SRG

Meeting Minutes

June 17, 2009

Attendance: Brenda Muhlbaier (GCLS), Kathy Capobianco (WDL), Margaret Ware (PIT), Carol Atkinson (GCC), Bunny Jacobsen (DPL), Jean McGowan (DPL), Diane McCormick (GCLS/MHB), Debra Rosner (HEG), Susan Mroz (FRA), Carol Wolf (GCLS/GLA), Lynn Harpool (MON), Ann Kohn (GCIT), Carol Baughman (GCLS/EAS), Marge Dombroski (GCLS/SWE), Anne Wodnick (GCLS/LGB), Karen Shiles (GCLS), Ralph Bingham (GCLS), Jacki Moore (NEW)

The minutes were read over and approved.

Monroe Update: Unofficially, they will be closing for the move on the 1^st Monday of August and will likely be closed for the entire month. They are hoping to reopen sometime around Labor Day. There is currently some major road work being done, so they may be delayed by the trucks being unable to travel between the old and new building. They expect to have rolling due dates throughout September.

Workflows Defaults: In order to change the defaults in Workflows, you need to log in as either Administrator or Supervisor. For example: to change the search default in Item Search and Display, right click on the Item and Search Display wizard and select Properties, you can then change the search default from Keyword to Browse. Exact searching is difficult unless you are searching for an Item ID or other number search. If you want the new search default to be permanent, remember to save ‘changes to parameters’ when you close Workflows.

GCLSDBONLY: This is a Database Only library card that was issued to a GCLS patron who filed an application online. Since it was not issued in person, GCLS has not verified residency, and limits use of the card to their online resources. If a patron comes in with a GCLSDBONLY card and attempts to check out materials, a message will appear that the patron has exceeded their checkouts. Please do not override and check out to the patron. You may verify residency by checking their ID and updating the Patron Profile to GCLSPATRON and renew their record. They can then check out materials.

ILLs: Margaret asked if other libraries restrict ILLs to their own patrons. GCLS stated that they will acquire ILLs for any walk-in patron; West Deptford and Franklin stated that they will only request ILLs for their own patrons. Anne W. mentioned that the directors approved a policies page that states each LOGIN library will treat all walk-in patrons the same, regardless of their home library.

Anne then passed around the LOGIN Policies approved by the LOGIN Board of Directors. Ralph will post the page to the blog. Everyone looked them over; Kathy asked if ILLs had been discussed in particular. Anne said no, not specifically, but that the introductory paragraph is clear that any patron can use any library and receive the same services and treatment as if they were cardholders of that library. If anyone has any questions about the contents of the LOGIN policies, please discuss them with your director so that these concerns can be discussed at the Director’s meeting.

Each library is also permitted to renew cards of another LOGIN library, provided that the patron’s ID is correct. Patrons still need to visit their home library to acquire their library card. One concern is that Heggan and Deptford require their patrons to clear any fines on their card prior to renewing. They ask that we honor that policy.

Anne also passed around a spreadsheet of each library’s circulation policies. Not all libraries have submitted information, so it is still a draft document. Ralph will post the circulation policies to the blog. If your library has any changes, please forward them to the Policy Committee.

Reports to Excel: Karen has created a procedure to export Workflows reports to Excel and passed copies around. This procedure works best with list reports. Normally in a Workflows report, there is a header, data that is out of alignment, and often extra data. The instructions Karen created will make the report neater and easier to read.

Report Naming Conventions: PLEASE use the first 3 letters of your library when naming your reports. Karen demonstrated the problem by bringing up the list of Finished Reports, as viewed with the Administrator login. The list was quite lengthy and it is difficult to see at a glance which reports belonged to which library. This makes it difficult when someone calls Karen or Ralph with a question about a report, and they need to be able to identify the report. Also, Newfield has a problem with reports beginning with ‘new’, as that is their library’s 3-letter identification. These reports end up in the middle of their own reports and they are concerned about whose they are, and possibly deleting someone else’s reports by mistake. Newfield deletes their reports regularly. Karen agreed that each library should delete reports that are no longer needed, as this will keep the list more manageable.

Questions/Comments:

Margaret mentioned that they have been getting notes on materials returned by other libraries saying that the barcodes are confusing, and to please remove the old barcode. They are unable to do so without damaging the material.

Kathy asked about a new feature in patron records, ‘Charge History’ and asked what that is. Karen replied that some libraries had asked about this, and when she asked Sirsi for more information, they turned on the feature and told her to try it out. This feature is not active, so please ignore it for now. There is a lot of back-end work that will have to be done before it can be used. Karen will not have time to review the feature and how to set up circ rules until after Paulsboro is online. Karen was asked about the possibility of an ‘Item History’; she will look into whether something like that exists.

Kathy mentioned that she has an overabundance of paper clips and wondered why so many were being used on transit items. Logan and Swedesboro admitted to be some of the culprits, as they do not have space for sorting bins and have to use the paperclips to keep the transit slips with the material until they can pack their deliveries. Kathy was told that she is welcome to bag up some of the paper clips and send them back in the deliveries.

Deptford asked if anyone else has experience holds disappearing off patron records. Heggan has noticed this as well; the patrons in question still wanted the holds and had not canceled them. Karen asked for specific examples so she can look into it. Diane mentioned that staff at Mullica Hill have noticed that sometimes holds do not display; she has opened and closed the Display Holds wizard several times before a patron’s holds shows up on the list. Karen then mentioned that Sirsi is aware of a display glitch and is desperately tracking the problem. Please send any examples to Karen so she can forward them.

Paulsboro status: there was a problem getting the records. Karen has a work-around and hopes to start next week. Her goal is to finish by the end of July. Karen has also recommended to Violet to have staff start visiting other libraries to learn Sirsi before they go live. She volunteered all LOGIN libraries, so please do not be surprised if Violet calls to schedule staff to come observe.

Someone asked when Sirsi would begin operating our server. Karen thought maybe in the fall; the director’s have not signed off on the switch over yet. GCLS will continue to administer the software, but Sirsi will be responsible for the hardware. It will be a full migration to the new server; there will be a 3-4 day down-time.

The next meeting will be at 9:30 on September 16^th at the Mullica Hill Branch, Meeting Room B.