Falcon Meeting
Date:
Present:
Alternative, Apalachin, Aurora, Candor, Cato, Dryden, Groton, Homer, McGraw, Newfield, Nichols, Owego, Poplar Ridge, Seneca Falls, TCPL, Trumansburg, Union Springs, Waterloo, Waverly, Weedsport, and Kathy, Rex, Jan, Karen, Eric and Robert from FLLS.
Absent:
Minutes:
Minutes read. There were no corrections or additions. Motion to approve by Waverly, seconded by Newfield, passed.
Old Business:
1) A discussion was held regarding changing the description of the status “Lost”. A proposal for the new description was presented by Janet Steiner from TCPL. It was decided to put the change to a vote. Rex explained the weighted voting based on the number of ports in each library which is covered in the Falcon Bylaws. A motion was made to change the description of the status of “Lost”. Motion made by TCPL, seconded by Dryden. Motion passed unanimously. Options were presented for the change in description. #1. Lost by patron and #2. Not returned. 36 votes were recorded to change the description to #1 “Lost by patron”. 14 votes were recorded to change the new description to #2 “Not returned”. The description will be changed to “Lost by patron” effective immediately.
2) Rex handed out and explained the revised Dynix budget. He outlined the budget cost reductions and how they now match the amount of revenue. Rex stated that all of the Dynix revenue is applied to the Dynix budget and none of that revenue goes to the FLLS general fund.
New Business:
1) The Monthly and Annual report format was discussed. It was suggested that the format of these reports be changed to provide easier compilation of statistics for the annual report. If items borrowed from other libraries were categorized by collection code, i.e. AF, AN, JF, etc. this would enable the libraries to gather statistics based on the type of material. Currently member libraries have to go through each range of library specific items types and extract those that are Adult Fiction, etc. and then add them up. If the new format is used, all Adult Fiction materials would be subtotaled together. Please email Jan if you would like your report to reflect this new format. Please indicate whether you would like this done for one or both of the monthly and annual circulation reports.
2) New
collection codes were discussed. The separation of Juvenile non book materials
from Adult is now a requirement on the Annual Report from
3) Training options for 2003 were discussed. An Advanced Dynix class is scheduled for Monday May 5th and Sept 8th and a New User class is scheduled for Aug. 4th and Nov. 3rd. Suggestions for topics for additional training sessions were: PC Reliance (the backup software used) Holdings Maintenance, and Generating Reports. Regional training sessions may be possible using our mobile lab, perhaps under special circumstance an evening class may be provided.
4) Kathy discussed the default pricing on individual holdings records. Please attach an accurate price in the specific holdings record. If an item is declared lost, the Dynix software looks first at the price field in the holdings records to assign a replacement cost for that item to the patron’s record. If there is not a price in this field in the holdings record, the system then looks at the average replacement cost linked to the item type assigned to the item. If you have an item whose replacement cost is different than the average replacement cost in the item type, you must assign this higher or lower price to the individual holding. TCPL is currently assigning a price to each holding; therefore if you add a holding to a bib record and TCPL already has a copy attached to this bib, the system duplicates the first holding displayed. The price field is one of the fields duplicated in any holding added. If you do not know how the average replacement cost is set up for each item type for your library, please call Kathy or Jan for that information. Also noted, if an ILL item is lost and the patron does not pay for it, it is the borrowing library’s responsibility to pay for the item and give that money to the loaning library. This is part of the FLLS Inter Library Loan policy.
5) The Falcon agreement on equipment purchases was discussed. FLLS has final approval on equipment that will connect to Dynix. Please contact the Network Services Department before purchasing new equipment. CNS will be expected to support this equipment and we want to make sure it is compatible with the rest of your circulation system.
6) The
“Bigger Picture”. With the number of libraries online at this time,
standardization of call numbers is a priority. It can be confusing for the
patron who now can move back and forth between libraries to see such broad
variations on call numbers for the same materials. For example, some easy books
are added using the standard call number prefix of E for Easy, other libraries
use LC for Little Children, some use P for Picture Book and some use C for
Children. This makes searching for items confusing both to the patron and to
those requesting this item through ILL. Also, errors made on collection codes
and item types effect circulation statistics not only
for the owning library but also if that item is ever requested through
7) Purge Inactive Patrons. This utility has been run for those libraries that submitted a request to purge. It was decided that we would wait to run the purge until after the Annual Reports were finished. The purge was finished on Feb. 18th. A question was asked regarding the patron expiration date. If you have an expiration date in the patron record, this does not mean the patron will automatically be deleted when they reach that date. The system will prompt you with a message that the patron’s card has expired. You may then choose to re-file the record which will then recalculate the expiration date.
8) iPAC stats were handed out and explained. The Keyword column displays the number of times patrons searched the catalog using a keyword search method. The Browse column displays the number of searches using an exact match search method. Combined is using more than one index to search. Broadcast is not used at this time; this is using a Z39.50 search to other library catalogs outside the system. Patron login displays a count every time a patron enters their barcode. Renewals reflect the number of items renewed online. Requests placed are the number of holds placed online. Patron update displays the number of times a patron accessed their account and updated their email address.
Hold notification in iPAC is set up for phone or mail. If a patron chooses to be notified by phone, an email notice will not be generated. If they chose mail and have a valid email address in their patron record, they will be notified by email.
“My List” in iPAC has a 14 day expiration period; however, if a patron logs in again, it will automatically update that date to an additional 14 days. iPAC will eventually expand out to include additional lists. My List now contains the collection code, call number and owning library.
9) The new functionality in Release 190 was discussed. Some of the functions do not appear to be working, .cp. .cpl, .cpa, .cpm. We will investigate the problem and discuss the new functionality in greater detail at the next meeting. We will also follow up on the item type display problem.
Meeting adjourned:
Next Meeting: