SRG

Meeting Minutes

July 9, 2008

Attendees: Brenda Muhlbaier (GCLS), Flo Rosenberg (GCLS/MHB), Marge Dombrosky (GCLS/SWE), Anne Zuber (WEN), Anne Mathis (GCLS/EAS), Judy Ballard (GCLS/MHB), Sue Mounier (NEW), Lynn Harpool (MTPL), Susan Mroz (FRA), Laurie Cranston (WOD), Mary A. Ward (WVL), Bunny Jacobsen (DPL), Jean McGowan (DPL), Kathy Capobianco (WDPL), Debra Rosner (WAPL), Margaret Ware (PIT), Karen Shiles (GCLS), Pat Woodruff (GCLS/GRE)

Karen opened the meeting asking everyone to read over the minutes from the last meeting. Brenda asked if there were any corrections, there were none. Kathy made a motion to accept the minutes, Bunny seconded the motion.

Kathy wanted everyone to know that West Deptford has changed their library card policy since the last meeting. They are now using the patron profiles GCLS created to create temporary cards for residents of the incoming LOGIN libraries. Karen noted that she thinks everyone is doing the same thing, as the directors had agreed on issuing temporary cards to residents from the 4 incoming libraries.

Woodbury is also creating temporary cards, but they are using a defunct non-resident patron profile that is still in the system. Laurie asked if it mattered that they were not using the same profiles. Karen stated that it just makes it easier for when everyone is online; she will be able to run a report based on the patron profiles to get the patron’s records transferred to their home library.

West Deptford had a problem with a patron without a permanent residence who had checked out materials back in March and never came back. The patron returned with the card obtained in March, as well as a card from Margaret Heggan library. The staff suspected the patron did not live in Washington Township and called them to verify the card. Margaret Heggan had used the patron profiles created by GCLS to issue the patron a temporary card, not realizing the patron had lost items and was blocked in our system. Debra said they now have a policy to call ahead to the township library before issuing a temporary card, to make sure the patron is not already blocked, or has other problems with their record. They wondered if we should all be doing this. This will be brought up at the next LOGIN Director’s meeting, but the general consensus is that there will be so few problem patrons and the time period involved is so short, that it would be more trouble to call ahead than to deal with any problems that come up.

Karen alerted everyone that the migration for Margaret Heggan has been pushed back again, and is now projected to be complete by August 29^th. There are some issues with transferring their catalog records from their old ILS to SirsiDynix. Since Monroe Township has the same ILS, Lynn wanted to know what they could to ahead of time to prepare for their migration. Karen said they’re still working it out, and as soon as she knows what needs to happen, she will let them know.

The rest of the migrations are scheduled as:

Monroe Twp – end of September

Pitman – end of October

Paulsboro – end of November

Karen discovered a new feature for printing patron information. It’s called the ‘Print User Helper’; it will allow you to select from a list of options to print from a patron’s record. The ‘Helper’, which is an icon of a printer, is available in the Checkout, Discharging, and Display User screens. You can use this ‘Helper’ to print everything a patron has checked out, what they owe, etc.

Karen has created some Webcasts for staff. These are mini lessons on some common circulation procedures she has made available via the LOGIN blog. Select ‘Training’ from the list on the right side of the screen, then look for ‘Screencasts’. Right now, these circulation webcasts are based on GCLS circulation procedures. If anyone finds a procedure that is not what their library uses, let Karen know. She may be able to tweak the webcast, or create a new webcast for your library’s specific procedures.

MailLit is going very well, although there are some software issues. Since GCLs uses the some of the same Item Type as other sites, we are finding that some items from non-GCLS libraries are being trapped and getting an error message ‘Transit To Location Field Missing’. This is caused when a GCLS patron requests a GCLS item to be mailed to them, but another library also owns a copy and tries to fill the hold. Karen is hoping SirsiDynix will resolve the problem, so she does not have to add more Item Types to the system.

Another cataloging problem that has been occurring involves holds. There are item records that are not displaying properly, preventing us to view and place holds. We are pretty sure the problem is related to Trapped Holds or multiple holds. Keep sending examples to Karen and she will forward them to SirsiDynix.

(Note: this problem has since been resolved by SirsiDynix; they have fixed the records Karen has already sent them. Please send Karen any new occurrences.)

Comments: Marge has purchased several copies of titles for Swedesboro’s adult and juvenile book clubs, and has a list if anyone is interested in using these titles for their own book clubs. There are 10 copies of each title per book club title; please contact her for the list if you are interested.

The next meeting will be September 17^th at 9:30 at Mullica Hill.