HSL Access Notes - Oct 9th

Hello Everyone,

  

Welcome

New student assistant, Sarah Wong began training on Thursday, October 4th.  Sarah will assist with Monday and Thursday evening coverage.

Please join me in welcoming Sarah to HSL!

Our Monday evenings for the next few months will be covered by our two student assistants, Amy and Sarah.

Sirsi and 3M Error Message

Discovery Systems staff is following up with an pop-up window issue that appeared after our latest Sirsi upgrade.  Staff may notice, a pop up  window that asks the users to “Select target application” .  If staff see this pop-up window message, select the appropriate application (usually a workflows option).  The window will disappear, and the transaction will complete normally. 

Time Away

I will be away for the week of October 22nd - 26th.

Online Room Booking Limits

Students using the online room booking system have asked recently how the limit of number of hours booked per week applies to HSL and TFDL rooms.  I have confirmed that the limits apply separately to the TFDL and HSL rooms.  That means a student can book their 3 hours/week limit at TFDL then also book their 2 hours/week limit at HSL.

HSL Room Booking Updates

• In response to client requests at HSL to have room bookings available on the half hour, HSL is going to be moving to this option on November 1st.
• The HSL room booking hours/week limit will also be increased at that time to three hours per that will bring our limit in line with that of TFDL.
• If clients have problems logging into our HSL room booking system, please forward their client information to me.  At the moment we will follow up on an individual basis.  In the future we hope to have more troubleshooting information on the booking webpage.

Holds 

We have been finding a few holds on our hold pick up shelf that have not been properly processed and stamped with the pick up date.  A few reminders…

·         Holds need to be discharged in order for a client notification to be triggered.  This includes items pulled from our shelves as well as items received from other locations. 

·         If in doubt, please discharge, and check for hold pick up location.  

·         If pick up location is HSL, please stamp with pick up date (7 calendar days from date of discharge) and place on HSL hold shelf. 

·         If hold pick up location is other than HSL, please note location on the hold flag, charge out to HSL transit card and place in appropriate mail tray.

 RefStats

We are seeing more clients coming to the desk with questions and requests for assistance.  Staff are asked to regularly record reference, directional and technical questions in RefStats.  This tool is used to help us learn more about the types of questions and timing of questions at the desk. It is best practice to enter the questions as they are received at the desk, however if staff need to enter questions after the fact, please use the backdate feature to enter appropriate date and time of the questions.

If you have questions about what types of questions can be recorded, please ask your supervisor or Caitlin.

Copyright and Reserve Reading Binders

Further to a question that came up at the desk last week, I have confirmed with the UofC Copyright Office that students borrowing binders of readings from our reserve collection may photocopy or scan one copy for individual study under current copyright rules.

Staff Time Away

Staff are reminded that any PLD or NLD days off need to be used before the end of the 2012 calendar year.  If the days are not used, they will be lost.  Your balances for time away can be viewed by clicking on  ‘balances’ on your timesheet reporting page.

POS Printer

Our POS receipt printer is still feeding poorly.  It is helpful to gently pull the receipt as it prints.

Commons Bookings and Wall

·         Sara and I are the contacts for the Computer commons bookings, but HIN/HSL librarians can also book this space for instruction. 

·         Booking information:  If staff are making a booking, it is helpful to know the number of stations required, the status of the  session (eg.  closed, drop-in, tentative) as well as the name of the person booking and any other contact information for the session. 

·         One room or two?  Sessions that require 24 or less workstations can be made in one room only, while sessions that require more than 24 workstations should be booked in both rooms (1460 A & B).

·         Schedule:  Each Monday the schedule for the week is posted and service staff operate the moveable wall according to the session needs.  For example, If both rooms are booked the wall will not be pulled. 

·         If a session is added during the week, please let Sara or myself know so that we can add it to the posted schedule.  Thanks.

·         Service staff covering the front desk are asked to monitor the operation of the wall moving back and forth as needed.  Thanks.  The wall panels need to be aligned and joined in a certain way in order to ensure a proper seal for the final panel.  I can review the process with any staff who are not yet familiar with the wall.

