last possible date
Item is not loanable	Checkout of an item is blocked as a result of the fulfillment configuration. The applicable Terms of Use contains an Is Loanable policy with value False.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Item is not renewable	Loan renewal is blocked as a result of the fulfillment configuration. The applicable Terms of Use contains an Is Renewable policy with value False.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Item cannot be loaned to patron - insufficient due date		Block
This item can only be loaned from reading room desk	If an item's Is Loanable policy has a value of In Reading Room Only, and the loan is attempted from a circulation desk not defined as a reading room desk, checkout is blocked.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Item does not belong to this institution		Block
Item is on Hold Shelf for this patron	Checkout is blocked for an item when the item is on the hold shelf. This should be set to Handle Automatically.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Delete the request and loan the item
Item is bound to a borrowing request for another patron	Checkout is blocked for an item because it was already requested by a different patron via Resource Sharing.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Item cannot be loaned due to booking request		Block
Item has not been received by Acquisitions Department		Block
Item is requested by another patron	Checkout of an item to a patron is blocked when there is an active request for the item by another patron. The block has no effect if the request is not active.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Restart the request, since the item is no longer available.
Item is requested by the library	Checkout is blocked for an item that is requested for an internal library process.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Restart the request, since the item is no longer available
Item renew period exceeded	Renewal of a loan is blocked as a result of the fulfillment configuration. The applicable Terms of Use contains a value for the Maximum Renewal Period policy which has already been reached for this loan.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Item cannot be loaned from this circulation desk	blocks loan of an item from the circulation desk of the item’s current location because the circulation desk does not provide check-out services for that location. blocks loan of an item from the circulation desk(s) of a library that does not have a Circulate For relationship with the library of the item’s current location.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically
Item cannot be returned at this circulation desk.	blocks return of an item at the circulation desk of the item’s current location because the circulation desk does not provide check-in services for that location. blocks return of an item at the circulation desk(s) of a library that does not have a Circulate For relationship with the library of the item’s current location.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically
An item of the same title was recently loaned to this patron	Reloaning an item is blocked as a result of the fulfillment configuration. The applicable Terms of Use contains a Reloan Limit policy with value Other.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Item of the same title is already on loan for this patron	Loaning an item is blocked as a result of the fulfillment configuration. The applicable Terms of Use contains a Reloan Limit policy with value Other.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
The loan cannot be renewed due to the loan status	Renewal of a loan is blocked when the loan status is Lost, Claimed Returned, or Recalled. Note that blocks for lost items cannot be overridden.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Item is on hold shelf for another patron	Checkout is blocked for an item that is currently on the hold shelf for a different patron.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Restart the request, since the item is no longer available
Item is on expired hold shelf for another patron’	Checkout is blocked for an item that is currently on the hold shelf for a different patron, although it is expired.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Cancel the expired request to enable the loan
Item of the same title is already on loan for this patron. Parallel loan is prohibited.	Loaning an item is blocked as a result of the fulfillment configuration. The applicable Terms of Use contains a Reloan Limit policy with value Parallel.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Cancel the request, since the item is no longer available
Lender policy does not support renewal	Resource sharing loan cannot be renewed because the lender’s policy does not allow renewals.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Patron cash limits has exceeded	Loaning and/or renewing an item is blocked for a patron with a current bill that exceeds the allowed limit for that patron group (as configured in the Users tab). Select the desired action(s) to block from the Blocks column: Loan, Renew, or Both.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Patron's card has expired	Loaning an item is blocked for a patron with an expired user record.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Patron is not active	Loaning an item is blocked for a patron with an inactive user record.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Patron loan limit exceeded	Loaning an item is blocked for a patron with current loans that exceed the allowed number for that patron group (as configured in the Users tab).	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Patron overdue limits exceeded	Loaning and/or renewing an item is blocked for a patron with overdue loans that exceed the allowed number for that patron group (as configured in the Users tab). Select the desired action(s) to block from the Blocks column: Loan, Renew, or Both.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Patron overdue recalls limit exceeded	blocks loaning and/or renewing an item to a patron with overdue recalled loans that exceed the allowed number for that patron group (as configured in the Users tab). Select the desired action(s) to block from the Blocks column: Loan, Renew, or Both.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
Not Renewable – Item has Request(s)	blocks renewal of additional copies of an item that has been recalled.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically
Item is currently on loan by another patron		Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Return the item and loan to the new patron
A resource sharing request must be renewed by the resource sharing library		Block
Item has not been received by resource sharing operator		Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator Handle Automatically	Perform automatic resource sharing receive
Time frame when loan renewal is allowed not reached	Renewal is blocked. The ‘Time frame when loan renewal is allowed’ policy allows renewals only when near the due date.	Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator
User does not have a patron role or the role has expired		Block Override by All Override by Manager Override by Operator

