NITLE Summit

Olin is conducting the LibQual survey of library service quality again this year. Here at the Summit, Pat and I are in a session about the MISO survey, which measures both IT and the library services. Since our IT and Library share the same building students and faculty often conflate their perceptions about the two. Using MISO might overcome this.

video room

So last night after a long day I was in the mood to watch a film and then go to bed. I had already eaten dinner and had a shower so I didn't really feel up to go to the film store to rent a movie but after looking at my collection I knew I had to do something. So I rode my bike up to the Library and went to the reference area where most of our AV collection is now shelved because I am too cheap to go to pay to rent a film. I found two decent movies but it took me a while because I had to keep picking up the films to look at the covers because you can't really get a sense of the film by looking at the profile of the box through a plastic case.

It came to me that i would be a great idea if we could have a "video room" where the DVDs are actually displayed face out. It also seems that the space IT will be vacated would be the perfect place for such a "video room". The idea would be to have a few plasma screens in that room and line the walls with our av collection for library users to browse. Maybe even have a film playing on one of the screens while they browse the collection of DVDs which would actually be facing out like films are supposed to.

Just a thought

TR

Stripping Books

I am now working in my second department in the Olin Library. I know that there is a need to maintain the safety of the library and the safety of the collection. However, I see many problems with the current system of putting hidden metal strips in books and other materials.

First I will examine the negatives from the Circulation side of things.

1)It is offensive to most library patrons when the doors sound with those annoying alarms. Regardless of the reason it is really a bad experience when you are leaving the library and the door buzzes at you. (It has happened to me on many occasions.)

2)It is almost without fail a false alarm. In my almost two years of working at circulation there was not one time that we actually caught someone steeling books. (many times students just keep going even if we do yell at them. Between yelling at students because the gates went off and yelling at students to go out the exit door we would hypothetically spend a lot of time yelling at students.And we don't want to yell at students!)

3)If it goes off it was usually for one of these many reasons.
a)books from other libraries
b)laptop computer
c)text books
d)large set of metal keys
e)blockbuster movies
d)etc.

4)If you go close to the gates they make this really irritating electronic hum that makes you feel like you are walking through a sonic subfield of some kind. (try walking through the doors with an i-pod)

5)Enforcing the policy is not consistent with "the friendly no hassles library"

6)having to desensitize books and other materials slows down the check-out process and is not always done properly.

7)stripping dvd and vhs cases is expensive, time consuming. Besides cases for DVD use is a waste of space.

Now I will examine the negatives from the technical services point of view.

1)Boxes of metal strips are one more expense. They are not cheap!

2)Adding metal strips can be harmful to books and other materials. I ripped the paper spine of a brand new book while trying to insert the metal strips. (the talented donna gray had to mend it for me) The process stretches the spine, or tears the pages and is not done in book stores where items are sold. (Being that are items are available for free checkout is a pretty good theft deterent)

3)Putting in the metal strips adds a lot of time to process of getting new books to the shelves ready for checkout. This process is tedious and time consuming. (It usually takes over three months from the time a books is ordered to the time it gets to the shelf) That would not cut it in the cooperate world.


I know that we need to keep our wonderful collection secure and I am not so bold as to say we should turn the gates off and stop stripping books I was just thinking that there might be a better and more cost effective way.

TR

Phones and Security

One of the issues that was briefly discussed with Leslie, the consultant for public services, was the question of public safety. What do you think about the idea of having a public phone on each floor in the area on the wall between the bathrooms, with a prominent sign displaying the campus security phone number?
Yvonne

ILL of New Books

I think we have talked in the past about not lending titles that have been purchased in the last 6 months (or so) via ILL. What does everyone think?
I am asking because Tech Services was looking for the "Give 'em the Pickle" book (purchased in Dec. 2006) and found that it has gone out on ILL. I think last semester we also had a new professor looking for a book that he had ordered and the same thing had happened.
Thank you.

