Materials Services Division Updates for March 2013

Date:  March 21, 2013
Time:  8:00 A.M.
Location: Service Center

Present:    Karen Marriott, Janet Brooks, Heidi Johnson, Pauline Rodriguez-Atkins.
Guests:    Lori Piccolo, Elizabeth Kessler.

Department Highlights

In Technical Processing, the average daily run for February was 887 items per day, for a total of 17,742 items in February.  The average for March so far is 876 items per day. The processors are still current on processing all “rush” materials; they are processing non-rush materials from March 14, which is from the run 3 working days ago. Study guides and dated materials like continuations are also current.

During February, Technical Processing received a daily average of 48 boxes of materials a day, for a total of 955 boxes.  The daily average in March so far is 52 boxes.

The next group of bindery materials is due from the branches to Technical Processing by March 29.  The bindery will pick them up from TP the week of April 29.

During February, Materials Selection ordered 4,034 titles and 23,655 items.  In the first two weeks of March, there were 1,172 titles and 9,095 items ordered.

In February, Materials Selection received 1,330 suggestions to purchase titles and regretted 587 suggestions.  In the first three weeks of March, 1,118 suggestions were received.  Most of the suggestions received were for books.  Since the beginning of 2013, Materials Selection received 3,752 suggestions for print materials.

During February, Materials Selection staff spent over 154 hours working with transfers and gifts in the basement.  In February, Materials Selection received 94 boxes of withdrawals and gifts and sent 18 boxes to the Friends, 57 boxes of transfers to CAT, 3 boxes of gifts to CAT and 2 boxes of replacement transfers to CAT.

Average turnaround time for new titles in Cataloging in February was 1 working day; average for the FY13 is 1.22 working days.  This includes only time that materials were in Cataloging; it does not include time in Technical Processing.

As of March 6, 2013, Cataloging staff had already printed more barcode labels in FY13 than had been printed through the end of March in FY12.

In February, the average turnaround time for borrowing materials in Interlibrary Loan was 9 calendar days.  This includes only time from the date requests are sent out from ILL to the date that they are received in ILL; it does not include routing time between MLS libraries and ILL.

New Business

HUM forms – Lori

Lori reviewed the list of HUM forms that are now available online.  These forms include the employee requisition, applicant’s statement of certification, processing of applicant finalist (background check), and the employment interview evaluation form.  HUM’s goal is to make as many forms as possible available for online completion and submission.
HUM would like all employees to attend GOAL, regardless of full or part time status.

The Notice of Employment Separation form is also available online.  The top part of the form should be completed by the employee, then printed, signed, and turned in to the supervisor.  A letter of resignation should be attached whenever possible.  If the employee is not available to complete the form, the supervisor may complete it, then print, sign, and submit it.

HUM is no longer sending copies of employees’ payroll status forms to supervisors.  This information should be available to supervisors through HRPay; supervisors can call Elizabeth for assistance in accessing it.

There have been several changes in the hiring process, intended to shorten the time between position posting and hiring.  Elizabeth is conducting pre-interviews and assessments with selected applicants and forwarding her review to hiring managers.

HUM would like to be responsible for as many aspects of the hiring process as possible.  This should help to narrow applicant pools and make hiring easier for managers.

Taleo is an effective tool and should be utilized more to assist with the hiring process.  Managers can establish questions, tests, etc., to be included in Taleo applications and help save time spent reviewing applications for unqualified people.  Managers are encouraged to work with Elizabeth on this process.

There was discussion of the specific needs of Materials Services departments and how their hiring process differs from that of libraries and other offices.  Not all tests can be administered via Taleo; some should be administered prior to Elizabeth’s pre-interview.

As positions come open, Materials Services managers will meet with Elizabeth and Lori to talk more about these needs and how to make the process most effective.

Transfers – Karen

Karen distributed handouts showing the number of items in various categories of the AL collection, with comparisons to the CH collection.  Since the two collections are intended to be roughly the same size, this data can be used to determine the areas of the AL collection which are out of sync.

Pauline provided handouts showing the amount of authorized overtime hours not yet used by Cataloging and Technical Processing, and a count of boxes of transfers currently held in Cataloging.  Pauline and Heidi stated that the two departments can handle approximately three boxes of transferred materials per week as part of their regular workloads, especially once Cataloging resumes recalling materials for corrections.  Gift materials are not part of this number and can be sent to Cataloging at any time.

The managers visited Cataloging to view the boxes of transfers and try to get an idea of the Dewey classifications represented.

After discussion, it was agreed that another round of overtime hours will begin on April 8.  Pauline and Heidi will work together to make sure that a manager can be on site at all times.  Materials Selection will try to send as many boxes of transfers as possible to Cataloging no later than April 5.

