Circulation refers to the process of allowing access to both physical and digital resources by patrons. Circulation rights determine which physical resources patrons can borrow, and which digital resources patrons can view online. Circulation rights can be generic, i.e., a wide audience of patrons can be granted the same borrowing rights across a broad part of the library collection, or circulation rights can granular, i.e., specific academic levels, groups or classes of patrons can be granted limited rights to subsets of the library collection. Circulation rights effectively prevent groups of patrons from accessing and/or borrowing resources from restricted parts of the library collection.

Physical Resources vs Digital Resources

Physical resources are items (books, kits, DVDs, magazines, etc) that are barcoded and can be loaned to patrons via a loans issue or borrowing process. Digital resources are items (websites, audio and video files, PDF documents, etc) that can be viewed online by patrons. 

While a patron may be able to locate a physical resource on a shelf, the same patron may not be able to borrow it. However, if a patron can find a digital resource in the OPAC results, then that patron already has the ability to immediately view it online without further checks.

Note: For a patron to locate and view a digital resource on any OPAC device, the patron must have access to the Digital Section. For a patron to locate a physical resource on any OPAC device and borrow it through the circulation desk, the patron must have access to Library Site in which the physical resource is stored and the Library Section where it is stored. This Access is provided through Site access and Circulation Rights to Sections.

Note:  Addition of new Sections and Sites requires them to be turned ON in Access Control.

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Borrowing Physical and Viewing Digital Resources

All physical and digital resources are stored in or tagged with two attributes, Site and Section, to both record the address or location of the resources and to manage their access and circulation rights. This site and section tagging process occurs during cataloguing of physical and curating of digital processes. For physical resources both Site and Section assist with the ability to locate and the ability to borrow a physical resource, while for digital resources, Site determines the ability to store and locate, and therefore the ability to view online a digital resource by a particular audience.

Patrons who have been granted access to a Site can find any resource stored in that Site, meaning the patron will see a list of items displayed on a search results page as the result of their OPAC search.

If the resource is a digital resource it will only be found and listed if the patron also has access to the Digital site, meaning the patron will immediately be able to view/read/play/watch the resource online.

If the resource is a physical resource and it is available on the shelf, then the patron will immediately be able to retrieve the resource from the shelves. If a retrieved resource is in a section from which the patron is permitted to borrow, e.g., fiction, non-fiction, or teacher reference, then the patron will also be able to borrow the resource via a loans issue process.

Granting Access and Circulation Rights

This is a multi-step process. Go to: Configure > Access Controls

Group Access to Sites

1. Choose Academic Levels tab.
2. Click the open chevronbeside each Academic Level listed.
   
3. Switcheach Site this academic level will be permitted to access. Note: If this is a site for digital resources then members of this academic level will be able to locate resources stored in this site and immediately view them online if the relevant Circulation Right for that Academic level also has the Digital section turned ON.
4. If this a site for physical resources then members of this academic level will be able to locate resources stored in this site and may be able to borrow resources from this site based on section access granted below in Circulation Right/s for that Academic level.

5. Click the close chevronto save and close.

6. Choose Library Groups tab.
7. Click  to select the patrons who will be members of each respective group.
8. Click the open chevronbeside each Library Group to expand the site list.
9. Switcheach Site this library group will be permitted to access. Note: If this is a site for digital resources then members of this library group will be able to locate resources stored in this site and immediately view them online. If this a site for physical resources then members of this library group will be able to locate resources stored in this site and may be able to borrow resources from this site based on section access granted below.
10. Click the close chevronto contract the Site list.

Group Access to Sections

1. Choose Circulation Rights tab.
2. Clicknew circulation right, or clickto copy an existing right and edit it.
3. Create a circulation right for middle school students who can have 2 concurrent non-fiction loans for 14 days. Tip: Descriptive names for circulation rights provide an easy way to quickly identify what the Circulation right means.  eg.
   1. Name - a suitable name for the rule, e.g., Students - year 7-9, NF - 14 days.
   2. Max loans - a number, e.g., 2 representing total number of loans from the selected Section/s, e.g., number of non-fiction loans. Note: If multiple sections are chosen then the total number can be any aggregate of the nominated sections.
   3. Loan Duration:
      1. Duration - number of days added to loan date to calculate the due date for return, e.g., 7 or 14.
      2. Due Date - fixed date on which these resources will be due. Note: This rule is ideal for resource that must be returned on the same date regardless of when they were borrowed, e.g., class text books.
   4. Renewals - 1 (refers to the number of consecutive times a patron can renew a loan on each current loan).
   5. Grace Period - the number of days of leniency before fines will be calculated. Note: Can be blank or 0 and only needed if using fines are imposed for late returns.
   6. Fine Rate - daily amount charged for overdue loans. Can be blank or 0 and only needed if using fines are imposed for late returns.

   7. .

4. Click chevronthe open each Circulation Right to display Academic Levels, Groups and Sections this rule will apply to.
5. Switcheach Section (in this example non-fiction) this circulation right applies to. Note: Digital section must be switched on to allow digital items to be viewed immediately they are found on an OPAC device.
6. Click chevronto close details of the Circulation right. Note: Overlapping Circulation rights may create conflicting rules resulting in incorrect loan management, e.g., incorrect loan periods or renewal limits.

Synonyms - access rights, lending rules