Offline Circulation

Overview

Evergreen’s Offline Circulation interface allows staff to continue basic circulation functions during network outages or scheduled system maintenance. Transactions performed in offline mode are stored locally in your browser and can be uploaded and processed once connectivity is restored.

Read this documentation completely before any scheduled downtime. Proper preparation is essential for successful offline circulation.

What You Can Do Offline

  • Check out items

  • Renew items

  • Record in-house use

  • Register new patrons

What You Cannot Do Offline

You cannot check in items while in offline mode. Plan accordingly for any scheduled downtime.

Preparation Steps

Before you can use offline circulation, you must complete these preparation steps while connected to the server:

Required Setup

  1. Ensure you have access to your production server

  2. Register your workstation on the computer and browser you intend to use

  3. Log in from that browser at least once

  4. Visit Search → Search for Patrons and perform a search

  5. Select a user from the results and open the Patron Edit interface

These steps allow the offline interface to collect essential information such as workstation configuration and the patron registration form template.

Bookmark the Offline Interface

Bookmark this permanent link on all circulation workstations:

https://acorn.biblio.org/eg/staff/offline-interface

This is the location for both entering transactions while offline and processing them later.

Accessing Offline Mode

Triggering Offline Mode

For offline circulation to load, your browser must either:

  • Be completely disconnected from the internet, or

  • Have its connection to the Evergreen server interrupted

Manual Methods

If you need to force your browser to show the offline circulation interface:

  • Firefox: Enable "Work offline" setting (under the File menu)

  • Chrome: Use a browser extension that can toggle offline mode

  • Any browser: Disconnect ethernet cable or disable wifi connection

Offline circulation interface showing the main tabs and input fields
Figure 1. Offline Circulation Interface

Using Offline Circulation

Navigation

The offline interface has four main tabs:

The four main tabs: Checkout
Figure 2. Offline Interface Tabs

General Guidelines

Always click Save Transactions after completing work with each patron, or the transactions will be lost!

Checking Out Items

  1. Click the Checkout tab

  2. Optional: Check Strict Barcode if you want validation for patron and item barcodes

    Checkbox for strict barcode validation
    Figure 3. Strict Barcode Option

  3. Set the due date:

    • Enter a date in the Due Date field, or

    • Select a date from the calendar widget, or

    • Choose an option from the Offset dropdown

  4. Scan the patron’s barcode in the Patron Barcode field

  5. Check out items:

    • Scan each item barcode in the Item Barcode field

    • Each item appears on the right with its due date and patron barcode

    • If typing barcodes manually, press Enter or click Checkout after each entry

  6. Optional: Check Print Receipt to print a receipt

  7. Click Save Transactions to complete the checkout process

  • Due Date field takes precedence over Offset dropdown

  • If you change the Offset after setting Due Date, the date field updates accordingly

  • Due Date and Offset values persist between Checkout and Renew tabs

  • Pre-cataloged item checkout is not available offline

Click Clear to reset the fields if you make an error.

Renewing Items

To renew items, you need the item barcode. The patron barcode is optional.

  1. Click the Renew tab

  2. Ensure the Due Date value is correct

  3. Optional: Enter the patron’s barcode in the Patron Barcode field

  4. For each item to renew:

    • Scan the item barcode in the Item Barcode field

    • If typing, click Renew or press Enter after each item

  5. Items appear on the right with barcode, due date, and patron barcode

  6. Optional: Check Print Receipt to print a receipt

  7. Click Save Transactions to complete the renewals

Offline renewal interface showing input fields and transaction list

Recording In-House Use

  1. Click the In-House Use tab

  2. Enter the number of uses in the Use Count field

  3. For each item:

    • Scan the item barcode in the Item Barcode field

    • If typing, click Record Use or press Enter after each item

  4. Items appear on the right with barcode and use count

  5. Optional: Check Print Receipt to print a receipt

  6. Click Save Transactions to record the in-house use

Offline in-house use interface

Registering New Patrons

The offline patron registration form is similar to the regular interface with some limitations:

  • Statistical categories are not available

  • City and state fields will not auto-generate based on zip code

Registration Steps

  1. Click the Register Patron tab

  2. Click All Fields to see the complete registration form

  3. Enter patron information in the form fields

  4. Click Save in the top-right corner

  • The offline registration screen is nearly identical to the regular patron registration screen

  • For detailed field information, see Patron Registration

  • You’ll need to enter a residency statistical category when this patron is next retrieved in the live staff client

You can check out items to newly registered patrons immediately, even while still offline.