POS and Transelect Transactions

There have been a few transactions recently that could not be completed properly on the POS after the transelect part (debit or credit) of the transaction was already completed. 

·         To avoid this situation where a credit card or debit refund needs to be processed, it is best practice to begin a transaction on the POS (fine payment, card add-on) proceeding to point just before payment info is entered – a partial receipt will begin to print. 

·         At this point proceed with the transelect part of the transaction.  

·         Once the payment is approved, complete the POS part of the transaction.

·         Give the client both the POS and the cardholder copy of the transelect receipt. 

·         The merchant copy of the transelect receipt always goes into the cash drawer.

Microfilm Reader and Collection

The HSL microfilm reader is flagged for disposal.  Discussions are underway about the transfer of the  HSL microfilm collection to the HDL.  Even while the collection is still onsite, clients who need access to material only available on our microfilm or fiche may best be served by placing an ILL request, noting in the ILL form that while the item is in the collection, it cannot be viewed due to mechanical problems.  Another option that could be used as an exception,  if clients need the material immediately, would be to sign the microfilm out manually and have them visit the 5^th floor of TFDL for viewing.

Flat Panel

If the flat panel mounted in the library is showing an error message:

1.  Reboot.  There is a keyboard sitting on top of the panel.  You will need to use a step stool to reach it.  Press ALT CTRL DEL.  You may need to do this twice.  This will reboot the PC and hopefully solve of the problem.

2.  If it does not, email ITSHelp and tell them what the error message is.

 Brian Evans and Janine Miiller are the contacts for loading content on the flat panels.

Retirement reception photos

Photos of Grace's retirement reception have been uploaded to the HSL shared drive under Images – Grace’s Retirement Event.  Thanks Tuyet for taking the great staff photos!

Upstairs Storage Room

We are losing our 2^nd floor storage space.  Items from the room will be moved to HSL this week.

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

Mary

List of Library Related Conferences

The following are 3 sites listing library or library-related conferences, as suggested by the University of Saskatchewan library (unfortunately, the original list compiled/maintained by Marian Dworaczek is no longer being maintained).

•  Library Conference Planner 
•  LIS Trends: Conference/Events 
•  International Calendar of Information Sciences Conferences

 

Tricky patient information questions

How would you answer this reference question if it came in to you?

"How do I make OxyContin?"

We received this question yesterday at the PLC Knowledge Centre from one of our patient clients. I'm wondering how others would handle this type of question.

Prezi

Here are links to some sample Prezi presentations and other useful Prezi information.

My presentation about building a Prezi:

http://prezi.com/u3pufns83lxk/steps-for-building-a-prezi-presentation/

Paul Hill’s presentation about using Prezi as an instruction tool:

http://prezi.com/rfsnedhqmhqa/thoughts-on-using-prezi-as-a-teaching-tool/

The Prezi manual, tutorials, and cheat sheets can be found here:

http://prezi.com/learn/

More information about aspect ratio (your presentation can look different on different screens): http://prezi.com/learn/aspect-ratio-guide/

More information about downloading your Prezi (if you’re presenting without internet access): http://prezi.com/learn/portable-prezi/

HSL Access Notes - September 21st

Hello,

Retirement Celebration

Grace will be completing her career at HSL this week.

Please join us to recognize Grace’s contributions to the University of Calgary community

September 2, 1992 – September 30, 2012, and to wish Grace a wonderful retirement!

DATE:

Wednesday, September 26^th 2012

TIME:

10:00 am to 11:30 am

PLACE:

HSL Staff Lounge

RSVP By Thursday, September 20th, 2012

to Mary Grant (grantm@ucalgary.ca) (403-220-5035)

Daytime coverage

Leslie has agreed to a shift change from October to December to assist with daytime coverage.  Beginning October 1^st, Leslie will be working Sundays, and an 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m shift Mondays through Thursdays.  Thanks Leslie!

New Term and Service coverage

We have all certainly noticed the increase in service requests since the beginning of September.  We have returned to full coverage at the service desk and would like to ensure that at least one staff person is at the front counter during all regular service hours.  Staff are asked to be especially proactive in welcoming and assisting our many new clients.  Thanks.

Thanksgiving Weekend Hours

HSL will be open through the Thanksgiving weekend.

