Below is the recording from our August 25, 2022 KLAS LBPD Users' Roundtable on Talking Book Topics.

Description: With the recent loss of the physical Large Print Talking Book Topics from our Reader Advisory Tool Box, libraries are crafting new strategies to keep readers informed about new titles being added to the collection. Our August roundtable explored how other libraries are addressing these changes and share your own successes in addressing the changes with TBT. 

Host: Michael Lang, Kansas Talking Books Service

Panelists:

• Maureen Dorosinki, Florida Braille & Talking Book Libraries
• Crystal Grimes, Oregon Talking Book & Braille Library

Chat Transcript: 08-25-2022_KLAS_Roundtable_Chat.txt

The Rating Unrated Books (RUB) project allows volunteers across the NLS network of libraries to share content information about previously unrated books. But how do you take all that information from the spreadsheet and get it into KLAS?

In short, you need to filter the spreadsheet to generate a list of KLAS IDs for each subject to load, load each of those lists as a query set, and use the Add / Remove Headings tool to apply the subject heading. For full instructions of how to do this, including both the Excel process and the process in KLAS, please see the following instructions. The process can be adjusted to meet your libraries standards, such as whether you track both "some strong language" and "strong language" or only one level.

Please note: because the Add / Remove Headings tool makes changes to a large number of titles at once... there is also the potential for a mistake to be applied to a large number of titles at once. If you have questions about this tool, or if you think something has gone wrong, please contact Keystone Customer Support. 

The PowerPoint presentations and recordings of the 2022 Online KLAS Users' Mini-Conference sessions held on Tuesday, May 3 and Wednesday, May 4 are now available. 

Tuesday, May 3

KLAS New Features for Libraries for the Blind & Print Disabled

• PowerPoint - NewFeatures-22-5-lbpd.pptx 

Keystone Updates

• PowerPoint - MiniUC2022_Keystone_Updates.pptx

KLAS New Features for Instructional Resource / Materials Centers

• PowerPoint - NewFeatures-22-5-lbpd.pptx

Wednesday, May 4

KLAS Users' Group Business Meeting

• PowerPoint - 2022_KLAS_Users_Group_Business_Meeting.pptx
• PDF - 2022_KLAS Users' Group Business_Meeting_Minutes.pdf

 What resources are available to help new users get up-to-speed on KLAS, and what is still needed? Come find out what's on offer and provide your suggestions and requests for future offerings at our April Keystone-presented webinar.

• Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022

Recording:

The discussion references North Carolina Accessible Books and Library Services' KLAS Users' Guide LibGuides page.

Download:

• Slides with outline / agenda

Our March KLAS LBPD Users' Roundtable occurred on Thursday, March 17 at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific. During this session, user panelists discussed the ins and outs of Serials Duplication using KLAS. Additionally, members of Keystone staff will be available to answer questions, listen to feedback, and provide insight. So, set aside an hour and join us for to learn more about handling Serials circulation within a Duplication on Demand service model.

KLAS LBPD Users' Roundtable: Serials Duplication

User panelists included:

• Josh Easter, SD
• David Statz, MN
• Teresa Kalber, CO
• Amanda Diggs, KS

The recording of this roundtable is now available for review:

For this quarter’s IRC webinar, we had a Roundtable on the APH Census, with discussion on how you go about the census process and how KLAS can better support that work. It was held on Tuesday, February 22nd.

Roundtable speakers were:

• Jared Leslie, Director of Media and Development, Foundation for Blind Children in Arizona
• Sally Shreck, Specialized Media Coordinator, Maryland School for the Blind IRC
• Allen Huang, Director of Accessible Instructional Materials and Outreach Services, Tennessee Resource Center for the Visually Impaired
• Kathy Segers, Educational Consultant, Tennessee Resource Center for the Visually Impaired

The recorded webinar is now available:

Do you make use of the Front Desk module?

A recent update added the patron Contacts tab, replacing the address section of the Patron Data tab to ensure there are no discrepancies between the data stored in the Patron and Front Desk modules. We've also done some work to sync the functions available for the Service Queue and Orders tab, so everything you need is in both modules. 

All this got me thinking about the Front Desk more generally, and how it's used.

We created this module to (you guessed it) service a library's front desk, where staff need easy access to both quick check-in and check-out and basic patron maintenance functions. While the Front Desk module is designed for handling walk-ins, I think it's also great for those doing a mix of circulation and patron services, and who don't need or want to learn the full patron module. Part timers and volunteers may find Front Desk has everything they need, without as much of what they don't. 

To help those only needing to help the occasional walk-in at a front desk or an outreach event, we created the Front Desk Service Manual. While it does stray outside of the Front Desk module where needed, this guide is intended to grant quick-and-easy access to the top patron service functions. I hope it will help those who need a little refresher or a touchpoint as they perform occasional customer service tasks. It is formatted to be printed and put in a binder, but also intended to be Screen Reader friendly, with the keystrokes needed for an AT user to complete tasks just as conveniently as sighted users.

