Claimed Return & Lost Items

Owned by Johnny Weyand
Last updated: Jan 12, 2024 by Jackson Childs

 

The steps for marking an item either Claimed Return or Lost differ only in which status is selected. See also Working in the patron record.

Change Loan Status to Claimed Return

  1. Select/Verify current location

  2. Go to Fulfillment >> Manage Patron Services

  3. Scan/Type patron ID (If typing ID, click Go)

  4. On the Loans tab (the default), change the Loan Display drop-down to All Loans

  5. Find the item in the list
  6. Click the row action item list icon (the ellipsis) and select Claimed Return

  7. Click OK to complete

Note: If an item has been marked Lost, you won't be able to mark it as Claimed Return. See the process below for marking an item Found, then go through this process to mark it as Claimed Return.


Change Loan Status to Lost

Note: items not on loan cannot be manually marked Lost. Only items on loan can be flipped to Lost status. A system job marks items that are 45 days overdue as lost automatically.
However, staff can manually mark an item as Lost if the patron reports it as lost, stolen, or otherwise unreturnable.

  1. Select/Verify current l­­­­­­­ocation

  2. Go to Fulfillment >> Manage Patron Services

  3. Scan/Type patron ID (If typing ID, click Go)

  4. On the Loans tab (the default), change the Loan Display drop-down to All Loans

  5. Find the item in the list 
  6. Click the row action item list icon (the ellipsis) and select Lost

  7. Click OK to confirm the replacement charge

    1. As currently configured, the replacement fee is fixed and not optional


If an Item is Found - Undoing Claimed Return or Lost

If a patron finds an item that was Claimed Returned or Lost:

For lost, if item is in hand, discharge in Alma using Manage Item returns. If item is not in hand, there is no need to do anything–the item remains on loan in a lost status. To resolve the lost status, the item must be physically returned, or physically renewed. 

For claimed-returned, where the patron wishes to retain the item on loan:

  1. Select/Verify current l­­­­­­­ocation

  2. Go to Fulfillment >> Manage Patron Services

  3. Scan/Type patron ID (If typing ID, click Go)

  4. On the Loans tab (the default), change the Loan Display drop-down to All Loans

  5. Find the item in the list 
  6. Click the row action item list icon (the ellipsis) and select Found

  7. Click OK to complete

  8. The item will return to a status of Loan, and any replacement fees will be credited

 

Closing Lost Loans in Bulk

LTS can run a batch job to close items in lost status in bulk. The job removes the loan on the item, but any associated fines remain on the patron's account; the item's status changes to missing. See https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Knowledge_Articles/Create_a_set_to_close_lost_loans. 

NOTE: Because the close lost loans job disables credits for returned items that have gone to lost, it is not generally recommended.Â