Hi
after cleaning up the mess that is the weekend papers - again - I'd like to suggest a $5 deposit for everyone borrowing our newspaper with the money going to a nominated charity if the paper isn't returned in proper order
that's my vent for the day :D
enjoy your weekend
Cheers
Kristen
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Book Club boxes
For your information:
Book club box procedures
1. On receipt of box:
• Check contents of box against label
• Issue box to Branch book club card so its location is identifiable – manually make due date 1 week after meeting for that title.
• Check-in all items in the box so they show available at your branch - see Note below.
That is, the box is checked out to the branch; the items are checked in to the branch
Note:
o The exception code for the Book club will come up for each item so will have to be OKed correctly to proceed with each check-in. (exception code = BKCLUB)
o The box has normal status (exception code). Only items within the box has BKCLUB status
o The exception code for book club should stay on the item and will only come off if manually changed (for example, if put to mending, CR, etc)
o If am item doesn’t have a BKCLUB exception code, reset (same as setting to mending etc)
• Display or promote items as appropriate for your book club.
2. Loans:
• Issue items to patrons as required. No renewals allowed?? Loan period? What do you think- 3 weeks as per usual or extended to a month to fit with meetings or even 6 weeks for extra reading and thinking time????
3. Returns (or check-ins)
• Book club exception will come up. If not, set status as BKCLUB.
• Put book in book club box. (or send to current branch if returned at another branch – check catalogue for box location if necessary.)
4. On completion of Book club meeting
• Check-in (return) individual items in box.
• When all copies of items are accounted for, check-in (return) box. Do not check-in box in until all copies are accounted for
• If box is reserved, send to that branch, if not, send to Support Services Caddy Club (Admin)
5. Reservation of box for future meeting
• Titles can be found in catalogue by keyword search : BOOK + CLUB + BOX
• Check whether already on reserve for another branch, and if so reserve for future meeting if desired but meanwhile consider another box for next meeting
• Reserve as normal – but it must be under a supervisor’s login. AND be sure to reserve the specific D-number for the box.
Note: Be sure to reserve the specific D-number for the BOX!!!
• If the box/title you want is at Support Services, perhaps let someone in SS know you are reserving it so they know to look for it for you.
Support Services
• Check-in all items within box
• Check- in box
• Attend to physical maintenance of items and box if necessary
• Regularly watch pull list for reserve of boxes
• If on pull list, wand in box barcode only.
Book club box procedures
1. On receipt of box:
• Check contents of box against label
• Issue box to Branch book club card so its location is identifiable – manually make due date 1 week after meeting for that title.
• Check-in all items in the box so they show available at your branch - see Note below.
That is, the box is checked out to the branch; the items are checked in to the branch
Note:
o The exception code for the Book club will come up for each item so will have to be OKed correctly to proceed with each check-in. (exception code = BKCLUB)
o The box has normal status (exception code). Only items within the box has BKCLUB status
o The exception code for book club should stay on the item and will only come off if manually changed (for example, if put to mending, CR, etc)
o If am item doesn’t have a BKCLUB exception code, reset (same as setting to mending etc)
• Display or promote items as appropriate for your book club.
2. Loans:
• Issue items to patrons as required. No renewals allowed?? Loan period? What do you think- 3 weeks as per usual or extended to a month to fit with meetings or even 6 weeks for extra reading and thinking time????
3. Returns (or check-ins)
• Book club exception will come up. If not, set status as BKCLUB.
• Put book in book club box. (or send to current branch if returned at another branch – check catalogue for box location if necessary.)
4. On completion of Book club meeting
• Check-in (return) individual items in box.
• When all copies of items are accounted for, check-in (return) box. Do not check-in box in until all copies are accounted for
• If box is reserved, send to that branch, if not, send to Support Services Caddy Club (Admin)
5. Reservation of box for future meeting
• Titles can be found in catalogue by keyword search : BOOK + CLUB + BOX
• Check whether already on reserve for another branch, and if so reserve for future meeting if desired but meanwhile consider another box for next meeting
• Reserve as normal – but it must be under a supervisor’s login. AND be sure to reserve the specific D-number for the box.
Note: Be sure to reserve the specific D-number for the BOX!!!
• If the box/title you want is at Support Services, perhaps let someone in SS know you are reserving it so they know to look for it for you.