Health Nook Lamp

I've been finding the Health Nook lamp unplugged in the morning. Does anyone know why it's being unplugged?
Thank you,
Darla
Update: Some staff members think students may be doing this in order to plug in their computers. I asked Jonathan if we might consider using a power strip, but he said it would be against fire regulations.

Keeping the dustjackets on our books

This isn't really a hassle, more of a disappointment. Have we ever discussed keeping the dustjackets on our hardcover books and covering them with the clear plastic, like the bestsellers do? It sounds like a more labor-intensive process, but the dust jackets add so much to the book's appearance. I think it would make our shelves a lot more appealing? What does everyone else think?
Yvonne

Study rooms in all locations

Issues on Saturdays with lack of keys… If I lock the doors in the 24-hr area, I then have to leave the desk to unlock it, but the desk is within sight almost the whole time… If the others need un/locking, I’m away for much longer and could be inconveniencing another patron who doesn’t care that I’m helping someone else, I’m not where they need me…

I have an idea that could reduce the amount of time that the Circ Desk is abandoned and prevent squatting (and thus, potential fights when the rooms are all in use)… We should see about removing the locks from the doors and make the rooms completely open… It will prevent groups from locking their stuff in, but it will accomplish the goal of keeping the rooms available for those who actually need them and are ready to use them… Of course, the most obvious solution would be to check out keys- but that’s just crazy talk! snk

Extracted from the Librarians Meeting 02-05-2007

Here is an update on each issue raised since 10/19/06

Fax machine: A fax machine in Circ. would require a new phone line at added expense. Jonathan asked Dorothy to follow up with TR about where the discussion that have been taking place in Circ. is. Do we need a fax machine at Circ and in the Ref office, can we just have one at Circ?

E-Reserves: Persistent URLs could be used for E-Reserves, but this will be pursued after EZproxy is started and stable. We should plan on investigating this and, if we implement, do it for Fall term (or before.)

Rock, paper, Scissors: Every public printer in the building will be have a stapler, scotch tape, staple remover, hole punch and scissors placed next to it. This includes the printers in the computer labs. Janet will be asked to start and maintain this project and to keep track of costs.

Microfilm readers etc.: The cost of repairing or replacing the reader/printer on the first floor is still being researched by Dorothy. The stand-alone workstations on the third and fourth floors continue to shut down “on their own”. Bill has worked with IT to resolve this and has been unsuccessful. When these are replaced he will attempt to make sure this problem is resolved.

Study Rooms: This has been superseded. We are trying a "first comes, first served" model of study room use. It seems to be working so far, but exam time will be the test.

Bathroooms: We did not discuss this.

More Signage: More signage is needed especially on the quiet study floors. The suggestion was made to have call number signage in the elevators so users know which floor they need to find books. Also many students don’t know we have a fourth floor. When they see the closed doors they assume it is an attic or offices. More discussion is needed as to how to make the entrances to this floor more welcoming. Jonathan plans to move on this during Spring term.

Patron IDs: See Dorothy's comment, it is not "necessary to have a copy of the driver's license....just looking at it to make sure the person was who they said they were [is] fine. "

No Hassles (off campus access): We are very close to implementing E-Zproxy and expect to start testing later this week or next week if necessary.

Phone Transfers: We decided not to pursue this. FYI, there is a new phone at the Ref Desk which shows the callers number.

I was asked to re-post this.

RE: First floor microfilm reader / printer
90% of the time the film does not load as it should; it gets "hung up" on the right side take-up reel. Sometimes staff can jam our fingers into that area but usually we can't get it to load. We've been told that the machine is no longer covered by a service contract and that it is expensive to have a tech come out.
Also, anytime you want to print, you first need to go upstairs to the Circ Desk to get the by-pass key. If I were a student I would consider this a hassle. Can we revisit these two issues? Why have the machine if it doesn't work? Pat G.

