STAFF RESOURCES |
Staff awareness and education are necessary regarding patron confidentiality and Social Security Numbers. While Rutgers University is moving towards the elimination of SSN and the use of NET IDs, this transition may not be quick. In the meantime, we need to really be aware of how we conduct ourselves at the public desk regarding this sensitive issue. Schools in New York State have already eliminated the use of SSN in their Universities. Rutgers is especially looking towards the elimination of SSN because of a previous lawsuit filed against the University. A student filed the lawsuit when he and his classmates’ grades were posted with SSN and last name (This was the practice at Rutgers University and has now been changed).
The CFG agreed that the following steps should be taken in the libraries:
A new form has been developed to ensure the RU Connection office is made aware of any barcode changes we make to a patron record at the circulation desk. The procedures are the same for the 29030000000004 barcode. Send Judy Gardner the old barcode, the new barcode, the patron’s name, and the patron’s SSN. Judy will forward the information to the RU Connection office. Michele sent the new form via e-mail to the NBACS list serv.
Ruth Bogan and the Database Management team will upload over 102, 000 bibliographic records from the Alexander Library into the database. They will skip the inventory part of the process to lessen the recon time to 2 years (this originally would have taken 6 years). The outcome may be an estimated 10,000 lost items. This will effect circulation desk procedures at Alexander and RDS and Reserve procedures at all units. All items that come up as item not found at the Alexander circulation desk should be added as Circ on the Fly using “Add Brief Title”. The Database Management team will merge duplicate records by running reports. RDS and Reserve may encounter a number of requests for items that are actually missing.
It was determined that there is no need to use the “Change item Barcode” Wizard. When working at the circulation desk, if an item appears as not found in catalog or there is no barcode in the item, follow the instructions for “Add Brief Title.” The User Database Management team can run reports to see duplicate records; they will then merge the records together.
The RU Connection cards have changed. They now say "Only Valid with Current Expiration Date”. This does not effect the libraries.
The RUConnection office will begin issuing a new barcode to those users who say they have lost their RU Connection Card/Library card. This policy was discussed after learning that a patron had lost her RU Connection card three times, never had a new barcode issued, and has 11 books on her record that she claims she did not check out.
Central Administration has issued new library cards. The cards are Blue for Guests and White for Primary Users. White Primary user cards are used for RA’s and other Primary borrowers who do not have an RU Connection card yet. Urge users to get RU Connection cards. We do accept term bills as ID. See the borrower’s chart for more information.
The borrower's chart is being updated and a new one is coming out for both primary and guest users.
The statistics from the survey show that training is necessary. The group suggested that it would be best to have training and documentation available for review. Nicole and Michele will work together on the WorkFlows manual. Priscilla has created documentation for the student manual which will be used to create staff training documentation. Dave Warner is working on building a web page to localize policies and circulation training bulletins. Megan Doyle said she was interested in presenting some of the training.
Mike Mansouri is working on writing up a policy on how to issue library cards to alumni who have expired.
The newest members of NBACS would be good resources for training suggestions since they are new to the system and are aware of their need to learn and how to learn. Roselyn Riley suggested that having online and paper training documents to refer to would be helpful for new staff and as a refresher.
The CFG will look to structure the training like the fall training for NBACS offered by the Human Resources Department. Training will take place in the spring. Michele and Jeff Teichmann will work on an outline for the program.
Checkout statistics (simple vs. complex) should be taken at each circulation desk from October 1st until October 15th.
Michele will send out an e-mail reminder to all NBACS.
RUL has officially joined PALCI. There are some new amenities available to Rutgers: onsight borrowing and free reciprocal photocopies (we may or may not participate). Onsight Borrowing will work the same as VALE. We suspect much of the onsight borrowing will take place at the Camden Library due to its close proximity to the Pennsylvania libraries.
Mike has volunteered to write up some polices for the circulation group, i.e., how to register expired alumni.
The group discussed the ongoing food problem in the library. We should all patrol the units by foot to look for food offenders. The only beverage allowed is water in a closed container.
Next Meeting - Thursday, October 16th, 2:30pm