Note that requests are not blocked in Alma. The rationale behind this is to allow patrons to place the request, but when they come to pick up the item, to force them to pay/return/solve the reason of their blockage before in order to receive the requested item. However, you can still creates block on requests by creating blocks manually: when configuring a block manually, you choose which actions will be blocked.

The Block Preferences page contains the following similar settings:

The loan cannot be renewed due to the loan status – Used when an item’s status is Lost, Claimed Returned, or Recalled.
Not Renewable - Item has Request(s) – When multiple copies of an item are checked out and a recall request recalls only one of the items, the other items that have not been recalled cannot be renewed.

To edit the details of a block preference:

On the Block Preferences page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Block Preferences), locate the block preference that you want to edit.
In the Actions column, select a different action, as needed. The lists of available actions are predefined, and vary from scenario to scenario. Note that many scenarios have only one action, Block.
In the Handlers column, select a different handler, as needed. The lists of available handlers are predefined, and vary from scenario to scenario. Note that not all scenarios have handler options. A handler is displayed only if the Handle automatically action or one of the Override by actions is selected.
In the Blocks column, select the type of transactions that you want to block (Loan, Renew, or Both). Note that many scenarios do not allow this option and blocks apply to both loans and renewals.
Select Save to store the modified block preferences in the system.

Configuring Automatic Loan-Renewal Rules

To configure automatic loan-renewal rules, you must have one of the following roles:

General System Administrator
Fulfillment Administrator

Automatic loan-renewal rules define the conditions under which items are renewed by the Notifications - Send Courtesy Notices and Handle Loan Renewals job. Also see the parameter auto_renew_loan_days (see Configuring Other Settings), which sets the number of days before a loan is due that an automatic renewal attempt triggers.

The Notifications - Send Courtesy Notices and Handle Loan Renewals job attempts to renew loans according to the defined auto-renewal rules. Whether the loan is successfully renewed depends on additional conditions, such as the terms of use and existing recalls.

(New for November) If the Notify Automatic Renewals checkbox (Configuration > Fulfillment > Fulfillment Jobs Configuration) is marked, then the Automatic Loans Renew Notice is sent for the renewals (see Letters).

Even where the rules allow for renewal, the renewal may still be prevented in situations such as the following:

The user does not have a patron role or the role has expired.
The user record will expire before the renewal date.
The due date is already set to the renewed due date.
The patron is inactive.
The patron's card has expired.
The patron has exceeded the limit of overdue recalls.
The patron has exceeded the limit of cash.
The item is not renewable.
The item has a status that prevents renewal.
The item renew period has been exceeded.
Renewing the loan conflicts with a booking request and the due date must be shortened.
The item cannot be loaned due to a booking request.
The item cannot be renewed due to a request for the item.
The auto-renewal rule is set to false.
A general error caused the renewal failure.

Loans that are not renewed because of pending requests are automatically renewed when the blocking requests are canceled or fulfilled by another item, if library policies and the patron status allow for the renewal to take place. Loans that are a result of resource sharing borrowing requests cannot be renewed using this job.

If a loan was handled by this job but renewal was prevented due to one of the other reasons mentioned above, it is not included in future instances of the Notifications - Send Courtesy Notices and Handle Loan Renewals job, unless its due date has changed.

For details, see Notifications – Send Courtesy Notices and Handle Loan Renewals.

