Inventory
An inventory of your library collection should be done once a year. If it is too difficult to do the whole collection, then inventory the most popular sections and/or ones you would like to weed.
Why do an inventory?
- It is the best method for having the library catalog reflect what is on the shelves.
- It allows librarians to know their collection well, particularly those who are new and/or have never done an inventory before.
- It allows librarians to locate books without barcodes (or unreadable barcodes) and to catch books with barcodes that are not in Destiny.
Inventory Steps
- Decide if the whole library will be inventoried, or what specific sections. Complete inventories that are In-‐Progress but do not change the unaccounted books to lost. You can do this once your inventory is complete.
- Prepare to do the inventory. The best method is to have laptops and rolling carts available with scanners. If additional scanners and support is needed, reach out to your Library Services Coordinator for assistance. You can also recruit parents, paraprofessionals, and student library aids.
Note: If you have a handheld scanner, you can use that for inventory but keep in mind that if won’t tell you if a barcoded book is not available in Destiny because you upload files of barcodes to the inventory.
- Go to Back Office-‐>Inventory-‐>Click Start New
- Give the inventory a name. Click OK to start. If doing a specific range, enter that into the call number range (ex. 000 to 999 or FIC AAA to FIC ZZZ). You can also choose a circulation type.
- Start scanning. Make certain the sound if on for the laptop.
Positive Beep: Copy scanned correctly.
Negative Beep:
- Copy was not found. Set aside and enter that book later.
- Book was checked out. Now it is checked it.
- Book was marked lost. Click again to reactive it.
Keep scanning until all sections are completed. Do not finalize the inventory until you have scanned all the books you want to include. Books that are checked out are fine and will not be marked as lost. You can keep circulating books throughout the inventory process.
Finalizing
Click on Finalize Inventory when finished. Change all the unaccounted books to Lost. If you don’t do this step, it will be as if you never did the inventory! If you go to Reports-‐>Inventories, you will have the option to delete all the lost books. I recommend you do this because it is a lengthier process to delete lost books at a later time.
