Meeting Notes
18 June 2008
Lib 145 3 – 4 pm
Present: Maura, Janine, Rachel, Joanne, Nancy, Steve, Dan, Morgan, Todd, Lexa.
Notes: Elin
A reminder that we meet again on Monday at 6 pm in Lib 145. We will continue the BLSE workflow review/discussion and also tour the Circ blog.
We wished Maura a Happy Birthday and officially welcomed Janine to Circ. And we all ate cake and drank lemonade and heard exciting tales of Maura’s trip out west.
Dan and Steve broke the golden rule and sat next to each other.
Elin did a quick review of FYI’s etc – see below.
LS – First week of term – no major issues/problems. Should have been open full hours on the Sunday prior to 9-week LS. A few questions about hours and policies early in the week – Jeff has updated the web page here http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/lis/help/new/summer_info.htm – lots of great info that did not make it into the handbook – please review. ID problems at PS and some last minute requests for equipment, etc.
BLSE
Many good ideas were discussed about how to best meet the needs of our BL users while also balancing the need to be good stewards of the collection, maintaining accurate records and borrower activity and promoting efficient workflows.
Here is a summary – please let me know I omitted anything.
An established procedure for retrieval will facilitate the process this year – we will maintain current procedures and weave BL requests into existing workflows as much as possible. Due to the volume of BL requests, Circ will assume responsibility for retrieving all Midd requests while BL is in session.
We will continue to utilize courier bins for all materials except NExpress.
CSO, Scott Center, and CMC materials are non-circulating. Most – though not all – of the CMC collection was moved this past winter/spring to Main. Contact Teacher Ed Dept in Twilight Hall for CMC requests.
Items with Dav location are non-requestable through the web; exceptions may be requested in the Mill client by staff only.
Need to accommodate Dav culture
Delivery to an off-campus site with an open hold shelf presents a challenge.
Midd materials are easily tracked in the Mill Circ system; NExpress and ILL less so.
Can we utilize the mailboxes at the Inn to facilitate delivery of ILL/NExpress items?
We need to test NExpress notice messages to BL requestors.
Can we use hold slips as bands to provide some confidentiality?
Is Dav hold shelf used as personal storage area?
What can the system do for us – Dan has explored a couple of possible solutions/tweaks to loan rules and system parameters: add a BL to borrower records to facilitate identification at the Main campus of items that need to go to Davison for pick-up; also a possible option to automate check-out of requested items going to BL.
Should we consider adding another branch in NExpress? We will track activity this summer to see if this is a viable option for next year. This would require work on the part of all member libraries. Maybe consider this option the next time other libraries are making changes?
Classes start on Wed 6/25. Kellam and Joanne (and maybe Morgan) and a couple of student workers will join Chris and Judy on Monday. Dan will cover on Wed morning and test loan rules etc.
Elin hopes to have the schedule for BL rotations developed soon – stay tuned! Hopefully we will have an Outlook calendar and Davison distribution list to facilitate scheduling and communication.
Kellam is developing documentation for the Davison Desk
We have the option this year to have a student worker from Main join us up there as needed.
Stay tuned for the courier schedule and procedure. Can we ask PS to issue an access card to the BL courier to make their work easier?
Dav reserves will be shelved by LC Class – except for 5 classes – this will be the last year for exceptions.
Check out Judy’s subject guide at http://subsplus.middlebury.edu/subsplus/subjects/display.php?subject=blse . We will be able to add directions for requesting etc on this page. Judy welcomes suggestions. (Link is also available on the blog.)
BL borrowers will not have a photo on their Midd ID’s.
No news yet on whether printing will be free at Dav this year.
Two options seem to have emerged out of our discussions – each option has pros/cons – let’s keep our user at the forefront of our thinking as we decide on the best solution.
Option 1 – “Davison as a 4th branch” model
o Midd requests – set in transit; checked-in at Dav; item will have hold status while on the Dav hold shelf; check-out at Dav
o ILL – placed on hold at Main Circ; set in transit etc. (we anticipate a decrease in ILL and an increase in NExpress); set default loan periods for ILL items requested by BL borrowers
o NExpress – follow established procedures; message (barcode ‘…’ was found as ‘…’; remote site item from ‘owning lib’ requested by ‘patron – BL) will display at check-in and identify any BL borrower; status will remain “NEXP REC’D” until checked out at Dav
o Hold slips to wrap items for open hold shelf
o Add BL to every BL borrower record to ensure that requests go to the Dav hold shelf
Option 2 – “Delivery to Davison” model
o Midd/ILL/NExpress items all checked out at main campus (Main Circ?)
o Items wrapped and labeled
o Placed on open hold shelf for self pick-up by BL borrowers
o There may be a system option to facilitate and partially automate the process of check-out at Main
So which road should we take? Which will be best for the user?
