- New staff were introduced: Nicky Spruill, Borrowing Coordinator at ILS/Alex, and Nehleen Ahmed, Physics Library. Bill McNelis is new RRS team leader in NB.
- Unicorn Issues.
- Release 98.4 and Testing. Instructions for logging on to test InfoView and a section of the new release test checklist were distributed for testing: create and edit user records (Penny), charge (Sothy), discharge (Pat), create/delete brief bib records for circulation (Jane), renew (Ann), display and edit transaction data (Bill), holds and recalls (Bill), billing (Liza), reserves (Roger), user functions (Carolyn). Staff will test and let Judy by Thurs., 2/18, if their areas tests OK and if any problems were encountered. Release 98.4 is scheduled to move to production March 17th, about the same time we start using the new Workflows interface in circulation.
- Workflows Training Update. Liza and Ann are co-chairing the Workflows training team. The team is studying the circulation wizards, and still projecting training for the week of Spring break. Currently we have to log off completely and back in again to change stations/locations in WorkFlows, more steps than in InfoView. Mark, Systems representative to the team, will investigate configuration options to make the procedure for changing stations less arduous. We will also look more closely at implementing the ‘clear charge' option in WorkFlows, as opposed to the ‘charge on charge' option which is in use now.
- Name, Membership, Responsibilities.
Reviewed a statement of responsibility for Circulation Subcommittee which incorporates system implementation, reviewed a statement of membership composition and list of individual members, and agreed the name "Access Services Subcommittee" more accurately describes what we do now.
- Authentication of Remote Users.
Circulation staff may now give out user barcodes and PINs over the phone and Ask A Librarian. Barcodes and PINs are needed by Rutgers University users to authenticate themselves for access to library resources when connecting from remote sites using commercial Internet providers. An extract of our Unicorn user file is produced every day and used for authentication. The program looks for unexpired users with Grad, Ugrad, and FacStf Profiles and pulls out their barcodes and PINs. To exclude UMDNJ users, who are not considered part of the Rutgers population in licensing agreements with vendors, we've gone back to using UMDNJ Profiles.
We reviewed and revised draft guidelines for giving out barcodes and PINs. SSN will be used to verify users before releasing information. Situations we may encounter include--
- Guest and Rutgers borrowers asking for PINs in order to access Self Services,
- Rutgers users with RUconnection cards with preprinted barcodes (which are not included
in data loads from Admin Computing and therefore not in our database), and
- Users without any user record in our Unicorn database.
We agreed on the following service parameters:
- We will not create new user records based on a telephone or Ask A Librarian conversation.
- The user must have a record already online, either one we've created at a Circulation Desk or an RU-ONLINE record.
- We will only give out information over the phone and Ask A Librarian, not cards. We will not issue or mail plastic library cards, Rutgers users will be advised to stop by a Circulation Desk next time they are in the library to have a barcode put on their existing Rutgers ID card.
- We will not follow up with any sort of mail correspondence.
Guidelines will be revised and posted to circ_sub.
- Security Audit and PIN Display on Edit User.
The Systems Department and other offices that provide online resources are subject to security audits. Security of logins is an area of concern, staff should not have access to other staff logons and PINs. Therefore, Mark is recommending we mask PINs on Edit User screens. At this point the system can not distinguish between login user PINs (staff) and public borrower PINs(users), and both will be masked.
How will we be able to tell users what their PINs are? By assigning a new generic or random 4-digit PIN and updating the Edit User screen, letting the user know what the PIN is and advising them to change it immediately. There will be no visual confirmation of what we type into the PIN field. Care must be taken to place the cursor at the beginning and to erase to the end of the field. Ann suggested we elicit from the user what PIN they would like to use and then enter it. Mark has more testing to do and will give us plenty of warning before PINs disappear from view.
- Returned Notices/Bad Address Guidelines.
A draft was reviewed and revised. Two groups of staff, one to work on email notices and the other to work on print notices, will be formed and possibly work on other user database maintenance projects in future.
- Misc. Circulation Items.
- Standalone should be used during extended downtime by larger libraries. New disks may be needed at some Circ Desks.
