You have heard Keystone staff say it before, and you'll likely hear us say it again.

"It is the KLAS Users' Conference."

Today, I want to take the opportunity to recognize those users who have already contributed greatly to the logistical and programming for the 2018 KLAS Users' Conference. This conference is based on feedback and suggestions we receive from your survey responses, ideas brought up during conference calls, what you request and what you are willing to present and coordinate.

Thank you to those who have attended, will be attending, have sent us your thoughts and ideas, and who have stepped up to moderate a Birds-of-a-Feather discussion, present a general session, or help put together attendee welcome packets.

But, most especially, thank you to the Logistics and Program Committees and the KLAS Users' Group Officers. You participate in conference calls, send emails, give me honest feedback, and help shape the conference for each attendee, presenter, and member of the Keystone staff. This is my note of appreciation for all of your time and effort. You are wonderful to work with, and I could not do my job without each of you. Thank you.

KLAS Users' Group Officers:

• Craig Hayward, KLAS Users' Group President, North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Chandra Thornton, KLAS Users' Group Vice President, Palm Beach County Library System Talking Books Library
• Erin Pawlus, KLAS Users' Group Secretary, Arizona Braille and Talking Book Library

2018 KLAS Users' Conference Logistics Committee:

• Craig Hayward, KLAS Users' Group President & Logistics Committee Chair, North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Nancy Reese, KLAS UC 2018 Host, Idaho Commission for Libraries Talking Book Library
• Pat Herndon, KLAS UC 2017 Host, Georgia Library for Accessible Statewide Services
• Edith Gavino, KLAS UC 2016 Host, Braille Institute Library Services
• Andrew Shockley, KLAS UC 2015 Host, Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Debbie Martin, Brevard County Talking Books Library
• John Mugford, New Mexico Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Sarah Smedley, Palm Beach County Talking Books Library

2018 KLAS Users' Conference Program Committee:

• Chandra Thornton, Program Committee Chair, Palm Beach County Library System Talking Books Library
• Sue Walker, KLAS UC 2018 Host, Idaho Commission for Libraries Talking Book Service
• Erin Pawlus, Arizona Braille and Talking Book Library
• Teneka Williams, KLAS UC 2017 Host, Georgia Library for Accessible Statewide Services
• James Gleason, KLAS UC 2014 Host, Perkins Library
• Cyndi Hammonds, California Department of Education
• Amy Ravenholt, Washington Talking Book and Braille Library Katy Patrick, Keystone Systems

If you have the opportunity, please take a minute to express your gratitude to these people for their contributions.

Welcome to the Key Notes blog, where we will be bringing you weekly posts on conference planning, happenings at Keystone, or how better to put KLAS to work for you!

We’re kicking things off with a discussion on putting patrons “On Hold.” KLAS offers a number of different ways to halt or pause service to a patron, including:

• Main Status types
• Media Status types
• Blocks

Each of these options works a little differently, offers different benefits, and may work better for some situations than for others. Bear in mind—NONE of these will affect a patron’s BARD account, as there is currently no direct communication between KLAS and the NLS BARD servers.

Are there situations where you like to use one method over another?
How do you like to document the reasons or end dates for patron holds?
Do you have questions or need some help navigating the best workflow for a particular situation?

Review your options below, then visit the Patron Holds forum thread and join the discussion!

Options for putting patrons "On Hold"

Each library or system will develop their own standard procedures. This information is only intended to help you understand your options and to suggest possibilities.

1. Patron Main Status:

Change this status to ensure that nothing goes out to a patron until / unless the status is changed back to ACTIVE, and to facilitate the process of removing inactive records after a reasonable period.

• The lifecycle of a patron record should generally be:
  ACTIVE > SUSPENDED > WITHDRAWN > DELETED
• INACTIVE should not be used for the Patron Main Status.
• Once a patron is marked WITHDRAWN, all materials checked out to the patron are marked Lost (including equipment).

2. Patron Profile and Media Status:

Change one or more Patron Media Status to stop materials in that medium from going out to the patron, and / or update the Cir Status and Dir Status to stop magazines in that medium.

• Set the desired media to INACTIVE to block materials from being sent. The status can be set back to ACTIVE at any time to resume service.
• Dir Status is the status for Direct Magazines—magazines circulated by NLS directly to patrons. Update the subscriptions for these magazines from the Subscriptions tab so information can be sent through PIMMS.
• Cir Status is the status for Circulating Magazines. Update the status here to block magazines circulated by your library.
• Other profile adjustments can be made to the NSCutoff, Next Serve Date, or ServeCode, depending on the exact results you want.

3. Blocks:

Create a block to stop both books and circulating magazines from being sent from your library. Set an expiration date to make the block temporary without needing to go back and manually reverse changes to a patron’s account.

• Is not communicated to NLS and does not affect Direct Magazines.
• Some libraries allow new types of blocks to be created directly in the tab, or you can create a standard “Hold” block type to be used as-needed.

Read this “QuickTip” Tutorial for more information and instructions for each option:

Join the discussion in the Patron Holds forum thread!