Support Services
• Check-in all items within box
• Check- in box
• Attend to physical maintenance of items and box if necessary
• Regularly watch pull list for reserve of boxes
• If on pull list, wand in box barcode only.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
damaged books procedures
Charging for damaged books: a Support Services perspective
Introduction:
Pretty much the only customer interaction Support Services gets is dealing with angry and defensive customers. After all the work we put in to delivering a quality product, this often makes us feel very sad.
Current procedure:
The current procedure is that items returned and put to damaged are sent up to Megan who analyses the books for damage and suggests a damage fee based on the age of the books.
They are then sent to me for approval where I assess whether the damage fee is warranted. I check dates to get an idea if an item may have deteriorated further since return (ie in cases of mould)
Once I have approved damaged analysis, Megan prints out the damaged letters, enters the finance on each borrowers record, files the letters and keeps the books in a crate for instances where the borrower rings up to challenge. Megan has measured the time it took her to deal with problem items over the week and for 8 books it ended up taking over an hour and a half of her time.
If a customer rings up and complains about the fee, I grab a copy of the letter sent out and go and find the item in question. I then bring up their record to see if they often receive fines or have had previous disputes with the library. This helps in my judgement of whether the fine is warranted. This is also disruptive to my day and is a very frustrating experience because borrowers making the effort to ring up have pretty much already made up their minds that the library is useless, they are not paying the fines, the book was like it when they borrowed it etc.
Stats:
o I would estimate at least a third of the customers that I send letters to I hear back from.
o Average 2 hours per week dealing with all aspects of the issues between at least 2 people.
o We have 4 crates up here in the compactus divided into half yearly sections. There is still half a crate of items from Jan-Jun 08 that are waiting to either be paid or hear back from the customer. Megan recently cleaned out the Jul-Dec 07 crate and deleted the items. The fines are still on those borrowers cards, after this amount of time we will probably never hear from them again.
Issues:
At the end of the day, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Whatever the customer tells me to get out of the fine, no matter how much I think they are telling fibs, I have no way to prove it. All I have is a damaged item sent to me- usually I don't know the circumstances of its return or even its state at the time of return.
Mould: items that are returned damp or with a little bit of mould seem to be easily missed- see dvd cover. What has a spot of mould on it (which is not noticed) at time of borrowing could grow enormously over borrowing period and even more still by the time it reaches my desk.
Staff members are not consistent in identifying damage. Many customers claim they often find damaged items on the shelves and I believe them because I have found them myself. Some may be damaged in the library- eg children's books. Some may just be missed coming through.
Comments:
Even our current procedure seems a little off. We charge people based on the age of the book and if the book is old and unpopular we may not even bother, especially if they question it. The charge is actually a fine, not a replacement fee. If we are going to punish our customers, shouldn't we do it fairly and based upon the act of damaging, rather than what kind of books they borrow?
I can understand why people get upset- for just about every customer who says they won't be using the library again after paying the fee, I believe we really have falsely accused them.
Suggestions:
Regardless of the decision, a new procedure needs to be written. It will include that no item can be charged for if it was pulled from the shelf or from a trolley or found in the library. Only those pulled from the returns chute.
If we do continue charging, could it be a flat rate damage fee?
I realise that it is often difficult to check every item upon return esp in high volume branches. But perhaps introducing a culture of having a brief glance at the books before loaning them out could also save a lot of hassle. I did this on Saturday and saved two separate customers the danger of being blamed for damage that was already there. The items had been returned that day and the day before.
Introduction:
Pretty much the only customer interaction Support Services gets is dealing with angry and defensive customers. After all the work we put in to delivering a quality product, this often makes us feel very sad.
Current procedure:
The current procedure is that items returned and put to damaged are sent up to Megan who analyses the books for damage and suggests a damage fee based on the age of the books.
They are then sent to me for approval where I assess whether the damage fee is warranted. I check dates to get an idea if an item may have deteriorated further since return (ie in cases of mould)
Once I have approved damaged analysis, Megan prints out the damaged letters, enters the finance on each borrowers record, files the letters and keeps the books in a crate for instances where the borrower rings up to challenge. Megan has measured the time it took her to deal with problem items over the week and for 8 books it ended up taking over an hour and a half of her time.
