Access Services Minutes - July 18, 2017

Outcomes: To discuss CarlX permissions, learn how to handle formerly centralized Access tasks, learn how to handle merging and deleting accounts.

Welcome

Risa welcomed the group and reminded attendees to take back information from the meetings to both Access and Engagement staff.

Access Duties and CarlX Permissions

The group decided that the ASMs will review the ASI and ASII job descriptions, Access and Engagement Plan, and look at the expertise of ASIs and ASIIs at each of our individual locations. The goal is to provide consistency in the experience that Access staff have across locations.  We will continue to discuss this issue at the next ASM meeting.

See document on ASM Sharepoint for details and recommendations. To improve member experience, CarlX permissions are being reviewed. ASMs will need to train staff on using features staff may not have had access to before. Systemwide CarlX training is also in the works which will cover many of these features.

We discussed the Quick Maintenance feature and the importance of training because it is easy to hit the Delete button instead of Edit. We ­agreed that this training would be done locally.

We agreed that checking in issues (serials) should be a systemwide training.

CarlX Timeout Length

We decided to re-address this issue when we learn more about how the new Microsoft licensing will affect access workflow. We are moving towards all staff having individual Windows logins. We discussed concerns about how this will impact service as staff must frequently move from station to station to best serve members. A possible solution may involve generic “access” logins. The transition to individual logins is being tested by Engagement staff at DN.

Annual Fee Accounts

There is substantial manual work that goes with annual fee accounts. Currently, Risa is adding the charges to accounts and double checking that accounts are updated accurately when they have been paid for. Starting immediately, individual libraries will be responsible for maintaining their own annual fee accounts. Anne Fischer runs a monthly report. See the Access Managers Sharepoint for both the report/spreadsheet and detailed instructions “Maintaining Annual Fee Accounts Directions.”

Until the fee is written on the account, the member can’t pay for it. The reason behind adding the annual fee charge approximately 3 days prior to the expiration date is because members were concerned about being short-changed time. If members pay online, we need to manually update the expiration date.

ASMs may delegate the task to ASIIs by printing the report. The online spreadsheet will still need to be updated, however, and ASIIs do not have access to that document.

Issuing Library Accounts to Residents of Transitional Housing

We discussed possible options for issuing library accounts to residents of transitional housing through procedures surrounding address verification. Interreach was discussed, along with using letters from the housing organization, postcards, and/or dated IDs. Due to time, the discussion was tabled and will be revisited. Libraries will continue their current practices until a decision is made at a later meeting.

Training: Merging Accounts (Anne, IT)

Instructions can be found on the Access Managers Sharepoint Site.

Training: Moving Materials to Top of Holds List (Anne, IT)

Supervisors will have access and so will ASIIs. Supervisors will train ASIIs and other supervisors at each location by August 1, at which point the permissions will be added. Instructions can be found on the Access Managers Sharepoint Site.

Using CarlConnect for Morning Holds List

From Monday, July 24 to Sunday, July 30, Almonte, Warr Acres, and Midwest City will be piloting using CarlConnect with the iPads when pulling holds in the morning. The list is generated once a day, but that might be expanded in the future.