Playaway View

Karen stated that she plans to include funds for purchasing Playaway Views as part of the FY14 budget.  She asked managers what would be needed to add these materials to the collections.

Heidi indicated that Technical Processing’s FY14 supply budget should be sufficient to cover any needed labels.  She will need to establish processing standards, primarily with regard to placement of labels.

Pauline indicated that she will need to establish cataloging standards for Views.  With the addition of audio media players, it was decided that the media code for Views and similar items will be VMP (video media player), and that the call number will include the designation VIDEO/PLAYER.  She will consult with Jim Welch about activating the location code. 

Playaway Views should fall under MLS’s current ILL policy stating that videorecordings are not lent.

Janet indicated that she will start working on a preliminary list of titles to be purchased in this format.

Karen will ask to have Playaway Views added to the agenda for the April 17 Managers of Library Operations meeting.  She asked the MS Managers to consider attending the meeting to provide information.

FY14 Budget

Karen stated that the materials budget will be flat in FY14.

There is some concern that the MLS libraries are running short of space for materials, and are withdrawing materials within a short time after receiving them.  The number of physical materials being checked out is decreasing.  Until this can be resolved, the number of physical materials purchased should not increase.

There may be an increase in the number of materials purchased in electronic formats.  The system is adding Freegal, a music service that will allow customers to download up to three songs per week at no charge.  The songs do not need to be returned; the downloads are the customer’s to keep.

Managers were reminded to complete entry of budget requests before the April 15 deadline.

Safety

Heidi discussed changes in safety training requirements that are expected to become effective for the second quarter (April through June).

There will no longer be a time requirement for safety training.  There will be specific required training for each quarter, and staff must complete that training.  When the required training is completed, no additional training is required.

Safety training and forms will be available through the LMS.  Staff members will complete training and submit forms there.  It will not be necessary to print forms and turn them in to supervisors.

GOAL will be revamped so that new hire safety training is completed as part of the day’s workshop.

Heidi also mentioned that to her knowledge and Pauline’s, tornado evacuation procedures for the Service Center have never been finalized.

Updates

Technical Processing update – Heidi

1. Baker & Taylor’s and Ingram’s accounts are current. B&T’s new accounting person assigned to MLS’s accounts, Jennifer Hensley, is very diligent about applying credits to open invoices without needing to be prompted to do so.
2. Heidi hopes to be able to look at the applications for an additional Data Entry Tech in TP by the end of this week. HUM is then supposed to test and pre-interview viable candidates. TP hopes to have the new person in place by the end of April.
3. Heidi attended the Safety Committee meeting on March 12, 2013, at ED. Discussion centered on some upcoming positive changes to the new hire and quarterly safety training provided for staff. Candace would also like for all locations to establish a building evacuation plan in case of tornado, fire, or other emergencies.
4. Heidi has finished inputting her supply budget requests for FY14. She plans on finishing up the rest of her budget requests by the deadline given. 
5. Patrick Williams informed Heidi that he plans to install an automatic door closing system on the door leading from the loading dock to the sorter room. He thinks this will prevent the overhead doors from being open for any length of time when the drivers unload the bins from their trucks in the loading dock area to bring into the sorter room. Not having the overhead doors standing open while the loading dock delivery doors are open at the same time should cut down on the cold draft coming into the sorter room and the department.
6. Anna Todd is mentoring a local high school student named Rebekah Dow from Harding Charter Prep on her senior project. Rebekah is interested in becoming a librarian and was curious to see how a public library system like ours works. She came to tour the Service Center on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, and spent a couple of hours of her morning in Technical Processing. She was very interested in and surprised by the scope of “behind the scenes” work being done to provide customers with the service they expect.
7. Kevin Colwell, TP’s and CAT’s new Staff Association representative attended the SA meeting on Feb. 28, 2013, at Belle Isle.
8. The Service Center’s Heartwalk fundraising dinner on March 15, 2013, raised over $200.00 in donations.

Materials Selection update – Janet

1. Library Visits
• During February, Selectors conducted an annual visit to DN.
• During March, Selectors did an annual visit to ED and HR.
• In April, Selectors are scheduled to do an annual visit to MC and NP.
2. One-one-One Staff Meetings
• In February, Janet held one-on-one meetings with Selectors to discuss workflow issues and help them set priorities.
•  She is meeting with the technicians at the end of March.
3. CT Weeding
• Selectors, Karen, Denyvetta, and Aaron weeded CT’s collection on March 1.
4. Job Shadowing
• Rebekah Dow student visited MSL for a tour and assisted in the basement.
5. Meetings/Workshops
• Kim attended the Readers’ Advisory workshop on February 21.
• Melissa attended an OLA/Ethics Committee meeting on February 22.
• Staff attended various Wellness meetings.
• Lisa attended the Staff Association meeting on February 28.
• Melissa attended the YA Services Retreat on March 6.
• Selectors met with the sales rep from Recorded Books on March 13.
• Janet, Lisa and Lori attended portions of the PLA Spring Symposium on March 20.
• Melissa and Janet are scheduled to attend OLA in Ardmore on April 4.

