Checkout Timeout Setting for Circulation

FOLIO apps, including the Check out app, retain state. To mitigate risk of accidental checkout to the wrong patron, we plan to implement a session timeout setting for Checkout.

Check out timeout period design:

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Questions:

1. Any feedback on this feature
2. Is 5 minutes a good default expiration period?

I think the functionality for setting the timeout looks good (thanks for getting this in!). Questions: Is this setting log-in specific? machine specific? or can it be set for an institution?
As to the default, 5 minutes is probably longer than we’d set it to at a service desk, but I don’t thinkit’s a big deal. Would is recognize decimals (e.g. 1.5 minutes)?

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m concerned about allowing only a single ID type for default patron look-up. If we’ve got multiple ID types in the system why do we need to specify only one.

• In Duke’s case, our identity management folks are in the process of changing our ID system, but they’re letting it age out. It’ll probably be 10 years before everyone is switched over and we can’t tell the difference just by looking at ID cards (we currently have this ability in Aleph and it saves a great deal of time and confusion).
• For consortia, they may well want to be able to use both local and partner ID numbers.

Yes, I realize there could be a problem with repeated numbers across systems, but the local institution would just have to be mindful.

Questions: Is this setting log-in specific? machine specific? or can it be set for an institution?

Set for the institution/tenant.

As to the default, 5 minutes is probably longer than we’d set it to at a service desk, but I don’t think it’s a big deal. Would is recognize decimals (e.g. 1.5 minutes)?

I can specify that it should accept decimals. If people think the default should be shorter than 5 minutes, we can certainly make it such. I’ll wait and see what other people think.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m concerned about allowing only a single ID type for default patron look-up.

Oh, this is an old mockup. We have actually implemented your requested change, @andrealoigman. Here’s a screenshot:

Yes, 3-5 minutes is about right.

Incidentally, there should be audio alerts on the checkout screen to indicate a successful checkout; and an audio alert for an unsuccessful checkout. I don’t remember if we discussed this before. Thanks.

Incidentally, there should be audio alerts on the checkout screen to indicate a successful checkout; and an audio alert for an unsuccessful checkout. I don’t remember if we discussed this before. Thanks.

Thanks @mac609_lehigh. I put together a quick user story for the audio alerts here:

https://issues.folio.org/browse/UICHKOUT-68

It seems like a pretty straightforward feature, but, as always, feedback is encouraged from any and all.

It would be nice to be able to set the timeout at a circ desk level, but we have been living with the timeout at an institution level. I don’t care what the default is as long as it can be changed.

One mistake the OLE developers made was to calculate the timeout from the beginning of a session rather from the last scan or input. The timeout should be based on inactivity.

And I tested the multi-ID change a few days ago - it works properly on the checkout screen regardless of whether you’re selecting a single ID type or multiple ID types for Patron IDs.

Belatedly, I too think it’s okay for the timeout to be set at the tenant level, but this is less of an issue for Chicago than others. I’d also say 5 minutes is on the long side–more like 1-3 minutes, but as long as we can change it, I don’t have a strong opinion about the default value.

Thanks everyone for your input. I have filed stories for this feature:

• UICIRC-48 - Check Out Timeout Setting
• UICHKOUT-70 - Clear Check Out Page When Session Expires

I specified a 3 minute default and did not end up permitting decimals, as it gets more complicated in terms of validation esp. when you consider internationalization and didn’t seem top priority.

It would be useful if there was a way to get back to the patron account that was open when the session expired.

Great suggestion, @Adam_Shire. I’m checking with @filipjakobsen on the user story on the preferred mechanism for communicating something like this.

Okay, all, I got a user story in for @Adam_Shire’s popup suggestion: https://issues.folio.org/browse/UICHKOUT-77

Please let me know if you have any feedback, @andrealoigman, @mac609_lehigh, @cmalmbor, @dbottorff and anyone else. Thanks much!

How about restoring items in scenario 4 too? Canceling the timeout probably means that both, patron and items are still there. Or should Folio enforce another scan of all items just in case?

I thought about that, too, Carsten. But I think restoring the entire session (including the previously scanned items) after clearing it would be a non-trivial amount of additional effort.

Also, I think you probably already know this, but just in case: items are checked out as they are scanned. So, when the session is cleared, it doesn’t mean that the scanned items aren’t checked out (they are).

So, I think for the first iteration of this feature, it should be sufficient to allow easy restart of a new checkout session with the previously scanned patron. This would allow you to continue checking out new items to that borrower. If you wanted to see the items you previously checked out, you could always click through to their Loans page (there’s a quick link to that page from the Checkout page).

In a separate message, @schwill, you suggested the following:

I had a simple implementation in mind:
“Restart patron session” button does nothing but dismiss the modal popup.
“Okay” button dismisses and clicks “done” on the form.

So instead of the session clearing after X minutes of inactivity, we just generate the popup. The FOLIO operator then has a choice, when the see the popup, whether they want to clear the session or continue working. I think it’s quite elegant.

Any objections to this approach? Again, tagging some people, as I need to get this change into development asap, if we want to do this instead. @andrealoigman, @cmalmbor, @dbottorff, @mac609_lehigh, @Adam_Shire.

I’ve asked a few of my staff and they think the whole modal for this is a bit of overkill. They’d rather not have to close the pop-up everytime this happens and think that the inconvenience of having to do so outweighs the value of the information.
That being said, if there will be a modal they would like it to contain the last patron information (particularly a copy-able barcode number).

The suggestion from @schwill makes sense to me. Maybe in future iterations there is a setting where you decide how long the modal stays up, and if THAT expires, then go ahead an automatically clear the session. The setting could have a options for modal-stays-up-until-operator makes a decision, or don’t show a modal at all.

Also, this has the added advantage of retaining the list of checked out items, so an operator who wants to continue their session can easily see which items were already checked out.

Okay, all. We discussed the popup in the RA SIG meeting today. RA SIG thought this might be valuable BUT it’s dangerous. Student workers often don’t read popups and, therefore, might “do the wrong thing” and re-open previous patron’s session accidentally. Also, some front desk staff thought it would be annoying to have to close the popup.

We decided to close UICHKOUT-77. When the expiration happens, the session will simply be cleared.