Minutes of March 11, 2010 Meeting

Present:

Rose Barbalace, Krista Dandurand, Judy Gardner (chair), Barry Lipinski, Andy Martinez, Dean Meister, Tracey Meyer, Jan Reinhart, Jeff Teichmann (recorder), Michele Tokar, Darryl Voorhees, Bob Warwick, Penny Weniger.
Attendance by Dana and Robeson members not possible due to technical difficulties.

Excused:

Glenn Sandberg

Agenda

1. Netbook lending and equipment records in IRIS.
2. Borrower and Patron file items: duplicate records, deceased students, distance learners, patron purge, Emeritus courtesy notice.
3. Holds pickup sampling.
4. Misc. updates: converting LOST-ASSUM to LONGOVRDUE, Relais implementation update (E-ZBorrow), Self Check at Alexander, other.
5. Announcements and information sharing.

1. Netbook lending and equipment records in IRIS

• A pilot laptop lending project is set to begin at the Art Library shortly after the spring break. Netboooks and a charging station will be located behind the circulation desk. Netbooks will be loaned to RU students, faculty and staff only. There will be some sort of short agreement to be accepted by the user before their being able to borrow a library netbook. It may be possible to have this as an opening screen on the netbook that must be clicked “I agree” before continuing.
• To facilitate the loaning of the netbooks and also certain types equipment, two new item types will be available – EQUIP-Y and NETBOOK-Y; each will have a location of CIRC-DESK since it is envisioned the materials will be located behind the circulation desks.
  • EQUIP-Y will include equipment with a value of less than $50. Any equipment type materials with a value over $50 will receive its own item type. These item types will be non-holdable. Access services staff will create the records based on standards and instructions that will be forthcoming. The committee reviewed these instructions and standards and made recommendations.
  • While these item type will have standard circulation policies and loan periods and associated late fee amounts. These items may be placed on reserve at the individual library, but reserve circulation policy and fines will take precedence.
  • EQUIP-Y will be shadowed in IRS, but NETBOOK-Y will not be shadowed and therefore be able to be viewed in IRIS

2. Borrower and Patron file items: duplicate records, deceased students, distance learners, patron purge, and Emeritus courtesy notice

• Lists of duplicate records continue to be forwarded to the circulation group for examination and correction. It is though many of these duplicate are stemming from alumni becoming FAC/STF since there aren’t any match points between these records to stop the duplication.
• Records continue to be created with information in the incorrect name fields. While these records do get merged and overwritten by the dataloads, the unused name fields remain populated. It was agreed to notify the supervisors of where these records are created so that staff may be informed of the error.
• Emeritus users will now receive courtesy notices when their records are due to expire (December and June).
• Deceased students – a recent communication from a deceased student’s family sparked an investigation of whether this information is included in the dataloads. While the student record is noted as deceased, the NETID is stripped and therefore the record is not loaded into WorkFlows. Bob Warwick is able to check and produce a list of names for any records coming in as deceased in each dataload. He will forward the names to Judy Gardner as needed.
• Distance learners – The committee reviewed and discussed a draft entry of a distance learner’s category for the RUL borrower’s chart. While distance learners are students, there is sometimes a lag in their records being entered by the departments and registrar’s offices and staff may get confused when the student identifies themselves as a distance learner. It was decided to enter a cross reference in the chart and to enter records as needed for distance students, provided they have a NETID. If they do not they should obtain one and contact the library again. Records should be set to expire in one month’s time to allow for the record to be dataload.
• Patron purge – the criteria for record purging was discussed. The purge will take place by the end of March 2010.

3. Holds pickup sampling

• A sampling of holds will be tracked from placement to user check-out. Data to be collected include:
  • how long the hold sits before being acted upon
  • transport time between libraries
  • how long the hold sits available for pick-up
  • how many available holds expire due to non pick-up by the user.

4. Misc. updates: converting LOST-ASSUM to LONGOVRDUE, Reveal implementation update (E-ZBorrow), Self Check at Alexander

• LOST-ASSUM to LONGOVERDUE – 1,838 items (due between 7/2005 and 6/2007 were converted from a status of LOST-ASSUM to LONGOVERDUE and associated generic bills were created. The items were shadowed in IRIS.
• Relais (new EZ-Borrow software) is on track and all participating libraries will move simultaneously to the new software. While the date is not determined, it will take place by 8.20.2010. Training on the new software will take place in April/May 2010.
• A self-checkout has been ordered for installation at Alexander Library. Delivery and installation should take place by mid-June at the latest.

5. Announcements and information sharing

• Imaging Services is launching a new service on March 22, 2010 – Thesis binding. RU students upon depositing their thesis into the RU depository may request a printed and bound copy. This is voluntary and multiple copies may be requested.