Materials Services Division Updates for November 2013

Statistical Highlights

Materials Selection                             - Janet Brooks

• Since the beginning of FY14, a total of 12,026 titles and 82,612 items were selected.  The average per week is 601 titles and 4,130 items.
• Since the beginning of July, a total of 5,869 customer suggestions were received.  The average per week is 294 suggestions.
• A total of 346 boxes of withdrawals and gifts were received in MSL since the beginning of the fiscal year.  During October and the first 2 weeks of November, 102 boxes of withdrawals and gifts were received in the MSL basement.  A total of 82 boxes of transfers and 12 boxes of gifts were sent to CAT since the beginning of the fiscal year.  During October and the first 2 weeks of November, 18 boxes of transfers and 2 boxes of gifts were sent to CAT.

Cataloging/Interlibrary Loan       - Pauline Rodriguez-Atkins

• 2,624 new titles were cataloged during October, including 6313 e-media titles.
• 19,844 barcode labels were printed in October; 18,723 for new materials and 1,121 for reprocessed materials.
• 2,810 new titles were received in Cataloging during October.
• Average turnaround time for new titles in Cataloging in October was 9.21 working days.  This includes only time that materials were in Cataloging; it does not include time in Technical Processing.  Average turnaround time was longer due to the large number of materials received and the fact that some staff time was spent evaluating ILS vendors.
• Average ratio of copies to titles was 5.39 copies per title for September.
• 928 requests to borrow materials through ILL were received in October; 631 borrowed materials were received.  Materials are not always received during the same month that a request is placed.  During October, 450 materials received (71% of receives) were requested in October.  In September, 737 requests were received and a total of 561 of the requested materials were borrowed, for a fill rate of 76%.
• Average turnaround time for borrowing materials in ILL during October was 7.34 working 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.
• Staff in ILL evaluated 335 requests to lend MLS materials to other libraries in October; 76 materials were lent; average fill rate was 23%.  MLS blocked requests to lend October 1-27; this accounts for the lower numbers. Materials lent to other libraries in September were returned after 26 working days on average.

Technical Processing                    - Heidi Johnson

• The average daily run for October was 851 items per day, for a total of 18,723 items.  The average for November of 2013 so far is 856 items per day. The processors are current on processing all rush materials and are processing non-rush materials from the run 9 days ago. Study guides and dated materials like continuations are also current. 
• During October, TP received a daily average of 59 boxes of materials a day, for a total of 1,300 boxes.  The daily average in November so far is 47 boxes.  At one point in early November, Big Bin was storing almost 9000 items.

Department Updates

Materials Selection       

Library Visits

• During November selectors conducted annual visits to RE and WR.
• During December they are scheduled to do an annual visit to WA.

Meetings/Workshops

• Ruby attended the October Commission meeting to receive her 35 year certificate.
• All MSL staff participated in the ILS Demos scheduled Oct. 22, 23, 24.
• Janet met with Sarah Abbassi, new librarian at RE on Oct. 29th.  They discussed selection processes and weeding procedures.
• Susan met with the NW intern, Sarah Brown on Nov. 4th.
• On Nov. 5th Janet met with Karen, Kay and Angela/DN to discuss the direction for DN’s Reference collection and the rearrangement of the shelves during the re-carpeting project.
• Several staff attended the Wellness Works meetings on Nov. 11.

Staff Schedules/Holidays

• Janet, Kim and Kristine will be working the day before Thanksgiving.
• A schedule for the Christmas holiday will be sent later. 

Cataloging/Interlibrary Loan

• Pauline; Catalogers Jenny Bodenhamer and Mary Long; Cataloging Technicians Margo Ellis, Paula Hannapel, and Jill Vessels; and ILL Technicians Alex Hinton and Brandon Johnston attended the ILS vendor demonstrations October 22-24.  All appreciated the opportunity to evaluate the products.
• Jenny and Clyde Herrod attended the OLA Technical Services workshop, “Bee Informed: Taking the Sting Out of RDA” at NW on October 25.
• Aaron Killough began work as the newest ILL Technician on November 4.  He is excited to be back at MLS and to be part of the CAT-ILL group again.  He is learning quickly and contributing to ILL’s productivity.
• The Mad Hatter Retirement Tea Par-tea in honor of Ursula Ward was held on November 13 and was a rousing success.  Staff from around the system attended, along with former staff members including former Cataloging Manager Beverly Sprehe.  Ursula was presented with a guest book signed by everyone who attended, along with a gift certificate designated for purchasing art supplies.
• Ursula’s last day of work will be November 27.  She thanks everyone who came to wish her well, especially her co-workers in Cataloging and Interlibrary Loan who planned and hosted the wonderful party; everyone from Cataloging, Interlibrary Loan, and Technical Processing who helped to provide food and decorations.
• Interviews for the part-time ILL Technician position were held November 18-20.  Alice, Brandon, Alex, Aaron, and Morris participated with Pauline in the interview process.  Once again, the decision was difficult due to an excellent group of candidates.  Paige Nifong, library aide at HR, has accepted the position and will begin work on December 9.
• Morris Crisp continues to split his time between ILL and CAT, and will do so until the new part-time ILL Technician begins work.
• ILL resumed lending of MLS materials to other libraries on October 28.  Judging by the volume of requests, other libraries were glad to see lending resume.
• Ursula and Pauline have completed plans for Ursula’s retirement.  Various Cataloging staff members are being trained to carry out essential functions regarding the system’s government documents.  Pauline will serve as contact person; questions about documents may be directed to her or to Sharon Bish at DN.
• Several CAT and ILL staff members have vacations scheduled during the remainder of November and through December.  Pauline will be out December 2-6.  Both departments will be sufficiently staffed at all times, and someone will always be available to provide assistance or answer questions.

Technical Processing                   

• Baker & Taylor’s and Ingram’s accounts continue to be current. 
• Heather Kolliopoulos, Technical Processor, has turned in her resignation due to personal reasons effective November 13, 2013. The job opening has been posted and Heidi will call in applicants for manual dexterity tests in early December.
• Kevin Colwell, SA representative at the Service Center, attended the last Staff Association meeting scheduled at SO on October 31.
• Heidi, Kevin, Cara, and Kristin attended the ILS demos scheduled at DN. There was lots of discussion about the pros and cons of each vendor after staff got back to the Service Center.
• Heidi (disguised as Griselda, her witch alterego) gave a tour of TP for seven new circulation staff on October 31.
• Heidi attended the Safety Committee meeting scheduled for SO on November 12. It was nice to be able to see all parts of the remodeled library during the safety inspection, including all the nifty reading nooks and crannies where the garage used to be.
• TP staff attended Ursula’s retirement party which was a great success and had many people stopping by to wish Ursula well, including Beverly Sprehe, Linda Pittman, Francie Pendleton, and other MLS retirees and former coworkers eager to welcome Ursula into their ranks.