Hi Anne
* what is the timescale for sending overdues and how many are sent before the item is billed?
we send our 1st overdue the day that it becomes overdue (99% go by email), 2nd overdue 6 days later, 3rd (and final) overdue a week later (this goes to their dept, local and home address in letter form as well as by email). We then bill them 2 weeks after that.
* how much are fines, including the maximum fine payable?
20p per day per book from the first day overdue. Maximum is £10 for ordinary books, and for short loan would never exceed the cost of replacement of the book.
* is a process and/or billing fee charged in addition to the bill for the replacement cost of the item and the fine, and how much are these charges?
we have been charging £3 for I think about 10 years now and I feel that this should be increased if changes to our accessions procedures allow the original cost to appear in the price field. This is additional to cor and non refundable. If cor is charged there would be no additional fine.
* are any sanctions imposed on users to encourage them to pay money owing and is this handled solely by the library?.
more than £3 owing prevents further transactions on their record. This includes renewing books etc so there is a further financial incentive to sort out the problem. At the end of the year we pass details to our Finance department who will prevent exam results, graduation etc for any patrons owing in excess of £50. Only 3 years ago this amount was £10 but they just can't handle to number of defaulters. Those returning be will prevented from registering if they owe £50.
We also have a default price of £25 where a current cor cannot be found, quite a rare occurance with second hand web sites. Unfortunately the price field is always blank from accessions so at certain times of the year we have huge numbers of books to price.
Good luck
Mary
Mary Pelowski
Assistant Librarian (User Services)
University of Essex
-----Original Message-----
From: Turner, Anne [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 22 January 2003 17:31
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Overdues, fines and bills
Dear All,
We are currently examining our procedure for fining and billing users for overdue and lost items. At present, we charge a replacement cost (from the price in the item record) and do not charge a process or billing fee, but are considering it.
We are interested in finding out how other Innopac users approach this area, specifically:
* what is the timescale for sending overdues and how many are sent before the item is billed?
* how much are fines, including the maximum fine payable?
* is a process and/or billing fee charged in addition to the bill for the replacement cost of the item and the fine, and how much are these charges?
* are any sanctions imposed on users to encourage them to pay money owing and is this handled solely by the library?.
Any feedback would be gratefully received. Thanks!
Anne
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Anne Turner, Learning Centre Systems Manager, Adsetts Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Pond Street, Sheffield, S1 1WB tel. 0114 225 2118, fax. 0114 225 3859 international +44 114 225 2118 [log in to unmask]
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