Unattended Issue/Returns is Finally Here

The Unattended Issue/Returns long under development was published a couple of weeks ago. Following consultations with early customers, its now available for general release.

Unattended Issue/Returns allows pupils to take or return books without teacher being in the room.

Initial feedback has been that the teacher in class Issue/Returns which has been in Abraquest since the beginning, has been smooth and trouble free even for schools on the waiting list for Unattended Issue/Returns. I think this is because with teacher in the room, there is much more chance of the book coming back getting back into the right place in the library.

If using Unattended Issue/Returns, you may like to consider a basket for returns so that school librarians and / or teachers can actually physically return the book to the shelf. This is something that is used at some schools already.

Due to Unattended Issue/Returns being able to identify the pupil more accurately, more features have been added and will be added in the future along the lines of self service.

Some features are in beta, such as the recommendations for you, which doesn't currently have an ignore option and is very much slower than it should be.

To use it, install the latest version of Abraquest and turn it on in system configuration.

When you open Abraquest, a login page appears which leads to the following menu (assuming you have enabled all the options available):

Abraquest Unattended Issue/Returns Menu

By default the pupil has 60 seconds - if they don't click something within this time, they are logged out. This can be amended in System Configuration or turned off altogether if required.

The video on the page below shows how and gives a quick demo of features:

Overview of Abraquest Unattended Issue/Returns

Any and all feedback is gratefully received, and any feedback taken on board will as always result in a month extra Abraquest Software Assurance being added to your contract for free.

About the author

Philip Johnson

Philip Johnson has been a software developer since 1983 and has been involved with Abraquest since 2004. He is the director of Spherical Software Limited (www.sphericalsoftware.com), the company that owns Abraquest.