Guide to using Soutron Acquisitions and Serials

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This is a step by step guide to Acquisitions and Serials workflows in Soutron using a series of video segments to inform and explain.

Included are recommendations to set up and configure the system.

Create purchase orders for journal publications (Subscriptions) as well as Standard materials (i.e. books and non-serial format).

It includes how to quickly set up accurate prediction of a journal’s published dates and workflows to distribute physical and/or electronic copies.

This video guide is no substitute for personal consultation and we welcome requests for a personalised demonstration of software.

Copies and Distribution

Creating Physical and Electronic Routing Lists for a Journal Subscription
Creating Physical & Electronic Routing Lists using Templates
Creating New Order Loan Preparation
Creating a New Order but with “NO COPIES”
Creating a New Order – Delivery Option
Creating a New Order – Virtual Copies

Costs

Creating a New Order – Recording Costs

Editing and Changing Existing Orders

Editing Subscription Orders

Cancelling an Order for a Subscription
Copying a Subscription Order
Assign a NEW prediction type to an existing subscription

Creating New Purchase Orders

Video’s show how easy it is to create the Purchase Order Record for serials and/or books. The workflow for ordering an individual Journal Title is explained in the section “Subscription Order Lines” and for non-Serial items in the section “Standard Order Line”

A Purchase Order can be set up with a single or multiple Order Lines. This means one single title can be added to a Purchase Order can be set up with multiple titles ordered on the same order to the same supplier.

Creating a New Purchase Order

When the “New Order” function is invoked from the catalogue record, a Pop-Up window appears immediately after clicking the menu option “Create New Order”. This is one way to start the order process.

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Creating a New Purchase Order from within Orders or New Catalogue Record This video shows you the two methods for creating a new purchase order. Either via the orders page or from the catalogue record.

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The Header for a Purchase Order

The “New Order” form sets up Header details (the title to be ordered, supplier, references, etc.) for a new purchase order. The video describes how to change or amend this data at any time.

A single Order Line is shown in the video for a Journal Subscription. The “New Order” form is the same regardless of type of order being added (Serial or Non-Serial). To create and work with different Order Lines, see Creating Subscription Order Lines and Creating Standard Order Lines.

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Creating Standard Orders (non-Serial types of material)

Creating a Standard Order from Catalogue Record – Overview

A walk through the creation of an order for a book from the catalogue record through to placing the order.

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Saving and Placing an Order

Creating a New Order: Placing an Order

Orders can be created and assigned different status according to where the order has reached in the process. These are menu options that can be selected when appropriate, such as placing an Order.

When one or more order lines have been added to a Purchase Order and the order is ready to be committed to the system, use “Place an Order”. This video explains how this function works.

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Creating an Order Line for a Subscription

Creating a New Subscription Record

The process of creating a new Subscription for a new Journal Title, includes first creating the catalogue record for the Journal Title. The selection of the “Serial” option invokes serial specific options. The process of creating a Purchase Order for a Serial from the catalogue record is included. (See – Creating a New Purchase Order).

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Creating New Purchase Order for a Subscription This includes setting up Dates, Claims, Renewal Date and adding any Notes. The first part introduces setting up the Subscription & Notes. Workflows show how to set up the Dates for a Subscription (Subscription Start and End Date).

The “Ongoing Order” workflow (a very big time saver) is introduced
The optional “Claim” function is explored.
The “Renewal Month” workflow is explained – (used for reporting as well as for automatic renewal of the subscription without manual intervention).

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Adding a Note for Check In and adding Requestors

Adding any notes for Check-In or private Notes to any purchase order is shown. The Requestors for a title can be recorded.

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Publishing Cycles and Predictions

Predictions are created from the Publication Cycle of a Journal (Serial): the dates when each journal issue is to expected to arrive in the Library. It is an important function that increases the efficiency of receipt of issues. It makes it very easy to perform receipting when set up.

There are different options that can be set up and a series of videos show the functionality available when implementing Predictions.

Creating Predictions for a New Subscription Purchase Order

Predictions are defined for Physical and Virtual materials.

Physical: Predictions for Subscriptions associated with printed, physical copies.

Virtual: Predictions for subscriptions where the published format is “electronic” i.e. a PDF Journal or an Online subscription.

There are different publishing scenarios and the system caters for all:

Title is only published in Print format
Title is only published in Electronic format
Title is published both as Print and Electronic with the same prediction
Title is published both in Print and Electronic but with different predictions (publishing cycles)

The videos also include how to predict different types of material such as a Bound Volume.

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Setting up expected Check-in Dates and using Volume Number

This video shows how easy it is to use the Earliest Check-in Date option.

It can be automatically set based on the Subscription Start Date.

This feature is invoked when creating a 2nd prediction for a different type of material e.g. Electronic rather than Physical or there is a change of prediction date from the Physical material.

The benefits of using Prediction to increase efficiencies in receipting are explained.

The recording of the Volume Number for a Journal is introduced. This can be disabled if a Subscription being created does not have a Volume Number. It is shown how to apply the Volume control where the volume number of a subscription has a continuously incrementing number.