Our student assistants will cover the 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. holiday hours on Thanksgiving Monday.

Thanksgiving hours will be loaded on our flat panel and signs will be posted.

Student Assistant positions

We are in the process of hiring two new student assistants for Monday and Thursday evening shifts.

Sirsi Station #1

Station #1 at the service counter, with the RFID pad, continues to be the main transaction station.  We find at times that if clients approach the desk and place their books on the counter, the RFID pad can inadvertently scan them.  There are a couple of things that we can do to ensure that items are not accidentally scanned into the wrong transaction:

·         Clear the Sirsi screen at this station after each transaction or set of transactions.

·         When clients approach the desk for a transaction, be proactive in collecting the items or directing items to a spot on the counter away from the RFID pad area.

Campus Photocopies

Campus Photocopies (formerly campus Loans) service provides  UofC clients with copies of articles from print journals located at another campus location.  I notice that the Campus Photocopies page from the old website (http://lib-old.ucalgary.ca/campusloans) has not been migrated over to the new website yet.  We do still provide this service and hope to see the page return.  We do generally accept these types of print article requests by email (hsldoc@ucalgary.ca) and forward articles electronically to clients by email with a template explaining copyright. 

Journal Moves

Thanks to all who assisted with the recent transfer of journals.

Many 2000, 2001 journal issues were transferred to HDL over the summer.

The 2011 issues of our current print titles have now been moved to the backset shelves.  The Current shelving now holds only the 2012 issues.

Back up printer

The back up printer at the service desk is currently out of order and we are awaiting parts.  Clients who do not have a card to access the network printer can still use the back up workstation at the desk, however to print clients must change the selection for printer, so that print jobs can be sent to the staff printer/copier that is located close to Grace’s desk.  When the print window appears simply choose staff printer (WCP 128) from the drop down menu.

Unfortunately we do not have a colour print option for clients at this time.

AHS Address notes

A note to staff that a few AHS locations may have similar names such as:

South Calgary Health Centre:

31 Sunpark Plaza SE
Calgary, Alberta
T2X 3W5

South Health Campus:
4448 Front Street SE
Calgary, Alberta
T3M 1M4

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

Mary

Lexi on more than one device

We recently had a student who tried to load on two devices and received the following error message  the code can only be used for 1 device "Dr. N's cellphone"  Unfortunately students need to select which mobile device they want to use to access Lexi.  Students with, for example, an Iphone and and Ipad will need to choose.  Each device uses up one Lexi license.  We are only providing one license per student.  This is controlled by Lexi in when the students register.

HSL Access Notes - September 17th

Hello Everyone,

Retirement Celebration

Please join us to recognize Grace’s contributions to the University of Calgary community

September 2, 1992 – September 30, 2012, and to wish Grace a wonderful retirement!

DATE:

Wednesday, September 26^th 2012

TIME:

10:00 am to 11:30 am

PLACE:

HSL Staff Lounge

RSVP By Thursday, September 20th, 2012

to Mary Grant (grantm@ucalgary.ca) (403-220-5035)

New LCR Website

I am sure everyone is becoming more familiar with the new LCR website.  Staff are asked to share any tips and tricks that they learn as they use the site.

·         The website displays more fully and seems to operate more quickly in Mozilla rather and Internet Explorer.  For example in IE, the HSL list of databases do not display properly, and the HSL does not load.

·         HSL webpage:  Go to Hours and Locations – select Health Sciences Library – when the hours page appears, click on the HSL branch url. 

·         Has anyone found a faster way to our HSL homepage?

·         Looking for the ‘classic catalogue’?  Go to Search collections – books and Media – click on “Direct to classic Catalogue” located below the search box.

·         Searching Print Journals – Search collections – Journals – There are two search options on this page – the top search field limits search to electronic journals only, while the search field on the lower part of the page searches both print and electronic journals resources.

