Microsoft word - inventory process overview.doc

Inventory Process Overview (excerpted from Surpass Support)
The following is an overview of the steps you should follow to perform a physical inventory using Surpass
Shuttle and a portable barcode reader. If you will be performing a physical inventory for the very first time, or
if it has been a while and you're feeling a little rusty, then it would be an excellent idea to refer to this list.
The steps involved in a physical inventory are:
1. Connect the Videx LaserLite Pro, reader to your computer. See chapter 3, Portable Barcode Readers, for
specific information on each supported model.
2. Use Shuttle's Setup screen to specify which type of portable reader you are using and how it is
connected.
3. Use Shuttle's Setup screen to initialize the portable reader.
4. If using rechargeable batteries, allow the portable barcode reader's batteries to fully charge. If using
alkaline batteries, be sure to use a fresh set.
5. Use Shuttle's Reset Inventory screen to reset the inventory counts.
6. Disconnect the portable reader and scan a section of barcoded items. You may want to scan a shelf
at a time, for example.
7. Connect the portable reader to your computer and use Shuttle to download and process the
inventoried items from Shuttle's Inventory Items screen.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you are finished scanning all barcoded items in your library.
9. Print a Missing Items Report and then see if you can locate any of the listed items.
10. If any missing items are found, repeat steps 6 and 7 to scan and process these items.
11. Print a final report of missing items.
12. (Optional) Use Shuttle's Declare Lost feature to declare all missing items as having a status of "lost."
Inventory Tips
• You do not have to count all items in one session. You can leave the Inventory Items screen and come
back to it as many times as you need to finish your physical inventory count. The work you have done
will be retained until you use the Reset Inventory feature to start a new physical inventory count.
• You can use any combination of portable barcode readers, permanently connected barcode readers,
imported files, and the keyboard for taking inventory. If you are on a network, you can have one
person scanning using your circulation barcode reader while another is using the portable reader, for
example.
• Be aware of how the settings affecting lost, checked-out, checked-in, and newly added materials will
affect your inventory process. These settings are found in Surpass Shuttle on the Setup screen and
also in Surpass Central on the Setup/Preferences screen.

Partial Inventory
With Shuttle you can either do a full inventory of your entire collection, or just a partial inventory of a
particular call number range or category. Since the final product of a physical inventory process is the
Missing Items Report (and optionally declaring missing items as lost), the key to performing a partial
inventory of your library is to limit this report to a particular call number range and/or a particular
category.
For example, let's say you want to inventory only the books in your library (no equipment, video,
software, magazines, etc.). To do this, you would use the "Selected categories" option in the Missing
Items Report and select only those categories that are used for books. Then, the report would exclude all
non-book materials. Or, you might want to perform inventory on just a single shelf. Just limit the Missing
Items Report to the call number range of the shelf you are checking!
If you are going to use the Declare Lost feature to declare non-inventoried items as lost, BE
ABSOLUTELY SURE to select the same categories and/or call number range for your partial inventory
when you run the Declare Lost process. If you don't, then you'll end up with many items, possibly
thousands, that are incorrectly declared lost.
See also “Inventory with a Wired Scanner”

Source: http://troup.org/media_handbook/documents/Inventory_Process_Overview.pdf