Falcon Meeting

 

Date:     11/20/03

 

Present:

Alternative, Apalachin, Aurora, Berkshire, Candor, Cato, Dryden, Groton, Homer, McGraw, Moravia, Newfield, Nichols, Poplar Ridge, Port Bryon,  TCPL, Trumansburg, Union Springs, Waterloo, Waverly, Weedsport, Kathy, Marisa, Rex, Eric, Jan, Karen, and Robert from FLLS.

Absent:

Auburn, Cincinnatus, Fair Haven, Interlaken, Lodi, Marathon, Newark Valley, Ovid, Owego, Seneca Falls and Spencer.

Minutes:

Approval of May minutes motion to accept by Nichols, seconded by Dryden, passed. Approval of August minutes, motion to accept by Port Byron, seconded by Waverly, passed.

Old Business:

1)      On-going issues; will continue to identify these issues and present at the February meeting.

 

2)      ILL’s lost to other libraries; the committee is still working on this issue, there is nothing new to report at this time.

 

3)      Migration; a timeline was handed out. The process for investigating and selecting the new product will begin in January of 2004. A committee will be formed and will, among other criteria, look at other systems to migrate to. The committee will visit several locations that use a variety of software. Rex suggested that everyone write down the functions you like in Dynix and would like to see duplicated in a new version and functions which do not exist in the current software that you would like to see in any future products. Training will be handled in several ways; computer based, “at your own pace”, trainers from the company will be here, and a “train the trainer program” will be initiated. The summer of 2005 is our migration goal. We will need the time to prepare the data for migration and everyone will have the opportunity for input. We will continue to communicate on the progress of the migration.

New  Business:

1)      FLLS video collections and call number prefixes. Marisa handed out the call number prefixes currently used on FLLS videos. FLLS videos used to have a numerical call number which was not very helpful. The new call numbering system uses the genre to identify videos by their call number. The call number should read VHS and the genre, which would read DRAMA, COMEDY, HORROR, etc. Non-fiction videos will now reflect the Dewey number up to 3 characters. There is also a sticker on the video designating the type of genre. This makes it easier to pull videos for collections and to fill ILL requests. Most libraries are using the standard call number of VHS and the first significant word of the title. You should continue to do this. If you wish to use the FLLS format, please use only the FLLS prefixes, any variations will need to be approved by Robert proper to implication. Problems can occur when other libraries add their holdings and see listed, as the only other holding, one with inconsistent or incorrect call numbers. Indicate on your please process slip the call number prefix if you wish to use the new format. Marisa will also send information on purchasing the stickers used on the videos. To identify a children’s video, in the bib record, the term Children’s literature is used. Family films can be somewhat of a gray area and difficult to identify.

 

2)      We still need 2004 calendars from the following libraries; APAL, AURO, DRY, FAIR, OVID and OWE.

 

3)      Purge Inactive Patrons (PIP) forms were handed out and explained. Please indicate whether you would like to include patrons who may not come in and use the library but use the electronic databases from home using RPA.  PIP is run to clean up the database by removing inactive patrons. It also helps to provide an exact number of active patrons in your library for funding purposes. If you continue to get the expired patron message maybe it’s time to think about removing those patrons. To clarify the RPA question; Y (Yes) to RPA will not purge those patrons who have accessed the electronic databases based on the purge date.

 

4)      Robert discussed the placement of barcodes. The barcode on ALL books should be located in the lower left corner of the front cover. This exact location is required for all self checkout stations and promotes more efficient checkouts. Barcodes on videos should be placed inside on the actual cassette above the label.  We also will now be using only the double dumb barcodes. No more single barcodes will be issued. If you currently use the double barcode on your shelf list card….and why are we still using shelf list cards? You must now write the number down. The single barcode should be used on all process forms sent in when a fast add is created and the full barcode is affixed to the item. Continue to use what single ones you have left on magazines, etc. Any future orders for barcodes will be in the double dumb format.

 

5)      Robert also discussed the differences between a sound recording and a Book on Tape. To qualify as a Book on Tape, the Bib record should say “based on a book by…” or “read by…” If the item in question was NOT originally published as a book, it is NOT a book on tape. Radio broadcasts, language instruction tapes are examples of these. Handouts of correct collection codes and corresponding call number prefixes were handed out. You must separate music and non book materials from Books on Tape or Books on CD.

 

6)        Robert handed out printouts of fast adds in the system prior to the 1st of September. These records must be attached to a permanent MARC record or they will be deleted in 6 months. Instructions were also handed out on how to attach a fast add to a permanent BIB record. A question was raised on how to handle leased BOT’s. If a BIB record exists, add the holding to it, if not continue to circulate as a fast add for now.

