HSL Access Notes - March 18th

Hello Everyone,

A few notes for mid March…

Positive Client Feedback

Congratulations and thanks to staff for providing such quality service!    The comments below, received this week, show that it makes a difference, and is appreciated!

“By the way, I have to commend the library staff for their professionalism and their “I am here to help you” attitude.  I have always had great service and people concerned about my needs.  I am favorably impressed.  Keep it up!”

“Just want to say thank you!

I used this service twice. It was fast.

These very newly published papers are instrumental to my research. “

Easter Hours

HSL is open holiday hours on Friday, March 29^th and regular hours Saturday and Sunday, March 30^th and  31^st.

Friday, March 29^th                  10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Saturday March 30^th        10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 31^st               12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

New staff Copier/Printer

There is a new staff copier/printer in service area.  Please note that the corner for aligning originals has changed from the left hand side to the right hand side.  The machine can also find your email address name from a UofC list when preparing a scan, and can scan a multi-page job directly to email (no need to copy first).  If you have questions, Lourdes, Brian or myself can help.

Lourdes is currently the contact for Xerox repairs and supplies, and she is preparing a Xerox information document that will be added to SharePoint soon.

Office Cleaning Schedule

A monthly office/work area cleaning schedule has been developed, so that staff can expect their area to be cleaned (floor, surfaces, glass, etc.) every first Thursday, or every fourth Monday, etc.  I will post a copy of the schedule in the staff room. 

Staff Contact Lists

Lourdes has updated the HSL staff contact lists, and saved them to the HSL Intranet.  Look under Shared Documents-Communications.  Thanks Lourdes.

The HIN staff contact lists will be updated by AHS staff.

Toronto Notes 2013

We have received the 3 copies of the 2013 Toronto Notes, the popular text that many use to prepare for the medical qualifying exams.  One copy is on Reserve (2 hour loan in library only), and there are two circulating copies.

One copy is still on the new book shelf.  Also, accompanying the text is a Clinical Handbook and a pocket sized “Stat Notes”.  All these items have similar call numbers W18.A15 2013.

Persons of Interest

We seem to see quite a few clients at the desk who are in our UofC system as Persons of Interest (POI), that is, not strictly a UofC student,  staff or faculty, but in some way associated with the UofC. 

·         These clients generally have a OneCard that says Associate and are entered into the UofC system for a term of up to  two years, at which time their department is responsible for submitting extension paperwork to HR.

·         Effective April 1, 2013, Human Resources will be implementing an automated process to terminate POI relationships that have reached their end-date and for which an extension request has not been submitted.

·         We may see an increased number of POI clients at the desk the first weeks of April inquiring about their library privileges, due to  this situation. 

·         Also, please note that not all POI clients are eligible for library privileges, so although they may have a valid Associate card, it may not grant them library privileges. 

·         Please refer any POI expiry issues to me for follow up. 

Thanks.

POS and Pennies

There has been plenty of talk of ‘rounding’ as pennies move out of circulation.

At the moment we do not have pennies in our cash drawer, however since we are still accepting pennies as legal tender, there may be time when we do have pennies that can then be used to make exact change.

• Rounding will only affect cash transactions
• We will still be accepting pennies.
•  If a customer comes and gets a $0.08 copy, you charge them $.08, ringing in the $0.08 in the POS.  We do not round the charge in the POS to .10 . They can give you the exact cash change and we will accept pennies, or if they give you $0.10, they do not get any change.  They can also pay exact amount on a Onecard, or debit or credit card.
• If a customer pays for two copies, you charge $0.16, ringing in the .16 in the POS.  We do not round the charge in the POS to .15.  They can give you the exact cash we will accept pennies, or if they give you $0.20, they will get $0.05 cents change.
• Please let me know if you have any questions, and please pass along any comments or concerns from clients.

Client Records

A reminder that we should not change a Uof C Sirsi record to an HIN record, since the system would continue to recognize the record as a UofC and could overwrite expiry date information and would send UofC related automated messages, etc.  In cases where AHS staff have an old UofC  record in Sirsi, we still create a new and separate HIN record for the client.

Please let me know if you have any questions,  concerns or suggestions.

Mary

HSL Access Notes - February 12th

Hello,

Welcome

Welcome to AHS Librarian Rachel Zhao who will at HSL on Wednesdays and Thursdays in office 1492A.  Rachel's phone number is 220-4322.

Welcome also to Heather Rideout, our new student assistant who began training last week, and will be working every other Sunday.

HSL Family Day Weekend Hours

Saturday, February 16th      

OPEN  10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, February 17th          

OPEN      12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Monday, February 18^th          

OPEN 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Many thanks to Amy and Jessica for covering our holiday Monday shifts

POS and Pennies

There has been plenty of talk of ‘rounding’ as pennies move out of circulation.

Rounding will only affect cash transactions when we no longer have pennies in our POS.  We will be moving most pennies out of the POS soon, however will still be accepting pennies.

At HSL we will see this most for copy payments made by cash.  At this time the cost of copies remains at $0.08 for B/W and $0.39 for colour.

