Friday, September 29, 2017
Minerva Circulation Round Table

Joyce Wiebe, Orono Public; Susan Taylor, Edythe Dyer; Anne Roman, Witherle; Diane Hanscom; Cyndi Burne, Topsham; Leslie Mortimer, PFL; Courtney Sparks, FCL; Jackie McCann, McArthur; Kevin Davis, SPPL; Susan Samberg, SPPL; Pam Remy, SPPL; Laura Meservey, Rockport; Nancy Brown, Norway; Vicki Stevens, CML; Meg Donaldson, Boothbay Harbor; Liz Soares, Augusta Schools; Allison Atkins, Kennebunk Free Library; Lynne Morgan, Topsham; Charles Prim, St. Joe’s; James Rathbun, Baxter Memorial; Josh Tiffany, Gray.

1. Reports
   • Maine InfoNet / Technical (Lynn)
     • New contract products – Implementation is slow going; several hinge on the installation of Encore, the new catalog overlay. Products to be added: Mobile Worklists, Encore, SkyRiver, Decision Center, Program Registration, etc. There is no ETA as of yet – InfoNet will let folks know when they are ready and will provide documentation for each new product.
     • It’s been reported that requests on items with a non-available status are appearing on paging lists. Older versions of Sierra did not allow paging on local items even though it asked to page for title. With the recent upgrade, these items are now paging despite their non-available status. Moving forward, you will have to reevaluate your notice practices or accommodate for non-available items with statuses like ‘In Processing’ when they appearing on paging lists.
     • Circulation statistics for the Owning/Home report in Web Management Reports has been getting stuck on the wrong month/date ranges. To fix this, select “Recalculate” – we’ve gotten reports that this does resolve the issue so you can run the report.
   • Minerva Circulation Standards (James)
     • The committee has several draft policies to review as part of a complete overhaul of the Best Practices Manual. As policies are refined or created they’ll be brought to the larger group for feedback.
2. Standards, Procedures, Reminders and Announcements
   • CDC results
     • The results are in, but compiling them into something readable will take some finessing. Josh Tiffany volunteered to work on a comprehensive report. Cyndi will get the raw data posted online soon.
   • Best Practice for sending bills
     • Some libraries are reporting that copies of bills are being tucked into returned items without envelopes. This is a privacy concern – anyone unpacking might miss the paper and leave it in the item, thereby risking the billed patron’s privacy. Please email or mail copies of bills to ensure proper delivery.
     • Do not send the 45-day library bill BEFORE first sending a copy of the original bill to the patron’s library. We want to give libraries a chance to get the billed items returned before charging them replacement costs.
     • Libraries that have paid for billed items ought to add manual charges to their patrons’ accounts to ensure they’re reimbursed properly.
     • Also remember that if your patron wants to pay for a lost ILL, they need to write out a check to the owning library. Do not collect the fine or change the status of the billed item – that will be done by the owning library.
     • Please review the process and timeline on Maine InfoNet’s site.
   • How holds work
     • Priority is given to your patrons for your items, however be cautious about only putting holds on your items for your patrons (i.e. item level holds). We all have patrons who only want copies of local items, but for most any copy will do. The best practice is to place a bib level hold in the OPAC for the majority of hold requests.
   • Holds/Requesting Issue
     • There is a known issue with item level holds on records that do not have the volume field correctly filled out. You might notice that when you place the hold in the OPAC, you’re only given a few items to choose from rather than all items attached to the record. If you see this, or other cataloging problems, please contact the owning library.
   • SMS change – all seems to be going well since the wording was changed on the text notices. No one present had any issues to report.
   • Policies discussion
     • Patron Contact Information/Patron Accounts – Best Practices update
       • The only requirement is full name for the record; these days many patrons don’t have phone numbers, email, or even permanent addresses. It’s recommended that libraries collect this information, but not required.
       • There is still discussion on a requirement for expiration date as well as how long to keep inactive patrons in the database. Currently the Best Practices Manual advises three years before purging your patron database, but some towns might require longer.
       • Including the patron birth date helps with identifying patrons who move around the state leaving unpaid bills – collecting this information is strongly recommended.
     • Hold Pickup Dates
       • Apparently one of the upgrades allowed hold pickup dates to be extended. InfoNet has turned that off, but some libraries are still extending. This is not ok – please do not ever alter the hold pickup date for an ILL.
       • Bulk and Non-patron Account Requesting
         • Some things we’re seeing: item records, particularly on order records, loaded with large hold lists while there are other copies with no holds. Is this due to bulk ordering? (i.e. library has patrons sign up for new releases then adds a bunch of holds, or book group requests?) The problem with that practice is by the time the movie comes out there are likely other records that patrons could add their names to. The best way to manage this is to monitor your patrons’ holds and/or transfer holds in bulk – you’ll need unscoped permissions to do that (submit a ticket).
         • There are more and more instances of non-patron accounts (book groups, outreach, test accounts, etc) placing bulk holds on items. The issue is with one library grabbing the majority of a title system-wide for long stretches at a time. There is no policy to prohibit this, though best practice strongly suggests you not override system blocks. InfoNet can make a change to block that kind of requesting, but the group realizes plenty of libraries are being careful with bulk requesting (i.e. choosing older titles).
         • Lynn offered a technical solution that would benefit circulation statistics: create one master patron account then create say 10-20 accounts under that one master (i.e. Book Club with 10 accounts attached like a family card).
         • There was quite a bit of discussion about working out scenarios where it’s ok vs. not ok to bulk request; clear purpose of bulk requesting; Minerva’s role in setting guidelines; subsidizing local school budgets with materials; the issue of accountability on many levels.
         • It’s always best to work with the system parameters and bulk requesting on one card is not good for the system.
         • The Circulation Standards Committee will hash this out then bring back to the group for discussion
3. Questions
   • Order record suppression: Should we be able to place holds on order records?
     • Problems presented: long hold lists, stuck holds, long queues when there are available copies
     • Solution: suppress until cataloged? Make non-requestable until cataloged?
     • Discussion:
       • From a customer service perspective allowing patrons to put holds on items not yet published is a good thing. This requires a relatively high level of staff involvement in order to manage the holds.
       • Cataloging issues contribute to the problem – not many libraries use order records, so those that do carry the load of holds and often don’t have enough information for patrons or circulation staff to know for sure if the record is the right one. Often multiple editions are released after the order record is added.
       • The system solution is to move the hold, but that requires accuracy and putting your patrons in on the list where they belong..
       • The group voted on whether or not to suppress order records: 15 in favor, 3 not in favor, several did not vote.
4. Next Meeting
   • December 6