You configure automatic loan-renewal rules from the Automatic Loan Renewal Rules page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Auto Loan Renewal Rules).

Automatic Loan Renewal Rules Page

Automatic loan-renewal rules can be configured at the institution level only. Select the required institution from the Configuring filter on the Fulfillment Configuration page.

The following actions can be performed on this page:

Adding automatic loan-renewal rules (see Adding Automatic Loan-Renewal Rules, below)
Editing automatic loan-renewal rules (select Edit from the row actions).
Enabling or disabling loan-renewal rules
Duplicating automatic loan-renewal rules (select Duplicate from the row actions and modify the relevant fields)
Deleting automatic loan-renewal rules (select Delete from the row actions).
You cannot delete or disable the default automatic loan-renewal rule.

Adding Automatic Loan-Renewal Rules

You can add new automatic loan-renewal rules definitions to an institution. These are applied to all the libraries within the institution.

Alternatively, select Duplicate in the row actions list to duplicate an existing rule and then edit it (select Edit from the row actions).

To add a new automatic loan-renewal rule:

On the Automatic Loan Renewal Rules page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Auto Loan Renewal Rules), select Add Rule. The Automatic Loan Renewal Rule Editor page appears.
Enter a name (required) and a description (optional) for the new rule.
In the Input Parameters section, select Add Parameter. A parameter-configuration box opens.
Under Name, select one of the categories of input parameters for which you want to specify conditions that must be met in order for this rule to apply. You can only create one set of conditions for each category of input parameter, but you can include many values for each parameter. For example, for the Location parameter, you can select multiple locations in a number of different libraries, or include all locations except for the law library and the art library.

The following parameter categories are available:
- Library – The library that owns the item
- Location – The location of the item within the library, such as the Asian collection or the multimedia center
- User Group – The user group of the patron who has the item on loan
- User Statistical Category – A statistical category that is attached to the user (see Managing Users)
Under Operator, select the required Operator. (Select InList or NotInList if you want to select multiple values for the parameter.)
If the Value field appears, select the value or values of the parameter that define the condition that must be met.
Select Add Parameter. The parameter is added to the list of input parameters for the rule.
To add additional input parameters for the rule, in the Input Parameters section, select Add Parameter, and then repeat the previous steps. When you are finished, you will have created a set of between one and four parameters. For example, a set of input parameters may look like this: Item owner = Art Library; User group = Graduate student. In this case, the auto renewal rule would apply only for Art Library items on loan to graduate students.
All the input-parameter conditions must be fulfilled for the rule to be applied. If they are not, the default rule is applied.
Under Output Parameters, select whether auto renewal should be implemented (True) or not (False).
Select Save.
If you have defined more than one rule, on the Automatic Loan Renewal Rules page, you can use the Move Up and Move Down arrows to set the order of the rules. The order of the rules is relevant in that the system applies the first (and only the first) valid, enabled rule. If no appropriate rule is found, the system uses the default rule.

Configuring Overdue and Lost Loan Profiles

To configure overdue and lost loan profiles, you must have one of the following roles:

General System Administrator
Fulfillment Administrator

This configuration is applicable to institutions!

The overdue and lost loan profiles monitor long overdue loans and turn them into lost loans when applicable. The profiles send progressive reminders to the patron as well as create fees and user blocks. The profile setup allows for flexibility to apply the rules based on the type of loan and the amount of time that the loan is overdue. The notifications may be configured, with up to five different letters able to be easily created within the profile. If the profile is set to create a fine, the amount for the fine is set by the profile type and the applicable Terms of Use policy.

The profiles may be configured with one or more of the following options:

Execution is based on the number of days after either the due date or a specific status change.
Loans may be selected by particular statuses, materials, or location types.
Notifications sent are determined by the letter send format.
Up to five notification types can be sent out by default, though more can be created if necessary.

For more information on use cases and configuration options for overdue and lost loans, see the Alma Matters session on Lost and Overdue Loans.

