Author Archives: Steven Bertolino

Research & Instruction Librarian

Getting Thesis Carrels Ready

We’ve already gone through and cleaned out all the thesis carrels in the Main Library, and are now at work on policies and procedures for the start of the academic year.

As seniors start returning to campus, they may ask you at the various Circ Desks about how and when to get a carrel. We’ll begin checking out thesis carrels on the second Monday of classes, September 14. There’s currently a question of whether we will give out carrels that Monday morning, or wait until Monday evening. Do you have a preference, or pro/con ideas about the time of day? If so, please add your thoughts as a comment below in the next couple of days.

Seniors are the only students eligible for a carrel, and they also need to be currently enrolled in a 500, 600, or 700-level thesis or independent project. 500 and above level senior seminars do NOT give thesis carrel eligibility. Seniors will need a printout from Bannerweb confirming their enrollment in an appropriate course in order to check out a carrel.

Additionally, a new policy change for this year is that we will no longer be giving out orange due date slips for display on carrels and lockers. Staff will continue to periodically check library books on carrels to see if they are checked out or not, and remove them if they aren’t, but we will no longer be using the due date slips for this purpose.

Clipboard for Main Circ Gate Alarms

Saints be praised, the missing clipboard containing the gate alarm spreadsheet has been found!

Please mark down each instance of the gate alarm going off on the neon green clipboard on the side of the Circ Desk (next to the gate). There’s a space for the date and time, your initials, and why the gate alarm went off. There’s even a handy shorthand to denote the more common reasons! Thanks.

Color Printing

A reminder: while Main and Armstrong have color copiers, Main is the only branch with color printing. The color printer in Main is attached to only one computer, a Mac desktop located along the outside wall of the Media Lab. Users need to use that computer specifically in order to print in color. One often-used method is to email the item which needs to be printed to themselves, then open their email at that specific computer. If any of the ink cartridges are out, users should get more ink from the Helpdesk.

Points to Remember from Circ Training, 6/29/09

Todd asked me to take notes during the training and post them here. I’ll summarize what the presenters talked about and if you have any questions, ask me or comment below.

Maura:
Scheduling – use and refer to the Outlook calendar. If you need a sub, please post to the summer distribution list for one and alert the supervisor who normally works during that shift.
Blog – students should check the blog at the start of every shift – link located on desktops at each Circ desk
Wiki – great for finding procedures and workflows

Kellam:
Equipment – heavily used by Language Schools and sometimes also Bread Loaf during the summer.
–equipment is located at all 3 branches, and items circulate for 4 hours, 1 day, 7 days, or 14 days depending on what they are. Renewals are possible for all items (except faculty/staff laptops) as long as there is still ample supply of the item in question available for other borrowers. However, under no circumstances are loans allowed to be extended for the duration of the summer. In other years we’ve been able to do this, but due to shrinking inventory and budget cuts, we’re sorry but we can’t accommodate summer-long equipment requests anymore.
–don’t turn borrowers away if you don’t have what they need on hand. Check the other two branches to see if their equipment is available. Bring in supervisors to book equipment. Supervisors can also contact Media Services to see if their equipment inventory has what the borrower is looking for.
–when people ask about how to use equipment: direct them to go/equipment (“the greatest thing ever”–Maura) which has instruction manuals in pdf format which can be read online or printed
–remember to check all pieces of equipment at check-in and check-out (ie. read and follow the pop-up messages in every equipment record)
–equipment must be returned to the branch it came from; equipment cannot be transported in the courier bins like books, CDs, and DVDs can.
–new equipment for this summer: flip cams, Hebrew keyboards, portable P.A. systems

Rachel (with input from Kellam on BLSE)
ILL – green or pink bands; green can be taken out of the library, pink must stay in the library. In fact, when a patron returns a pink-band ILL to the desk and leaves without saying anything, it’s best to assume they’re NOT done with the item and it should go back on the hold shelf (assuming it’s due date has not passed).
–ILL can only be renewed by ILL staff intervention
–when checking one out, remember to change the due date in Millennium to what the ILL band says
–ILL can be shipped from Main to Armstrong, but between no other branches
NExpress – blue bands, usually a faster option than a recall or using ILL.
–NExpress can be renewed by a patron through My MidCat twice
–when checking one out, remember to use the due date generated by Millennium, and write it on the blue band
–NExpress can be shipped from Main to Davison (ie. Bread Loaf) and back, but between no other branches

Dan
Guests/Visitors – guests who have borrowing privileges may borrow books & government documents
Guests have access to computers (through the daily “pclab” password).
–they do NOT have privileges to borrow: equipment, movies, lockers & carrels, ILL & NExpress
–guest printing: through print card bought at Wilson Cafe, college Bookstore, or MiddXPress in McCullough. Each branch has 1-2 “guest printing computers” where guests can send print jobs. Guests then use the print release stations like students & faculty do.

Desktop Stats – to be clicked after every patron interaction which does not involve the actual circulating of materials (ie. check-ins, check-outs). Used by staff to document staff and student staff use during all hours we’re open.

Todd (with input from Kellam on BLSE)
Printing for students & faculty – all branches using print release stations – Middlebury username and password (same one used for Webmail, Banner, etc.) NOT the same one used by Bread Loaf students & faculty – they will need to activate their Midd accounts for this. Direct them to go/activate and look them up in Millennium to give them their ID #.
–copying is $.10 for b/w, $.50 for color. Color available in Main and Armstrong.
–Equitrac copy cards bought at “black box” in print rooms. Use $1 to get a card; then more money can be added onto that card.
–Faculty can use a department code (2) and their ID number to charge copies directly to their department.
–please report printer problems to supervisors/Helpdesk in a timely manner

Joseph
Emergency Procedures – please use part of your next shift to read over the Emergency Manual (there’s a copy in each branch). Ask your supervisor if you have questions about what’s in it.
–first aid kits are also available at each branch at the Circ Desk. Additional kits are available in Main at the Info Desk and in the Staff Room.

Steve
Mozio – new texting reference service, implemented at the end of spring semester. Text to # 66746 from any cell phone. Start your message with “midd” and then type your reference question. Reference librarians (or perhaps Circ or Helpdesk staff) will respond via text to your phone.

Is that it? Whew!

Media Screenings Info for Circ

This is a brief reminder of the major points I covered during Circ student training on June 25.

1. Screenings students have messages in their Mill records saying they can take Media out of the library.
2. The Film Screenings binder (updated daily by supervisors) is located on the front desk to the right of the pillar; student Screeners will use this binder to tell you what media they need.
3. Screenings materials do NOT get checked out to borrowers on the day they’re being screened, only screening students (or in rare cases, the professor).
4. Always ask screening students if they need a Projectionist Key (located in the key drawer).
5. Professors are responsible for A) giving Reserves media to be screened beforehand, or submitting a list of media from our collection; B) reserving a room for the screening through the Scheduling Office; C) getting a screener assigned by emailing/calling Helpdesk.
6. If professors/TAs/bilinguals appear in person (or call) with a problem (most usually “We’re in room X for a screening but no one’s here with the movie”) hand the issue to the supervisor on duty.

Any questions, please ask me. Thanks!
Steve

New Credit Card Machine @ Main

We have a snazzy new credit card machine at Main Circ which I know you’re all excited about. The instructions for using it are similar to our old machine:

1. Swipe customer’s credit card, black stripe facing towards the left.
2. Enter in amount to be charged.
3. Press green button
4. Machine will print first receipt and beep.
5. Machine will print second receipt and beep.
6. Have the customer sign one receipt and give it back to you. Give them the unsigned receipt for themselves.
7. Once customer has left, add signed receipt to cash drawer and fill in transaction sheet with the date, amount, and your initials.

If you have questions, please ask any supervisor. Thanks!

Summer Circ Student Training

A reminder for all about the training for summer Circ student employees this week and next.

On Wednesday, June 24, we’ll have Customer Service training at 3pm in room 105. The training will last for 90 minutes and will be paid time. Attendance is required for all Circ student employees. Please contact Todd with any questions.

On Thursday, June 25, there will be a Main Circ training, including Reserves, Media, Screenings, Reference, Guest Borrowers, and Printing. This will last from 4-6pm in room 145. It’s paid time. Attendance is encouraged for all summer Circ student employees, Main Circ student employees are required to attend. Please contact Maura with any questions.

On Monday 6/29 there will be an All Circ training workshop at 3:30 – 4:30 in Lib 145. Attendance is required for all Circ student employees. Please contact Todd with any questions.

See you there!
🙂

Summer Carrels and Lockers

It’s that time of year again, when summer students and faculty are asking about carrel and locker space in the library for the duration of the summer. Here’s a quick refresher of our guidelines.

Lockers are available to anyone associated with the College: LS and BLSE students & faculty, and academic-year students, faculty & staff. Local guest borrowers are not allowed to check out lockers. Lockers are checked out for 28 days and may be renewed in person at the Circ Desk, or online through My Midcat. Lockers are available now. Please remind patrons they should use orange due date slips on all library materials they plan to keep in their locker.

Carrels 1-68, or all the carrels on the upper floor and upper mezzanine on the side of the building which faces Axinn, are available, as are all carrels on the lower level (#s 250-273). We will begin loanging them out starting Friday June 12th, to anyone associated with the College. Guest borrowers are not eligible. Carrel keys are checked out until the end of LS or BLSE for those patrons (August 14 and August 8, respectively), and until August 31 for all academic-year patrons. Please remind patrons they should use orange due date slips on all library materials they plan to keep in their carrel.

The carrel rooms (70-227) will be set aside for individual Language Schools to use, as communal spaces for each School so that the Language Pledge can be maintained, but students can work together. The keys to these carrels are not to be checked out to anyone, as the rooms are to be an open space for each School.

All carrels on the Lower Level (250-273) are used as open study carrels for any patron, whether associated with the College or not, and their keys are also not to be checked out.

A carrel map for carrels 1-68 is located on my desk at Circ, to give to patrons to help them decide what carrel they’d like to check out. Please X out a carrel number when you check out the corresponding key. Any questions, ask me or any supervisor. Also if any patron has questions or concerns, please refer them to me. Thanks!
Steve

Exam schedules coming up soon!

Just a reminder to everyone that exam time means a few changes in library hours and staffing, less if you’re at the branches, and more if you’re at Main. Here’s a link to library hours for exams for your edification, and for when patrons start asking about extended hours.

Just to hit a couple of the high points for this Spring: Yes, the Main library will be offering the same 24/7 schedule it has in the past, from the last week of classes through the end of exams. Access to the building will be by Midd ID card only after 11pm all nights. (Main library students: a heads-up that the sign-up sheet for exams hours – overnights as well as shifts during the day and evening – will be available on Thursday the 23rd.) We will have both students and a security presence on shift during the overnights. Armstrong will be offering extended hours on the weekend of exams, and Music will be keeping the same hours as they usually do. If anyone has questions, please ask your supervisor. Thanks for helping us staff the library desks at this hectic time of the year!