[Koha] Fine Minimum vs. Fine Grace Period

[Charles Kelley]

Hello, all!

    My library will be migrating to its ILS in the next few months. I am
setting up the circulation and fine rules. Mostly they're reasonably
straightforward. So far, I have had few problems. A little experimentation
on the development machine has answered my questions.

    In the dim, dark, misty past, one of the libraries I worked in charged
fines; none of the rest has. Instead of a grace period per se, that library
management set up a minimal overdue fine. If a patron checked out a book
and returned it three days late, the system would calculate the fine at the
going rate. If the calculation were at or over the minimum, the patron
would incur the fine; otherwise, the fine would vanish.

    Of course, it amounted to a grace period; at least, that's how the
patrons referred to it. I can't tell you the two years it took to get the
terminology consistent among the staff and patrons so that the collective
consciousness would treat it differently.

    So, just as a matter of curiosity, how does Koha make a library handle
a minimal fine in the circulation rules? Do you arithmetically calculate
the number of days (or other period) it would take for an overdue work to
breach the minimal fine, and enter that value into the Fine Grace Period?
Or is there another way?

    By the way, my library doesn't charge fines, so this is moot to us.

    Thanks, all!

-- 

    気を付けて。 /ki wo tukete/ = Take care.

    -- Charles.

    Charles Kelley, MLS
    PSC 704 Box 1029
    APO AP 96338

    Charles Kelley
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