 

7)      Rex demonstrated the new feature added in iPAC denoting the media type of material. An icon will appear next to each title identifying it as a video, DVD, book, sound recording or large type. This icon is based on information in the 300 field of the MARC record. If that information is missing from the MARC record, the default media icon will be blank.

 

8)      Kathy discussed the hold sequence and how it is managed. This procedure determines in what order libraries fill ILL’s. Previously it was based on the delivery schedule, but with most libraries having at least 2 times a week and some every day deliveries, that is no longer a factor. The order is based on size of collection, with the smallest being the first, because the larger libraries get hit more often. The order is also based on borrowing and loaning policies. FLLS and TCPL are always first. If you feel your library can fill more holds and would like to move up on the list, please contact Kathy. It’s the library where the item is checked out that gets the circulation credit for that item, though the actual use count attached to the holdings is based on the total number of checkouts regardless where the item is checked out. A discussion followed on hold notification. When a patron places a hold and chooses to be notified by phone, the phone number is displayed and that’s what prints on the receipt. If they choose mail notification and have an email address in their patron record, the hold notice is sent via email. However, this email address is NOT displayed on the screen for the patron. A question was asked as to whether to include the “in transit” slip that is printed when an item NOT from your library is checked in. Yes, send the receipt slip in AND include the blue “in transit” slip also.

 

9)      Kathy also discussed items that have an item type of “new” These need to be changed to the standard item type when the “new” time period is past. A report has been set up in MISCR that you can print that identifies these items. This report prompts you for a date and that date should be 6 months prior to the date you run the report. This will then pick up all items with an item type of “new” that are more than 6 months old. If you try to place a hold and the system will not let you because the item type is “new” yet it is over the 6 month “new” period, fill out a standard ILL request form to request this item. Kathy is currently working with TCPL to identify old “new” items so they are available to fill holds.  She also reminded members that items that have a status of “in processing” need to be checked in. This procedure links up any outstanding holds and sets the status to checked in where it is now available to fill ILL requests. HOWEVER, if this is a new item, change the item type to “new” FIRST to avoid the possibility of linking to holds placed by patrons NOT in your library, and then check the item in.

 

10)  Rex discussed deleting lost items from the database. Do NOT use the same barcode on the lost item and affix it to the replacement copy. This creates all kinds of problems, when the copy is checked in, it will credit the account of the patron who originally lost it, that’s where the original barcode is linked, and the use counts attached to that barcode will also be incorrect. When you replace a lost item, delete the old copy; add a new holding using a new barcode. Lost items, if deleted, do stay on the patron’s PURF record. Melanie Pacelli stated TCPL gives no credit to patrons who return an item after 6 months that has had a status of “lost”. It is possible to delete lost items as a batch; you will need to send in a Recall report request stating such. Judy Barkee asked if items that have been set to Claim return be changed to Lost manually. In your Agency record, there is a parameter that can be set up to automatically convert Claim returned items to lost after a certain number of days.

 

11)  Equipment and payments: When you order equipment and when you receive the bill, please pay it immediately. Do not wait until the equipment is installed as this puts us on credit hold with our vendors. We can send the bill upfront if the timing of paying bills at your library contradicts the arrival of the bill. All bills need to be paid by the due date listed.

 

12)  Budgeting for Technology. Rex suggested that a percentage of your funds be put aside for technology purposes. Right now we are on a 4 year replacement cycles for the PC’s. Current PC’s are “Horizon” ready. If your Gates PC’s are used primarily for the Internet, and there is no extra software loaded, they should be fine. You may be able to migrate your Gates PC to an iPac. Eric mentioned that the Gates warranty is up in February-March of 2004 so pay attention to possible signs some component is failing., i.e. dimmer colors, screen area shrinking, blurry or fuzzy text, colors off, these are all signs of a bad monitor. Call and get this fixed before the warranty is up.

 

13)  Anti-virus licensing. We can license Symantec (Norton) system wide. It’s going to be around $18 per year per PC. A survey will be on the website to determine if this is something the members want to do. If the message pops up about renewing your subscription, ignore it for now. Rex also discussed filtering. We will investigate, evaluate and inform members of filtering software available. It works similar to an anti-virus program and looks at the web address to see if it is listed as a “bad web site”.

 

 

 

 

Open Discussion:

14)  Spine labels can be purchased and printed on a laser printer. The template and information will be posted on the web. This is not linked to Dynix so the spine label information will need to be typed in for each label.

 

 

 

Meeting adjourned:

                 11:43 am

 

Meetings in 2004:

                Feb. 19, May 20, Aug. 19, Nov. 18. All meetings are now 9:30 – 11:30 am