Category Archives: Copy to Facebook

use this to post on the circ Facebook page

Microfilm machine documentation

With thanks to Rachel…

The basic training materials for the new Microform scanning machines are now available on-line.

go/Microform – Quick guide for using the new Microform Scanners and software

   go/microfiche – Quick guide for using the new Microform Scanners and software

   go/microfilm – Quick guide for using the new Microform Scanners and software

I also created a wiki page here.

STATS WEEK, Fall 2012

November 11th-17th, Sunday to Saturday.
If you get asked a question at the desk (other than, “Can you get x for me?”, where x is something that we normally provide to patrons, like a reserve book), please tally it here: https://creator.zoho.com/middlibrary/student-statistics-count/#Form:Student_Statistics_Form (also, GO/zoho_circ)

So if you get asked where the bathroom is, record it.
If you get asked how many books are in this place, record it.
If you get asked how to photocopy, record it.
If the phone rings and someone has a questions, record that.

Get it? (don’t record that)

“Why are we doing this?” you might ask. It helps us figure out staffing, hours, service points, and all kinds of other fun stuff. We only do a week per semester, so please try to be diligent with recording these.

Things to remember now that penalty points exist

1. Check things in immediately – do not let items sit and pile up in the returns area
2. Change due dates on ILL items to match the green band
3. If someone’s account is blocked by penalty points, DO NOT CHECK ANYTHING OUT TO THEM (If they give you trouble, pass them to a supervisor.)
4. When people are checking out a piece of equipment, ILL, or reserve item, tell them specifically when it is due and explain that they will be penalized if it is late.
5. Backdate the following things at check-in
a. ILLs from the drop boxes
b. Reserve items that were not checked in properly
c. Equipment that was not checked in properly
d. ILL items on which you need to change an already-passed due date to match what is on the band (then re-check out with correct date)
e. Anything left on the return desk from the night before

Procedure for backdating a check-in:
1. Go to Check-in mode in Millennium
2. Below the check-in box, click the “backdate” button
3. Select the appropriate date
a. For items left from the night before or in the drop-box, select yesterday’s date
b. For items that were missed on check-in (i.e. – things that are our fault), select a date before the item was originally due (so the patron is not penalized for our mistake)
4. Check-in the item

One additional note for supervisors:
If we do screw up, please put a MESSAGE (that pops up) in the patron field alerting other supervisors to the fact that we will need to override the block until X date with your initials.

Equipment Review for Fall 2012 Student Circ Staff

Welcome back to our Circulation Student Staff members!

To ease your transition back into the Circ swing of things, this is a quick reminder on the check in procedure for our media equipment items.

No check in required: Do NOT check in most media items. Please place media equipment items on the red cart when they are returned to the Circ Desk; no need for any check-in action on Millennium.  Supervisors will do all of these check ins.

We have two Canon XA10 camcorders in our media collection. These are open to anyone (all patrons including students) for check out for a one-day loan period. DO NOT extend a loan for anyone without checking with a supervisor.
We have added iPads to our collection, and we have 2 Kindles for borrowing; these are two-week loan periods for faculty/staff members only. (One Kindle Fire is available for student circulation, also for 14 days.) NO CHECK IN REQUIRED.

We also have new HD Flash Canon FS200  camcorders; one-day loan periods to all patrons. PLEASE REMEMBER TO AVOID CHECKING IN THESE CAMERAS; SIMPLY CARRY THEM TO THE RED CART.

We have new LCD projectors for students. PLEASE DO NOT CHECK THESE IN; CARRY OVER TO THE RED CART.

There is a VHS player in the media cabinet and we have a DVD recorder for anyone to borrow. No check-in required.

Check in required: Do check in student laptops, power chargers, DVDs (notice and confirm whether the DVD is inside), headphones, digital voice recorders, calculators.  We have new MacBook Pro for Retina Display chargers in the bottom left drawer (#2) next to the student computer nearest the wall clock. The usual MacBook Pro chargers are also in that drawer, as well as in the Mac cabinet. When possible during a quiet period, please turn off the student laptops as they get returned.

If you have any type of question regarding our equipment, please ask me.
Thank you!

 

Ebooks on reserve

So, you know how I spend all of my waking hours these days placing books and media on reserve in Millennium so students can find their course materials via MIDCAT? Along with print books and media, we are now adding ebooks to the items associated with a reserves list in MIDCAT. Please see Prof. Williams’s PSCI 0430 as an example of what this looks like. Similar to media items, ebooks are identified as such in the title (via a bracketed “[electronic resource]”). Likewise, their call numbers end in “eb”, as DVDs end in “D” and BluRays end in “B” etc.

Please familiarize yourselves with how to access ebooks in MIDCAT, as our Circ students and patrons will surely have questions about it. Rebekah’s blog post will get you started, and here is a more detailed Q&A. I think our borrowers will be delighted to find that ebooks can be used by multiple people at one time, and are not limited to the usual two-hour reserve period that restricts our print reserves.

Please leave comments or questions below!