Learning Objective

• Inventory items with MobileStaff.

Why Inventory?

A regular and consistent inventory of your library collection will help library staff in many ways. Some benefits of an inventory include:

• Becoming more familiar with your collection.
• Finding content areas to improve and add to.
• Examine each item and determine its relevance.
• Find materials that need to be repaired, cleaned, replaced, or reshelved. 
• Have an accurate representation of materials by marking items lost, missing, or discard.
• Correct call number and barcode errors.

Plan to make time each year to do some sort of inventory, even if it is only one item group. You will feel more organized and be better equipped to help students and staff find the materials they need.

Inventory Setup

Before beginning inventory check the options available in Setup. Click Setup in the side menu and open the drop-down menu for Inventory. See below for more information on the setup options available. Options - Check the box next to the feature to turn it on: Audio Alerts and Check Shelving Order.

Audio Alerts will allow audibles to sound when there is a problem with an item you are scanning during the inventory process.

Check Shelving Order ensures items are correctly shelved. Items that are not shelved correctly will be accompanied by an audio alert notifying the person completing the inventory that there is a problem.

Using MobileStaff for Inventory

MobileStaff enables you to quickly and easily inventory items by scanning them into "inventory". This option can be used in either online or offline mode. If using in offline mode, be sure to run the "Upload Offline Transactions" option once you have re-established an online connection on the device you used to scan. Refer to this Offline lesson for more information about Offline mode.

The MobileStaff Inventory method takes the place of Step 2a and Step 2b in the Inventory Process. Please complete the Pre-Inventory Steps 1. Missing Copies List and 2. List Transits Report and the Step 1 Set Inventory Date report before starting this process.

Setup 

In the menu on the left side, enable either of the following options before beginning your inventory.

• Audio Alerts - Allows alerts to sound when there is a problem. Inventory includes three audio alerts:
  • item status is not at the home location
  • item is not in the right library
  • item is not in the right sequence on the shelves
• Check Shelving Order - Ensures items are correctly shelved. Items that are not shelved correctly will be accompanied by an audio alert.

Click or tap Apply to apply any changes made.

If you decide to check shelving order, be sure that the first item you scan is in the correct place on the shelf. This item will set the tone when checking the shelving order as you scan.

Watch the screen as you scan. If there is a problem, or the item has a status other than AVAILABLE, you will hear a short buzz (if applied in Setup) and a warning message will appear on the screen. If possible, rectify the item before moving on.

To Inventory an Item

1. Click or tap Inventory.
2. Enter the Item ID. If you are using the MobileStaff app on a device with a camera, you can tap the Barcode icon to use the device camera to scan an item's barcode.
3. Click or tap Inventory Item. The Item ID, Home, Status, Call #, Title, and On Reserve information will be shown. If the information does not match up, the corresponding line will be red, and an audio alert will sound.
4. Repeat these steps for each item you would like to inventory. 

Possible alerts for scanned items:

• A red call number indicates an item was scanned out of order if you are checking shelving order. 
• CHECKEDOUT  
• Invalid ID 
• Wrong Library 
• MISSING - Item has been previously marked as Missing.  
• Lost Item 
• DISCARD - This item has been previously marked as DISCARD. Set item aside to dispose of later or edit the location of the item. 
• Wrong Collection - This error message indicates that the item scanned belongs to a different home location than the item scanned before it. It does not necessarily mean something is wrong with the item. 

Alerts are based on the status and location of items according to WorkFlows and BLUEcloud. Issues can be fixed in either software.

Once you have completed scanning items, continue on to Step 3 of the Inventory Process to generate a list of items not inventoried. Continue with the steps as needed.