Initially targeted for a specific library with a higher need for it, I'm now putting it out for general use. Please let me know: is this missing any common tasks for front-desk, part time, or volunteer users? Do you need a Gutenberg version? Also, beyond the document itself, I'd love to hear if and how you use the Front Desk module!

Notes for printing: 

• If printing for a binder, ensure all two-page sections will be open spreads by printing the first page single-sided. Then print pages 2-14 double-sided.
• If you are not a Scribe library, remove those sections from the table of contents by deleting pages 13 and 14. Then right-click anywhere in the Contents section and select "update field."

On Tuesday, January 25 at 2 PM Eastern / 11 AM Pacific we hosted a webinar discussing "Cataloging for Duplication" . During this online training, Katy addresses topics such as including handling withdrawn titles, updating new title records without physical copies coming in, and what eDocs are and where they come from. Below is the recording of the webinar. Run time is 1:01:53.

The recording from the 12-14-2021 APH Integration Update webinar is now available. 

KLAS offers a variety of powerful search options for you to choose from. These different search types can be used in Queries, Book Searches, and more simply by choosing the corresponding Search Operator.

But do you know what all of the query and search operators in KLAS mean? Here's a cheat sheet!

• Download for print: Cheat Sheet - Query Operators

New to KLAS, stepping out of your comfort zone into a different module, or just wanting a review of the basics? Check out the Intro to KLAS manual for an overview of all the main KLAS screens and some of its primary functions.

Please log in to view available downloads. Thank you!

Note: This manual was originally designed for print, and the images are not described. If you use Assistive Technology or otherwise cannot benefit from undescribed screenshots, please see the AT Reference Document for contextual information and text-only screen contents. 

New to KLAS, stepping out of your comfort zone into a different module, or just wanting a review of the basics? Check out the Intro to KLAS manual for an overview of all the main KLAS screens and some of its primary functions.

Note: This manual was originally designed for print, and the images are not described. If you use Assistive Technology or otherwise cannot benefit from undescribed screenshots, please see the AT Reference Document for contextual information and text-only screen contents. 

The recording of the 11/3/2021 KLAS IRC / IMC Users' Roundtable hosted by Jared Leslie, AZ, and Jen Buzolich. CA is now available. This session was a place to share ideas and feedback following the APH conference, ask questions about new features and upcoming development, and an opportunity to connect with Keystone staff and other KLAS IRC users'. We hope you will be able to join us for our next IRC Roundtable after the new year!

The recording of our October 12, 2021 KLAS IRC / IMC Users' Group Meeting held as part of the APH 2021 Annual Meeting is now available.

During this meeting, we shared IRC-specific features and functionality added to KLAS since our August 24, 2021 KLAS New Features webinar, upcoming development, Q&A, and discussion including a status update on the ongoing project to integrate KLAS with APH. At this time, we expect our customers to be able to submit APH orders from KLAS in the fourth quarter of 2021, and we plan to be able to automatically pul APH catalog info into KLAS by the first quarter of 2022. 

For the first time this year, Keystone held the KLAS Users' Conference virtually. Nearly 300 attendees and presenters from organizations across the country who use KLAS came together June 7-10 to share and learn. We used PheedLoop as our event platform and all session video recordings are still available to paid conference attendees via their PheedLoop log-in. Now, we're sharing all KLAS UC 2021 session slidedecks and handout files available with the rest of the KLAS Users' Community. 

Note: You must be logged in to access these files.

The recording of our August 24, 2021 KLAS New Features webinar is now available. The webinar covers the features and functionality added to KLAS since the 2021 KLAS Users' Conference.

PowerPoint & Chat Transcript

• 8/24/2021 KLAS New Features PowerPoint - 9.7 MB
• 8/24/2021 KLAS New Features Chat Transcript - 21 KB

Below is the recording and chat transcript for our KLAS Users' Roundtable: Duplication on Demand Tips & Tricks for Serving Patrons that was held on Thursday, May 20, 2021. (57:24 Run Time)

Chat Transcript

Demonstration of effect that the Windows Display Scale settings have on the KLAS-JAWS configuration files

Recording:

Scribe Errors and What to Do About Them

Browse this list of potential Scribe Errors for more information about why they might occur and what you can do to recover from them. This list is always under construction--if your error is not yet listed, please email a screenshot to Keystone Customer Support for information and next steps. Remember that we're always here to help if you're having trouble!

Barcodes:

• Scribe Barcodes - Basic (Primary Modes) - 2024-03-06
• Scribe Barcodes - Advanced (Troubleshooting and Firmware options) - 2025-02-26
• Scribe Barcodes - Unlocking (Repurposing Mode and Override Keys) - 2024-03-6

System Errors

Web Monitor Error Messages

The Circulation Report is an excellent source of statistics. Nancy likes to call it the “Circulation, Circulation, Circulation Report,” since it’s found in the Circulation Module, under the Reports -> Circulation menu. It should be the first thing you check any time you need to know “how many of these things are we sending out?” whatever 'these things' happen to be.

Because the report has A LOT of options, you can really key in on just what you need. Unlike the Readership & Circulation report, which was developed to return consistent results for all libraries based on NLS' defined parameters, YOU get to decide what you want to count.