To quote someone closely associated with Bread Loaf:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
FYI – Equipment
• New equipment: digital recorders and recording enhancement tools, headphones and headsets…
• GPS @ Circ – Main and Arm – check them out – experiment!
• Classroom case/kit for headphones – 4-hour loans on daily/weekly basis for classroom use
• Fac/staff laptops – 2 week loans – exceptions for longer loans need to be referred to Kellam
FYI – General
• VCAL meeting Friday 6/20 9 – 3 in Lib 145; Vermont Consortium of Academic Libraries – principally the directors of VT academic libraries. Terry is Midd’s rep in BDW’s absence. Elin will join them tomorrow – discussing guidelines for direct/walk-up reciprocal borrowing for faculty.
• New copier in ILL
• Review directory info
• Banner – submit time by Monday 6/30 at noon; payroll is Thurs 7/3
• LS ID’s – request photo ID – problem at PS
• CS tutorial – 2nd session on June 19; General Circ student worker training on 6/30
• CSO Collection will move to Main Browsing at the end of the summer
• Library hours – need to stay open Sun before 9-weeek LS; HD was scheduled regular hours this past weekend; iPod tutorial scheduled for 50 students in Wilson Lab
• Film Screening – Requests for film screening schedule changes (location or time, special needs) must be made through the HelpDesk – please advise users
• We’re moving the microfilm reader/scanner into the ILL work area – please observe user patterns – so that we can determine actual usage
• Lockers and Carrels – Steve is developing a user agreements and clarifying summer policies – stay tuned
• Northeastern Law Library – anticipating a major renovation and collection shift which will probably put most of the collection out of easy accessibility for the next 6-12 months. They still have no firm dates, but may stop lending as soon as July 1st.
• SubjectPlus – new subject guides – not all areas updated yet – check them out at http://subsplus.middlebury.edu/subsplus/subjects/index.php
Circ blog – https://sites.middlebury.edu/circservices/ and wiki – a work in progress https://mediawiki.middlebury.edu/wiki/LibCirc/Main_Page – a media tutor has been assigned to us this summer to assist with development of the wiki and blog.
• The wiki is not yet developed, but the blog is up and running!
• Check the blog for updates and discussions – the page is easily searchable!
• If you have not yet set up your profile, please do so. Can’t add you as a full administrator of the blog until you do. Please let Elin know if you want help setting up your profile your account.
Here are some tips/directions reprinted from Karin’s original emails:
o When you get a minute, please check out our new Circulation blog on WordPress: https://sites.middlebury.edu/circservices/
o To add posts and comments, you will need to set up a profile on WordPress. Do that here: http://sites.middlebury.edu/middblogs/. Click on the “Log in” link under “Create a Blog” on the right side of the page. Once you have set up a profile, let me or Elin know so we can add to as a blog administrator. Then you will have blogging superpowers!
o To practice posting and uploading photos, try adding a post to introduce yourself: from the “Dashboard” page, click “Write a new post.” On the “Write” page, give your post a title in the “Title” field, then enter your text in the “Post” field; click on “Publish”. All entries can be edited.
o To upload a picture of yourself from your computer: click on the “Browse” button in the “Upload” field (directly under the “Post” field). Locate the photo on your hard drive, and double click on the file name. The file will then appear in the “File” field. Click “Upload” (no need to give your photo a title or description). Leave the bullet points at “Thumbnail” (unless you want it to show on the page as “Full size”), and “File.” Click “Send to editor.” The URL for the photo will appear in the “Post” field, and you can move it to whatever position in relation to the text you want. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the URL to appear, for some reason, so be patient. You can click “Preview” to see what your post will look like.
o To add your post to the blog, click “Publish.” N.B.: Clicking “Save and Continue Editing” or “Save” will save your post as a draft–it won’t appear on the blog until you click “Publish.”
• The best way to get comfortable with the blog is to just play around with it, explore all the different tabs and functions. Do let me know if you have any questions.
• WordPress has the ability to group posts by category. When you write your introduction post, add it to the “Staff” category, and tag it as “staff” (you’ll see the field for tagging directly under the “Post” field. That way your post can be sorted with others in the same category. Feel free to add categories when you create new posts on different subjects (examples might be “Keys,” “Scheduling,” “Funny pictures,” etc.)
• Wordpress may display differently in different browsers. If you’re using Explorer, it seems that the info and links (including the link to login) in the right sidebar don’t show up. It all shows up in FireFox.