2023-08-14 Meeting Notes

General Check-In

discuss Alma release notes (if any)

5

All

AFN recalls - due date doesn't change?

Review OST workplan

Use membership transition time (June/July) to review our workplan with “fresh” eyes including:

• Are there items on the list that should be removed?

• Is anything missing?

• Priority/sequence of list?

Related idea:

Creating an F OST Steering Committee to help filter topics to add future topics to the agenda/workplan?

20-30?

All

Workplan page linked here.

• Each member think about participation/involvement in being on workplan steering committee. Perhaps 3-4 total members but I’m not opposed to more?

• Once workplan steering committee is formed we can prioritize/sequence the workplan, resume our discussion on the items below, then decide what to tackle on the workplan next!

Sandra and Sahra can help out on the workplan. Will push along as we get to it, perhaps have a draft completed by September to share with the OST.

What is considered “damage” to an item?

7/31 - skipped to discuss further with full membership.

• Define “damage” to item (vs. normal wear/tear)

• Identify when we would notify AFN partner.

xx

All

UCR - sends damaged materials to preservation unit for assessment & mitigate any further damage (ex. dry liquids). Wouldn’t necessarily do that with an AFN item.

Hopefully fulfillment notes exist for writing/underlining/highlighting.

Water damage, bite marks, mold, etc - those aspects would warrant contacting the lending library. Same for pages separated from spine (but this could possibly be wear & tear).

“If it were me, I would want to see the item.”

Is the time spent reviewing damage “worth it”? How much time is being spent managing something that isn’t manageable.

UCB - issue with Alma, once the item is checked in it’s gone from the user record. Hoping that lending campus can put notes in the item record.

What can/should we do if the item is returned without noticing damage and checked in. Should we put a note “it was returned with damage, we dont know who had it, etc”.

Or contact lending campus without it being checked back in?

Would probably ignore pen, etc. REAL damage/rebound/etc leave it on the user account and do not check it in -OR- check it in but capture the patron information for a follow up on billing.

Check it in, capture all appropriate info and send a note back with the book.

Standardize & generate a form for everyone to use: name, email, institution, barcode.

UCB’s conservation department has a bunch of plastic bags used to prevent cross contamination.

5/22 notes: workflow would be to capture all patron information before checking in item. then fill out form, return like normal.

work on draft of the form.

form acts as a report, but the responsibility still lies with the owning institution to make final decision.

investigate bags. preservation bags?

work with owning institution on level of damage, do they even want it back? heavy water damage? form could prompt for that info?

Action: carry topic on to next meeting to continue discussion.

Generate a form for each of us to use: patron name, email, institution, barcode (or request ID?)? Perhaps a photo of an item (ex. if an item is so waterlogged you can send a photo to see if they even want it back - don’t want to be spreading around mold or other damage).

Could the form automatically send an email to a selected campus & print a copy?

Don’t want to lose a printed copy in transit. Library supply plastic bags? Support for plastic bags to help denote that an item is being returned with damage; can be sent directly to the preservation dept for analysis.

8/14: UCB decided they’re not going to deal with what’s considered normal use/wear & tear. only really obviously damaged.

• sticking with scenarios we’ve drafted.

• how do we communicate damage already on an item when it’s received?

  • testing form for communication on damage

How to handle "Building Use Only" or "Library Use Only" items via the AFN

6/22 - Emailed Mark. Will revisit when we have something to share.

7/31 - Mark out, skipped.

Currently, if a network user requests a building use only item it would circulate for 90 days. The borrowing campus would have to either not check it out to the user in Alma (using some manual process) or check it out for 90 days. I had asked if a network ToU would need to be created to allow these items to circulate a maximum of the library's closing hour and using a reading room circulation desk the items could be replaced on the holdshelf if the user had not finished with it. This is important for RLF materials that are building use only.

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Mark/All

Nicole: RS was trying to figure out how to use reading room (in Alma) for this particular issue.

Sahra: there was a ticket placed with ExL because the results weren’t what we expected. Trying to get ILL items to patron using reading room, AFN items not working properly.

Alison: If I recall correctly, ExL says they fixed it, but I’m not sure if that was the right one.

Ross: UC Merced doesn’t use Alma for Library Use Only AFN items. We physically hand off to patrons to use in our office suite, and then place it back on a hold shelf if they still need it, or return it to the lending institution if they don’t.