Fax Machine

The fax machine in the Reference Workroom (x1515) is on it's way out the door. It ocassionally receives faxes - it rings busy even though it's not. The machine keeps reading "align cartridges" but it won't align them. The color cartridge is not registering correctly, but we've never used it to print in color. So, what do you think? Get a new fax machine? Or just set-up our copiers to work as fax machines (the one behind Circulation and the one in the Director's office). The copiers already have fax capabilities we just have to have Telecom drop a phone line. We can keep ext. 1515 - but we'll have to drop a line for Circ. Should we use x. 1515 in the Director's office or use that line for Circ and just make the Circ. copier our fax machine? ILL used the fax a whole bunch, a new fax machine will run about $150 - is it worth it to buy a new one? What are your thoughts?

Electronic Reserves

I'm wondering if we could label our electronic reserves as Electronic Reserves - #### (number) in the catalog, instead of just the #### number. I made a mistake yesterday when answering a reference question on the phone. A student couldn't get into her class's reserves and I said, well just look down the list and if it has URL on the left, it is an electronic reserve.
Turns out that isn't always true, Shawne explained.
Some of our books in the catalog have URL listed which links to an abstract from the Library of Congress. So....My learnings were:
1) get the patron's phone number so you can call back if you find out more info (or Janet is getting us a new phone for ref which will show the phone number so even if I didn't write it down I could get back to the last caller.), and
2) see if you can make the entry clearer so they aren't calling in the first place.

While I'm at it, do we think that having that URL sign on the left for books with LOC abstracts is useful or more confusing?
Yvonne

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Or rather scissors, papercutter, stapler, stapler remover, pencil sharpener and tape.

We have all these supplies at the Circ desk and we even have the odd stapler etc. at various public printers around the building. I would like to propose that we have each of these items at each printer in the Olin Library (including those in the computer labs.) Why?

1. It is a hassle when people have to walk to the Circ desk to get a paper stapled for instance.
2. It is a hassle if they have to ask.
3. It is a hassle when they get there if they are told that they have to use it at the desk.

We would also be committed to replacing any devices that go missing. We would also continue to have these items at the Circ. desk.

So, what do you think?

What do I mean by "Kinder, Gentler"

We've heard much talk about a "kinder, gentler library" but I get the feeling that some folks aren't quite sure what we mean by that phrase. Sometimes the best way to cast light on a topic is to show a particularly bad example. Today I saw an example of what we DON'T want to do.

Scroll down to the "Library Policies" section of this library website at St. Mary's University
http://library.stmarytx.edu/acadlib/about/circpol.htm

This embodies the sort of hard-nosed approach I hope we never have here. The spirit of what they are trying to accomplish is admirable, but the knuckle-rapping tone of the document is what gives librarians a bad name.

In light of the LibQual comments pleading for more quiet study space, I'd like to think of creative ways to protect the 3rd and 4th floor quiet zones WITHOUT resorting to the St. Mary's approach. As we begin to strategize how to create designated quiet areas, we need to figure out a way to gracefully encourage respect for quiet study without coming off as grim-faced Quiet Police. Any ideas?

Machines that are a "Hassle"

If I were a student here I would be unhappy with:

1. The new patron computers on the 1st, 3rd and 4th floors. They seem to turn themselves off when not used frequently. IT has been advised but I often see computers that need to be restarted.

2. The microfilm reader/printer on the first floor:
If you want to print you need to go up to the Circ desk to get the by-pass key. In the past we have been told that it was too expensive to remove the old coin box so that you don't need the key. Can this be revisited?

3. Same microfilm reader/printer:
90% of the time the film does not load as it should - it gets "hung up" on the right side "take-up" reel. Sometimes staff can jam our fingers into that area but often we can't get it to load properly. We've been told that the machine is no longer covered by a service contract and that it is expensive to have a tech come out. Can we revisit this too?

