Circ meeting notes Mon 5/18/09

Present: Elin, Steve, Maura, Joanne, Phil, Dan, Todd, Nancy, Rachel, Morgan, Kellam, with special guests Joseph Watson and Joe Toth

Happy Birthday to Dan! Thanks to Elin for cookies, doughnuts, and fresh strawberries!

Response to the blackout on Sat 5/9:

Joseph and Joe Toth joined us for the first half hour for a “post-op” of the power outage

-All hail the red emergency manual! The branches will update their blackout instructions per feedback from students on duty and assorted issues discovered once power was back on (check on rooms/labs, check on compact shelving, front door issues)

-Anything that Helpdesk should do once the power is back on?

-Main stayed open after dark with no power, defying the all-mighty emergency manual. LIS Dean closely monitored the situation with Circ staff on duty; trying to balance the needs of a college community in the midst of exams with issues of safety and security. Way to go, Phil, for holding down the fort!

-Generators are not meant to keep the building open after dark—only to help us until we are able to close

-Should we close the branches immediately during a blackout? The branches stayed open for 60-90 minutes after we lost power and closed at their regularly scheduled 6:00pm closing time

-Safety is the first and foremost concern for all library users and staff members during a blackout

-Plugging in the laptop cart is a way to charge many laptops at once (as a service to our users if we are ever faced with a blackout during a busy time of year)

Action item: Joseph and/or Elin and/or Mary will schedule a meeting with Mike Roy to review our emergency procedures, and discuss unexpected closing procedures in particular. The ADs all need to be on the same page re: emergency response and decision to close

-Action item: need hard copies of Circ student cell phone #s (all branches) and hard copies of schedules at all branches to use as back up in case Outlook is not available

-Action item: Circ staff need a refresher re: offline Mill procedures

-“It doesn’t fall to us to defy the laws of physics”: Dan Frostman

Guest printing discussion:

-Starting Mon June 8, free printing goes away for all non-College library users

-$5 printing cards will be sold at the Wilson Café, the Bookstore, and MiddExpress; departments around campus will also receive courtesy print cards which they can give to their special guests to use for printing at any public printer on campus

-We had a great discussion re: distributing $1 courtesy cards at Circ points for special guests of the College that come to the library to print without a card; stay tuned for final decision from Elin after discussion with Mary

-FYI: guest borrowing privileges do not include printing privileges

-Check out the new Middlebury Printing Project blog: http://sites.middlebury.edu/printingproject/

LIS Spring retirements:

-Breakfast buffet; will open all libraries at 10 am on Wed 5/27 so we can all attend. Stay tuned for opportunities to donate pastries etc. to the buffet. Carol is organizing. Planning committee includes Carol, Michele, Michael W, Rick J, Brenda, and Elin.

Hurray! End of term! Congratulations on a great semester – great job, well done.

FYI

Changes to web requesting coming soon (Dan is testing changes with Systems)

No recalls on checked out items

Web request on a checked out item will generate a hold (and block a renewal) but will NOT RECALL (and shorten the loan period) on a checked out item

Requests will be placed on the title/bib and will be filled with “first available item”

Recalls can be processed through the client at the Circ Desks with staff assistance

This is to encourage the use of NExress and will prevent LS at Mills from recalling items from LS and BL at Midd, will allow user to place a hold without a recall (a frequent feedback request)

NExpress requests will in most cases take less time than a recall

It will eliminate Circ having to cancel recalls when a request is placed on an item that is available on NExpress

To process a recall:

First check NExpress

Advise/educate user about NExpress as a first choice over a hold or recall, and step them through the process as needed

If not available on NExpress, place a request through ILL (recent change to policy – ILL will request an item that Midd owns that is checked out)

If all else fails – place the recall using the Mill client

Follow up as needed with email, always copy the Lib Circ mailbox on all communication

If you receive the request over the phone, follow up with email to confirm the recall, and copy the Lib Circ mailbox

Please pay attention to any RUSH needs

Resepct the privacy and confidentiality of the person recalling the item and the person who is requesting the item

Other questions, concerns – please see Elin

Intersession projects

Please check in with each other about projects so that we can set priorities, efficiently finish up Spring Term and prepare for Summer Sessions; check the wiki for intersession routine and checklist

Re-shelving

Reserves

Japanese new books display

Graduation display

NExpress workflow

Browsing DVD’s and other media going out/in through MiddRequesting, NExpress and ILL – test phase of workflow, feedback to Elin please

LS – Mills updates

Look for a new pick-up location code – California

We will develop a workflow with Collections Management for processing Mills requesting.

Circ will page, CM will process for sending to Mills, ILL will ship – stay tuned for more details

BLSE

Reserves is in full swing; set up date is June 22

Workflow, schedules and training – Dan and Kellam will be coordinating this effort. Stay tuned for a topic meeting

Mosio – LIS text service – a new way for users to contact LIS

Text received and sent via web

Our account is LISBorrowing

Stay tuned for a training opportunity with Brenda

Summer training – 5/21 (customer service) and 5/22 (loaner equipment) and maybe a couple of other slots – stay tuned

Barbara Merz will be de-installing Novell on Main Circ computers – 5/20

One computer at a time will be out of commission briefly

Library hours and staff schedules – please update to match library hours

Honors thesis – go to Special Collections

Billing Q’s – refer to Elin

Borrower database and guest borrowing Q’s – refer to Elin

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