Planning Which Devices to Use

You can use workstations and hand-held computers to take inventory. You can choose either one for a particular task in the inventory process, based on its advantage in that setting. If you use the hand-held computer, you will also use the workstation to upload the barcodes from the hand-held computer and then transfer the information to the Horizon Inventory database.

To take inventory, you enter the barcode information by using one or more of the devices in this table:

Device

Description

Telxon Portable Transaction Computer (PTC)

A portable, hand-held computer, referred to in this document as Telxon unit.

(For more information about using the Telxon unit, see Entering Barcodes with a Telxon Unit. See also the Telxon Manual.)

Percon Portable Data Terminal (PT 2000)

A portable, hand-held computer, referred to in this document as Percon unit.

(For more information about using the Percon unit, see Taking Inventory with a Hand-held Computer. See also the Percon PT 2000 & TopGun Portable Data Terminals User’s Guide.)

Percon TopGun

A laser module mounted on a Percon unit. TopGun can scan barcodes on flat, curved, or irregular surfaces at distances ranging from one inch to two feet.

(For more information about using the TopGun, see Taking Inventory with a Hand-held Computer. See also the Percon PT 2000 & TopGun Portable Data Terminals User’s Guide.)

PocketCirc Windows Mobile device

A portable, hand-held computer, referred to in this document as PocketCirc.

When connected wirelessly to the network, this device functions like a workstation. When disconnected, functions much like the Telxon or Percon devices.

Barcode wand or other barcode reader

A wand or reader attached to a workstation. Lets you enter barcodes directly into the Horizon database.

(For more information, see Taking Inventory at a Workstation.)

Workstation

A keyboard is attached to a workstation. Lets you enter barcodes directly into the Horizon database.

(For more information, see Taking Inventory at a Workstation.)

Workstations and hand-held computers have different advantages depending on the way your library is laid out and the way you plan to take inventory.

The PocketCirc device acts like a workstation when connected wirelessly to the network, and like a standard hand-held when disconnected.

This table compares workstation and hand-held computer inventory methods:

Workstations and Online hand-held computers let you

Offline hand-held computers let you

Wheel the terminal (or carry the hand-held computer) past the shelves or bring books to the terminal. (You might want to use this method if your library is small or only one person is taking inventory.)
Enter as many barcodes as you want in a session.
See exception messages immediately. (For example, if you enter the barcode of an item that belongs to another collection, a message tells you to which collection it belongs. You can immediately reshelve the item instead of waiting until the item appears on the Exceptions report.)
Walk past the shelves carrying the hand-held computer. (You might want to do this if your library is large or several people are taking inventory at once.)
Enter as many barcodes as the hand-held computer’s memory can hold.
Collect barcodes without being interrupted by exception messages. (You can still resolve problems when you print the Exceptions report.)
Upload the barcodes from the hand-held computer to a Horizon workstation.

 

 

 


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