Tag Archives: Stacks

Spacesaver shelving units – out of order

out of orderThe problem with the Spacesaver movable compact shelving has been reported. In the meantime, please assist users who need access to the bound periodicals on the lower level.
Go with the user to the shelves and bring the Spacesaver Power Override with you.
Take care when using the Power Override – as all safety functions are disabled when using the Power Override.
Only one shelf can be moved at a time, and shelves move very s-l-o-w-l-y.
The Power Override (formerly kept at the Info Desk) is now kept at the Main Circ Desk under the counter, next to the credit card machine, to the left of the emergency manual.
Replacement batteries are available next to the Power Override – you’ll need a philips head screwdriver to replace the battery.
PS – for supervisors only – there is a Spacesaver safety override key in the Circ Office – though Rich reports that it does not always work.

Project for spring term – Armstrong circulation students

Now that the spring term is under way and things are settled it’s time to start working on some projects.   The  first project is shelve reading the bound periodicals section downstairs.   Starting with tonight’s after 5 pm shifts I would like everyone especially weeknight and weekend shifts to spend 20 minutes per shift shelve reading in the bound periodicals.    Our goal here is get all the periodicals in the correct order and find any that have been miss-shelved.   There’s a sheet for tracking where each student starts and finishes in the procedures book, page one.

Compact shelving section not working at Armstrong.

Armstrong has a section of compact shelving that is not working properly, i.e. it trips the “aisle in use light” and will not clear  (open).    Usually we use the over-ride key but this is not working well.   The section is the last four aisles of the periodicals compact shelving near the center of the stacks, call number QH 573 to the TD’s.   Please if someone needs to get into this section get a supervisor or if it’s at night they’ll have to wait until morning.   Get their name and the call number of the book they need , and a supervisor will retrieve it.   I’ll keep you up to date as to when it will be fixed.

Shelving and LC Easy

Highlights from the training meeting:
If you have not yet taken the LC Easy tutorial, please do so on your next shift.
Be sure to take the test and print it out for your supervisor.
Low score? Or need a review?
Please go through the LC Easy tutorial again.
Shelving Tips from Rich:
Bookstacks: Please watch for stuff out of place. Correct shelf errors, untidy shelves. Books that are a half-mile from their correct location, throw on your cart & leave on holding shelves with their brothers & sisters.
Overloaded shelves: Make adjustments as necessary so the items you need to add will fit comfortably. If you can’t adjust books to fit – alert a supervisor.
Watch for stowaways: If the spine tag says “oversize”, “VT Coll”, “Ref”, “Periodicals”, “Armstrong”, “Music”, ANYTHING other than just the LC number, don’t shelve it. Watch for reserve items, ILL, NExpress books. If you think you smell a rat, you smell a rat.
The book carts: pre-sequence the stuff you are about to re-shelve. Please organize ONLY the books you expect to shelve yourself immediately, return any you’re unable to complete to holding shelves– do not leave sorted carts for “the next guy”. Likewise, please don’t take the time to sort the holding shelves, they don’t stay sorted for long, trust me; but it would be nice if you could take a second to tidy up holding shelves that have got tumblydown.
Questions about anything else, PLEASE ASK.

Summer Vacations

Summer at Circ is both a busy time and a time that most of us squeeze in some well deserved vacation time.
Thanks for covering for each other and for jumping in where and when needed.
We all take great care to make sure that desk coverage and work responsibilities are covered in our absences, but if you notice any critical gaps please let me know.
Please double check that your schedules are up to date on Outlook, that out of office directs email correspondence to others for urgent issues, and as a courtesy to those of us at work – press the divert button on your phone as you head out. 🙂
Currently Rich is out – please be available to help the Stacks student employee with any questions that may arise in his absence and keep an eye on the back book drop at Main, film/fiche problems (Helpdesk can provide tech support), courier runs, re-shelving areas, need for book sweeps etc.
In addition, ILL staff absences may mean that we take on a larger share of NExpress processing – see previous post below.

LS@Mills – New Pick-up Location

Please note a new pick up location for our Language Schools at Mills College in California when paging requests.
Here is a summary of the workflow:
1. Patron logs in to Midcat at Mills, places a request to be picked up in California
2. Paging slip is generated here and sorted by Main Circ.
3. Item is retrieved
4. Item is checked in, which will generate a new hold pickup notification telling the patron that the item is on the way and may be picked up at Mills Circ when they are notified by Mills’ system.
5. If item is not available, a standard cancellation notice will be generated (refer to Circ supervisor to cancel request if not found)
6. Place item on Cataloging shelf @ Circ
7. Item will go to Collections Management, where it will be processed for Mills in the regular manner, then shipped out by ILL.

Shelving – Main Library

From Rich:
If/when you’re able to dispatch your troops to the re-shelving trenches:
Please have them check accumulations on the Main Level first, and run at any group (P-PG, PH-PN, PQ &c) whose allocated holding shelves are half full, or more.
If main level staging areas appear under control, then they can work off holding shelves on the Upper Level, criterion being, whichever section appears most in need.
Reminder as appropriate: I’m eager that the books get re-shelved, not set up or sorted for the “next guy”, so please encourage your people to organize only what they expect to re-shelve themselves immediately.
Thanks for the assistance.

Re-shelving Etc.

A couple of reminders for the Main Circ Desk:

Please assign re-shelving as much as student schedules and desk activity allows
Please review the re-shelving basics with students before they head to the stacks – refer to Rich’s training sheet
Please sweep unassigned carrels that are clearly abandoned – but use your discretion as this is a very stressful time of year
Please discourage squatting in unassigned carrels and study rooms
Sweep shelving/holding carts in the Main Library – always scan/check-in at Circ prior to re-shelving – we recently had lots of books “returned” to the carts – and none of them had been checked in
And as always – double check carts for shelving errors BEFORE they go re-shelving
If time allows – it would not hurt to assign a double check-in at the front desk prior to re-shelving – could help us save a lot of time searching 🙂