Know Your Circulation Assistants

Circ Assistant is a term you've most likely already heard a lot of. But what exactly does that mean? Because a circ assistant isn't always a circ assistant which can be different from a circ assistant.

So it's time to play <read in a game show host voice> 'How well do *you* know your Circulation Assistant?'. Here we go...

 Round 1: Who is this familiar guy?

If you guessed Circulation Assistant, then you would be correct...

...but it's a specific kind of Circ Assistant know as a low power Circ Assistant.

This low power Circ Assistant is designed for encoding or dealing with one item at a time. So it's perfect for tech services use, and for encoding on the fly like we have been doing with other libraries items. Encoding is only ever done one item @ a time as the specific barcode needs to be sent.

As the name suggests, it's very low power as it uses only a USB cable to power itself via a PC. It also has a very small footprint so doesn't take up much space at all. Consequently it has a small RFID read range so items have to be right on top of it for it to read.

Fun fact: this is the piece of RFID equipment that we have the most of. There are 3 @ Goodwood, and there will be 4 @ Unley and 1 @ the Toy Library.


Round 2: So what is this one then?

If you guessed Circulation Assistant, then you would be correct again!...

...but it's a specific kind of Circ Assistant know as a high power Circ Assistant.

This high power Circ Assistant is the big brother...and it's bigger in every way. It's got a larger footprint, a larger power requirement (it has to be plugged into a power point), a much much larger read range and it can read a larger number of items at the same time.

This high power Circ Assistant is able to be so high powered because the grey pad acts as an antenna. Turn it over and you'll see what I mean. It's insides look like a big racetrack tag.

Fun fact: the high power Circ Assistant has a unit attached that looks exactly like the low power circ assistant. The one @ Goody is hidden inside the pod - an extra point if you can find it!

Learning task: To test out how large the range is on the high power Circ Assistant, why not hold an item at a distance from one side and move it in until the pad reads it. Then try the same from the other side and above. Then you can see how powerful this baby is!

Helpful Hint: Because the read range is so high, you must make sure that you always close CheckOut and Discharging in Workflows every single time you finish using them. Also minimise Workflows. This will make sure that a user walking up to the pod won't get their item accidentally returned or issues on someone else's card!

A related but non-Circ Assistant related Helpful Hint:  Also lock the pod PC when you walk away from it to prevent unauthorised public access to our network. You can simply press the Windows Key (between Ctrl and Alt) and the L key and it will lock in a second!


Round 3: Ummmm, so if they are both Circ Assistants then what's that icon on the desktop that says Circ Assistant?

So yep, the software that runs the Circ Assistant pads is also handily called Circulation Assistant!

This software automatically plugs into Workflows and changes the RFID tag security to OFF (GREEN) for items that are being checked out. This is turned off to allow the security gates to safely let the issued item make it's way free of the library.

It changes the tag security to ON (RED) for items that are being returned. This is turned on so any items that are not issued will set the gates off and we can check Alarm Viewer for the details.

The Circ Assistant software is designed to work with Checkout and Discharge only so only use the RFID pad in Circ Assistant for these two functions. For other functions like Mark Item Used, just scan the barcode old school style.

If the Circ Assistant software does happen to freeze on you (and/or says something like 'Item Queued') ... just right click on the Circ Assistant icon to Close it and then use the desktop shortcut to launch it again. Too easy! Obviously if you accidentally happen to close it, you can just launch it again via the desktop shortcut also.

Helpful Hint: You can tell via the tray icon (this is the one over by the clock in the bottom right hand corner) whether the Circ Assistant Software is in Issue or Return mode by the red (returns) or the green (issues) square showing on the icon.

Another Helpful Hint: You can also right click on this Circ Assistant tray icon to Encode Tags or Use Tag Viewer, but you need to remember to always close them when you are done are click the play arrow to Resume the Circ Assistant Issues/Returns functionality.








Round 4: So who is this stylish amazingly helpful creature?

If you guessed Circulation Assistant, then you would be *wrong*...
Yes, it was a trap!

This is (of course) our gorgeous black box killer, the Sort Assistant.

I just wanted to mention it because the Sort Assistant uses a high power Circ Assistant pad to read items. Looks familiar, huh?

So be aware that the high powered read range also occurs for the Sort Assistant. This is how it can return multiple items at once with blistering speed.

So go forth and know your Circulation Assistants with pride!