Reading room set up at UCR for ILL materials (not AFN). When checked in it would go back to institution and not holding shelf.

Sahra: Project manager consulted, Alma’s current design doesn't include loan of AFN items in reading rooms. Dev team added it to the Alma workplan. Please show support by posting on the Idea Exchange.

→ What happens if you check an item out to a patron that’s already been returned and is “in transit”?

Band the item so it’s identified as Library Use Only?

5/22

UCM item is on patron account when it arrives and placed on hold shelf. They can view material as much as they want, get due date notice to return.

UCR doesn't check out item to patron, less comfortable with that. separate band so it’s very visible. “lib use only” in title so patron sees that in the hold notification. Align hold shelf expiry with due date.

Most important items that would fall under this are from RLF’s. discussion with them on what they do when they send out Library Use Only materials. What happens with the RLF’s? do they become their own institutions? how does that change developing network TOUs for those items? Create separate network TOU?

Reading rooms - complicated. could be an option but not for AFN items. had to switch locations each time you scan in/out or the book wouldn’t move properly.

6/5:

UCSD: creates temp record in VDX for local circulation. this let’s you check it out, then in, then out again within the full 90 period. using this process allows you to check out for 1 day (or whenever). keeps it in status of “in transit”

UCR: RLF’s include sticker that says “library use only”. ILL staff straps it with a library use only book band. treat it similarly to VDX item(s). extends hold expiry date to due date of item so it doesn’t come off the hold shelf.

Action: Carry topic on to next meeting so other members can chime in.

• Suggestions on guidelines on how we should try to standardize?

Could we use a fulfillment note in the email? Maybe the loan note?

→ to test we might need to split off an involve the RLF’s. TOUs using user group “network” and location.

Ross will work with Mark.

8/14 - a TOU would have to be created and tested, then could push it out from the NZ to each campus. a filter for library use only would have to be in place so that a TOU would respond to it.

take off the schedule, Mark & Ross will work independently. revisit in '24.

Transit slips/notes for patrons with fines or fees

7/31 - Skipped

xx

Sahra/all

Sahra: Transit slips/notes on account for patrons who have fines or fees. haven’t talked about what we should do? could we have a conversation about what the best practices are? We’ll get a paging slip for a patron that owes money, so they likely won’t be able to loan it. At the same time we don’t want to not send the item because they might clear their account up. What’s the best route?

UCSD: pull item out of stream, billing dept notifies patron about the fine. 7 days to clear, otherwise we send it back.

→ You could create a new cancelation reason to notify the patron. If your reason is clear (we can’t lend due to fines owed) that might be “good enough”? Having consistent language systemwide for canceling would be good.

Want to catch this at the point of paging, not at the circulation desk. This is the direction we’ll go until the blocks are in place.

Sahra: I found this page on modifying and/or adding new request cancellation reasons in Alma. I propose we add a new reason referencing fines/fees on the user's account and use the Cancellation Note open text field when cancelling the request to include more details, such as what the user needs to do (i.e. clear the fine and re-request).  I'm totally open to the Cancellation Reason Code.  Maybe something like "Blocked Due To Fines/Fees" or "Patron Owes Fines/Fees"??  Can we discuss at an upcoming meeting?

Ingred: Question about cancelling requests due to fines: If UCSD cancels a request because the user owes us $100, would that request then move to the next UC with an available copy, or will it be cancelled entirely? Does either outcome figure into what information we might want to include in the request cancellation note?

Draft language for cancellation reason to notify the patron?
”Can’t lend due to fines owed…”

Should be able to differentiate text because of the cancellation reason.

Develop in tandem with Disco OST?

Request can be canceled from the patron’s home institution and it will stop all forward movement.

→ Sahra will add a new cancelation reason on her end and do some testing with Ross.

Fulfillment Work Plan

Ongoing review and update as needed.

Link here.

5

Ross

Housekeeping

Made edits last time to:

Ross will log any changes to the draft pages:

Wrap up/Topics for next time

5

All

parking lot:

FYI - Ross out 8/28 and 11/6

Mark: Has anyone implemented anonymization of notes that came with the May release?

Has anyone seen/used the new layout for Analytics? Changed the whole look, slightly less useful…