Users with Fines at Other I-Share Libraries

As of May 2022, there is a report available in your ftp directory on the CARLI files server (files.carli.illinois.edu) called 'Users with fines at other i-share libraries XXX.xlsx' where XXX is your three letter code. The report lists which of your users have fines at other I-Share libraries. The report lists the user's last name, first name, primary ID, three-letter code for the institution at which they have fines, name of the institution at which they have fines, and the user's expiration and purge dates. One potential use for this report is to help staff identify and help students who need to clear their accounts.

The report is run daily by 7:00am, with the most recent file replacing former versions of the file. The report is based on Analytics data so it is as of 6:00pm the previous day. The first line in the report lists the date of the data. There will be a file every day; if there are no users with fines to report that day, the contents of the report file will read "No XXX users with fines at other I-Share libraries as of MM/DD/YY 6pm".

Information about the data in this report:

• The last and first names are from the linked user record in the Alma of the item charged. This means the case (upper/lower) may not match what’s in your Alma.
• The primary ID, expiration date, and purge date are from your Alma. It is possible that the primary ID, expiration date, and purge date are present for some lines for a given user, but not all.
• The actual field Alma uses to connect linked user records to the user record in their home Alma is not available in Analytics. The report uses the email field to do this and a match is not always found. This means in some cases the primary ID, expiration date, and purge date are missing in the report. In this case, the purge date reads "Could not find user's home record".
• The missing primary IDs, expiration dates, and purge dates are not a problem in Alma, just a limitation in Analytics. Primary IDs, expiration dates, and purge dates could be missing for several reasons:
  • The linked user record does not have an email address. This can happen in linked user records that were converted from stubs in Voyager.
  • The email address in the linked user record does not match the email address in the home record. This normally happens when the email address is updated in the home record but the linked user record has not been refreshed. This can occur in both linked user records converted from Voyager stubs or in linked user records created directly in Alma.
  • Multiple user records in the home Alma have the same email address. In this case the report does not know which user record to use so it leaves the primary ID and purge date blank.
  • A purge job deleted the home user record but the linked user record is still in the other institution.
• The Statistical Category 1 is for your use if you use the category to keep track of certain groups of users, such as graduating seniors. Before you can use this category, you need to follow the steps in Steps to add Statistical Categories for Analytics. If the email address in the linked user record is missing or does not match the home record, this field is left blank.
• The email address is how the home record and the linked record are linked. If the email address in the linked user record is missing or does not match the home record, this field is left blank.

How to use the report

1. When you see a user listed in the report, look up the user record in your Alma IZ, and review their fulfillment activities.
2. On the "Network Activity" tab, you will be able to see their fine/fee balances at each institution, as well as their loans at other I-Share libraries.
3. Then:
   • If the patron still has an item checked out from the institution and also owes fines, and if the item is in a lost status, you can contact your patron to ask them to return the item.
   • If the patron does not have a current loan, but there are fines still assigned, you can contact the item's home library to inquire whether the fines can be waived for the patron. Since there is no current loan, it is likely the item the fines were associated with was returned.

When the report says "Could not find user's home record" this is okay. Search to see if you can still find them in your SSC local users. The report itself has to match on email address, which sometimes are not included in the linked user record at the home library.

When to use this report

• Sometimes the library is in the list of organizations to be notified that a patron is separating from the institution (for example like due to taking a different position, or, they withdraw from classes mid-semester). Before "signing-off" that the patron is cleared to leave, some libraries review their outstanding library transactions, and do not clear them to leave until their account is taken care of at all I-Share libraries and at home (paired with the loan counts report).
• Some libraries are able to check their patron records for lingering transactions at other I-Share libraries periodically, such at the end of the semester or the end of the year or before graduation, and follow-up with local patrons who have delinquency at other I-Share libraries.
• Sometimes another I-Share library will contact your library regarding one of your library's patrons who is delinquent at their institution. The other I-Share library might request that your library apply a block to the patron's record to prevent further library activity and encourage account remediation. This report can help to see where else they have outstanding fines, and paired with the loan counts report, can give you a picture of the patron's activity across the consortium.