STUDY ROOM MAYHEM

It's that time of the year again! Exam time! This will be my third two weeks of chaos and one of the most chaotic parts is the fight over study rooms. Are there any study rooms? I was here first? We have been waiting? Can you go ask them to get out? Not to mention the difficult task of manually keeping track of checkout times and rooms checked out. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT WE SIMPLY DONT HAVE ENOUGH ROOMS TO ACCOMODATE THE DEMAND. I propose that we treat rooms just like reserves. Rooms should be given a three hour limit by Workflows. After the time limit is up Workflows will charge the patron a significant fine. This is what happens with all other items that we circulate. We don't enforce laptop time limits or time limts for reserve readings. Another option is that we simply remove the time limit all together and students are forced to search for other group study spaces than the four rooms that we offer.
Kim suggested that we could reserve the rooms so that we wont have large crowds loitering around the circ desk fighting each other for one of the prized rooms.

TR

More Signage Needed

We need more signs in the library, and we need to keep checking the ones we have.
The paper guide on the First Floor next to the computer, which is supposed to tell people where materials are actually located, still has Gov Docs on the third floor.
The Microfiche collection for Gov Docs needs a sign to indicate what it is. I had a ref question this weekend and if Donna B. had not been available, I'm not sure I would have figured out where the microfiche was.
The only poster I know of describing the LC system is in the middle of the reference stacks.
I frequently find people coming to the ref desk who don't feel comfortable finding a book in the stacks.. People ask where the bathrooms are and the late night lab....and speaking of signage....could we get someone to make our signs outside in the lobby look more professional or nicer? Janet and I made an attempt to update them, but they look amateurish and that space could be so much more inviting and attractive.

Patron ID Requirements

I have just received funds to deposit for a new alumni borrower's card. The payment was accompanied by a photocopy of the patron's driver's license. I don't feel comfortable with this document in our files (which are not secure), so I always block out parts of the information.
My question is: Is it really necessary for us to have this on file? Could we just ask to see the I.D. and confirm that the information on it matches what the patron has written on the card?

No Hassles

No Hassles
I am tired of the hassle of going through OneLog to access databases on campus!
Could I please put up a page with direct access for people on campus and a tab directing people to another page for off-campus access?
The OneLog hassle should not have to be a part of on campus life.
Frustrated and hassled,
Yvonne

Extracted from the Librarians' Meeting 10-18-06

Here are the blog posts we have decided to pursue over the next couple of weeks. If you have a perspective or comment on one of these, make a comment to the blog or contact the individual identified for each issue.

1. Training for E-Books – It was agreed that we can and will do training for staff and others. Dorothy will be responsible for organizing this.

2. Fax machine – Jonathan will ask T.R. to research this service on campus and report back how and what the library can do.

3. Books with highlighted or underlined text – It was decided that staff who come across such books make a decision to send to Mary for replacement or repair. Generally highlighting or noting take, while not to be encouraged, was not regarded as a problem unless it rises to a level of damage that makes reading the book difficult. We will not generally replace highlighted or annotated books. Gift books would be accepted on a case by case at the discretion of the acquisition librarian.

4. IT training for Circ. Desk staff. Jonathan will discuss this with Les [Note: Les is open to this idea.] before proceeding to explore this issue with Circ. Staff.

Resolution of first five hassles raised.

I posted the first entry on this blog on September 13th. We met and discussed the concept as a whole library on September 21st. In less than a month you have all really taken advantage of this opportunity to make real change in the library. I am proud of you. Here are the first results of your efforts.

This is just the beginning. At the same librarians' meeting at which we finally resolved these issues we chose another bunch that we will tackle next.

Some of these "hassles" might not be very large, but they make a difference to ILL users, to faculty trying to put things on Reserves, to users who just want to get in, pick up a book, and get out, and to how we spend our money on materials and collections. We are moving in the right direction, keep it up!

Gale Literature Resource Center- Yvonne contacted the English Department via email. One response received. There were no objections; the question of cost and what would happen to the old print copies was raised. The series involved are Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism and Dictionary of Literary Biography. A recent CHOICE review of database recommend for first year students, not upper-level.