- Rate of fall term loan renewals are tracked by Unicorn reports, results circulated.
- Reserves. Remember to following special processing instructions for RRS materials for Reserve, avoid placing duplicate requests for reserve materials. The reserve request form and sample copyright letter will be added to the Library Services webpage under construction. Robeson's homepage has a form for faculty to submit reserve requests online, requests go directly to Debbie's email. Roger, Sam M. and NB reserve functional group have started to discuss an online reserve form too. Why does an item appear on a library's in-transit list when it's on reserve at another library? Probably because the hold for the RESV-LIB was not placed before it was shipped. The only way to get it off the in-transit list is to contact the library where the item is on reserve and ask them to fix it.
- API transactions will run starting on Friday and through the weekend to edit EAL items to new item types (EAL-STACKS, EAL-REF, EAL-FOLIO, etc.) Charged out items won't be changed. Beginning on Monday, Alex circ staff can start using EAL-STACKS when creating brief records for circulation.
- Users have reported RRS turnaround to Camden has slowed. Also, remember to charge RRS requested items to Missing within 24 hours.
- When barcodes won't read, staff get frustrated and issue new barcodes on top of the barcode already printed on RUconnection cards. The barcode label will not interfere with use of the card but we still need to determine why the barcodes aren't reading. Mark suggested we ask the RUconnection Office to produce some sample cards and test them on our readers. Faded barcodes and widely spaced barcodes appear to cause the most problems. The RUconnection office has started to issue Guest ID cards to visiting scholars based on letters from departments. We decided it's OK to replace lost Ruconnection cards with the original barcode since we aren't blocking lost cards, but rather checking the photo on all photo IDs now.
- Kalaivani and Judy are meeting tomorrow with Admin Computing to discuss outstanding issues regarding the data loads.
- Interlibrary Loan.
- Circulation staff would still like the 4 week default loan period for ILL materials, as a safety net, in the production system. They will continue to conscientiously enter alternate due dates.
- RRS staff filling RUSH requests for ILS– please inform ILS office staff immediately, the same day, if you can't fill a RUSH request so ILS can contact the requesting library or institution. Often these requests come for companies who are paying for the service and they need to contact other sources if we can't provide materials on the same day.
- ILL in-library use only items cannot be renewed online, therefore ILS staff will call the Circulation Desk where the item is held and ask staff to change the Due Date on the band.
- Self Services flier. No update.
- Systems Update.
PC maintenance is ongoing, adding memory to public access machines. Aremen is updating the Novell servers. We're getting ready to add our records to OCLC and RLIN.
- Information Sharing.
- RRS materials are arriving in libraries half-processed, requiring extra staff time at the pickup library to correct errors before items could be placed on hold shelves. New students at the beginning of the semester may have contributed to this problem. We agreed to call colleagues and report problems when patterns are noticed, and take measure to ensure item are properly processed before sending them out.
- The Reserve group in NB is preparing reserve manuals, one for students and one for full-time staff. Guidelines for labeling reserve materials are close to standardized, and online requesting under discussion.
- Sothy asked about taping/displaying generic logins on staff PCs. Mark said this is not a good idea and urged all staff to put logins out of view.
- Pat reported Alcohol Studies has Windows 95 now.
- Terry is starting to study Workflows and wizards for the training team.
- Jane asked circulation staff to include a note "Never Picked Up" when returning ILL items from their Hold Shelves.
- Bill is looking forward to working with the NB RRS functional group, expects their meeting schedule to remain the same for a while.
- Math Library is recruiting for a new Saturday student assistant. Ted is working on the NB Collection Management Team's webpage.
- Penny described "kits" for flood and water damage that will be distributed to all the library. There will be a demo for supervisors.
- New student vouchers have been hired at Chemistry. Chem Abstracts cartridges were discovered to be blank and all are being examined.
- Ann described how the Collection Management crisis team responded to leaks at Douglass, Art and Annex. Douglass has combined circulation and reserves into one service point. NB is filling positions as LSM, Alex Reserves, Chang, and the Annex.
NEXT MEETING:
Thursday, March 11, 1999
Admin Conference Room, Alexander Library, CAC