Each reader reference displayed on the left hand side of the Reader Dialog consists of an reader record forming a folder, and none, one or more contacts within it. Depending upon which record is selected, the right hand side of the dialog may display an reader record, or a contact record.

Tell me about:

• The general readers management dialog layout
• Reader and contact records
• Bookmarking
• Individual and Organisation records
• Attachments
• HID (Barcode) Formats
• Option Indexing
• Dynamic Indexing
• Persistent Menu Options

How do I:

• Create a new reader or contact
• Edit an existing reader or contact
• Removing an existing reader or contact
• Editing the advanced fields

Reader attachments are available from the [Edit Attachments] command button at the bottom of the Reader Manager dialog. The attachments dialog provides the ability add and remove five types of attachment to the Reader record: Abstracts (bulk text), document references, images, audio files and video files.

A full explanation of the attachments dialog is available on the relevant help file page.

An HID (Human readable ID) is the unique number or sequence of Alphanumeric characters that uniquely identify an individual Reader within the Pergamon database. While it is possible to enter these formats manually, keeping track of the last number used externally to Pergamon, a much easy and convenient method is built into the Reader Manager dialog itself.

HID Formats can be created via the Lookup Manager that allow the user to specify:

• A set of prefix characters
• A body length (using a series of '0' characters)
• A set of suffix characters

When creating a new Reader record, either enter a hash (#) or question mark (?) character rather than your own unique number, then complete the rest of the record. When saving the new record into the database for the first time using the [Update] button, a new and unique number is automatically generated based upon the current database content.

Entering a simple hash or question mark will generate the next available number based upon the first HID Format identified. If several HID formats have been created, perhaps for different types of Reader, enter the prefix followed by the hash or question mark character - in this case the specific HID format identified by the prefix will be used as a preference.

The Option Indexing page displays all of the dynamic indexing types that have been created with the focus 'Reader Indexing' and which have been flagged as 'Single Use Only'.

During editing, all possible items within the index are displayed containing checkboxes that can be checked or unchecked so that the user can set the required option. Once the Reader has been edited and updated, all non-selected indexing options are removed from the display to enhance clarity.

Typical 'Option Indexes' types include Reader Gender and Reader Audience.

In order to create a new index within any of the types, ensure that the required type is selected then right-click the [+] symbol to the right of the current page. This command button will display the Manage Index Items dialog through which a new entry can be created.

The general Dynamic Indexing page displays all of the dynamic indexes that have been created with the focus 'Reader Indexing' and which has not been set to 'Single Use Only'.

The folders containing the dynamic indexes are displayed in the list box but containing only those index phrases that have already been attached to the Reader, rather than all possible options. This is because dynamic index types of this nature tend to possess a very high content.

In order to add, or even create new items to the type, ensure that the folder for the type is currently selected and then right-click the [+] button on the right-hand side of the current page to display the Manage Index Items dialog.

In order to remove an item from the index type, ensure that the required %ITEM% is selected in the list and right-click the [-] command button on the right-hand side of the current page.

The Manage Reader dialog contains a number of persistent menu options that are accessible via [Manage Reader] > [Options…]. Checking or un-checking any of these options will remain in force until manaually reset, even if the user logs out of Pergamon and shuts down the workstation.

Persistant menu options are recorded on a per dialog, and per user basis.

Any newly created record is automatically displayed and placed into edit mode. The cursor is placed into the first logical field, and the first tabbed page is brought to the front - in this way, editing of the record can take place using only the keyboard, with movment between fields possible using the [TAB] key.

The current location and size of the Manage Readers dialog is recorded at the point at which it is close. When the dialog is reopened, the recorded location and size are restored.

Open options with content Any of the tabbed pages that contain option or indexing lists automatically have their contents expanded if a contained type possesses any content.

How to…

To create a new Reader, enter the Reader Manager then choose [Create new Reader] from the [Manage Reader] menu (or press [F5]). On selection, a new Reader is created in the database with a default HID based upon the current date and time.

Note that at this point, the new Reader is fully created in the database but is not yet 'active' - this is deliberate so that the Reader can be configured correctly before being made available to library users. In order to make the Reader available, edit the Reader when complete, check the [Active] checkbox and update the Reader in the database.

In order to create a new contact for an Reader, ensure that the required Reader is selected in the left-hand list and then select [Create new contact] from the [Manage Reader] menu (or press [shift]+[F5]).

n order to start the editing process of either an Reader or contact, locate it in the left-hand list and then right-click it in order to display its details on the right-hand side. All fields are immediately available for editing. When editing is completed, select [Update] to update the changes in the database.

If changes have been made to an Reader or contact the changes can be aborted simply by selecting any other record in the left-hand list. A warning will be displayed indicating that changes have been made - if the changes are required, select to save them. If the changes are not required, select to abandon them. In either case, the newly selected record will then be displayed.

In order to remove an existing Reader, locate it in the left-hand list then select it in order to display its details on the right-hand side. Select [Remove Reader] from the menu in order to begin the removal process.

Validation Before removal takes place, the Manage Reader dialog will validate the removal request. Part of this validation involves checking functional areas of the database to ensure that the record is not currently in use. Once it has been confirmed that this is not the case, the Reader is removed from the database.

If the Reader is still in use for any reason, removal will be refused.

In order to remove a contact from the database, select the contact in the left hand list then select [Remove contact] from the menu. As contacts are not directly utilised by most functional areas, no validation is performed and the contact is removed immediately.

Some Readers may possess advanced editing features, governed by the group type to which it has been assigned. In order to edit these additional fields, select the [Advanced Edit] command button at the bottom of the dialog. The editing page will be temporarily placed into advanced edit mode. In order to return the page to normal, select the same command button that will have changed to display [Simple Edit].