Items Lost While In Transit for a Hold?

We discovered that when a book is INTRANSIT to a location because of a hold, the customer's hold is attached to that single item. Therefore, if that item is lost along they way, then the customer is bypassed by other people in line when other copies become available. Until we identify the fact that this item has not made it to the pick-up location, then the customer is in HOLD LINGOOOOOoooooo!!! Marking the item missing will allow the customer to get the next available copy. For more information on this scenario, see What To Do When An Item is Lost While In Transit for a Hold.

Customer Confusion About Holds on 7-Day BOOK-APOPs with Copies Already Turned into 21-Day BOOKs

As you know, customers cannot place holds on BOOK-APOP or DVD-NEW items (we check them out to the agency hold account and set them aside until the end of the business day). However, agencies have some leeway as far as turning some BOOK-APOP copies into BOOKs. Well, as soon as one copy is turned into a BOOK, then customers can place holds on those 21-day BOOKs.

This is fine when a library staff member can explain this to a customer, but now that customers can place holds online, it could lead to some customer confusion. If a customer attempts to place a hold on a 7-day BOOK-APOP, they will receive a "rejection notice". However, if one or more copies are turned into a 21-Day BOOK, then the customer will not receive a "rejection notice" when they attempt to place that book on hold online.

They will be able to place a hold; however, that hold only applies to the books that are no longer BOOK-APOP. Yet, the customer does not know that several of the available BOOK-APOP copies cannot satisfy the hold. The customer does not know that they are waiting for one of the BOOK copies to be turned back in.

So keep that in mind if a customer calls confused as to why they are not getting notified about a hold.

More Go Live Wiki Upgrades

I have added some new content to the Go Live Wiki over the past several weeks:

The Trapping Holds on the Picklist section has been expanded to include:

• Assistance when item is missing or
• no holds are found.

The instructions for the Edit Circ Notes... tool have been expanded to include specific instructions for:

• Adding a Circ Note
• Changing Item ID/Barcode
• Changing Number of Pieces
• Changing Item from Reference to Circulating

I also added instructions for what to do when an item goes missing that is in transit to a pick-up location for a hold.

Holds Graph Places Entire Process on One Page

I created a Holds graphs which displays the entire hold placement process on one single page. This may be helpful for some of you.

Click here to view it. It is also linked to under the Holds section of the Go Live wiki.

Strengthen Your Skills in August

Now that you have a few weeks of live action, you now probably know what your strengths and weaknesses are in regards to the new ILS. So, in order to help you strengthen your weaknesses, we will be offering some trainings during the month of August.

WorkFlows Searching will be offered August 1 from 2-4pm and on August 16 from 10am-12pm. This will focus on search strategies using both the Keyword and Browse type searching.

WorkFlows Holds will be offered August 7 from 2-4pm and on August 21 from 2-4pm. This will focus on...well, holds.

Finally, EPS OPAC will be offered August 9 from 2-4pm and on August 22 from 10am-12pm. This will focus on search strategies for the online public access catalog.

Contact Cynthia to register for these trainings. Bring your specific questions to the trainings as well.

User IDs for Agencies

Your WorkFlows life will be drastically improved once you make the connection that you check items out to internal user accounts in order to mark items missing, to discard items, to send items to tech services, to set aside items for repair or story hour, etc.

Knowing which User ID to check the item out to just became easier. On the agency abbreviation page of the wiki, I added links to many new pages that list personalized user id's for each agency. Click here to check it out.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

The Importance of Trapping Your In-Hand Holds

A customer calls and asks if you have a copy of a certain book. You check the shelf and you do indeed have it. You place that hold with the pick-up location's agency hold account (cenhold, levhold, etc.).

What is the next crucial step???

Trapping!

Placing a hold just lets the computer know that a customer wants a book. Trapping lets the computer know that a staff member has that book in their hand.

So what happens if you forget to trap? Let's say that you have placed the hold. You then put the P-slip in the book with the customer's last name, first initial, and the current date. You then put that item on the hold shelf.

Guess what will appear on the next Pick List? You got it. That same book. The Pick List shows all available items that have holds placed on them. You placed the hold when you had it in your hand. But you forgot to trap it.

So now, you or a co-worker is now looking for a book that is currently on the hold shelf.

So... along with the advice in the previous post, if you see a hold on the Pick List for an agency hold account, then something is wrong. So what do we do?

In the end, all we want is for the customer to get the material that they need. Every situation is different and there is not one answer. It may take some creative thinking in order for us to do that. If you need some help with that creative thinking, just give me a ring and we'll work it out together.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

Placing Holds for Items Available at Other Locations

We have received our first Pick List report! I have received notice that a few copy level holds were placed with agency hold accounts on items showing available at other agencies. Copy level, agency hold account holds should only be used when a staff member has the item in their hand.