You can configure the criteria according to which Alma:

Sends a warning to a patron that he or she has an overdue loan
Marks overdue loans as lost

You configure these criteria and their associated actions using profiles. Alma runs a daily job (Loans - Overdue and Lost Item) to process overdue and lost loans, which, according to the list of profiles, determines the loans for which warnings are sent and those that are defined as lost.

The letter sent depends on the setting of the switch_to_overdue_and_lost_loan_new_job customer parameter. When this parameter is set to true, the notification sent is the Ful Overdue and Lost Loan Notification Letter. In this case, a single notification is sent to each patron for all overdue items whose criteria match a particular profile, listing all of the overdue items in that profile. For example:

Notification Profile 1 sends a notification message for all items that are 3 days overdue.
Notification Profile 2 sends a notification message for all items that are 5 days overdue.

When the Loans - Overdue and Lost Item job runs, the notification is sent, once after 3 days and again after 5 days (once for each matching profile).

If the switch_to_overdue_and_lost_loan_new_job customer parameter is set to false, the notification sent is the Ful Lost Loan Letter, and a separate letter is sent for each overdue item.

The switch_to_overdue_and_lost_loan_new_job customer parameter must be set to true for user blocks to be applied. For more information, see Configuring Other Settings.

For information about configuring these letters, see Configuring Alma Letters.

Configuring these letters may require the use of IF statements in the XSL for each of the notification types. For more information, see the Example Letter Customization: Borrowing Activity Letter.

You configure overdue and lost loan profiles on the Overdue and Lost Loan Profile List page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Overdue and Lost Loan Profile).

Overdue and Lost Loan Profile List Page

Overdue and lost loan profiles can be configured at the institution level only.

The following actions can be performed on this page:

Add an Overdue and Lost Loan Profile (see Adding an Overdue and Lost Loan Profile).
Add an Overdue and Lost Loan Notification Profile (see Adding an Overdue and Lost Loan Notification).
Edit a profile (select Edit from the row actions list).
Duplicate a profile (select Duplicate from the row actions list and modify the relevant fields).
Delete a profile (select Delete from the row actions list).
Run a profile (select Run Now from the row actions list) to create the overdue or lost loan notifications on demand.
Run a status update (select Status Update from the row actions list). This process runs the profile without sending a notification and without applying fees or blocks. This is used during a migration to Alma or if adding a new Overdue and Lost Loan Profile step. The status update will not mark any loans as lost. In the case of a migration where notifications were sent from another system, the affected loans will be marked to prevent them from getting the same notifications a second time when the job runs again. For example, if you create a new rule that sends a notice to loans that are 3 days overdue, the new profile will catch all loans that are already 3 or more days overdue, including loans that may be 30 days overdue. To prevent that, and make sure the profile sends notices only for loans that become 3 days overdue after the profile has been created, use this option when defining the new profile. (See also Loans Overdue Notification Status Update below.)
Enable or disable overdue and lost loan profiles.

Adding an Overdue and Lost Loan Notification

You can add overdue and lost loan warning profiles to an institution. These profiles determine the criteria by which the system sends overdue warnings for loans. The warnings do not affect the loan status; they inform the patron of the number of days upon which the loan is considered lost. A single overdue or lost item notification per notification type may be sent to the patron listing all of the patron's overdue or lost loans.

You can configure 5 types of notifications and their corresponding letters. After configuring the notification types, you then configure the profiles that will trigger these notification types.

To configure the fines for overdue and lost loan notification types:

On the Terms of Use Management page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Terms of Use and Policies), filter by Terms of Use Type = Loan.
Select Edit from the row actions list for the relevant Terms of Use. The Terms of Use Details page appears.
Locate the relevant Overdue Notification Fine Type entry on the bottom of the page, and select Add Policy from the row actions list. The Policy Details page appears.
Enter a Name and Value in the relevant fields, and ensure that Value Type = Other.
Select Save. The policy is added to the notification fine type on the Terms of Use Details page.
Additionally, the configured Terms of Use appears on the Fulfillment Configuration Utility page (Fulfillment > Advanced Tools > Fulfillment Configuration Utility) when you enter a Patron Identifier and Item Barcode.

The amount configured for Overdue Notification Fine Type 1 is charged if a profile configured with Overdue Notification Fine Type 1 is triggered. The same applies for the other fine types.