For Now, while we have pennies:

·         We will continue to charge and  give change as we normally do until we no longer have any pennies in our POS. 

·         We will always accept the penny as currency as it will remain on the active currency list. 

·         If a customer pays for a $0.08 copy, you charge them $0.08, ringing in the $0.08 in the POS.  They can give you the exact cash change and we will accept pennies, or if they give you $0.10, they will get $0.02 cents change.

·         If a customer pays for two copies, you charge $0.16, ringing in the .16 in the POS.  They can give you the exact cash change and we will accept pennies, or if they give you $0.20, they will get $0.04 cents change.

·         The only time you do the rounding is when you no longer have pennies in our POS. 

Once we no longer have pennies in the POS:

·         The penny will start to disappear shortly as people use them and they go to the banks. The bank is no longer circulating them, so when they go to the bank they end their existence.

·         If a customer comes and gets a $0.08 copy, you charge them $.08, ringing in the $0.08 in the POS.  They can give you the exact cash change and we will accept pennies, or if they give you $0.10, they do not get any change(or pay exact amount on a Onecard, or debit or credit card).

·         If a customer pays for two copies, you charge $0.16, ringing in the .16 in the POS.  They can give you the exact cash we will accept pennies, or if they give you $0.20, they will get $0.05 cents change.

POS and Credit Cards

We are now able to accept American Express credit card payments.  These transactions would be processed through the POS and the Transelect machine as our other credit card transactions (Visa and Mastercard).

Sirsi - Updates

Our Discovery Systems team have implemented a few changes the will be to the benefit of clients and staff.

Recalls:

Items that have been recalled but are no longer required because the hold has been cancelled or fulfilled by another copy will no longer continue to show as recalled and require extra attention.   The system will now recognize when these items are no longer need to fulfill a recall and will be released from their recalled status, reinstating the original due date for the client.

Fine grace period:

The system has now implemented a 1 DAY grace period for term loans and two week loans.  While this will be a nice benefit for our clients who get their books in one day after the due date, it is not something that we are publicizing with our clientele.  So, if a book is returned one day late (in the grace period), there are no fines accessed.  If a book is returned 2 days late, the fines will be accessed for the 2 day overdue period, or at $2.00.

Cancelled holds:

If a hold is cancelled in Sirsi by staff, it will become immediately available for the next client on the hold list, and the client will be notified that is available, even if it is still in transit from another location.  If staff cancel a hold in Sirsi, it is important that there is follow through with the item at the same time, either pulling from your own hold pick up shelf or notifying any other pick up location.  This will ensure timely and proper processing for any further holds.

Sirsi Transactions

 A few Sirsi reminders:

·         When accepting fine payments, please first ensure that all checkouts in the client’s record are renewed or returned.  The fine for an overdue item will only show up in the billing screen once the item is returned or renewed.

·         Please close screens once a transaction is complete. If a client places an item on the desk near the RFID pad when a check out screen is open, it could be checked out to the wrong client.

·         When completing a client transaction ask client to confirm that we have the correct (and complete) contact information in the Sirsi record, and make any updates or additions (valid email is most important).

·         If signing out items to AHS staff, especially the BLS or NRP (they often need these only once every year or two), it is sometimes helpful to check to ensure their records will not expire in the near future.  If the record is about to expire soon, offer to renew the privileges (another 2 years), reviewing the record and updating where needed.  This will ensure that the client will be able to continue to renew online as necessary, and not be blocked by having an expired library privileges.

Clients

A reminder that staff can refer any clients with library privilege expiry issues to me for follow up.

Instruction handouts

We have received quite a number of questions regarding the instructions sessions this term.  The handouts for UofC instruction sessions, HIN instruction sessions and citation management sessions are available at the front desk, and we encourage clients to take a copy.  The information is also posted on our HSL bulletin board and online. 

Shared Access Study Room update

Our shared access to study rooms 1461 – 64 has been delayed while parts are ordered for a new panic bar on door 1460ZB.  This could take as long as 2 months.

Main Doors/Gate

We are also waiting for a part for our 3M gate.  At the moment our gate and door system is partially working.  Please continue to monitor the gate and door as usual, resetting the doors if there is a light showing on the maglocks.  Please check with your supervisor for more information.

Staff Meeting Rooms 1459 and 1487A

·         We are now posting the daily meeting times for meeting room 1459, so that clients will have a better idea of availability.  If staff need to book a meeting in this room ‘same day’, please add the time to the white board outside the room.

·         Room 1487A, next to Caitlin’s office, is now set up as a small meeting room and can accommodate about 6 people.  Staff can book the room through Calendar.  Go to ‘Open Shared Calendar’-type in HSL and all HSL bookable rooms should appear in a list,  then select 1487A.

HSL bookmark

Our HSL bookmark has been updated. It includes our url, a QR code for our homepage, our hours,  and phone and email contact info.  These may be helpful for clients requesting general HSL information.

Please let me know if there are any questions, concerns or suggestions.

Hope everyone is looking forward to a pleasant Family Day weekend and for our student assistants, a good Reading Week break!

Mary