·         HSL Reserve forms:  Most Reserve information is now centralized with links to the reserve forms for each branch.  Go to Services – Faculty and Instruction support-Reserves – Forms – Health Sciences Library

·         ILL Request forms:  Services – Borrow/Request/Renew – Request and Item – Request Form

·         HSL Book/Journal Recommendation form:  At the moment there only appears to be a centralized option : Services – Recommend a book or Journal

·         HSL Room booking:  The book a workroom option on the LCR homepage is for TFDL rooms only.  To access our HSL room booking system you must first go to the HSL homepage.  Go to Hours and Locations – select Health Sciences Library – when the hours page appears, click on the HSL branch url – Book Group Study Space – click on link for the form – from here you can select “Schedule quick View” to view current bookings, or login in to create a booking.

There are some items from our pervious webpage that do not appear to be on our new page – for example maps and directions.  Any questions or concerns about the new HSL webpage can be directed to me for follow up.

HOM student

Graduate student Michel Shamy has been given special permission to use the History of Medicine Room to support his research work.

According to the guidelines for the use of this room and special collection, Michel will be permitted to bring only a laptop, paper and pencils(no pens) into the room.  Any coats, bags or other materials may be left with the service staff while the student uses the room.  Absolutely no food or drinks are permitted in the room.

Michel has been asked to request access by contacting service staff at the desk, and providing identification.  Staff will open the door (please do not give Michel the key), and ensure that the door is left in the locked position.  Please remind Michel that he should not allow access to others while he is in the room and the door should be closed and remain locked once he leaves the room.  The key to the must remain with service staff.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Wireless printing

With new students in the library we are receiving many questions at the desk.  We have had quite a number of inquiries about the wireless printing from laptops.  Our printing system does support wireless printing for Windows XP, Windows Vista and MacOS X 10.5 (Leopard).and the information for students is on the IT website at: http://www.ucalgary.ca/it/wireless/printing.

Reserves

The Reserve shelves in the circulation area are beginning to fill up once again.  We do have both 2 hour and 3 day reserve titles.

Regular reserves, that is, items that are from our own collection are on the shelf by item call number.  Regular reserves can be signed out for overnight loan (must be borrowed no more than one hour before closing and be returned within one hour of opening the following day).

Personal reserve items, include books and binders of readings that belong to instructors and are made available  at the library for the period of a course.  These items are on the shelf by call number that begins with the course number and are not available for overnight loan.

Bow Valley College Client Access

As part of the Sirsi consortium, Bow Valley College (as well as AUC-NUC and St. Mary’s )clients should be in our Sirsi database, and the barcode on their student/staff card should bring up their record in our system.  If you are looking up a Consortium client in Sirsi by name, you must select the appropriate library from the drop down menu.  If you leave the library location at the UCalgary default, it will not find the BVC client. 

TBCC and WHKC – and RFID items

Staff are asked to desensitize any items placed in the TBCC and WHKC trays to help avoid unnecessary alarms  when staff are collecting mail.  Thanks.

POS machine

Our POS receipt printer has a cracked piece inside that is affecting the paper feed.  Receipts become unreadable when the paper roll falls off the holder and the paper stops feeding.  We are looking into a replacement.  In the meantime I would advise staff to watch to use the feed button on the printer before printing a receipt.  That way, it the receipt becomes stuck, staff can guide it out manually.

Consult office and Service Area Phones

The three service desk phones (220-6855), the phone on Brian’s (220-3748) and Grace’s desks (220-3747) and the phone in the consult office (220-3749) are now all connected with  a ‘call pick up’ feature, allowing the calls from any of these phones to be answered from any of the other phones.

This will provide better service coverage.   If the service desk phone rings and no one is available to respond, it may be answered in the consult office or at the staff desks, by pressing the pick up button and lifting the receiver.

Room 1459 

Room 1459, the staff meeting room in the corner beyond the public computer area is not included in our public online booking system, however can be booked by staff through the Outlook Calendar System.

Since this is designated as a staff use room, though students can use it when available, it is keyed to the AH6 key that is on the #3 key ring (similar to most internal offices).

Memory Sticks

We do have memory sticks to support staff work.   Sara will keep these at her work area.  Please let Sara know if you require a memory stick.

Circulation  Schedule

In an effort to reduce the email in staff mailboxes, Brian will now be forwarding the circulation schedule only to those regular staff on the schedule as well as all student staff.  

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

Mary