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Creating Predictions with Non Continuous Volume Numbers

“Does the volume number increment continuously?” we show how the system can handle “difficult” Publishing Cycles.

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Recording Issue Numbers to increase receipt accuracy

Shows how easy it is to record Issue Numbers, how these and Volume Number (if required) makes for more accurate receipting and display of journal issues for end users.

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Formatting the display of Volume and Issue Numbers

Correctly recording and presenting the way a publisher describes each issue improves staff efficiency in receipting and the use of the collection.

Check-In, Claim Notifications to Suppliers, Search Portal Record view displays are all improved.

The issue enumeration can be set to mirror how the issue is cited on the journal itself. We show how easy this is set up.

Also demonstrated is the use of Pre-Set. How an issue would look if it is merged with other issues (a function at the time of Check-in), and how this can be overridden at the point of Check-in.

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Predictions and Publishing Cycles

Predictions incorporates Publishing Cycles.

The system provides a fast way to record the frequency of publication i.e. the schedule of days/dates that a publication is expected to be issued. The calendar is quickly set up based on the prediction publishing cycle selected using pre-defined templates to save time Including use of Irregular as a Prediction Cycle for those titles that are impossible to predict!

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Preview Predictions and Publishing Cycle

Once a prediction has been created, good practice requires that it is checked to make sure it is as expected. This video shows the different methods of previewing a prediction for the subscription being created.

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Copies

Creating Copies for a New Order and preparing for them to be received

A Subscription may be for more than one copy of a journal. This workflow demonstrates the speed of creating and handling multiple copies (physical or virtual) across different offices and libraries.

The end result is an accurate prediction and enumeration and for the issues to be ready to be received.

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Creating New Order Copies Physical Copies Table

Once physical copies have been assigned to a subscription there are different options that can be applied so that any situation that arises can be easily handled within the application. This includes changing office and locations barcodes, references, print and loan period settings and distribution options.

How to change the sequence of copies to be received and part received.

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Copies & Distribution

Creating Physical and Electronic Routing Lists for a Journal Subscription

Physical and Electronic Routing/Distribution lists can be quickly created or predefined templates applied.

The same procedure is used for both Subscription and Standard Orders. Only a Subscription Order is shown in this video. It includes:

How to create a routing/distribution list where an issue is physically routed
How to create an electronic notification, so that one or more users are notified by email when titles are received

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Creating Physical & Electronic Routing Lists using Templates

Routing lists can be set up using a predefined template. This can be useful where several journals are being routed and they have the same people. This is a major time saving function.

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Creating New Order Loan Preparation

Pre-set a loan transaction for a copy, so that when the item is received, it is automatically issued. This is particularly useful for personal or desk copies that the library manages.

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Creating a New Order but with ‘NO COPIES’

Create an order for titles that will not be part of the library collection but need to be recorded or accounted for by a fund account. Use the “No Copies” option. This is useful where a user asks for a copy to be purchased taking advantage of discounts the library may receive but the item will not be received into and be part of the library collection.

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Creating a New Order – Delivery Option

Introduces the concept of “Delivery Options” Delivery options can be put in place when creating Physical Copies so that the timing for receipt is more accurate.

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Creating a New Order – Virtual Copies

Where there are NO physical copies but there will be an electronic file to check-in or perhaps the title is for an online service only, use the Virtual functions. This video shows use the Copy selector and the Prediction Type to generate Virtual Copies.

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Costs

Creating a New Order – Recording Costs

An overview of all the functions to record costs, taxes, discounts, fund accounts and budget(s) when setting up an order is provided in this video.

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Editing and Changing Existing Orders

Soutron is designed to be flexible and allow changes and updates to be made to orders as they progress. Various changes can be made:

Editing Subscription Orders

Cancelling an Order for a Subscription

Where a subscription is to be cancelled. For example the Subscription has been set to be “ongoing” but it is decided that at the end of the current year, it is not to be continued. It is to be cancelled.

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Copying a Subscription Order

Where a subscription exists and a variation is made to the original order i.e. additional copies are to be ordered either now or at subscription renewal date. Or it has been decided to reduce the number of copies. The existing order is no longer accurate or relevant thus the existing order is cancelled and a new order created with the correct number of copies. Rather than create the new order from scratch, a lot of time can be saved by copying the existing order and amending details as needed.

This video shows how you can do this.

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Assign a NEW prediction type to an existing Subscription

When a publisher changes the Publishing Cycle in mid-cycle it can cause difficulties and a lot of extra work for the Library. This is easy to handle in Soutron by simply creating an additional prediction type. It may be necessary for the recording of a Bound Volume or if the prediction of a title is changing from monthly to weekly etc, in such circumstances an additional Prediction Publishing Cycle will be needed.

This video shows how to do this

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Feedback

We hope the above are of some assistance and help guide you through the many areas of Soutron Acquisitions. If you have a further question regarding these videos then please do not hesitate to contact us.