RECOMMENDATION: Purchase the database as long as there are no price surprises. Final price will be sent from Mary to Jonathan and Dorothy. Mary will check license agreement and provide all information to Jonathan. Print series will remain on shelf as they are. A review of usage will take place at a later date.

ILL Comments came from Pat and Jonathan. One concern was that the workload might increase requiring more staff. Jonathan stated that he would love to have this problem and is prepared to address staffing, technology, etc. needs in ILL.

RECOMMENDATION: Remove restrictions, using the current ILL form with suggested changes sent to Circ and ILL staff for comments. New form was accepted with minor modification.

Pulling Books and journal articles for Reserves. This also includes pulling book and articles for faculty and students.

RECOMMENDATION: We will retrieve books and copy articles for Reserves. We will retrieve and hold circulating books at the Circ. Desk for any user upon request. The Circulation staff will decide how long to hold (at least 3 days). It was suggested that we ask the patron how long should we hold item for pick-up, since many do not need three days. Journals would not be pulled since they are non-circulating on the first floor for anyone to retrieve and use.

Paperback binding In 2006 1400 paperbacks were sent to bindery at a cost of $7,000.

RECOMMENDATION: No paperback binding for 1 year, except for select titles approved by the Acquisition Librarian. After one year we will review this policy to evaluate damage, user acceptance, ease of shelving

New Book List This has been resolved.

E-Books

After receiving a query about e-books from a professor, I realized that I don't know enough about how these work. I have created an account for myself in NetLibrary and have looked at a few titles online, but I wonder whether we could arrange a brief training session for staff who are interested in learning more about these titles. Thank you.

Lost Billed Books and Missing

A student Carolyn was assisting was looking at a particular book in the catalog that had a location of missing. She came to the Circ Desk and wanted to know if we could do a search on the book. I remembered that I had just billed a patron for that book yesterday. How's it been done up 'til today is: once a book is 20 days late, I place a hold for lostbilled and then check it out to missing. This changes the location in the catalog from checkedout to missing. Basically, the book is now checked out to 2 people...the actual patron that has it out and the fictional person missing. This can cause confusion when items are returned because you have to check in the same item twice. If attention is not paid to the screen, it's easy to miss.

Starting tomorrow, I'm just going to place a hold for lostbilled and skip checking the item out to missing. The item will still show checked out under full details and will say estimated wait time undetermined because it is overdue and we don't know when it will be back. We're trying to streamline the process.

Because this is going to be changed tomorrow, we realize that there will still be lostbilled books out there that still say missing. However, when these books are returned or replaced or deleted then this missing category will no longer appear in SIRSI. If you have a question concerning a missing book, please call or come to Circ and we can check the record.

Thanks,
Kim

Checking in New Books

In my opinion books selected by a patron from the New Book Shelf for check out should have the location changed to General at that time. It certainly will take more time and effort on Circ's part, but seems to me would cause less trouble than trying to catch those books as they are returned and checked back in.

Electronic Access to Journals

ZDM and Jou of Medical Genetics come immediately to mind... Yvonne picked up a note I left for Bill and she tells me that we have electronic access to ZDM... If Circulation doesn't know that Ref has a password, how will a student know? At the very least, we need a note in the catalog. Ideally, we should have a note on the password page or get it under the umbrella that protects FirstSearch and Proquest when you skip OneLog access. Let's be honest- if we shadow reserves because "reinactive" is too confusing and make the catalog pop up in a new window because the back button eludes the intellect of college students, surely we can find a solution for a real problem involving actual access to materials we own!

New Books

How should we deal with New Books as they go out the door? Is it better to change the location back to General BEFORE checking them out or after they come back. And if we do it after they come back, will student assistants do the right thing and ask a staff member where to put a "New Book," or will they put it on preshelving to be shelved upstairs? And whose job is it, really- Circ's or TR's?

"That's IT's Job"

I've always had a little bit of a problem saying it, but I totally understand where it comes from. On the other hand, I don't think it would hurt us to talk to IT about acceptable things for Circ. to help out with, particularly at night.

