Circulation Committee Minutes – 07/08/08

Present: Marlayna Christensen, Sara Cassetti (Guest), Stephen Cruz, Diane Eells, Greg Ferguson, Lisa Ferguson (Recorder), Peter Mueller (Chair), Jack Neves, Andrew Newsham (Guest) and Kathy Rutledge.

I. Call to Order/Announcements: Welcome to guests from IR/PS – Sara Cassetti, Reserves Coordinator & Workleader and Andrew Newsham, Stacks Coordinator & Workleader .

II. Updates:

A.) INNOPAC Coordinator – G. Ferguson

The loan rules were updated on July 1 st, after two weeks of preparation work. Just a reminder, that there will be some “weirdness” for the next few weeks, as the old rules run their course. Two examples of issues that occurred included items that billed immediately after the change and a secondary overdue recall notice (on an ILL loan rule) being sent one day after the first notice was (it should have been sent after seven days).

Also, a reminder that no paging slips will be issued for materials with the status “new book shelf”. In order for a paging slip to be generated via Roger Request, the materials must have a status of “available”. Libraries that maintain a new books shelf should be periodically using the View Holds module to view holds at their locations. A drop down menu within the module allows the user to limit the holds by the status of the item. It was suggested that this feature could be circumvented by the creation of new location codes for new books, though this option presents its own issues.

 

II. Discussion:

A.) New Fines Policy – How is it going? :

S&E reported that due to their fixed due dates, their staff have received an increased number of

MCL noticed that a patron record was blocked after a recalled book was overdue by one day. This is not a change in procedure and this feature was in place before the loan rules were updated.

Committee members reaffirmed that library staff can override and renew items on a patron’s record, as long they are not billed or recalled. Staff may also renew materials on a patron’s account, if there is an overdue recall material present. Patrons can renew their own materials up until the issuance of the second overdue notice. Standardized verbiage needs to be developed so that all library staff employees can inform patron of changes effectively and consistently.

B.) Updating Service Pages:

With the changes in the loan rules and fining policies, the “Billing Services” and “Fine and Fees” pages with the Libraries’ Borrowing page needed to be updated. Removal of text regarding fines, as well as the addition of text notifying users’ suspension of privileges, was discussed. The inclusion of information on reserves fines refund policies, and reinstating library privileges was also deemed necessary. Consolidating both these sites into one should also be considered. Jack will make the revisions and present them to the Committee for final approval. The discussion included the claims returns and Greg would like to see the procedures for this process standardized between all the branches. (See Supplement: Web Page Updates for documentation of exact changes.)

C.) Brainstorming: Plans and Goals for 2008/09:

The following ideas were expressed as goals and plans for 2008-2009:

• Develop user friendly policy and service statements for circulation desk staff.
• Review library policy at each meeting (beginning next meeting with the student hiring process).
• Review the Usability Study.
• Consider IM links on circulation websites, for patron questions about services and policies.
• Investigate how users want to be contacted by the Library (email, text message, etc.) concerning their accounts.
• Consider “mystery shoppers” to measure customer service standards at the circulation desks.
• New ways to be green including:
• Stopping undergraduate paging.
• Scanning documents at the Annex.
• KIC II machines (Knowledge Imaging Center - scanner/document delivery machine).
• Utilizing paging lists instead of individual request slips.
• Standardizing procedures for:
• Group study rooms
• Loan periods (for example, journals)
• McNaughton loan rules
• Renewal limits
• Claims Returns
• Obtain approval for on-line renewals for Level 5 patrons.
• Increase checkout limits.
• Consolidate graduate and undergraduate loan periods.
• Determine user’s needs – a measure of what user’s want; for how long and from where.

IV. Reporting Out – Time did not allow for reports from the following groups:

A.CAG
B. Reserves

V.) Round Robin – Time did not allow for the round robin.

Next Meeting:

Tuesday, August 12 th, 2008
Arts Library Seminar Room

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