STAFF RESOURCES |
Judy and Chris highlighted circulation enhancements in Sirsi’s U2003 and U2004 releases. A new billing function in U2003 will allow us to shadow long overdue items and create bills without breaking the user-item checkout link. [Question was asked about creating recall bills; we will need to investigate and test for this.] New user categories will be available for defining patron characteristics in the user record, the item comment field will be converted to extended information, and users will be able to “book” items in Webcat.
U2004 will have full Windows functionality with copy/paste and sorting capabilities. Systems staff and the PC Working Group have already started to plan and upgrade staff PCs to accommodate U2004.
Chris, Judy, and Jane attended the PALCI users group meeting. We’re handling multi-volume sets correctly. Judy will email circ_sub the standard “reasons” we should be writing in when setting an E-ZBorrow request to “not available.” A new book wrapper with E-ZBorrow logo will be provided; it was noted there’s been too much local customization of the wrapper. Statistics were reviewed and updates to local administrative functions requested (profiles, contacts, catalogs to search, etc.). CDs, videos and DVDs were discussed and lending encouraged, shortening the loan period for media is possible. University of Pennsylvania will be joining PALCI, probably this summer.
Dynix is planning a major new release of PALCI’s URSA software, to be re-named “Horizon ILL.” It will include article and specific volume requesting; lending tiers that are transparent to users; optional printing of wrappers, labels, etc.; batch mode for updating; the ability to skip steps when problems arise (“receive” an item that was not “shipped” for example); user type privileges configuration. The staff interface will look different as well. We don’t know exactly when it will be released (Dynix is projecting 3rd or 4th quarter 2003) or when PALCI might upgrade.
PALCI renewals work the way the system was designed to work (it’s a feature, and not a bug or problem) and staff are encouraged to provide user education whenever they can. Patrons should be encouraged to wait until the original due date to renew. The user guide has been updated. We will not publicize the fact that the system allows PALCI items to be renewed past the original due date.
Procedures for processing provisional requests have been shared on circ_sub. ILL staff will be forwarding provisional requests to RDS contacts via email. The subject line will be “Provisional E-ZBorrow requests, m-d-y.” NOTE: The PALCI procedures have been updated on the web (under Staff Resources/Access Services/Procedures/PALCI Procedures at Rutgers) with new sections on provisional requests and reasons for setting items to not available.
Statistics will be gathered to evaluate the PALCI pilot— average Shipping, ILS, Systems, and RDS staff processing times (NB will share average RDS processing time/request), loans & borrows by library, average turnaround, UPS costs, etc. This group did not think a general user web survey would provide any new information, but will provide names and email addresses of regular users if a target sample is needed for user assessment. ASC also recommended that we eliminate the email message that’s sent to the patron after they place an E-ZBorrow request.
Privileges of patrons with PALCI materials that are 40+ days overdue should be suspended along with regular 40-day overdue suspensions. PALCI billing for lost RU books and payment to lending libraries for their lost books will be handled for RUL by ILS-Alex (Jane).
We have asked Admin Computing to include employee types 4s (casual) and 7s (part-time lecturers) along with type 1s (full-time employees) in our data file, to change the expiration date to one year out, and to match user’s email address with the type of record that gets sent. We’re working with a test file and staff will be alerted via circ_sub before these changes start appearing in the production system. We will also start using the withdrawn code for students and terminated code for employees who leave the university that get passed to us; we plan to expire user records with an expiration date that corresponds to the date when the code is received; in addition, we hope to make use of a graduation code for alumni.
RUconnection is planning changes too. Beginning Fall 2003, student ID cards will be issued with an expiration date that reflects their year of graduation. A new card will indicate “Visiting Scholar” status. The word “guest” will be replaced with the word “Affiliated” on cards issued to individuals in organizations affiliated with the university.
The User Database Maintenance Team met and is drafting a proposal to cut down on the number and length of time that notices are manually forwarded, and to suspend the privileges of borrowers who do change a bad email or postal address on file with the libraries. The first returned notice will be forwarded with a Notice to Update Address, and we would continue to forward recall notices (but only recall notice) for 30 days. We would then suspend privileges by changing the patron’s status to “barred” if notices are still being returned and the user’s address has not been updated. The proposal is still in draft form.
Donna distributed a document, “Current and Possible Future Procedures and Information about Deposit Accounts,” for discussion. Issues and questions that came up and will be addressed as we continue to plan for RDS Web article delivery include the following:
Diploma holds. NB billing staff received a list of graduating students 1 week in advance of the deadline, matched it (on screen) against a list of students currently barred, placed diploma holds and sent a copy to students’ home addresses. Their Registrars provide lists of grads to Newark and Camden.
We have 250 copies of the missing books poster, Judy will query building contacts and distribute them. 2 copies of the Recalls Don’t Take a Vacation poster will be sent to each library.
Reviewed procedures for clearing items not found on various lists. Items not found on Aged Holds and Clear Hold Shelf reports (that show up on your lists twice):
Items not found on In-transit lists:
We will also consider changing the intervals at which these reports are run, from 3 to 4 and 5 to 6 days.
Media circulation. A small group will work on standardizing RUL circulation policies for media formats.
A draft of the Access Services-Systems 03-04 Academic Calendar was distributed, send updates to Judy. Reserve lists will probably be moved up on the calendar.
We reviewed Andy’s draft “Standard ‘Stacks’ Check Format” Agreed to use user’s last name in the email subject line, and summarize or remove references to NBAS training bulletins. Document will be distributed and posted on Web when final version is ready.