If a customer rings up and complains about the fee, I grab a copy of the letter sent out and go and find the item in question. I then bring up their record to see if they often receive fines or have had previous disputes with the library. This helps in my judgement of whether the fine is warranted. This is also disruptive to my day and is a very frustrating experience because borrowers making the effort to ring up have pretty much already made up their minds that the library is useless, they are not paying the fines, the book was like it when they borrowed it etc.
Stats:
o I would estimate at least a third of the customers that I send letters to I hear back from.
o Average 2 hours per week dealing with all aspects of the issues between at least 2 people.
o We have 4 crates up here in the compactus divided into half yearly sections. There is still half a crate of items from Jan-Jun 08 that are waiting to either be paid or hear back from the customer. Megan recently cleaned out the Jul-Dec 07 crate and deleted the items. The fines are still on those borrowers cards, after this amount of time we will probably never hear from them again.
Issues:
At the end of the day, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Whatever the customer tells me to get out of the fine, no matter how much I think they are telling fibs, I have no way to prove it. All I have is a damaged item sent to me- usually I don't know the circumstances of its return or even its state at the time of return.
Mould: items that are returned damp or with a little bit of mould seem to be easily missed- see dvd cover. What has a spot of mould on it (which is not noticed) at time of borrowing could grow enormously over borrowing period and even more still by the time it reaches my desk.
Staff members are not consistent in identifying damage. Many customers claim they often find damaged items on the shelves and I believe them because I have found them myself. Some may be damaged in the library- eg children's books. Some may just be missed coming through.
Comments:
Even our current procedure seems a little off. We charge people based on the age of the book and if the book is old and unpopular we may not even bother, especially if they question it. The charge is actually a fine, not a replacement fee. If we are going to punish our customers, shouldn't we do it fairly and based upon the act of damaging, rather than what kind of books they borrow?
I can understand why people get upset- for just about every customer who says they won't be using the library again after paying the fee, I believe we really have falsely accused them.
Suggestions:
Regardless of the decision, a new procedure needs to be written. It will include that no item can be charged for if it was pulled from the shelf or from a trolley or found in the library. Only those pulled from the returns chute.
If we do continue charging, could it be a flat rate damage fee?
I realise that it is often difficult to check every item upon return esp in high volume branches. But perhaps introducing a culture of having a brief glance at the books before loaning them out could also save a lot of hassle. I did this on Saturday and saved two separate customers the danger of being blamed for damage that was already there. The items had been returned that day and the day before.
Friday, November 28, 2008
my time at the Library Innovations Seminar
Hi everyone,
I thought I might share some of the issues we talked about at the seminar I attended yesterday at the State Library. Erik Boekesteijn an Jaap van de Geer from DOK, Delft Public Library gave an awesome presentation on their Shanachietour they have been running through the US, Jamaica and Australia. There is a website, I can't find the address right now, but when I do I'll add the details. But here is a bit of an overview of what we talked about:
Public Libraries in the 21st Century
Web 2.0
Young people of today are the long term library users of tomorrow. We need to grab their attention now, give them a positive experience now and let them know that we are up to date and can provide them with what they need and want.
There was a large emphasis on gaming through the seminar and the suggestion that we should not be snobbish toward games as content. In the same way that we are accepting graphic novels as a legitimate format of 'book', we could be thinking about (some) games as extensions of the film industry. A game is just another form of story. There are even career paths in the gaming industry and gaming in public spaces can be great social outlets.
Many public libraries are using gaming to attract young people and using events such as LAN nights and gaming days to get kids really engaged with the librarians and the library. They also use gaming events to promote the YA collection- graphic novels, books about gaming, anime etc.
Others are promoting blogging, myspace and youtube within the library and offering a place to learn about these technologies. As we know, SN sites are important networking tools, great for information exchange and even important for the career (ie LinkedIn). Librarians need to make use of these technologies to reach and capture this audience.
It was recognised at the seminar that whilst everyone in Library Land is talking about Web 2.0, no one is actually using it. Again, we can't be snobby about sources such as youtube, we really need to consider what is the best format for content. In some cases it will be a book, but in others digital media may supplement or even be more appropriate than a book. Youtube is actually a great place for instructional videos.
Using these technologies can create us a whole other 'branch' through our website. We can engage youth through things such as online partnerships with schools, blog or wiki based book clubs, a virtual reference librarian. We can invite library users to talk and blog about the books they are reading through the website, or even music and films. We all know how much people like telling us their opinion of the books they are returning, why not encourage them to tell each other?
