Overview
Four tabs: Desk for the daily issuing and returning, Loans for what is out and overdue, Catalogue for your books, and Rules for loan periods and fines.
Set your lending rules first
- Days a book can be kept: 14 by default.
- Fine per day late: ₹1 by default. Set 0 for no fines.
- Largest fine on one book: ₹200 by default, so a book forgotten over the holidays doesn't cost more than it is worth.
- Books at once: 2 for a student and 5 for staff, by default.
- Renewals: how many times a loan can be extended (1 by default).
Rules apply to new loans and renewals; books already out keep the due date they were given.
Adding books
- Open Catalogue and press Add book.
- Scan the barcode on the back cover, or type the ISBN (the 10 or 13 digits above it). The title, author, publisher, year and language are filled in for you. ISBNs are checked, so a typo is caught.
- If the book is already in your catalogue, you're told at once, with how many copies you have, and can add more copies to it there and then. The same ISBN can't be added twice, whether it was typed in its 10-digit or 13-digit form.
- Check the details, and add the edition, category and shelf if you like. A book with no ISBN (an old book, a magazine) is typed in by hand.
- Enter how many copies you have and the price per copy (charged if a borrower loses one).
Each copy gets its own accession number. More copies later: open the book and press Add a copy.
Details from the ISBN
When you scan or type a valid ISBN, tuition.in looks the book up in Open Library, a free public catalogue. If Open Library has no author or publisher for it, Google Books is asked for the rest (only when your institution has set up a Google Books key). You're told which catalogue the details came from.
- Only the empty boxes are filled. Anything you typed first is kept.
- Nothing is saved until you press Add to catalogue. Public catalogues get things wrong sometimes (an author's name cut short, a different edition), so check before you add it.
- Not found? Many Indian textbooks and local publishers aren't in the public catalogues. Type the details in; the book works the same way.
- A book looked up once is remembered, so the next school to add the same NCERT book gets its details at once.
Books already in the catalogue with an ISBN but no author, publisher, year or language: the Catalogue tab shows Fill in N books from the ISBN. It fills in only the empty details of each book and never changes a title or anything you typed. To correct a book, open its copies and press Edit details.
Accession numbers
Accession numbers are your library's running numbers, 00001 upwards, one per copy, never reused. Write each copy's number inside its cover or on a spine label; that is the number you scan or type at the desk.
The desk: issue and return
The Desk tab is one box. Scan or type a book's number and press Enter:
- If the copy is on the shelf, it offers to issue it and shows the due date. Search for the borrower (student or staff) and press Issue.
- If the copy is out, it shows who has it and since when, and whether it's late and by how much. Press Take it back; you can waive part of the fine and mark it paid there and then. You can also Renew it or mark it Lost by borrower.
Issuing is refused, with the reason, if the borrower already has as many books as your rules allow, or has an overdue book (it has to come back first). Two librarians scanning the same copy at the same moment get one loan and one clear refusal.
How fines work
The fine is whole days late times your daily rate, up to your largest fine. A book returned on its due date is not late. While a book is out, the Loans tab shows the fine it would carry if returned today; when it comes back, the fine is fixed on the loan. Waive some or all of it at the desk if there's a good reason, and mark it paid when the money is in. Unpaid fines are listed under Loans, Fines owed, where you can mark them paid later.
Renewals
Renewing gives a new due date counted from today. A loan that is already overdue can't be renewed (it comes back and the fine is settled first), and a loan can't be renewed more times than your rules allow.
Lost and worn-out books
- Lost by the borrower: from the desk, press Lost by borrower. The loan closes with the book's price plus any late fine as the amount owed, and the copy is marked lost.
- Worn out: in the catalogue, open the book's copies and press Withdraw. Withdrawn copies stay in the accession register with their history.
- Found again: Back on the shelf.
A book that has ever been lent can't be deleted: withdraw its copies instead, so the history stays true.
Overdue books and reminders
On Loans, Overdue, press Remind all. Every student with an overdue book who has a tuition.in account is notified, and so are their linked parents. Students without an account are listed with their parent's phone number so you can call.
What students and parents see
A student with an account sees their books, due dates, and any fine so far on their Campus page. A linked parent sees the same on the Campus tab of their dashboard.
The accession register
Accession register on the Catalogue tab downloads every copy (number, title, author, ISBN, publisher, shelf, status, price and date added) as a CSV. It is the register an inspection asks to see.
Questions
Is anything sent to Open Library about our school? No. Only the ISBN is looked up; no names, students or school details leave tuition.in.
Can students borrow over the holidays? Yes. Give a longer due date at issue by changing the rules for that period, or renew.
Do fines go into Accounts? Not automatically. Record the month's fine collection as income through your fee or cash records if you want it in the books.
A student left with a book. Marking them as left doesn't close their loans; the book stays on the overdue list until it comes back or you mark it lost.