If you are helping a customer who wants a book placed on hold that is available at another location, you have a couple of options:

First, you can suggest what we have always suggested: that the customer (or you) call the location with an available copy. That location would then place a COPY level hold on the item (because they have it in their hand) with the pick-up location's hold account (pkyhold, cenhold, etc.). This guarantees immediately that the customer will have a copy. Because we are placing a hold with an agency hold account, the customer will NOT be notified when this item reaches the pickup location. We give the same advice we always have ("I will send this book, it should be there tomorrow, but I would suggest calling to make sure it got there"). This process is described in detail here.

Second, if the customer would rather not call or if the location with an available copy is currently closed, you can place a TITLE level hold on the item. It is necessary to have the customer's library card number since it is not possible for a staff member to get their hands on the book. This hold will appear on the owning agency's next pick list report. The customer will then be automatically notified as soon as the item reaches the pickup location. These are the same procedures we follow if all copies are checked out, detailed here.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

Go Live Wiki Upgrades

I added some content to the Go Live wiki. The new content fleshes out all of the tasks you can accomplish with the "check out tool".

You use this tool to mark items missing, place holds on 7 day books or new DVDs, send items to various departments in Tech Services, etc.

Click here and take a look when you get a chance.

Also, I noticed that some people were getting lost in the wiki due to the various links to different pages. Therefore, I placed all Go Live contents on one page. You can still view the original version, or you can use this page.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

Detailed Display Too Daunting?

When using WorkFlows, you have the option to view an item's Detailed Display. You click on the Detailed Display button at the bottom of the screen. This shows you all sorts of information regarding an item. For some of us, maybe too much information!

However, if your search retrieves only one record, then you will be taken automatically to the Detailed Display. For some of us trying to get used to the initial search screen, this can be a bit daunting.

Not to fear, though. Escaping the grips of the Detailed Display is not a hard thing to do. All you need to do is click on the Return to Search button at the bottom of the screen. This will return you to the familiar search screen.

Now, don't disregard the Detailed Display. It is a great thing! How else will you find out how many people have a hold on a book? Also, viewing the Detailed Display of an item saves that Item ID, which makes certain tasks (such as placing holds on an item or marking an item missing) easier.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

More Differences Between Old and New (Due Date; Where an Item is Going)

Here is an example of how the holds process can alter the way we have done things in the past (besides the obvious changes of actually doing holds...).

When we are searching the catalog with WorkFlows, you will see that some items are INTRANSIT. This is the new word for "Route". However, you do not see where the item is being sent. In IG or Circle, you could see where the item was going.

This comes in handy when a customer wants an item and there are no available items except for one or more items that say Route (in Circle) or INTRANSIT (in WorkFlows).

Currently, if an item is in "route" or "intransit" back to its owning location, then we could safely assume that the item would be available soon. We could tell the customer to check back in the next day or so.

Also currently, if an item is in "route" towards another location besides the owning location, we could safely assume that the item was NOT going to be available for a while as it was being sent to another location for a customer to check out.

WorkFlows does NOT say where the book is going. It only says INTRANSIT. So are we losing some functionality????

No. We have to back up a bit and realize that our new holds service has a greater impact on our procedures.

If an item is INTRANSIT, then check to see if there are any holds on the book. If the item has a hold placed, then we can assume that the item is intransit to the pickup location. The item will not be available until the customer who has placed the hold on the book has checked it out and then returned it.

If an item is INTRANSIT, and it does NOT have any holds on the book, then you can safely assume that the book is being sent back to its home location.

On top of all of this, you can offer to place a hold on the book for the customer and as soon as that book becomes available (one way or another), they will be notified.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.). All questions and answers will end up on the Holds Discussion page.

Some Differences Between Old and New

With the new ILS comes a new lingo. This lingo will be solidified over the next year, but let me run over some differences between the old and the new systems.

In the old system, you routed items in and out. This was used to move books to other locations to be picked up by customers. This was also used to send items to Tech Services.

You do not route items in or out with the new system. You "put items in transit" or "receive items in transit". Receiving items in transit is easy. You click on...this is a hard one..."Receive Items in Transit" and scan the item ID (barcode). Putting items in transit is a little different. You don't click on "Put Items in Transit". Items are automatically placed in transit as a RESULT of another action.

For example, you place a hold on a book in hand for a customer to be picked up at another location. You then trap that hold. That item is now in transit to the pick up location.

Also, we used to route items to tech services. With the new system, we will basically check out an item to a tech services department. Each department has a "user account" that you check the item out to.

For example, if you work at the Raleigh branch and you are sending a book to Material Services, you would basically check the book out to the RALMATSVS account (don't worry, these accounts names are all listed on the screen).

When Material Services is done with the book, they used to route it back to its home location. In the new system, all they need to do is Discharge the book. Since the book was "checked out" to them, as soon as they discharge the book, it is automatically placed in transit back to the home location.

Someone in Raleigh would then use the Receive Items in Transit tool as soon as that book made it back.

In the old system, we used to withdraw items. With the new system, we will discard. Much like sending the book to tech services, you would "check the book out" to your agencies discard account. For example, if you worked at Levi and you discarded a book, you would use the check out tool to check the book out to LEVDISCARD. The book will then show DISCARD in the catalog and will be shadowed from customers.