For details on configuring the Overdue and Lost Loan Notification Letter that is sent to patrons, see Configuring Letter Labels. Modify the fields additional_info_*_type1, inform_you_item_below_type1, and charged_with_fines_fees_type1 to change overdue notification type 1, and so forth.

In order for the additional elements, for instance additional_info_1_type1 through additional_info_1_type5, to appear on the Full Overdue and Lost Loan Notification letter, you also need to customize the letter XSL. For detailed information specific to this letter, see Overdue and Lost Loan Notification Letter XSL Considerations, below. For information on the use of XSL in customizing letters in general, see Customizing Letter XSL Style Sheets.

Adding an Overdue and Lost Loan Profile

You can add an overdue and lost loan profile to an institution. This profile determines the criteria by which loans are considered lost. For these loans, Alma changes the status to Lost, creates the relevant fines and fees, and sends an invoice (for the replacement fee) to the borrowing patron.

To add an overdue and lost loan profile:

On the Overdue and Lost Loan Profile List page (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Overdue and Lost Loan Profile), select Add Overdue and Lost Loan Profile. The Overdue and Lost Loan Profile Record page appears.
If you want to create a copy of an existing overdue and lost loan profile, select Duplicate from the row actions list. Once you have copied the profile, you can modify it as needed.

Overdue and Lost Loan Profile Record Page
Enter the profile name and a description of the profile (if desired), and specify the criteria by which an overdue loan is considered a lost loan. Note that if you do not select specific statuses, user groups, libraries, locations, item policies, and/or material types, the profile will apply to all of the above.
- For the Loan Status field, the Loan status should not be used. The Normal status applies to a regular loan. For more information on loan statuses, see Viewing Loan History.
- The profile will be activated for loans that meet all the conditions specified in the profile (that is, a Boolean AND operator operates between fields).
- If the profile is set to mark the loan as lost, the loan is considered a lost loan. If the profile is set to mark the loan as overdue, then a notice will be sent and blocks/fines will be created, as per the profile configuration.
- The Library field refers to the item’s current location. If the item is in a temporary location, this is the temporary location. If the item is not in a temporary location, this is the permanent location.
- If a due date is changed on an already overdue loan, an overdue fine is created before the due date is updated (similar to the renewal process) to make sure that a potential overdue fine is not automatically dropped. This behavior is determined by the overdue_at_change_due_date parameter. See Configuring Other Settings.
- By default, the Overdue and Lost Loan Profile filters the loans by the User Group at the time of the loan. If you prefer that the job should use the current user group of the user, please contact Ex Libris Support.
To enable the profile, select the Active check box. The lost loan job processes only active profiles. You can disable/enable the profile at any time on the Overdue and Lost Loan Profile List page.
If an Overdue and Lost Loan profile is not enabled, you can still run it by selecting Run Now from the row actions list.
For setting the criteria for a Lost profile, in the Profile Type field, select Change to Lost. The Send Notification, Create Fine and Create Block fields disappear (they are not relevant for this selection). For setting the criteria for notification profiles, in the Profile Type field, select an Overdue Notification type (1 through 5).
For an overdue notification, select Send Notification to send the patron a notification letter matching the selected Profile type.
For an overdue notification on an item that is overdue and not returned, select Create Overdue Loan Fine to apply an overdue fine for the item when the job runs. For the notification to be generated, the fine must also be created in the Terms of Use, under the relevant Overdue Notification type (1 through 5) policy.
This is a separate fine than the overdue fine policy which is applied upon returning the loaned item.
For both overdue and lost notifications, select Create Overdue Notification Fee to enable a notification fee. This field is only visible and applicable when using the aggregated notification method (i.e. the switch_to_overdue_and_lost_loan_new_job parameter in the customer parameters mapping table is set to true). Selecting the check box allows your institution to charge a fee per warning letter, rather than per loan.
For both overdue and lost notifications, enter Overdue Notification Fee Amount to set the notification fee. This field appears only when the Create Overdue Notification Fee check box is selected. When it appears, it is a mandatory field.
For an overdue notification, select Create Block to impose a user block while the loan is overdue. When Create Block is selected, a Block Type appears. The values in this drop down are defined in the User Block Description page (see Configuring User Blocks Due to Overdue Loans). The block is removed when the item is returned or marked as lost, or the loan is deleted. Note that you cannot create a block on a loan with the lost status.
In the Days After Due Date field, enter the number of days after the due date upon which the warning notification message is to be sent. Select either Days or Open Days to determine if the number of days is calculated by calendar days or by the days that the library is open.
For example, if an item’s due date is March 1, Days After Due Date = 14, and Days is selected, the item is considered lost on March 15.
Keep in mind that 1 day = 24 hours, so that if an item’s due date is March 1, Days After Due Date = 0, and Days is selected, the item is considered lost on March 2.
In the Days After Status Date field, indicate the number of days after an update to the value of the Loan Status field that the item is considered lost. The Loan Status field refers to values such as Normal, Renewed, Automatic Renewal, and Overdue Notification. The number of days is calculated by calendar days.
For example, If Loan Status is defined as Claim Returned and Days After Status Date is 5, then Alma checks that the current loan status is Claim Returned and that the last change of the item loan was to Claim Returned and more than 5 days passed since the last item loan change. So if an item’s loan status is updated on April 1 and Days After Status Date = 5, the item is considered lost on April 6. (Note that a value of 0 is the same as leaving the field empty.)

