Introduction

What the Guide is About

This guide will take you through the skills you need to use the Horizon circulation system.

The guide provides illustrated examples of core tasks, such as checking items in and out, and registering new borrowers. Most explanations are also accompanied by a video guide, and links to the video guides are clearly marked throughout the guidance:

[INSERT SNAPSHOT WHEN AVAILABLE: screenshot of a link to the video guide]

The guide also provides links to other useful resources, such as the printable Quick Guides for common tasks, and to useful forms and guidance found in the Staff Portal.

How it’s Organized

The guide is divided into sections, and each section covers a set of related tasks, such as the different ways to search for items or how to add and edit items.

The sections are listed across the top of the screen, and to go a section just click on it.

Each section contains several subsections that describe a skill or task in more detail.

The subsections are listed on the left hand side of the screen, and to go to a subsection just click on it.

So all the guidance is reachable in just two clicks:

select a section
select a subsection

[INSERT FLOW OF SNAPSHOTS WHEN AVAILABLE: showing 1) click on section + 2) click on subsection to reach the guidance you want]

If you are a new user then you can go through the guide in the order it’s written and use it as a training reference.

If instead you are looking for quick guidance on a particular subject, then the sections are modular and self-contained, so you can go straight to what you need.

There’s a Troubleshooting section at the end of the guide which explains how to handle general problems with Horizon, including what to do if it stops working.

If after using the guide you still need help then contact your local Horizon superuser or your divisional office. During evenings and weekends contact staff at another library in your division.

Logging into Horizon

Video Guide: Logging into Horizon

Double-click on the Horizon icon on your desktop. The login window will open:

The username should already be completed. Contact your supervisor or regional office if it isn’t showing, or if you don’t know your site’s password.

Type in the password and then press [Enter] on your keyboard or click on OK.

Horizon will launch.

Logging Off

To close Horizon at the end of the day just click on the X in the top right corner of the screen:

Changing the Default Font Size

Depending on your personal preference and the size of your screen you might want or need to change the default size of text in Horizon. This is done from the login window:

type in the password
click on Options:

From here you can change the font size. Select ‘Make Default’ and Horizon will remember this preference.

Understanding the Interface

Video Guide: Understanding the Interface

After you have logged in Horizon opens the Launcher window:

The window is split into several areas, with a main work area surrounded by a toolbar and navigation bar that help you to do tasks easily.

Workbook Window

This is where most work takes place. For example if you are checking in items then they will be listed here. If you are editing a borrower’s record then their details will be shown here.

You can open different windows to do different tasks. In the above screenshot the Checkin and Checkout windows are open, with the Checkin window at the front and currently being used.

The workbook tabs let you switch between open windows to get different tasks done. During a typical working day you will regularly switch between the Checkin and Checkout windows to check books in and out, and often open the Search window to find items for borrowers.

To see what a button does, hover over it and a tooltip will appear:

Click on a button to use its function. Here’s what each button does:

	Toggle Navigation Bar	hides or shows the navigation bar
	Toggle Workbook	hides or shows the workbook tabs
	Toggle Full Screen	makes the workbook window full screen, closing or shrinking other elements.
	Send To	sends an item record to another process
	CKO	opens the Checkout window
	CKI	opens the Checkin window
	Circulation Reports	opens Circulation Reports in a separate window
	Item Search	begins a new Item Search
	Item Group Editor for Staff	opens the Item Group Editor process
	Item Report	opens the Item Report process

You won’t need to use the Navigation Bar very much in day-to-day use because the most commonly used functions found there can also be reached from the toolbar or top menu.

Almost everything that you can do in Horizon can be reached from the top menu. So if you’re trying to do something and it’s not obvious which toolbar or navigation bar option to use, take a look in the top menu and see if you can find the answer here.

Some functions, such as recording an item as lost, can only be reached from here.

If there’s a shortcut key to a function then it will say so in the top menu. In this example the shortcut for Find Borrower is [F4] and the shortcut for New Borrower is [F5]:

The contents of the top menu can vary depending which window you are currently using.

Shortcut Keys

Some frequently used functions can be accessed by using shortcut keys, which can speed things up for you.

For example, Item Search can be opened in 3 different ways using the interface:

click on the search button:
select from top menu Item > Find Item:
select from navigation bar Searching > Item Search:

But simply pressing [F2] on the keyboard is a lot quicker.

This guide to the most commonly used shortcut keys can be printed out:

Here’s a full list of circulation shortcuts:

function	key
item search	[F2]
find borrower	[F4] from checkout window
create new borrower	[F5] from checkout window
edit borrower record	[F6] from checkout window
close the current window	escape
toggle between checkout and checkin	[F8]
send to	[F10]
place request	[F5] from item copies window
view title requests list	[Ctrl] + [F5] from item copies window
make request	[F5] from item copies window
move forward to next field in record	[Tab]
move back one field	[Shift] + [Tab]
save record	[Ctrl] +[S]
copy	[Ctrl] +[C]
paste	[Ctrl] +[V]
select all	[Ctrl] +[A]
cut	[Ctrl] +[X]

Short Codes

Horizon uses a lot of short codes to represent information, such as ‘abr’ for Bay Roberts Public Library, or ‘tr’ to show that an item is in transit between locations.

This can save a lot of time when typing information into the system, but there are a lot of codes to remember, so wherever a short code is used a longer description will appear next to it, and nearby will be a Codes button which will bring up a list of valid codes.

You will see lots of examples of short codes being used throughout the guidance.