The downside is that the report... has A LOT of options. What do they all mean? Let’s take a look at some of the specifics for the Circulation Report.

Pick and Choose What Results to Include

Don’t worry! I’m not referring to “cherry-picking” your data. By default, the Circulation Report spits out a huge table, with potentially many more columns and sections that you need. If you’re only looking for one specific thing, you can save yourself a little eye strain by selecting only the columns you want to include in the report.

For any of the "Media", "Show in Report", or "Include in" Total lists that you wish to customize, you can click on any of the specific values you want to move the selection off of “All.” Then, hold down the CTRL key and select any others you want included.

Understanding your Options and Results

Of course, as you’re selecting which results to include, you’ll need to understand what they mean. "Consumables" and "Tracked" both refer to physical items. Consumables might be things like catalogues, which you don't expect to be returned. Tracked items are everything you expect patrons to send back. "Electronic Circ" covers BARD downloads, plus any downloads of SHELF or local titles through your OPAC, while "Duplication" covers Titles (not cartridges) duplicated via PCC, Scribe, or Gutenberg.

So if you want to answer, “How many cartridges did we duplicate?” select Show in Report: Tracked, and set your Begin KLAS ID and End KLAS ID to DB-Cart to get the cartridge count.

But, if you want to know “How many books did our duplication patrons get?” Use Show in Report: Duplication.

The next fine distinction is between "Patron Served Counts", and "Overall Patron Counts".

Patron Served Counts will add a "Check Out" and a "Checked In" column for each of the Circulation types selected, showing how many patrons received circulation of that type. Overall Patron Counts will then add a column at the far right, showing the number of patrons who received any of the selected types of circulation.

In our example below, 1,727 patrons received about 12,000 Tracked physical items. In the same period, 254 Patrons downloaded almost 4,000 titles.

However, notice that you can’t just add those together to get the Overall Patrons. That’s because some patrons may have received Tracked items AND downloaded items for Electronic Circ. The "Overall Patrons" column only counts each of those patrons once, no matter how many other columns they’re in.

Do you have branch libraries?

If you have any sub-regionals or branches, make sure you understand your “Circulation Basis” options: Sending Library or Patron Served.

The simple version here is that Sending Library counts everything based on which library sent the material, no matter who received it, while Patron Served counts everything based on which library the patron is assigned to on their Patron Main tab, no matter who actually sent the material. So if FL1A fills a back-catalog request for an FL1G patron, Sending Library would count that circulation in FL1A's report, and Patron Served would count it in FL1G's report.

Once you've got that straight, here are a few more details:

BARD circulations have their sending library set based on which library loaded the BARD Circulations. So (to keep picking on Florida for my examples) if FL1A loaded everyone's BARD Circs, all of those Electronic Circs would show up in FL1A's report based on Sending Library. Instead, they have each sub-regional load their own BARD Circs, so they can include the Electronic Circ count in their regular reports while keeping the Sending Library basis.

Meanwhile, Braille Institute has branches, but they are not recognized as full sub-regionals by NLS and don't get separate reports from BARD to be able to load their BARD Circs branch by branch. They can still get separate Electronic Circ counts, though, by using the Patron Served basis for their reports.

Finally, the Patron Served basis for the Circulation Report works off of the details recorded in the "CirTrans," the circulation transaction record KLAS creates and stores every time something is checked out or back in. The patron's current library is one of the bits of data that is recorded, so even if a patron moves to a different region, the Circulation Report will still count them for the library they were assigned to at the time of the circulation.

That means that a patron could receive something checked out while they were in FL1G, call to update their address (at which time the diligent RA would update the library on their Main Tab), and receive their next book as a patron of FL1A. If statistics were run by Patron Served for that period, the patron would be counted once for FL1G, and once from FL1A.

In contrast, the Circulation by County report is a "snapshot report," which only works off of current information. That report looks up which patrons are currently in the given county, and then reports how many circulations those patrons received. So that report would count both of our example patron's circulations for their current county, not one for each.

Final Thoughts

I hope taking a deeper dive into the Circulation Report has been helpful for you! If you still have questions, that's fine. This is a complex but powerful report, and we're very happy to help you with it. Any time you have reporting questions send an email to ks7 with all the info you need numbers for, and we'll let you know the best way to get to them.

And if you just can't get enough about reports, have a look at some of our favorite Snapshot Reports, too!

Downloads

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Blog Posts

General

What do you do about Withdrawn Titles? - Key Notes post February 26, 2022

Automatic Status Updates for Duplication-Ready Titles - Key Notes post April 19, 2021

Shuffle the Deck- Key Notes post August 26, 2020

Locally Produced Titles - Key Notes post March 12, 2020

NLS Duplication Supplies - Key Notes post Sept 10, 2019

Cartridge Capacity Information - Forum post Aug 23, 2019

System-specific

Notes from the Scribe - Scribe implementation guest post series

Hot off the Press - Gutenberg implementation guest post series

Remember: You are always welcome to call or email Keystone Customer Support with questions or requests!