The value of this field also applies to migrated loans, according to the loan’s creation date.
When you are done, select Save. The profile appears on the Overdue and Lost Loan Profile page.

All active Overdue and Lost Loan profiles are processed by the Overdue and Lost Item job. See Viewing All Scheduled Jobs. If the overdue profile contains an Overdue Notification Fee, the fee will be recorded for each user with the profile type and names of all profiles that were aggregated. If profiles of the same overdue profile type have different Notification Fee Amounts, they will not be aggregated. They will be separated into two letters. Each one of those letters will create an Overdue Notification Fine.

When adding a new profile or modifying a profile name, a message is displayed to prompt the user to run the Status Update, It is recommended to run Status Update for the updated profile.

Loans Overdue Notification Status Update

The Loans Overdue Notification Status Update page (Fulfillment > Advanced Tools > Loans Overdue Notification Status Update) allows the user to run the Overdue and Lost Loan job without creating blocks or fines and fees, without changing the loan to lost, and without generating notifications. The affected loans will be marked to prevent the overdue and lost loan profiles from handling them again - meaning a loan fitting the criteria of lost and/or overdue notification profiles at the time of the status update will not become lost by them or trigger their notifications when the Overdue and Lost Loan job runs again. Running this job will irreversibly mark the loan records so they will not be handled by the matching profiles again.

The Loans Overdue Notification Status Update page is only available in Alma if the 'switch_to_overdue_and_lost_loan_new_job' parameter is set to true.

Running the job displays a warning that the loan records will be modified. Select Confirm to run the job.

Overdue and Lost - Status Update Warning.png

Loans Overdue Notification Status Update Warning

If you want to run a status update only for a specific profile (e.g. notification profiles, but not profiles that set loans to lost), it is possible to apply the status update per profile from the Overdue and Lost Loan Profile List page (Configuration menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Overdue and Lost Loan Profile) instead of using the job, which runs all profiles. To do so, in the row actions of the profile, select Status Update. (See also the list of profile actions above.)

The status update job is designed mostly for post-migration handling, so when it runs it runs for all days, even if it’s configured to run for open days only. The reason is that Alma doesn’t have the calendar of the past for the newly migrated account.

