Falcon Meeting

 

Date:     11/17/05

 

Minutes:

Approval of August minutes. Motion to approve by Cato, seconded by PORT, passed.

 

Present:

Apalachin, Aurora, Berkshire, Cato Candor, Cincinnatus, Cortland, Dryden Groton,  Homer, McGraw, Newfield, Owego,  Port Byron, Seneca Falls, TCPL, Trumansburg, Union Springs, Waterloo, Waverly, and Weedsport. Rex, Linda, Eric, Jan, Annette, Robert and Karen from FLLS.

 

Absent:

Alternatives, Auburn, Fair Haven, Interlaken, Lodi, Marathon, Moravia, Newark Valley, Nichols, Ovid, Poplar Ridge and Spencer.

 

Announcements:

  • Introduction of the new directors and of Linda Beins, the new FLLS Reference and ILL librarian. Karen also reminded those present that the NYS budget process has begun and urged member libraries to write letters encouraging the governor to increase funding for libraries in New York State.

 

Old Business:

 

1) Rex gave a summary of the discussion on the system wide processing fee and copies of that summary were handed out. Approximately half of the libraries responded. Those libraries highlighted in yellow currently charge a processing fee. The system charges a $10 processing fee when the item goes lost and a bill is generated which includes the replacement cost from the item record or if no price is in the item record, the $20 system wide default price is used.  There is also an additional line for the maximum overdue amount. Janet Steiner then read a statement regarding the processing fee which is included in its entirety below.

 

TCPL STATEMENT REGARDING PROCESSING FEES

FALCONS MEETING

NOVEMBER 17, 2005

Presented by Janet Steiner, Library Director

 

  • TCPL been part of the computer consortium since 1991
  • We are well aware of the needs for compromise, cooperation, give and take
  • We have worked extensively with the four smaller libraries in Tompkins County in seeking to develop a TC library card, involving a lot of compromises.

           

 

Recently Falcons made a decision regarding holds fee—no holds fees are charged—so TCPL is now being manually collecting the fee  at our circulation desk at check out—this decision has negatively affected our circulation processes, but we have been able to accommodate this decision.

 

 

But this issue of processing fees has the potential for a much larger impact on TCPL.

 

 

Processing fees are charged by TCPL as a matter of board policy.

 

The reason that we charge processing fees to recover the total cost of a lost and paid item, not just the cost to replace the book. We also hope to reduce the number of items which are taken by patrons who have no intention of returning the item.

 

 

Our processing fee is $10 for each item lost. We arrived at this amount after analyzing all of the steps involved in replacing a lost item. This amount can be greater if the item is an AV item such as a double CD set.

 

The number of items which go into lost in the past three months is 559, according to Rex’s account. That’s 50 items per week. 

 

If the automatic processing fee is dropped, TCPL will need to request a lost report each day, manually changing the amount due on each item by manually adding the processing fee.—a process involving numerous screens.

 

 This process is time consuming, and unnecessary when we have the technological capability of adding it automatically.

 

 Alternatively we would need to add the fee while the patron is standing in front of us trying to settle their account—it seems arbitrary and capricious to announce that there will be another $10 added to a patron’s account- even if the text message on the overdue notice can include that information.

 

 

If the automatic processing fee is retained, then FLLS member libraries would need to waive the processing fee on each lost item, an easy process which most libraries could only do occasionally and which will most likely result in positive public relations for your users.

 

Dropping the automatic processing charge would have a major detrimental impact on TCPL. Since this problem may be fixed in a year in a major release within a year, we urge you to consider retaining this fee.

 

Rex also pointed out that the Tompkins County libraries have been working towards a county card which has involved many compromises and a list of agreed upon parameters. TCPL also charges $.50 for each hold request placed, which in Polaris is a system wide setting. In the spirit of cooperation, the group decided not to apply this charge system wide and now TCPL adds the charge manually. Groton acknowledged that handling the processing fee is a burden but manageable. Candor charges a processing fee and feels TCPL has a legimate reason to retain this fee. Homer asked if the itemization of the processing fee be done to clearly separate the processing fee from the replacement charge. This can not be done at this time but could be an enhancement request for 2007. Rex suggested a possible procedure to minimize the impact on those libraries who do not charge a processing fee. When a billing notice is generated, (waive the amount in Patron Status to achieve the amount you want to charge the patron and then make that change on the billing notice). At Trumansburg, patrons are charged for the full replacement cost plus the $10  for lost or damaged materials.  Trumansburg attaches a sticker to the billing notice stating “When you return the items listed, the total amount due will be only overdue charges.” The option to set the processing fee at a branch level will be in the next major release due out the summer of 2006. FLLS’ s position is not to change the processing fee at this time. Rex also pointed out that the default replacement cost is system wide. Use the billing notice to identify and change the replacement cost if necessary. The wording on the billing notice can be changed also. The unanimous decision of those present, after much discussion, is to keep to the original decision and leave the processing fee in place.

 

2) Copies of the 2006 budget were handed out at the last Falcon meeting and have been given to Karen for approval.

