Add courses for course reserves

When you add courses, you associate each course entry with a branch organization, and specify more detailed identification information about each course. To add individual courses to the Course Names table:

Tip:
You can set up one or two “dummy” courses to accommodate special situations. For example, a library may put valuable or special items on permanent reserve behind the circulation desk. You might name the “course” for these items CircDesk. Although they are not reserved for an actual course, you can use course reserve functionality to control their circulation.

1. In the Administration Explorer tree view, open the Policy Tables folder for the organization, and select Course Reserves: Course names. The Course Names table is displayed in the details view.

 

2. Click to display the Insert Course Names dialog box.

 

3. Select the branch in the Organization Name box.

Note:
If the Course Names policy table is opened at the branch level, only the branch name is displayed in the Organization list.

Tip:
Omit initial articles (A, An, The) from the course name. Unlike most searches in Polaris, if the course name begins with an article (A, An, The), you must include the article or use a wildcard character in the Polaris Find Tool search term.

4. Type the appropriate values in the Course Name, Course Number, Section Number, and Course Abbreviation boxes.

The course number, section number, and course abbreviation are optional. Each value you specify will appear as a selectable option in the course reserve record workform. See the following examples:

• If a course is always identified by a unique name and number combination, you can set up the table entry so that selecting the course name in the course reserve record workform always provides the correct course number.

Example:
For a course listed as CIS631 Computer and Network Security, add one Course Name table entry with these values:
Course Name: Computer and Network Security
Course Number: CIS631
When the course reserve record is set up for this course, selecting the name provides the correct number in the course number field.

• If courses are listed with common names but unique numbers, you may want to add separate entries for each name/number combination.

Example:
Courses are listed as English 101, English 102, and English 103. Add three Course Name table entries with these values:
(Entry 1)
Course Name: English
Course Number: 101
(Entry 2)
Course Name: English
Course Number: 102
(Entry 3)
Course Name: English
Course Number: 103
When the course reserve records are set up for these courses, the staff member selects the course name English, then selects the course number from the options 101, 102, or 103.

• Alternatively, you can make the course number part of the name itself, and leave the number blank.

Example:
Courses are listed as English 101, English 102, and English 103. Add three Course Name table entries with these values:
(Entry 1)
Course Name: English 101
Course Number: (leave blank)
(Entry 2)
Course Name: English 102
Course Number: (leave blank)
(Entry 3)
Course Name: English 103
Course Number: (leave blank)
When the course reserve records are set up for these courses, the staff member selects the course name English 101, English 102, or English 103. There are no course numbers to select.

5. Click OK. The Courses table list is displayed with the new entry. The status bar indicates that the modification is pending.
6. Select File > Save to save your changes. The status bar indicates that the record is saved.

Related Information

• Modify a table entry - Select the entry and click .
• Delete a table entry - You can delete an entry only if it is not being used in a current course reserve record. Select the entry and click .
• Add table entries from a new course reserve record - Course names, course numbers, section numbers, and course abbreviations can also be added to the Course Names table from the Course Reserve workform in the staff client, by entering the information in the Add New Course Information dialog box. The information is added to the Course Names table for the branch that owns the course reserve record, and to the Course Names table at the system level. For more information, see Setting Up Course Reserve Records.
• Specify the default search field for PAC course reserve searches - See Specifying Default Search Settings.