Managing Offline Transactions

Exporting Transactions

For extended closures, export your offline transactions for safekeeping.

While Offline

  1. Navigate to Circulation → Offline Circulation

  2. Click Export Transactions in the top-right corner

  3. This saves a file named pending.xacts to your browser’s download folder

  4. For processing on another workstation, move this file to a USB drive

While Logged In

  1. Navigate to Circulation → Offline Circulation

  2. Click the Session Management tab

  3. Click Export Transactions

  4. Optional: Click Clear Transactions to remove pending transactions from your browser

Export transactions button location
Figure 4. Export Transactions Button

Importing Exported Transactions

  1. Log in to the staff client

  2. Navigate to Circulation → Offline Circulation

  3. Click the Session Management tab

  4. Click Import Transactions

    Session Management tab showing Import Transactions button
    Figure 5. Import Transactions Interface

  5. Navigate to your saved pending.xacts file

  6. Select the file for importing

  7. The Pending Transactions list populates with your imported transactions

Delete pending.xacts files after successful upload to prevent accidentally re-uploading the same transactions.

Processing Offline Transactions

Once connectivity is restored, you’ll see a message about unprocessed offline transactions waiting for upload.

Initial Setup

  1. Sign in to Evergreen

  2. Navigate to Circulation → Offline Circulation

  3. Click the Session Management tab

  4. The Pending Transactions tab shows all transactions recorded on that browser

Pending transactions interface showing transaction list
Figure 6. Pending Transactions View

Creating a Processing Session

  1. Click the Offline Sessions tab

  2. Click Create Session

    Create session button location
    Figure 7. Create Session Button

  3. Enter a descriptive name (e.g., "Jan 15 Snow Day" or "Branch Power Outage")

  4. Click OK/Continue

Dialog for creating a new session
Figure 8. Create Session Dialog

Your new session appears at the top of the Session List. Sort the list by clicking any column header.

List of offline sessions showing organization
Figure 9. Session List

Uploading and Processing

  1. Click Upload to upload all transactions from the Pending Transactions tab

  2. Watch the Upload Count increase

Upload transactions from each workstation to the same session. Click Upload on each workstation used for offline circulation.

  1. Once all transactions are uploaded:

    • Click Refresh to see the total Upload Count

    • Click Process to begin processing

    • Click Refresh again to monitor progress

    • Processing is complete when "Transactions Processed" matches Upload Count

Session list showing completed processing with matching upload and processed counts
Figure 10. Completed Session

Handling Exceptions

Exceptions are problems encountered during processing. View the Exceptions List at the bottom of the screen after processing completes.

List of exceptions encountered during processing
Figure 11. Exceptions List

Common Exception Types

Exception Type Description

ASSET_COPY_NOT_FOUND

Item barcode was mis-scanned, mis-typed, or doesn’t exist

ACTOR_CARD_NOT_FOUND

Patron barcode was mis-scanned, mis-typed, or doesn’t exist

OPEN_CIRCULATION_EXISTS

Item was checked out that had never been checked in

COPY_IN_TRANSIT

Item was checked out that was in transit status

MAX_RENEWALS_REACHED

Item has already been renewed the maximum number of times

Staff with appropriate override permissions may have some exceptions (like MAX_RENEWALS_REACHED) automatically overridden.

Investigating Exceptions

Each exception has buttons for investigation:

  • Item: Opens the associated item in a new browser window

  • Patron: Opens the associated patron in a new browser window

  • Debug: Shows the code that created the exception (for support staff)

Scenarios That Do NOT Cause Exceptions

  • Checking out an item with a different due date than its regular circulation period

  • Checking out overdue books

  • Checking out a reference or non-circulating item

  • Checking out an item belonging to another library

Hold Conflicts: An item on hold for Patron A but checked out to Patron B will not cause an exception. However, Patron A’s hold will be reset and retarget when the hold targeter next runs. Avoid checking out items on hold to other patrons.

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