Overdue and Lost Loan Notification Letter XSL Considerations

There are up to five notification types that may be used within the Ful Overdue and Lost Loan Notification Letter. Because the single letter format contains all five scenarios you may need to customize your letter with XSL if clauses. For example,

inform_you_item_below_type1 belongs to Overdue notification type 1
inform_you_item_below_type2 belongs to Overdue notification type 2
inform_you_item_below_type3 belongs to Overdue notification type 3
inform_you_item_below_type4 belongs to Overdue notification type 4
inform_you_item_below_type5 belongs to Overdue notification type 5

To implement these types correctly in the letter, replace the following section in the letter:

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="0">

<tr>

<td>

<h>@@inform_you_item_below@@ </h>

<h>@@borrowed_by_you@@ @@decalred_as_lost@@</h>

</td>

</tr>

</table>

With:

<xsl:for-each select="notification_data">

<xsl:if test="/notification_data/notification_type='OverdueNotificationType1'">

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="0">

<tr>

<td>

<h>@@inform_you_item_below_type1@@ </h>

<h>@@borrowed_by_you@@ @@decalred_as_lost_type1@@</h>

</td>

</tr>

</table>

</xsl:if>

<xsl:if test="/notification_data/notification_type='OverdueNotificationType2'">

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="0">

<tr>

<td>

<h>@@inform_you_item_below_type2@@ </h>

<h>@@borrowed_by_you@@ @@decalred_as_lost_type2@@</h>

</td>

</tr>

</table>

</xsl:if>

</xsl:for-each>

Similar for the additional_info_<1-5>, replace:

@@additional_info_1@@

@@additional_info_2@@

with:

<table>

<xsl:choose>

<xsl:when test="notification_data/notification_type = 'OverdueNotificationType1' ">

<tr>

<td>

@@additional_info_1_type1@@@@additional_info_2_type1@@

</td>

</tr>

</xsl:when>

<xsl:when test="notification_data/notification_type = 'OverdueNotificationType2' ">

<tr>

<td>

@@additional_info_1_type2@@@@additional_info_2_type2@@

</td>

</tr>

</xsl:when>

<xsl:when test="notification_data/notification_type = 'OverdueNotificationType3' ">

<tr>

<td>

@@additional_info_1_type3@@@@additional_info_2_type3@@

</td>

</tr>

</xsl:when>

<xsl:when test="notification_data/notification_type = 'OverdueNotificationType4' ">

<tr>

<td>

@@additional_info_1_type4@@@@additional_info_2_type4@@

</td>

</tr>

</xsl:when>

<xsl:when test="notification_data/notification_type = 'OverdueNotificationType5' ">

<tr>

<td>

@@additional_info_1_type5@@@@additional_info_2_type5@@

</td>

</tr>

</xsl:when>

</xsl:choose>

</table>

Configuring Short Loan Reminders and Blocks

Short term loans are any loan with a due date policy defined with minutes or hours. Short term loans act like regular loans, with a few differences as described below.

Short Term Loan Reminders

There are 2 specific reminders for short loans, i.e., a courtesy reminder and an overdue reminder. The behaviour of these reminders is controlled by the settings in the following parameters:

short_loan_courtesy_reminder - If this parameter is set, a courtesy reminder is triggered. The sending time for this reminder is based on the due date time less the value of the parameter. It uses the existing FulUserLoansCourtesyLetter letter (see Courtesy Letter).
short_loan_overdue_reminder - If this parameter is set, an overdue reminder is triggered. The sending time for this reminder is based on the due date time plus the value of the parameter. It uses the Ful Overdue And Lost Loan Notification Letter.

For both notifications, the letter will be sent if the item was not returned and is not in Lost or Claim Return status. The loan due date time can change due to a renewal, recall, or manual change of due date. If there was a change in the due date, the new due date will trigger the notification. The reminder is sent once (after the loan has been created). You can configure the courtesy letter with the short_loans_message label (see Configuring Alma Letters).

The letter templates include indicators for short term loans as shown in the example below (see Configuring Letter Templates).

Letter template with short term loan indicator.

See also the Short Loan Letter that is sent to a patron when loaning an item for a short period.

Short Term Loan Blocking Policy

When an overdue letter is issued, if the short_loan_overdue_block parameter is set to true, and a blocking policy is configured, an overdue block is set for the patron. For information on creating a blocking policy, see Configuring a Blocking Policy.

Lost Short Term Loans

Short term loans are changed to Lost after running the relevant Overdue and Lost Loan profile (Configuration > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Overdue and Lost Loan Profile), in the same way as for a regular loan.

