 Serving public libraries in Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, Tioga and Tompkins Counties 
119 E. Green St. |
FALCONS Meeting
Date: May 15, 2008
Minutes: Motion to accept February’s minutes: Dryden, seconded by Waverly and approved.
Present: Apalachin, Auburn, Aurora, Candor, Cortland, Dryden, Homer, Lansing, McGraw, Newfield, Poplar Ridge, Seneca Falls, TCPL, Trumansburg, Union Springs, Waterloo, Waverly, Weedsport, and, Rex, Robert, Linda, June, Jan and Eric from FLLS.
Absent: Alternatives, Berkshire, Cato, Cincinnatus, Fair Haven, Groton, Interlaken, Lodi, Marathon, Moravia, Newark Valley, Nichols, Ovid, Owego, Port Byron and Spencer.
Announcements:
- Introductions included Molly Foust, the new director for the Trumansburg Library, Tina Winstead, the new director for the Newfield Library and Debby Wells-Clinton representing the Lansing Library.
- Rex inquired about how effective the recent Gates training was. Those that attended said it was great.
Old Business:
- First order of business was a follow up on lost items. Libraries were encouraged to resolve these items. Record sets were set up and you can delete them all using that functionality. Lost items deleted will still display in the patron’s account. You must scroll to the right to the note field to see the title of the lost item. Anything coded missing or lost will not show up in PAC but will still be in the database as a deleted item. You can also undelete an item if the item is found after deletion. Deleted items will stay in the database for one year then they will be purged. Due to the necessary reporting of deleted items in the Annual Report, Rex will skip purging items in January.
- Jan gave a training update. The database workshops are almost done. The next topic will be Circulation & Holds. A schedule of future training sessions was handed out. A question was raised as to what version of Excel will be taught. Probably 2003 with some screen shots of the differences in 2007. Rex suggested libraries look at The Tech Soup website for discounts on purchasing Office 2007. Computers that are set up after June of this year will have Vista as an operating system.
- Polaris enhancements were discussed. We have submitted some enhancements and will send out a list of those suggested enhancements. They have been compiled and sent to Polaris and are grouped into Categories. They will now be examined by the committee and sent back to Polaris where they will be voted on. The top enhancements in each core module will most likely be incorporated into the next major release. Version 3.4 is expected to come out in the summer of 2008. Version 4.0 will require a new server on our part. Enhancements voted on now will be in version 4.1 though some may be in version 4.0. Rex encouraged member libraries to submit enhancements using the form on the Computer Network Services page on the FLLS website. Kay asked if anyone could submit an enhancement or was it limited to directors. No, any staff person can fill out the form and submit it. Rex checks them for duplicates and wordage and will then submit to the committee for review.
New Business:
- The first level fine was discussed. The first level fine determines when a patron is blocked from placing holds and when the pop up block message is triggered at checkout. If the first level fine is set at 0 and the patron owes 1 cent they would be blocked from placing both local and out of system holds. A handful of libraries have already increased their first level fine. The second level fine can be overridden and also triggers a pop up block message at checkout. Holds for out of system ILLs can only be placed in PAC and if a patron is blocked no hold can be placed. The fine amount still displays in Checkout but it is not a pop up blocker. Renewals work in a similar fashion. If the patron owes $10 or more renewals are not allowed. Items long overdue convert to lost after a library specified time period, a bill is generated and overdue fines are calculated. A question was raised as to when the pop up block for overdues is displayed. Will long overdues block holds? Will any overdue? Rex will test both of these situations.
- Linda Beins discussed ILL issues.
a. The in-transit report was sent out to all libraries to check. It went from 400 down to 63 and a new report was generated and sent out. This report list items that have had a status of in-transit for more than 15 days.
b. Linda is also working on an updated handout of what each library will loan out. She will also include what kinds of materials can be requested for an out of system ILL. When placing an out of system ILL please include the patron’s full name. Can we restrict by material type what is available for ILL? Linda asked that each library review your current restrictions so that it works well for everyone. If you will not loan out your books on cd but your patrons can borrow them from other libraries, is this fair?
c. Bookmarks and FAQ were made available for the Tell Me More database. The Fiction Connection and Patron Books in Print databases are now working correctly.
d. The out of system ILL option is now working in PAC but has not been advertised. Currently if a patron places an out of system hold in PAC the request will be monitored and handled by the FLLS ILL department. Written procedures for patrons and staff once the service is set will be designed and distributed at a later date.
e. Denying holds was discussed. Once a hold is denied it can never be filled, even if the item becomes available at a later date. So the deny hold option has been removed from Request Manager. Now if you cannot satisfy a hold request that displays on your Request Manager report you can set the status of the item to missing or if the item is not holdable, place a hold restriction on the item to limit it to patrons from this branch only. Hold requests stay in the primary request to fill cycle for 2 days then they are moved to the secondary request to fill level which is randomized.
f. For requested items in a deposit collection, those just received or just returned; just leave the request in your Request Manager until it can be resolved.
- Rex discussed offline circulation. You can now scan barcodes into Word or Note Pad. You will need to scan a setting into your barcode scanner first. Only the Welch Allen or the Hand Held products (HHP) scanner will work with this procedure, the Percon scanners with the narrow beam will not work. You can then scan patron barcodes and item barcodes and the scanner will actually read the barcode. Procedures will be written and handed out at a later date.
- Thermal receipt printers are now $232. These printers will display the library’s and patron’s name at the top of the receipt in bold and enlarged print. There is also an autocut feature. The advantage is that there are no more ribbons to purchase however the paper is a little more expensive. FLLS will get the best price and pass it on to the libraries, right now a 50 roll case is $72.
Open Discussion:
- The new functionality of paying with a credit card was discussed. It is still on hold but Rex will look into it more. If the functionality is turned on it will be turned on for every library. Payment would come to FLLS and then be divided up and distributed.
- A question was raised as to whether we are ever going to offer a
training session on web design. It was actually planned for 2008 but
with the multiple versions of web design software used and the
various ways each library hosts and updates their current website
now, it’s just not possible to cover it all.
- Will there be a session on social networking? This was also
discussed but with minimal interest from the member libraries and
with South Central Resource Council offering workshops on various
social networking software this spring, this topic will not be
taught this year.
- Polaris is developing the ability for patrons to post book
reviews online. Patrons would have to log in and post their review.
This seems to be functionality that the member libraries are
interested in exploring further.
- A question was raised regarding searching for a specific subject
heading and how it can be done most efficiently. If you use the
browse feature when searching Bib records by subject, an
alphabetical listing of subject headings are displayed.
- Are Overdrive and I pods now compatible? Compatible formats are
to be released in June. The publishers are reviewing their offerings
and will determine which titles they will release in the MP3 format.
Not all titles will be available and that format will need to be
purchased by the libraries to make it available.
Meeting adjourned:
- Motion to adjourn by Dryden and seconded by Cortland at 11:35 am.
Next Meeting:
- August 21, 2008 9:30 - 11:30 am