The concluding points for us to consider in our future are:
• What can we do to understand the new world of unlimited information
• Remember there is more to text based information than books
• What are the personas of our library users and their learning styles, would they find it easier to read a book of instructions or watch a video?
• Are we answering the questions on reference desk or transferring our skills
• Why are we discriminating against new media?
Later in the day some of us gave presentations about innovations our library is running, where I gave a talk on the Living Library. Other topics were Book Clubs, Parents and kids learning info literacy together, Web 2.0 at work- which Manly has really embraced, eg, they ran a youth photography competition using Flickr; Attracting new users through targeted programming- This was Adam from Wyong library, a recent example of this is the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender collection they launched; and Partnerships and Collaborations- with other businesses and groups in the community starting with our own council!
All in all I had a great day, I met a whole lot of interesting librarians, got a few contact details for future projects and got super excited about how we at Gosford library could work toward becoming one of the leaders in 21st Century Libraries.
Enjoy,
Heather D.
I thought I might share some of the issues we talked about at the seminar I attended yesterday at the State Library. Erik Boekesteijn an Jaap van de Geer from DOK, Delft Public Library gave an awesome presentation on their Shanachietour they have been running through the US, Jamaica and Australia. There is a website, I can't find the address right now, but when I do I'll add the details. But here is a bit of an overview of what we talked about:
Public Libraries in the 21st Century
Web 2.0
Young people of today are the long term library users of tomorrow. We need to grab their attention now, give them a positive experience now and let them know that we are up to date and can provide them with what they need and want.
There was a large emphasis on gaming through the seminar and the suggestion that we should not be snobbish toward games as content. In the same way that we are accepting graphic novels as a legitimate format of 'book', we could be thinking about (some) games as extensions of the film industry. A game is just another form of story. There are even career paths in the gaming industry and gaming in public spaces can be great social outlets.
Many public libraries are using gaming to attract young people and using events such as LAN nights and gaming days to get kids really engaged with the librarians and the library. They also use gaming events to promote the YA collection- graphic novels, books about gaming, anime etc.
Others are promoting blogging, myspace and youtube within the library and offering a place to learn about these technologies. As we know, SN sites are important networking tools, great for information exchange and even important for the career (ie LinkedIn). Librarians need to make use of these technologies to reach and capture this audience.
It was recognised at the seminar that whilst everyone in Library Land is talking about Web 2.0, no one is actually using it. Again, we can't be snobby about sources such as youtube, we really need to consider what is the best format for content. In some cases it will be a book, but in others digital media may supplement or even be more appropriate than a book. Youtube is actually a great place for instructional videos.
Using these technologies can create us a whole other 'branch' through our website. We can engage youth through things such as online partnerships with schools, blog or wiki based book clubs, a virtual reference librarian. We can invite library users to talk and blog about the books they are reading through the website, or even music and films. We all know how much people like telling us their opinion of the books they are returning, why not encourage them to tell each other?
The concluding points for us to consider in our future are:
• What can we do to understand the new world of unlimited information
• Remember there is more to text based information than books
• What are the personas of our library users and their learning styles, would they find it easier to read a book of instructions or watch a video?
• Are we answering the questions on reference desk or transferring our skills
• Why are we discriminating against new media?
Later in the day some of us gave presentations about innovations our library is running, where I gave a talk on the Living Library. Other topics were Book Clubs, Parents and kids learning info literacy together, Web 2.0 at work- which Manly has really embraced, eg, they ran a youth photography competition using Flickr; Attracting new users through targeted programming- This was Adam from Wyong library, a recent example of this is the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender collection they launched; and Partnerships and Collaborations- with other businesses and groups in the community starting with our own council!
All in all I had a great day, I met a whole lot of interesting librarians, got a few contact details for future projects and got super excited about how we at Gosford library could work toward becoming one of the leaders in 21st Century Libraries.
Enjoy,
Heather D.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Police Visit at Umina
Today our library had a visit from Constable Jamie from Gosford Police for story time. She is the youth Liason Officer. She only stayed about 30 minutes but the visit was extremely beneficial for the children. We had a very high turn out for the visit and a few carers came with their children. Contact number is 43235514 if any other libraries are interested in inviting Senior Constable Jamie to their library. She's even coming back on Thursday for the Thursday group.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
At Wyoming our public access computer is still on dial- up. Our most frequent complaint is the slow response time. We have a lot of children use the net who would not be able to pay for it's use if there was a charge. Our library is the only public access facility in this immediate area, and so access to websites and word processing is in demand by local residents. Unless our response time improves via broadband, our borrowers would not be prepared to pay for the facility.
