ALeC – Accessit Library eLearning Centre

Once you have worked through the first two courses, you will have the knowledge for the day to day running of your library, while the portal provides answers to your questions as they arise. These two resources are designed to complement each other.

The courses are sequential, with quizzes and interactive games along the way to test your knowledge. At the successful completion of Courses 1 and 2, you will receive a certificate. To register for ALeC you must have a library role within the school, not IT support or school administrator.

To register for ALeC, open Accessit and go to Help > Update your Contact details. Add yourself as a contact and select a library role from the dropdown. Save your new contact, then click on Request in the ALeC column. Once you have confirmed and saved your details, the request will be sent to our ALeC team and you will receive an email inviting you to join. Setting up your registration for ALeC is distinct from your login to Accessit and to the Customer Help Portal.

You can log into ALeC at any time through the Accessit Management App by going to Help > Accessit Library eLearning Centre (ALeC) and we recommend you bookmark this site on your browser for easy access.

Adding a Borrower

To add a Borrower

Go to Borrowers > Borrowers > Create Borrower.

You can add in a specific barcode for this borrower, or have Accessit auto assign a barcode. Barcodes can be changed in the future if needed.

Now fill in the details for your borrower. You can fill in as much or as little as is needed. The key fields are first name, last name, Class, Category. This will be enough to find the borrower and issue to them.

Click on List View to save and return to your list of borrowers.

Circulating in Accessit

Alternatively, you can click on Circulation and select your action.

In any Circulation screen, you can use the buttons on the left to switch between the split Issues and Returns mode, Issues mode or Returns mode.

Issuing an Item

1. In the Issues screen, type a borrower’s name or truncation of their name into the search box at the top, then press Enter on your keyboard, or scan their barcode.
   
2. With the borrower’s record open on the issues screen, scan the book barcode into the issues box or type the barcode and press Enter on your keyboard.
   

   Note: Whether you’re issuing or returning books, make sure to scan or type your own library barcode, usually printed on a label stuck on the book, not the publisher’s ISBN barcode, which is printed directly onto the lower back cover.

Renewing an Item

If you wish to renew a book a borrower already has on loan, follow these steps.

1. From the Home screen, click CTRL + I (CMD + I) to go straight to the Issues screen.
2. Open the borrower record either by scanning the borrower barcode into the search box at the top, or type their name and press Enter on your keyboard.
3. Tick the selection box by the book/s to renew and click the Renew button at the bottom.
   

   Note: If the borrower has reached the renewal limit, they will not be permitted to renew. If you wish to allow them to renew, you have the option to enter the Override password, if you know it.

Returning an Item

1. From the Home screen, click CTRL + R (CMD + R) to go straight to the Returns screen.
2. Scan the school’s barcode into the Barcode to return box, or type it in and press Enter on your keyboard.
   

Automated Cataloguing

You can catalogue a batch of books at a time. We recommend no more than 20 or 30 at any one time. Go to Cataloguing > My Catalogue > Automated Cataloguing.

If your system is set to use pre-printed barcodes make sure the Auto Assign box is unticked. Scan the ISBN barcode from the back of the book (or type in the ISBN and press Enter), then scan your pre-printed book barcode. Repeat this for each item in your pile.

If you normally print your own barcodes and the Auto Assign box is unticked, simply tick it and scan the ISBN. It will scan and drop down into the box below.

Once you have completed scanning all the items in your pile, click Process All.

On the Configuration screen that displays, check Create copies for these MARC records is ticked, click Process.

Accessit will now check for matches for those ISBN’s in your z39.50 servers. Where it can find a match, it will pull the MARC record in and create the resource and copy record for you.

Editing your new records

Once your records have been generated, they will appear as a list on screen and you will be able to double click into each record to check and edit any details that you wish.

The Resource Record

Double clicking into one of the records takes you to the resource record. This is the bibliographic information, or resource information that is the same for every copy of this title that you may have. You can add or edit information here to suit your library, such as subject headings, classifications, type etc.

The Copy Record

When you are happy with the resource record details, open the copy record by double clicking anywhere on the copies line. The copy record shows information that is unique to each copy in your library, such as barcode, purchase date and cost etc.

You can add in any relevant details for this particular copy, such as purchase cost, replacement cost, supplier, budget, whether it was donated etc..

Clicking on List View will save any edits you have made and return you to the resource list where you can move onto the next record.