IT students aren't always available (even if they're here), and with a few minutes "training", I think a lot of simple problems could be solved. We already put in printer paper. I'm not suggesting anything overly technical, nor that anything become Circ's responsibility when IT students are available. But there must be something. Is there anything we can do?

fax machine

Many times at the circulation desk I get requests to use a fax machine. We usually just let patrons know that there is a fax machine in the post office but the trouble is that the post office is only open until 4pm. There is a ups store across the street but none of these answers make me think of no hassles. I am wondering if we should think about fax service at the circulation desk?

TR

Books with Highlighted or Underlined Text

I pulled two books recently (The Metamorphosis and Heart of Darkness) and found that they contained a lot of writing. I have ordered replacement copies, but I wondered whether we look for this kind of damage when books are returned. Does Circulation flip through books when they are checked back in?

Change to Web Page and iLink

I wanted to let everyone know that our web page now shows a link to "New Books and Films," thanks to Yvonne. And I have changed the headings in iLink to match.
Sirsi sent me very simple directions on how to edit these headings in iLink. I will be happy to share them with anyone who would like to have them.

McNaughton Collection

In the recent e-mail from Jonathan's meeting with the A & S department heads, a comment was made that the McNaughton books are "too prominent." After some thought, I have to agree. My suggestion would be to reverse the locations of the new books and the McNaughtons. As an academic library, new books that have been primarily requested by our faculty should be displayed in a more prominant place. I would also suggest that we put up signage that clearly denotes the new book collection.

Fines and Bills for Books, Videos and Reserves

I have been playing with some ideas about how to work with bills and fines. I would like to propose eliminating basic fines for late books. For example, if someone bring back a book a week late don't charge the $1.75 fine. We would still bill for lost books but would not charge a fine once the book was brought back and clear the bill as well. I still would like to charge reserve fees which are currently at $5.00 once it's late and $.25 an hour for each hour it's late. I do not wish to lower those fines or cease charging them. Do we want to raise them? They have been at their current rate since prior to my starting here. I would also like to still charge late fees for dvds and videos but build in a grace period that does not currently exist. We have a 3 day grace period on books but none on videos/dvds. I would like to propose establishing a 3 to 5 day grace period before we start charging fines on av materials.

Do we wish to do the same for our community patrons as well? Currently I am in favor of still charging community patrons fines and bills like we do currently but am open to suggestions.

I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts and ideas on this issue...

Missing books in the catalog

This posting is really a particular case, reinforcing Wenxian's earlier post.
I guess we decided it was not an easy fix, but involved the SIRSI update.
Still I want to use this vehicle available to me to urge that we make these missing items clearly visible. Even better, let's let something be missing for three months or so and then automatically get another copy. OK maybe 3 months is too short, but how long does it have to be missing for us to give up? Is there a policy about timing?
Yvonne

New Book List

I have suggested in the past that we do not check the books out to New Book Shelf. Instead we might change the current location to New Book. In that case New Book would be the location and the titles would continue to show as available.

Midge

Extracted from the Librarians Meeting, 9-26-06

The “No Hassles” blog dominated much of the meeting, with librarians’ discussing the best way to use the information being recorded on the blog. It was decided that some of the items involved changes that could be quickly implemented, while others were deemed too complex to be quickly handled and would need to be addressed either through the strategic plan or later in the year.

A number of items were identified for “fast-tracking” in the coming few weeks. Final decisions on these matters will be handled at the librarian’s meeting on October 18. In order to gather feedback from the staff, we will ask staff to provide us with feedback in one of two ways:
Contribute to the relevant discussions on the blog
Contact the librarian assigned to the issue they are concerned about.