Why individual agency accounts? This allows you to easily view all the items that your agency has sent to cataloging, or what items your agency has discarded.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

Somebody Call St. Louis. We Need More Rams!

As we have just discovered, some of our computers need more RAM. The size of RAM (and everything else in the computer world) is measured in bytes. The more bytes you have, the better:

1024 bytes equals a kilobyte (KB)
1024 kilobytes equals a megabyte (MB)
1024 megabytes equals a gigabyte (GB)

RAM comes in any number of sizes. Generally around 96 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1024 MB (or 1 GB).

Now that we know about size, let's discuss RAM. What is RAM? RAM is Random Access Memory. OK, so what does that mean? It is called "random" because the memory can be accessed in any order (unlike a tape or CD which requires the computer to physically move some sort of reading device to locate the desired memory).

To paraphrase lifehacker, if your CPU is the cook, and your refrigerator is the hard drive, then RAM would be the kitchen counters. As the cook (CPU) gets stuff out of the fridge (hard drive) in order to cook, he has to place the stuff on the counter (RAM). If you run out of counter space, then you can't get anything else out of the fridge.

And WorkFlows is a big huge piece of pig that takes up a lot of counter space (and takes a while to get out of the fridge).

And some of our counters are smaller than others. So how do you find out how much RAM you have?

When looking at the desktop, you can right-click on My Computer (a couple staff computers could right-click. Others I tested could not). Then click on Properties. Towards the bottom-right of your window, you will see the amount of RAM (measured in KB). The picture hear shows my computer which has about 256 MB RAM.

So how do you get more RAM?

You can see the instructions from the same lifehacker post I linked to before. You open the computer and slap on a RAM stick. Getting those sticks is the first, crucial next step.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

Go Live Reference Wiki Additions

The Go Live Reference Training wiki has a couple of new additions. First, I have added some practice questions that Philip in Cordova created. This is a great way to reinforce the contents of the training.

Next, I have added a page that lists all of the questions that come up during training that we are not able to answer. When the answer is found, we will post it there.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

Go Live Circulation and Reference Training Dates

The Go Live Reference Training dates and the Go Live Circulation Training dates have been added to the sidebar. You can also access these dates, times, and more details from the ILS blog (Circulation and Reference).

Hidden "Shadowed" Titles in the New Public Catalog

The online catalog on the EPS will not display "shadowed" records. In other words, titles will not display if they are missing, assumed lost, discarded, etc. This will remove any possibility that someone will request, place a hold, or even ask about any of these titles.

That does not take away the reality that a customer may remember that we had a title that has since gone missing. WorkFlows (our staff catalog interface) will show these titles when you perform a keyword search.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

Subscribing to Search Results with the New EPS

Customers will be able to "subscribe" to a search with the new EPS public catalog. How would they be able to do this? More and more people are utilizing web feed subscriptions as a way to handle information. You use an aggregator to subscribe to a web feed and you would then be notified whenever new content is added.

So basically, whenever you perform a search with our catalog, you can subscribe to the results. You would then be notified whenever a new item was added the the catalog that now appears in that search.

For example, a Civil War buff would subscribe to a search for "Civil War". Whenever a new item was added to the collection that included the phrase "civil war", the customer would be notified via their aggregator.

For more information on web feeds, see the previous articles I have written on that subject.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

Customer Account Capabilities with new EPS

Customer will be able to manage their accounts in various ways with the new EPS. They will be able to:

• View their items they have checked out.
• Renew those items, if they can.
• View the items they have on hold.
• View their position in the hold queue for each item.
• Cancel any holds.
• Suspend any holds.
• View fees (and on down the line, possibly pay fees)

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

EPS/Rooms Revisited

Our EPS will also utlitize a product called Rooms. The ILS blog had a good post explaining the Rooms concept. Here are some excerpts:

...Each of these Rooms features content selected and organized by library and content professionals at SirsiDynix...

...Even more significantly for MPLIC, however, we are acquiring the Rooms Builder, a Web-based tool that will allow our library staff to edit the "starter" Rooms, adding and subtracting sites and other content, as well as to create new Rooms, all without requiring knowledge of HTML.

So this will give the customer a portal to content on the Web that has been categorized and evaluated by MPLIC and SirsiDynix staff. We have certainly done that already, but this is taking it to another level. It is making it easier for the customer to find the information they need.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).

EPS Results: Keeping Items

When looking at a results list, you will see Keep and Hold at the top-right of each item. Customers can click on Keep to "mark" a record for future reference. For example, if someone is doing research on several topics, instead of writing down the call number or title of each item that they would like to check-out, they only need to click on Keep. The button will then change to Kept.

At any time, a customer can click on Kept Records to view all the items they have selected. They will have the option at that point to place a hold on all items.

NOTE: I have noticed that the availability of this service has been inconsistent on the test server.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know (email, phone, comments, wiki discussion page, etc.).