Circulation Services Committee

Minutes for the meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009

2:15 p.m.

Gerstein Library, Alice Moulton Room

Present: Catherine Devion (UTSC), Neil Allen, Chair (Engineering/Computer Science), Dorota Swieton (UTM), Bev Branton (Pratt), Renata Holder (Gerstein), Bonnie Horne (Gerstein), Monique Flaccavento (OISE), Elizabeth Johnston (Toronto Rehab/Consortium), Maryam Rezai-Atrie (St. Augustine), Wenran Zhang (ITS), Lari Langford (Access & Info), Sian Meikle (ITS), Mei Lin (EAL), Manda Vrkljan (Kelly), Jan MacLean (Music), Stephanie Abba (Regis), Susan Bond (Graham-Trinity), Chris Crebolder (Emmanuel), David Eden (New College), Mike Hamilton (Meida Commons), Pamela Strachan (Rotman Management-Business), Thomas Chan (ITS), Margot Froud (Dentistry), Jane Sauder (Sunnybrook)

Absent: Terry Correia (Robarts Library A & I), Eric James (Noranda Earth Sciences Library), Susan Stone (Robarts Library Resource Sharing), Ryan Dodge (ROM), Nalini Singh (FIS), Anna Oh (FIS), Vicky Lynham (Mt. Sinai), Patricia Mendl (Chemistry), Andrea Shier (Criminology), Lisa Doherty (Architecture), Liz Glover (Physics), Anna Szot-Sacawa (Bora Laskin Library), Susie Choi (UTS), Len Ferstman (Innis).

  1. Sian Meikle introduced Wenran Zhang from ITS. Wenran will take over administration of Circulation applications when Thomas Chan retires in December. Wenran will retain her present phone number when she assumes her new duties.
    Sian updated members on Sirsi to Endeca replication. New catalogue records entered into Sirsi will appear in Endeca the following day. Changes in item status such as checked in and checked out will take a maximum of 15 minutes to replicate from Sirsi to Endeca.
  2. The group broke for refreshments in honour of Thomas Chan’s last meeting as a committee member.
  1. Minutes of the September 16 Meeting were accepted as read.
  1. Business Arising.
    Neil reported he has not received further information from Yvonne Ramcharan on her announcement that Sirsi override passwords will be changed.
  1. Symphony Upgrade
  1. Thomas updated the group on the forthcoming upgrade to Symphony version 3.3. The new version is running on the test server.
    Thomas has asked Lari to check out the new version and report any observations back to the committee.
    The upgrade on the production server will take place after Robarts Library closes on Sunday December 13.
    Thomas advised that each Library would need to work with their system administrator to update each computer running the client software.
    Thomas advised Libraries not to try to perform the upgrade without the assistance of a system administrator.
    Thomas is testing the refactoring names report that is recommended in the release notes on page 247. He advised the group not to run this report until further notice, as it appears to interpret middle initials as part of the first name.
  1. Lari updated the group on fixes and enhancements to circulation functions in the upgrade.
    A new field “Payment Library” will be added in the bill record to indicate where a fine was paid.
    When modifying the patron record, if a profile that does not apply to a particular library is selected, asterisks will be displayed, to prevent saving the record with incorrect profile data.
    The Renew Wizard will now check for overlapping due dates.
    A new function will be available to allow Library staff to reorder holds queues. The committee resolved that this function should not be turned on.
  1. Setting up Reserves Desk for Alt-circ rule.
    The group discussed the Alt-circ rule function, as Dorota was seeking options to adjust due times for one-day STL’s, so that the items could be due closer opening time the following day.

Chris mentioned he had worked with Yvonne to roll due times ahead and back using the options pages in Sirsi.

The committee resolved that members interested options for adjusting due times for STL should contact Chris and Thomas, and other members will continue with the status quo in regard to Alt-circ rules.

  1. Claims Returned Notices in December

In December, a claims return notice will be sent to all active users as of January 1, 2009. The normal process is to send a claims returned notice to all active users three times per year.

Thomas agreed to send the notice text plus the list of committee members who have opted in on the notice to the Circulation Services listserv, to ensure all members who want to be included in the report have the opportunity to opt in.

  1. Replaced TCards and the previous barcode.

Lari reminded members that the only valid TCard is the last card issued. If a user presents a card with barcode ending in 02, when his or her patron record indicates a barcode ending in 03, the card is not valid, and the proper procedure is to cut the corner of the card where the magnetic strip is located (upper right).

  1. Another overdue notice 6-12 months after book is due.

Members agreed to adopt a 180-day notice for overdue materials, with a view to increasing the number of long-overdue items that are ultimately returned.

Related to the difficulty of contacting users with long-overdue items, a discussion ensued about problems with users not having up-to-date addresses in their Library patron records in Sirsi. Members reported patrons sometimes assume that when they update their records in ROSI, the update flows through to their patron record in Sirsi automatically.

Lari indicated she had discussed the possibility of automatic updates from ROSI to Sirsi with the Registrar’s Office three years ago. She is prepared to open the discussion again if the committee requests that she do so. In the meantime, Lari will put a notice on the central Library web sit to remind users of the importance of keeping their Library patron record up-to-date, and the need to do so directly with the Library

  1. Circusers.dis.list.

Neil circulated a list of subscribers to the group’s listserv, and asked for members to update the list.

  1. Steering Committee of Library Council investigations of committee relevance.

Neil reported Sharon Dyas-Correia of Library Council had contacted him, as she was contacting chairs of all committees of Council to get feedback on meeting effectiveness and ongoing relevance of the committee. Neil could not meet at the time proposed by Sharon, and sent an email indicating the Circulation Services committee continues to be relevant and the meetings are effective.

  1. Other Business.

On behalf of the committee, Lari thanked Thomas for his years of service to the committee, and for his extensive help to committee members with system administration issues over the years.

The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

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Circulation Services Meeting Notes

November 18, 2009