The following list gives an overview of the general procedure for Inventory:

1. Set up a schedule before you start. This will help you keep track of what you have done and what you still need to inventory. You can have multiple inventories open at one time, and switch between them.
2. Make sure you have selected your preferred Library Inventory Options for shelf-checking in Admin > Site Configuration > Catalog sub-tab.
3. Start the inventory:
• Decide if you want to limit your inventory by copies in a particular call number range, specific circulation types or sublocations.
• Decide if Destiny should exclude copies that have been seen recently.
4. Conduct the inventory:
• Choose to verify or update the shelf order of your copies.
• Scan, enter or upload the barcode numbers for your copies.
• When you are sure you have entered the barcode numbers for all your items, review the list of unaccounted-for items and mark them lost or found.
5. Finalize the inventory. Once the Unaccounted-for total is 0 (zero), your inventory is complete.

To keep track of the resources inventoried, click View In-Progress & Completed Inventories for a list, details and reports of the inventories.

Yes. It can be beneficial to divide your collection by Dewey ranges among several staff members to reduce the workload for any one person, and provide a more accurate count.

Yes. Assign each partial inventory a unique name, use call number values to restrict the inventory to a subsection of your collection, and decide which circulation types and sublocations to include.

Yes, you can create an inventory for part of your collection, based on a title's full call number and not just its prefix. For example, for a fiction collection, you could only inventory FIC DAA to FIC EZZ.

Yes; doing so prompts the system to conduct a full inventory.

Once an inventory has begun, you cannot change the start date.

Your login does not have the proper access level permission to inventory the library collection. Contact your Site Administrator or Destiny Administrator. 

No; an inventory can be left open as long as needed. However, we encourage you to complete inventories within reasonable timeframes so you can use them as timely collection management tools.  

You can continue to add new titles and copies while an inventory is in progress. Copies added manually or by an import become Accounted-for in Inventory.

Copies replaced during an import by control number (Catalog > Import Titles > Update Only sub-tab) retain their inventory status wheether Accounted-for or not.

You can continue to circulate your collection while an inventory is in progress. Copies checked out, loaned out, or sent out for repairs during an inventory become Accounted-for. Checking in a copy does not affect its inventory status; it stays Accounted-for. Copies scanned for in-library use become Accounted-for.

Destiny offers two options for handling checked-out resources:

• Include checked-out items, and make these items unaccounted-for.
• Check in currently checked-out items when scanned into inventory.

To start an inventory, select Admin > Inventory. Then, click the Start New button.

Date last seen means that Destiny last updated copy information during one of the following transactions:

• Checkout
• Checkin
• Inventory
• Individual Update
• Receive (in Catalog > Update Copies)
• When adding titles to a Resource List using a barcode scan, barcode list or barcode file. For example, if you received some transferred copies from your district cataloger last week, you can set the date to one week ago. Then you do not have to scan those copies.

Close your current inventory by following these steps:

1. Select Admin > Inventory.
2. From the Library Inventory drop-down, select the partial inventory.
3. Click Finalize.
4. Select Ignore them (don’t mark them “lost”) in the message, and then click Yes.

Destiny checks the Status of the copies meeting your selection criteria and makes them either Accounted-for or Unaccounted-for:

• Unaccounted-for copies remain Unaccounted-for.
• Accounted-for copies that fit the parameters of the inventory and that have a status of Available or On Hold become Unaccounted-for. These copies should theoretically be somewhere in your storeroom or school, and you will need to enter these into inventory.
• Accounted-for copies that fit the parameters of the inventory and that have a status of Checked Out, Loaned Out, On Order, Out for Repairs, or In Transit remain Accounted-for. You already have information regarding the current location of these copies.
• Copies that had previously been marked Lost remain Lost and Accounted-for.

Accounted-for refers to items that have known statuses, such as Checked Out, On Order, or In Transit.

Unaccounted-for refers to items that appear to be available in the system, but otherwise have unknown statuses.

Shelf checking notifies you of copies shelved in the wrong place or out of Dewey order. To enable shelf checking:

1. Select Admin > Site Configuration > Catalog sub-tab.
2. From the During library inventories check shelf order based on drop-down, select Call Number, Call Number/Author or Call Number/Author/Title. You can also choose to check for differences between Dewey numbers, by selecting an option from the Also check for differences between Dewey numbers greater than drop-down.
3. In Admin > Inventory, select the Check shelf order checkbox.

You can use any combination of the following tools and methods to take inventory:

1. Enter them directly on the Inventory page.
2. Create and upload a file of barcode scans.
   
   
   • Use Follett Remote or Destiny Remote on a Follett wireless handheld device or a workstation, or a PHD Dolphin+, to create the file.
   • Use a text editor, with or without a scanner.

Yes, using a laptop with a scanner or handheld device is an excellent way to conduct inventory. If your equipment is wireless, you can scan directly into Resource Manager; if not, collect the scans, and upload the file to the system later.