Configuring Loan Recall Requests

To configure loan recall requests, you must have one of the following roles:

General System Administrator
Fulfillment Administrator

You can configure Alma to send or not send a loan recall request during system actions. By default, recall requests are enabled for all actions. For an overview of recall requests in Alma, see Recall Requests.

You configure loan recall requests on the Request Configuration mapping table for loan recalls (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Loan Recalls Configuration). For more information about mapping tables, see Mapping Tables.

Request Configuration Mapping Table Page

The definitions of the different types are as follows:

Code	Type	Meaning
BOOKING	Booking request	Patron booking request
ELECTRONIC_TO_DIGITIZATION	Patron electronic digitization request	Patron digitization request for electronic resource
GENERAL_DIGITIZATION	General digitization request	Patron digitization request for item that is not catalogued
GENERAL_HOLD	General hold request	Patron physical item request for item that is not catalogued
LIBRARY_ELECTRONIC_DIGITIZATION	Library electronic digitization request	Digitization request from reading list for electronic resource
LIBRARY_PHYSICAL_DIGITIZATION	Library physical digitization request	Digitization request from reading list for physical resource
MOVE_TO_PERMANENT	Move permanently	Request for physical item to be moved to new location
MOVE_TO_TEMPORARY	Move temporarily	Request for physical item to be temporarily moved to new location
PATRON_PHYSICAL	Patron physical item request	Patron physical item request. See the Note below for some important points regarding this parameter.
PHYSICAL_TO_DIGITIZATION	Patron digitization request	Patron digitization request for physical resource
RESOURCE_SHARING_E2D_SHIPMENT	Ship digitally from electronic	Internal digitization request by resource sharing staff for electronic resource
RESOURCE_SHARING_P2D_SHIPMENT	Ship digitally	Internal digitization request by resource sharing staff for physical resource
RESOURCE_SHARING_PHYSICAL_SHIPMENT	Ship physically	Internal physical item request by resource sharing staff
RESTORE	Restore item	Restore an item from temporary location
STAFF_ELECTRONIC_DIGITIZATION	Staff electronic digitization request	Staff digitization request for electronic resource
STAFF_PHYSICAL_DIGITIZATION	Staff digitization request	Staff digitization request for physical resource
TRANSIT_FOR_RESHELVING	Transit for reshelving	Transit physical item for reshelving

If the Recalls Loans value is set as No in this table for the PATRON_PHYSICAL type of request and the applicable loan Terms of Use has Is Recallable defined as Yes, the loan will not be recalled. Only if Recalls Loans = Yes is the Terms of Use policy applied.
If PATRON_PHYSICAL = Yes and the Terms of Use fulfillment policy is No Recall, items are nevertheless marked as Recalled, to prevent renewals (although the loan due date is not changed).
The block preference Not Renewable - Item has Requests is relevant only if PATRON_PHYSICAL = Yes (see Configuring Block Preferences).
Loan recall requests can be configured at the institution level only. Select the required institution from the Configuring filter on the Fulfillment Configuration page.

To configure loan recall requests:

On the Request Configuration Mapping Table page for loan recalls (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Loan Recalls Configuration), select Customize from the row actions list for the relevant action. Customize is changed to Restore, and the Recalls Loans column is enabled for editing.
Select No in the Recalls Loans column to disable loan recall requests for the specified action.
Select Save. Loan recall requests are not sent during the specified action.
To re-enable loan recall requests for an action, select Restore.

After configuring a loan recall request for a specified action, ensure that the institution/library's Terms of Use has set the loan policy Is Recallable = True for requested items to be recalled (see Adding Fulfillment Policies).

Configuring Loan Process Status Names

To configure loan process status names, you must have one of the following roles:

General System Administrator
Fulfillment Administrator

You can configure the loan process statuses that are displayed in Alma. To do this, open the Loan Status Name mapping table (Configuration Menu > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Loan Status Name). For more information about mapping tables, see Mapping Tables. You can edit the description. This is the description that displays throughout Alma on various loan displays.

Loan Process Status Names Configuration Mapping Table Page