 

3) Robert discussed the printing of spine labels. Homer, Owego, Waverly and Weedsport have been testing the Polaris spine label program. Homer indicated the program works well. Waverly found the labels look fine. Owego feels the program is easy to use and eliminates sending some items in. Weedsport said they now do not send in items just for labels. FLLS will supply the labels unless the library is conducting a large relabeling project. We will order labels and distribute to the libraries. There are 100 sheets in a packet of labels with 8 on a page. Call NIS after you receive your labels, and we will help walk you through setting up your printer. You will need the program to point to the correct printer. They are standard SL6 labels producing 3 labels, one for the spine, one for the pocket and one for a shelf list card. Union Springs, Candor and Berkshire indicated they do not want to produce their own labels. Rex also pointed out that receipt printer ribbons are available for $3 a piece with the option to purchase an entire box. It was requested that NIS generate a request for supplies order form.

 

4) Robert discussed “Quick Bibs” and a “Quick Bib Dos and Don’ts” was handed out. Please do not include any hyphens or spaces when entering in the ISBN number. Until the end of the year, send in the card if you attached an item to a Quick Bib. If you create a Quick Bib, please let us know by indicated it on the processing form sent it to FLLS. The letter “Q” on the form identifies this item as a Quick Bib. Some Fast Adds still exist that were migrated over from Dynix, please do NOT attach your item record to an old Dynix fast add.

 

5) Annette reminded those present that the system meeting on Dec. 15th is on Storytime Resources and Jan will be conducting a training session on Polaris Web Reporting Services at the Jan 19th system meeting. There was a request for a workshop on the Annual Report for the new directors who may not have filled one out before. Marisa will take care of this. Polaris has designed an Annual Report that may be available for us to generate statistics this year.

 

6) Rex discussed proper Polaris log out procedures. The icon for the remote desktop links to the server here at FLLS. You must as part of the log out procedure, log off from this remote desktop. To log out of Polaris, close ALL open Polaris windows, go to File-Log Off or hold down the control key and press the letter L. Left click on OK or press the enter key, this logs you out of Polaris.  Close the Polaris toolbar by left clicking on the X in the upper right hand corner. Then go to Start and Log off. This is the ONLY way you should be logging off from Polaris. You can NOT log off from Polaris by simply clicking on the X in the upper right hand corner of the toolbar; this leaves the session still open. This procedure does NOT apply to TCPL or FLLS staff. Rex will be monitoring this for awhile and if he finds your library is not following the correct procedure, he will email you so you can train your staff on the proper method.

 

7) Jan discussed accessing Report Manager on the Web. This feature allows you to access and generate multiple reports in Polaris, both canned and custom reports. A tutorial on how to access and use this feature is available on the FLLS website under the Librarian Resources link. This tutorial was demonstrated during the meeting. Jan pointed out that you cannot access the Report Manager while viewing the tutorial. This will stop the tutorial and take you directly to Report Manager. Watch the tutorial all the way through and then access Report Manager. You may also open a SECOND web browser (open up Internet Explorer twice) and have them both going at once. The tutorial demonstrates how to access Report Manager, how to access the reports available, how to fill in a date range, how to print the report and how to export the report in a different format. Explanations of frequently used reports are included at the end of the tutorial. You may also find descriptions of all reports available in Polaris by clicking on Help in the Polaris toolbar and using “reports” as a search term. Any report title that starts with an AA is a custom report and will not be explained in the Help section of Polaris. If you have any problems accessing, running or understanding the tutorial, please give Jan a call. Feedback on its usefulness is appreciated and needed.

 

8) Eric discussed blocking pop ups from PowerPac. He will generate a handout with instructions on the two ways to turn off the pop up blocker. This can be a problem in PowerPac if a patron clicks on the “more info” button. The “more info” button pops up another window and if a pop blocker is enabled this window will not display. You can list websites that are exceptions to this rule. This is a new problem in Windows XP; there shouldn’t be any problems with libraries using Windows 2000. If there is a problem with the Internet stations in your library, please give Eric a call.

 

9) Rex discussed the 2006 LSTA grant plans. We are requesting funding for a Polaris WAM (Wireless Access Manager) including equipment and the module from Polaris. This will be installed at each library permitting wireless access for patrons.

 

10) Rex pointed out that if you have selected phone notification in a patron record, this does NOT generate any notices. Polaris simply waits for Telephony to call the patron, which we do not use. Notification should only be by mail or email.

 

 

Open Discussion:

 

1)      Newfield asked when “long overdues” kick in. We will find that out for Newfield and let Lois know.

 

2)      Will minutes from the PowerPac committee be made available to all libraries? Yes they will. The committee will be discussing colors, dashboards, custom lists, fonts, etc.

 

3)      A custom report has been set up to generate a phone list of overdue items, enabling the library to call the patron as opposed to mailing a notice. This report existed in Dynix and was used to reduce the number of notices mailed. This report is available using Report Manager on the Web and is entitled “AA-Library Overdue Call List”. When you start running this report, please notify Rex so he can adjust when your first overdue notice is printed.

 

4)      Windows 98 will NOT be supported after 2005.

 

Meeting adjourned:

                 12:47 pm

 

Next Meeting:

                February 9th  meetings are now 9:30 – 11:30 am