When entering barcodes directly on the Inventory page:

• Copy information for the 10 most recent scans appears on the page in the Most Recently Accounted For list.
• Destiny does not create an Inventory Job Summary in Job Manager for direct scans.
• If there is a problem with the barcode number or the copy, an alert message appears at the top of the Inventory page.
• The copy status of any Lost copy changes to Available. Inventory deletes any library fine charged to a patron for the lost copy. If the fine was paid, Inventory creates a refund.
• Inventory checks in a checked-out copy. Inventory creates a library fine, If you automatically assess fines, Inventory creates a library fine for an overdue copy.

When uploading a file of scans:

• No item information appears in the Most Recently Accounted For list.
• Destiny creates an Inventory job summary in Job Manager.
• Lost copies remain Lost. Destiny adds an entry to the Job Summary indicating the item is Lost.
• Checked-out copies remain checked out. Inventory adds an entry to the Job Summary indicating that the copy is checked out, and includes its due date.

The items you are scanning may have already been scanned and accounted for, or you could be in an inventory that is already complete. Check the Library Inventory drop-down at the top of the page to ensure you are in the correct inventory.

This means either the inventory is started, but no items have been scanned, or you began to enter data by uploading files or scanning materials.

No; however, your local network may have limitations.

Lost books are accounted for at the start of the inventory. Uploading lost books into Inventory does not change the status. They can be removed from Lost by checking them in or clicking Found in Inventory.

For an in-progress inventory:

1. Select Admin > Inventory.
2. Click View In-Progress & Completed Inventories.
3. Click View next to the inventory.
4. Next to Accounted for, click See Details.

If you do not have an inventory already in progress, you can also select Admin > Inventory, and click View Lost. Scroll to the bottom of the page to reset or delete items marked “lost” by date.

Inventory makes an entry in the Job Summary for every barcode number in the uploaded file. For exceptions, it enters one of the following messages:

• If the barcode does not match any barcode that belongs to your collection:
  
  Skipped: Barcode <barcode number> not found appears.
• If the copy is currently listed as checked out, it remains Accounted-for and checked out:
  
  Barcode <barcode number> has been accounted for, but is currently checked out and has a due date of <due date> appears.
  
  To make the copy Available, enter its barcode on the main Inventory page.
• If the copy was Lost, it remains Accounted-for and Lost. Any assessed library fines are unaffected:
  
  This barcode is currently marked lost appears.
  
  To make the copy Available, enter its barcode on the main Inventory page.
• If you opted to have Inventory check the shelf order, and the copy's call number appears to be out of order:
  
  This item appears to be shelved incorrectly appears.
• If you opted to have Inventory check the differences in Dewey numbers, and the copy's Dewey number is much greater than the previous one:
  The difference in the Dewey numbers of this and the previous item is greater than <number> appears.

Inventory lets you remove any unneeded copy records from your database that were marked lost on or before a particular date.

To delete the lost copies, follow these steps:

1. Select Admin > Inventory.
2. Click View In-Progress & Completed Inventories.
3. Click View next to the inventory and then next to Accounted for, click See Details.
4. Open the Lost Copies list.
5. On the View "Lost" Copies page, scroll to the bottom.
6. Click the calendar icon next to Delete all copies marked "lost" on or before, and select the date.
7. Click Delete All, then Yes on the confirmation message.

   Notes: Delete All deletes copies that have been checked out and then lost by patrons, as well as copies that were marked Lost by Inventory. You might want to retain a list of these lost copies. Before deleting them, you can print the Lost Copies list. Copies deleted here are included in the Weeding Log that you can generate in Reports.

“Pre-finalize” means reviewing a report of your inventory’s Unaccounted-for items and finding as many of these missing items as you can before finalizing the inventory. Once you know what is in your collection, you will be in a better position to make acquisition decisions.

After you have inventoried the copies based on your selections when you started the inventory, you click Finalize to close the inventory. If you have any Unaccounted-for copies, a message appears.

• Select Mark all unaccounted for items "lost" if you are sure you cannot find the remaining Unaccounted-for copies. When you select Mark all... on the message, Inventory marks the Unaccounted-for copies Lost. Their copy status changes to Lost, they are added to the lost copies list, and they become Accounted-for.
• When you select Ignore them (don't mark them "lost"), Inventory does not change their inventory status or copy status. The Unaccounted-for copies remain Unaccounted-for. Their copy status remains Available, or, for ready holds, On Hold.

When all the included sites have finished their inventories, click Finalize on the main Inventory page.

If there are any Unaccounted-for items, you have the opportunity to mark them Lost or leave them as unaccounted-for.

Yes, In-Progress & Completed Inventories reports are available in these places:

• Admin > Inventory, click the View In-Progress & Completed Inventories link.
• Reports > Library Reports.

This means that either the job was deleted from the Job Manager queue, or the inventory was removed from the Completed tab (in Admin > Inventory, and then click View In-Progress & Completed Inventories).