FAQs (Resource Manager Inventory)
Below are questions to consider when conducting an inventory. To see the answer to a question, click the question.
- Set up a schedule before you start.
Then use the schedule to keep track of what is counted and what you still need to count. You can have multiple inventories open at one time, and switch between them. - Start the inventory.
- Decide what resources you want to count, and limit the inventory by resource type, location or price.
- Decide what action you want Destiny to take for items that are checked out and when the Home Location on record does not match the location where you scanned it.
- Conduct the inventory.
- Choose to verify or update the Home Location of the items.
- Scan, enter or upload the barcode numbers for your items.
- When you are sure you have entered the barcode numbers for all items, review the list of unaccounted-for items and mark them lost or found.
- Finalize the inventory. When the Unaccounted-for total is 0 (zero), your inventory is complete.
To keep track of the resources inventoried, click View In-Progress & Completed Inventories for a list, details and reports of the inventories.
Resource Manager has three reports to help with purging adoption or unused textbooks:
- Textbook Adoptions (available at sites only): Identifies textbooks that are out of adoption.
- Title & Copy List (available at a district and site): Identifies lost textbooks.
- Textbook Condition/Status (available at a district and site): Identifies textbooks that are in poor or unusable condition.
A district can start an inventory for the entire district, one site or a particular site type, such as all elementary schools. If a district starts an inventory, the sites conduct it, and the district finalizes it.
Sites can also start, conduct and finalize an inventory for their site. See Start an Inventory (Resource Manager).
Yes, multiple people can work on the same inventory.
Destiny offers two options for handling checked-out resources:
- Include checked-out items, and make these items unaccounted-for.
- Check in currently checked-out items when scanned into inventory.
The option you choose determines how the system handles checked-out items.
Destiny checks the Status of the items meeting your selection criteria and makes them either Accounted-for or Unaccounted-for.
Items with the following statuses become Unaccounted-for and need to be scanned into the inventory:
- Approved for Disposal
- Available
- Available for parts
- Checked Out
Note: Items that have a status of Checked Out become Unaccounted-for unless you deselect the Make these items unaccounted for checkbox when starting the inventory.
- In Use
- No Longer in Use
- Ready for disposal
Items with the following statuses remain Accounted-for and do not need to be scanned into the inventory:
- In Transit
- Lost
- Out for Repairs
- Retired
- Returned to Vendor
- On Order
- Stolen
Accounted-for refers to items that have known statuses, such as Checked Out, On Order or In Transit.
Unaccounted-for refers to items that appear to be available in the system but have unknown statuses.
As a district resources manager, you can start an inventory, monitor its progress, and generate lists of the items included.
Once you start the inventory, the open inventory appears at each included site. The site can then select it from their Resource Inventory list, account for the included items, and click Finished when they are done.
During the inventory, you can monitor each site's inventory: Its status (In Progress or Finished), the number of accounted-for and unaccounted-for items, and the percentage of the inventory completed.
When all sites indicate they have finished inventory, you can finalize the inventory.
You can use any combination of the following tools and methods to take inventory:
- Enter them directly on the Inventory page.
- Create and upload a file of barcode scans.
- To create the file, use Follett Remote or Destiny Remote on a Follett wireless handheld device or workstation, or a PHD Dolphin+.
- Use a text editor, with or without a scanner.
Yes; using a laptop with a scanner or handheld device is an excellent way to conduct inventory. If your equipment is wireless, you can scan directly into Resource Manager; if not, collect the scans, and upload the file to the system later.
When entering barcodes directly on the Inventory page:
- Item information for the 10 most recent scans appears on the page in the Most Recently Accounted For section.
- Destiny does not create an Inventory Job Summary in Job Manager for direct scans.
- If there is a problem with the barcode number or the item, an alert message appears at the top of the Inventory page.
- The Status of any Lost item changes to Available.
- When the item appears in the Most Recently Accounted For section, the Condition can be updated .
When uploading a file of scans:
- No item information appears in the Most Recently Accounted For section.
- Destiny creates an Inventory Job Summary in Job Manager.
- If there is a problem with the barcode number or the item, Destiny adds a message to the Job Summary.
- Lost items remain Lost. Destiny adds an entry to the Job Summary indicating that the item is Lost.
You can correct a lost item status two ways:
- In Circulation > Check In, scan the item, and reconcile any associated fines.
- In Admin > Inventory, select the inventory associated with the item, and enter or scan the item’s barcode into the system.
Note: If the inventory associated with the item has already been finalized, you must use the first method to correct the status. |
Yes, you can. When you begin an inventory in Destiny, select which options to include:
- Items with barcodes (the default)
- Items without barcodes
- Consumables
Notes:
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A consumable is an item that is intended to be used only once and then discarded; the most common example of a consumable is a workbook.
“Pre-finalize” means reviewing a report of your inventory’s unaccounted-for items and finding as many of these missing items as you can before finalizing the inventory. The more accurate your inventory is, the more accurate the picture of your resource deficits and surpluses.
The Finished button is used by a site to notify their district that they have completed a district-initiated inventory; the Finalize button is to complete the inventory process at either the district level or the site level, if the site initiated the inventory.
The Finished button appears for an inventory started by your district resources manager. After you have inventoried all your items, you will click Finished, and then Yes on the confirmation message, to indicate you are finished with your part of the inventory.
When all the sites are finished, your district resources manager finalizes the inventory and determines whether the items still unaccounted-for are to be marked Lost.
After you have inventoried the items in the selected ranges, click Finalize to close the inventory. If you have any unaccounted-for items, a message appears.
- Select Mark all unaccounted for items "lost" if you are sure you cannot find the remaining unaccounted-for items. When you select Mark all... on the message, Inventory changes the Status to Lost and adds them to the Lost Items list, making them Accounted-for.
- When you select Ignore them (don't mark them "lost"), Inventory does not change the Status. The unaccounted-for items remain Unaccounted-for. Their Status remains as it was: Available, In Use, No Longer in Use, Available for Parts, or Approved for Disposal.
For each barcode scan, Inventory can compare the Home Location on record to the location where you are scanning. If the location is different, Inventory can notify you either on-page for direct scan, or in the Job Summary for file uploads. Inventory can also update the location automatically.
On the Start Inventory page, select the action Inventory should take if the location is different.
Make sure to specify your scanning location next to Current scanning location on the Inventory page before accounting for any items.
If you have finalized an inventory and selected Mark all unaccounted for items "lost" on the confirmation message by mistake, you can reset the item status to Available from the Lost Items list.
To determine the range to include, generate a Completed Inventory report.
To gain access to the Lost Items list, start a new inventory that includes the Lost items. On the Start Inventory page, limit the inventory to only the types or location of the Lost items.
After you have started an inventory, you can open the Lost Items list and reset them.
Open the Lost Items list by clicking % Complete beneath Resource Inventory on the Inventory page, and then click See Details next to Accounted-for.
On the main Inventory page, select the inventory in the Resource Inventory list, and then click % Complete beneath Resource Inventory.
On the Progress Details page that appears, view the status and numbers of items inventoried. You can also generate lists of the items by clicking View.
To review the selections made when starting the inventory, click View Selections in the lower corner.
To view a list of all inventories, click View In-Progress & Completed Inventories in the upper corner.
After all included sites have finished their inventories, click Finalize on the main Inventory page.
If there are any unaccounted-for items, you will have the opportunity to mark them Lost or leave them as unaccounted-for.
Yes, In-Progress & Completed Inventories reports are available in these places:
- Admin > Inventory, click the View In-Progress & Completed Inventories link
- Reports > Resource Reports