Session: E6/H9
Helen Dugan from Lafayette College Libraries presented her program in two parts. In the first part, she went over the instructions for Create List. She gave a guarantee that this would work and her e-mail address is the warranty: dunganh@lafayette.edu. The second part described Layafette's procedures for using the lists to do an inventory.
The very first thing she discussed was the background of the project. Lafayette College Libraries has three buildings with multiple shelving areas. The libraries use three classification schemes: Dewey, LC, and local. They have 500,000 volumes. All volumes are barcoded with the barcodes inside the items. The staff for this project includes two Circulation staff, 35 plus Student Assistants including one who administrates the project, and one Cataloging Assistant. The inventory project began as a result of the shelf reading process.
Part One.
When you create the list for an inventory, the first question to ask is where are the call numbers? Are they in the item or bibliographic records? If they are in one or the other, this is not too much of a problem. If your library has a mixture of call numbers in the items or bibliographic records, this process will not work for you.
Choose the call number range you wish to work on. Work in chunks. New books may not be on the list since they could have been added since you ran the list. Use Boolean Operators. Decide which shelf range, stacks, reference, etc. Name the file. Layafette uses the terms "delete after (m/dd)" in the name.
After you create the list, then sort it. Sort by call number and sub-sort by volume. For Fiction and Biography call numbers, Dugan does not give a warranty. Depending on how you form your call numbers for Fiction and Biography, this is how you will sort this list. For Fiction, you will probably want to sort by call number, then author, and then title. For Biography, you might sort by call number and then by the MARC tag 600. If there is more than one 600 field, there will be duplicate records in the list after it is sorted, one for each 600 field.
The next step is to Print the list. Remember to choose L, List some of the data in the review file records. Dugan chooses to print out the call number, title tag 245|ab, then the call number from the bibliographic record, volume, copy number, status, and due date. She then prints only a part of the list at a time. The printout is static and the list is not. If you are going to reformat the printout, print it to the e-mail printer. She reformats the list with the instructions at top, the name of Shelf Reader, and a place to check off what is done. Dugan has created a template to format the list. She saves the e-mailed list as a text file. Then she opens the template and inserts the file into column one. Then she prints the list.
Part Two.
What to do with the list after you print it? This will be based on your library. Some things to think about are the Innovative Inventory module, Public Libraries, and inconsistencies. If your library has a mixture of call numbers in item and bibliographic records, then the Inventory Module is your only option. It will print out an actual shelf list by looking at both types of records. For Public Libraries who use pre-stamps, the call numbers may be too inconsistent for this process. Your call number field must be consistent for this method to work.
When you check the shelves, you will find three possibilities: item on shelf and on list; item on list but not on shelf; item on shelf but not on list. The Shelf Reader gives to Circulation the items on list that are on the shelf but not checked in and items that have a status of missing or a status of lost and paid. Items are checked in if needed and other circulation problems go to the Supervisor. Call numbers and spine label problems go to Cataloging. If the item is on list and on shelf, then a check mark is placed beside the item. If the item is on the list but not on the shelf, then the call number is circled on the list.
After the Shelf Reader is finished with the list, the list goes to the Student Administrator. He highlights the circled call numbers. Then he searches in the catalog for all titles that are on the shelf but not on the list. If the item is not on the catalog, he sends it to Cataloging. If it is on the catalog, he fixes the problem.
For items not found, the shelves are rechecked. The system is searched again. All locations are searched. If the item is found, it is taken to Circulation. If it is not found, the Icode2 is changed to a "1". A "1" means, "Missing first search." A note is added saying "SEARCHED NOT FOUND (m/dd)." The date is the date it was searched.
Each summer, they search for all missing items. Before it is withdrawn, each item is searched for three consecutive summers.