Lee
Lee
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Public Access Computers
How's this for a first post!?
Public access computers
Some of the issues that are recognised regarding the public access computers in our libraries include:
· A slow down in speed toward the end of the month as our download limits are exceeded - this tends to be caused by people downloading videos and music, and kids playing games.
· We staff spend way too much time booking computers, asking people to finish their booking so that other people can have their go etc.
· Some members of the public are known to abuse our service and use the internet inappropriately.
Are there any more issues that come to mind that you would like to add?
Are there any comments or recurring questions that you receive from customers about our service, such as software that they would like to use?
We are currently working our way toward upgrading all the public access PCs to Council leased machines which will then be on a regular upgrade plan. A Service Level Agreement is also being investigated between IT and the Library for support for our public access PCs.
The cost to rent each computer is $1200, with 24 machines across the branches. Our current internet connection on the public computers costs us $9600 per year.
Unfortunately, due to our weakening dollar and to ensure that there is enough funds for book purchasing next year, the budget for free internet access is going to be reduced from $38400 to $30000 for the next financial year.
To fund such a decision we will be examining a user pays system, with a bypass for genuine information requests and queries.
The benefits of such a system include:
· With such added income, the Library will be able to lease more and better PCs for the public to use and possibly better software.
· More computers would mean that we might not need a booking system as there would generally be enough access to go around.
· A user pays system will lessen demand.
· Added income would leave the Library with more opportunity to run classes and seminars on computer use and how to use the web effectively. With added time and monetary constraints, there might be more interest generated on behalf of the public to learn these skills.
· More reference queries will be generated with people asking for our help rather than paying to do it themselves, meaning that our reference skills will be maintained.
Cons of such a system include:
· Our current users won't be impressed
· People of a lower socio demographic won't have the same leisure based access to the internet as higher socio demographic customers
I am posting this with the hopes that you all will contribute your thoughts and ideas for how we can ensure that such a transition will take place with the benefits of our customers in mind, and so that we as frontline staff might deal with it as painlessly as possible. Happy debating!
Heather
Public access computers
Some of the issues that are recognised regarding the public access computers in our libraries include:
· A slow down in speed toward the end of the month as our download limits are exceeded - this tends to be caused by people downloading videos and music, and kids playing games.
· We staff spend way too much time booking computers, asking people to finish their booking so that other people can have their go etc.
· Some members of the public are known to abuse our service and use the internet inappropriately.
Are there any more issues that come to mind that you would like to add?
Are there any comments or recurring questions that you receive from customers about our service, such as software that they would like to use?
We are currently working our way toward upgrading all the public access PCs to Council leased machines which will then be on a regular upgrade plan. A Service Level Agreement is also being investigated between IT and the Library for support for our public access PCs.
The cost to rent each computer is $1200, with 24 machines across the branches. Our current internet connection on the public computers costs us $9600 per year.
Unfortunately, due to our weakening dollar and to ensure that there is enough funds for book purchasing next year, the budget for free internet access is going to be reduced from $38400 to $30000 for the next financial year.
To fund such a decision we will be examining a user pays system, with a bypass for genuine information requests and queries.
The benefits of such a system include:
· With such added income, the Library will be able to lease more and better PCs for the public to use and possibly better software.
· More computers would mean that we might not need a booking system as there would generally be enough access to go around.
· A user pays system will lessen demand.
· Added income would leave the Library with more opportunity to run classes and seminars on computer use and how to use the web effectively. With added time and monetary constraints, there might be more interest generated on behalf of the public to learn these skills.
· More reference queries will be generated with people asking for our help rather than paying to do it themselves, meaning that our reference skills will be maintained.
Cons of such a system include:
· Our current users won't be impressed
· People of a lower socio demographic won't have the same leisure based access to the internet as higher socio demographic customers
I am posting this with the hopes that you all will contribute your thoughts and ideas for how we can ensure that such a transition will take place with the benefits of our customers in mind, and so that we as frontline staff might deal with it as painlessly as possible. Happy debating!
Heather
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