Cataloging/Interlibrary Loan update – Pauline

1. 2,494 new titles were cataloged during February.  This brings the total for FY13 to 20,508 titles cataloged, including 4,966 e-media titles.
2. 22,756 barcode labels were printed in February.  This includes 17,551 labels for materials added to the MLS collections, and 5,205 labels used for reprocessing materials being transferred between MLS libraries, mostly to Almonte.  175,736 barcode labels have been printed in FY13, an 8% increase over the same period last fiscal year.
3. During February, the average ratio of copies to titles was 3.83 copies per title, bringing the average for FY13 to 4.5 copies per title.
4. ILL received 864 requests from MLS customers to borrow materials from other libraries in January, forwarded  91% to lending libraries, and borrowed 591 items for MLS customers, for a fill rate of 75%.
5. ILL staff evaluated 1,826  requests to lend MLS materials to other libraries in January, and were able to lend 1,024 materials, for a rate of 56% of requests filled.
6. Mary, Margo, Lisa, Alex, and Brandon participated in the interview process for the part-time Materials Services Technician.
7. Karin Daugherty began working as the new part-time Materials Services Technician on March 18.  Everyone is happy to have her aboard and she is learning fast.
8. Implementation of RDA standards is moving forward.  As of March 18, Jimmy Welch has completed updates that allow MLS Catalogers to import records in RDA format with minimal changes.  He is working on additional changes that will streamline the process further.  Pauline has created several original records under RDA standards and added them to the MLS catalog.
9. Over the next two weeks, Pauline will work with the Catalogers and Cataloging Technicians to establish procedures for handling RDA records.
10. Pauline attended an OLA Technical Services Roundtable meeting on March 8.  She will be presenting a session on talking with public services staff about RDA during the OLA conference.
11. Pauline attended the Connect Forum on March 12 and participated in a question and answer session about RDA.  She answered questions presented in advance as well as those brought up during the session.  A transcript of the questions and answers is now available on the Connect Resources page.
12. At the same Connect session, Clyde presented two activities designed to give attendees a taste of cataloging processes.  One activity asked attendees to identify the difference between newly established headings and the headings they replaced; the other asked attendees to describe a realia item so that it could be identified.
13. Cataloging plans to resume recalling materials for correction beginning March 25.  Mary and Pauline will review requests and pass them on for system reserves to be placed.  Pauline anticipates that it will take 4-6 weeks to complete the backlog of requests.
14. Margo and Lisa attended the Circulation Fundamentals workshop at the Service Center on March 6.  While both acknowledged that the content presented went beyond the needs of circulation tasks performed at the Service Center, they appreciated the information and the opportunity to learn more about the overall circulation process.
15. Pauline has forwarded the ILL circulation manual to all library managers.
16. Rebekah Dow, a student from Harding Charter Preparatory High School, job shadowed in CAT and ILL on March 19.  She was very interested in the work that goes into getting library materials into customers’ hands.  She was hands-on and helped out with some ILL processes.

 
Pauline will be out of the office for OLA April 4 and 5.  All the Catalogers are attending at least one day each, but at least two are scheduled to be in the office each day.  Questions may be directed to Cataloging’s main number, 631-1149; staff will direct the caller to the best person to answer.

Administration update – Karen

1.  ILS
• MLS has received 5 responses to Requests for Quotes from ILS vendors.
• Plans are being made for the ILS Task Force to visit 3 sites to view systems.  The systems to be viewed are Polaris, Triple I, and TLC.
• Managers should let Karen know of any questions that they would like for her to pass on to the vendors.
• The Task Force hopes to have a decision by June.
• Conversion to the new ILS will require some downtime in Materials Services departments.  Karen is not certain how long the downtime will last.
• Karen asked managers to begin thinking of projects that staff can do during this downtime.
2. Building projects
• The schematic design and floor plans for Jones have been submitted for review.
• The search for a new Del City site continues.
• The city of Oklahoma City is negotiating with the first choice architect for the Capitol Hill renovation.
• Studio architects toured Downtown recently to study the leak problems.
3. Summer Reading training will begin for all staff in May.
4. Karen will be out for OLA April 4 and 5.

Action Items

Pauline and Heidi will work on finalizing evacuation plans for the Service Center.

Pauline and Heidi will make arrangements for overtime hours to begin on April 8.

Managers will begin plans for projects during downtime for ILS installation.

The next meeting will be on April 18, 2013, 8:00 A.M., at the Service Center.  Janet will chair.