The following issues have been ear-marked for Fast Tracking:
1) Lifting ILL restrictions on the limit of monthly requests allowed (posted to the blog Sept. 15) Additional discussion occurred about modifying the language on the online request form to make it more positive and welcoming. Dorothy is the point person for this topic.
2) Pulling Books for Reserves (posted Sept. 15) This discussion was broadened to include pulling books and journal articles for all requests, both from faculty and students. A number of librarian’s commented that this is the norm at other libraries and is a little used service except for people who are really in a crunch. Dorothy is the point person for this topic.
3) Paperback binding (posted Sept. 25) A lengthy discussion occurred about the merits/drawbacks of dropping our current policy of binding all new paperbacks. Issues included the delay in shelving caused by extra processing, the lost cover text, and difficulty of keeping orderly shelves with numerous unbound books were raised. Mary has been asked to gather data on how much is spent on binding, the average cost of paperbacks v. hard cover equivalents, and several other relevant statistics to the topic. Mary is the point person for this topic.
4) Gale Literature Resource Center. (posted Sept. 25) The advantages of subscribing to three Gale titles electronically v. print were discussed. There is some uncertainty as to why the teaching faculty have been hostile to this product. It was decided that the English faculty will be surveyed to gauge their reaction to the possibility of an electronic subscription. Yvonne is the point person for this topic.
5) Problem with the New Book List (posted Sept. 26) The New Book list on the web page indicates the books are checked out. This is because all items on this shelf have been checked out to a dummy patron called “New Book Shelf.” It was suggested that this checked out status is inaccurate and confusing. Edna is the point person for this topic.

Problem with New Books List

I was looking at our new books list on the Library Home Page today and noticed a real problem. Almost all of the books listed have the message "No copies available...estimated wait 9 days..."
After talking with Darla, I understand that this message comes up because we check out these books to the NewBookShelf and the estimated wait time is how long they are still checked out on a 3 week limit, I believe.
But..... this is a real problem for our patrons! It looks as if we have none of these books available, when in fact, they are almost ALL AVAILABLE!
Does someone know how to fix this SIRSI screen?
Yvonne

Problem with New Books List

I was looking at our new books list on the Library Home Page today and noticed a real problem. Almost all of the books listed have the message "No copies available...estimated wait 9 days..."
After talking with Darla, I understand that this message comes up because we check out these books to the NewBookShelf and the estimated wait time is how long they are still checked out on a 3 week limit, I believe.
But..... this is a real problem for our patrons! It looks as if we have none of these books available, when in fact, they are almost ALL AVAILABLE!
Does someone know how to fix this SIRSI screen?
Yvonne

Gale Literature Resource Center

I hesitate to venture into the foggy area of literary analysis, but in the spirit of preparing for off-campus information delivery (my current euphemism for avian flu preparation), I find myself asking why we are continuing to purchase the Gale Literary Criticism and DLB series in print.
The latest ICUF price, good until Oct.1, was $2.08/FTE. If we could convince someone that we don't really have 3500 undergraduate FTE who would use this resource, but considerably less, that would not be a price much more than what is being spent on print subscriptions and library labor. If we truly don't want the students using this resource, why do we buy it. If we do want them to use it, why don't we make it more accessible?
Yvonne

Paperback Binding

Currently, with a few exceptions, all our paperback purchases are sent out to be bound. This adds even more time to making these items available to our users. I would like to suggest that we either start cutting back on what is sent to the bindery(develop some sort of criteria for this) or purchasing more hardcovers. If an item that is put on the shelf unbound is showing heavy use, then we should purchase a hardcover as the replacement.

Marking Status of Reference Books

I have just realized from discussion and this blog that reference books are being "marked as used" from the reshelving cart. I'm not sure when this survey began, but I was not aware of it.
As a reference librarian, I frequently go over and reshelve books on that cart when I am not busy at the desk, in order to become more familiar with which books are being used.
Another source of wrong data for this survey is the cart of newly acquired reference books which comes into the reference workroom and then goes out to the shelving cart. I just this week emptied this cart of new books directly to the shelving cart....apparently these books would be marked by someone in circulation as having "been used", when they really had not.
I'm sure we can think of easy ways to work around these two potential data problems, but first we need to continue working on the communication issue.
Yvonne