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We have fines at a relatively low rate (20 per book per day) but also suspend students IT accounts after 10 days overdue. As Library IT Manager, I have access to the IT account system (Novell) with agreement with the IT Dept and our Library system is Heritage IV. However, we could simply provide a list and forward it to them instead. Our students receive 3 notifications that books are overdue at 3,6 and 10 days overdue. The first 2 letters can be emailed if users supply an email address to us. However, the final letter is always printed so that can suspend a student's IT account (then forward letters as usual). This works very well indeed and most students accept it as a penalty quite happily. Additionally, the system automatically puts a loan/reservation stop if a fine reaches £3 per book or a total of £10 for all books. This prevents fines from getting out of control. If this happens the system produces a letter/email which , when printed out we can add to the list of accounts to be cut off. We suspend student's IT accounts if fines are over £5 (and often waive all or half of the fine if the student comes to remedy the situation quickly). We also suspend a students account for 3 days for eating/drinking/making excessive noise. Initially this may seem harsh but the policy is consistent and we are usually flexible and waive/half fines or not impose the suspension. Nevertheless it is a policy which does work extremely well and we have not had any major complaints from students. They seem to accept it as being "relatively" fair and a cheaper punishment than fines. Where problems do occur is during assignment hand-in/exam time in which we suspend accounts but are more lenient when students find they cannot access the system. We also suspend fines over the Christmas, easter and Summer holidays as fines are more trouble than they are worth but we continue the overdue notices and IT account suspensions. Students appreciate this and overdues are not generally a problem over the holidays. Mark Mark Norman Library IT Manager Regent's College Inner Circle Regent's Park London NW1 4NS Tel +44 (0)20 7487 7567 Fax +44 (0)20 7487 7667