The Return of the Consultation Category in RefStats

Good afternoon all, Upon discussion and deliberation, the Reference Workteam has decided to reinstate the Consultation as question type category in RefStats. In research intensive environments such as ours, a meeting request with a client regarding a literature search may not delve into the librarian instructing the user on how to navigate a particular database or electronic resource. Rather, a consultation period (which can easily extend beyond 30 minutes), may consist of reframing/addressing a search question, brainstorming for keywords, or suggesting essential resources to consider, without actually extending into a demonstration session. It is thus felt that these sessions should be captured separately. The Consultation category is now in RefStats and available for use. Thank you, Marcus, on behalf of the Reference Workteam

HSL Access Notes

Hello Everyone,

A few notes to end the month….

End of Term

Congratulations to our student assistants on completion of another term, and especially to Sandra who has completed her U of C program.  Many thanks to Sandra, Winnie, Marissa, Amy and Jessica who worked regular shifts at HSL through the past term, as well as Sajid, Alison, Katrina, and Diana who assisted with coverage through the fall term and casual coverage.  Your energy and efforts add a lot to HSL and are greatly appreciated.  Best wishes with summer plans.  

Summer Student Scheduling
We will begin our summer student scheduling May 1^st.  Student evening shifts will be changed to 3 hour shifts (4-7), and students are welcome to pick up more than the regular weekly shift.
Thanks to those students who have confirmed availability for shifts through the summer months.  We hope to hear from all by May 2^nd, and have the confirmed May through August schedule ready to distribute

late next week. 

HSL Summer Hours

HSL summer hours have just been approved.

While weekday hours will remain the same throughout the summer, a significant change is that we will be closed on weekends through July and August.

We will also be closed on the following statutory holidays:

VICTORIA DAY, MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012

Canada Day Long Weekend Monday, July 2, 2012

Civic Holiday, Monday, August 6, 2012        

LABOUR DAY, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2012

Summer Consult/Desk Scheduling

We will be working on the consult/desk schedule in the next week.  Through the summer months there may be more single staff coverage at the desk and perhaps fewer consult office hours weekdays.

Please ensure your time away is noted in both your own calendars as well as the Staff Time Away calendar for scheduling purposes. Thanks.

Staff Time Away Calendar

In order for your entries in the Staff time away calendar to show up in the shared calendar, you must log in when the spse.ucalgary.ca login window appears.  Login name should be uc_admin\your email name, and password should be your email password.

MCCQE

The Medical Qualifying exams began this week and will continue from 8 – 5,  M-F, through May 9^th.  The Computer Commons is booked for the exams daytimes throughout this period, however is completely available evenings and weekends.  A cart of MCCQE materials will be kept in the locked staff area each evening.  Wilma Dodge who is overseeing the exams does have a key to the library and to the Commons.

Front Doors

There is still work being done on the front doors to coordinate with the gate and alarms.

We have learned more about the significance of the lights on the maglocks:

Normal state:  no lights

Alarm state: red

Ready for reset:  green

Not properly reset:  one red light

So in fact, if the gate and door alarm goes off, we have been instructed to wait until you see both green lights before pressing the reset button at the desk.  If the button is pressed too soon the doors will not properly reset.

If one red light shows, you can set the alarm off, wait for both green lights then press reset button to reset properly.

Side Entrance (Staff only)

The side door into the library by the Computer Commons is not latching properly when it swings closed.  Staff are asked to please ensure it is pulled or pushed properly shut when using.  This problem, along with the difficulty with the lockset has been reported.

Other Doors

The following doors are noted on our annunciator panel.  The numbers correspond to the door numbers as listed in the security system, so if the there is a problem with the door that needs to be reported to Security, it is important to report using these numbers.

Each door has been labelled with its number on the closer mechanism or close to the top of the door.

1450:  Library Main Entry doors

1405C:  Door from 1405 classroom into hallway by library storage room

1480Z:  Door from hallway by individual study rooms into hallway by elevator a (has swipe pad on hallway side however not currently allowing access)

1489Y:  Fire exit door in far NW corner of library.

1460ZB:  Doorway between 1461 - 64 hallway into hallway by theatre 4

1460Z:  Doorway between 1461 - 64 hallway and library  (has swipe pad and staff cards should work when locked during daytime hours)

1470Z:  Doorway at end of 1461 - 64 hallway to fire exit doorway

E1Book:  Doorway between 1461 - 64 hallway and theatre 3

There is still work being done on the annunciator panel, which is why there is one light that currently remains on.  Eventually, when all work is complete, when a light goes off and alarm sounds on the panel, it will mean that the door has been opened and requires attention.  The light will remain on until reset.

Catalogue – Med-Storage

Please note that the summary holdings in the catalogue record for some journals that are now housed at HDL have not yet been updated and may still indicate ‘med-storage’.

However if you scroll down to the detailed holdings you can see that the issues are individually listed and clients can place holds on individual issues for a 3 day loan (renewable).

An example is the title Radiology.

RFID tags for all items on HSL Hold shelf

In order to ensure that clients can use the self checkout with all items, we will begin placing RFID tags in hold items from other branches received for pick up at HSL before they are placed on our hold shelf.  This will include items from HDL or HIN locations.  Staff processing the hold at HSL are asked to follow through with the RFID tagging for the item, or pass along to a service desk staff member for tagging.

Flat Screen Panel

The new panel has been installed by the entry of the library, however we are waiting for some work to be completed on the panel computer.

Signage

Have you noticed the new Health Sciences Library signage at the entry of the library, and  our welcome sing above the service area?  We are still expecting signage for the self check out unit, the book return and the History of Medicine collections.

We are also looking at options for posting our hours at the library entry.

Persons of Interest” (POI -formerly associates)

A message from Rob regarding POI records:

If information from the Campus Card Office comes to Sirsi before information from PeopleSoft, then their status is BLOCKNEW and they have a 3 week expiration date.  If the right information comes to Sirsi later, then they are updated with their proper status.  And there are people who will never update.
On the other hand, if someone is in PeopleSoft but there is no barcode then they show up with the fake barcode like UC12345.  If they come to the desk with a record showing the fake barcode, this can be replaced with the barcode on their OneCard.

Bottom line is that we may continue to see some clients with records that need some follow up.  Please refer these clients to me and I will be pleased to follow up.  There is a special group of POI clients that I have mentioned below.

Vet Med Interns

There are a number of Vet Med Interns who will be joining the faculty over the next month or two.  These new clients are registered with Campus Card Office as “Persons of Interest” (POI -formerly associates) and will have Associate cards.  They will show in Sirsi as Blocknew, so may be in to activate their library record.  These clients should be entered with an “Academic” profile in Sirsi and have privileges for one year.  If the privileges do not automatically load for a one year period, please update manually, add a note to the record that this has been done and flag the name for me in the shift report of a brief email.   Many POI records do not load with any work or home address information.  Please ensure that all information is entered when you are activating these records for clients.

Neonatal Resuscitation texts (NRP)

We have received 20 copies of the new edition of the neonatal resuscitation texts, but are just waiting to hear from Collection Services about processing them for circulation.  We hope to have these on the shelves as soon as possible.  In the meantime if clients request a copy we should mention that we only have the older version available, but they could place a hold on a newer copy available at another KC.

Term loans

On May 1st, term loan items can be renewed and will have a new due date of Sept. 15th.  There will be renewal reminder notices sent to all those who have term items on loan.

Inventory

Phase 1 of the inventory project, scanning our entire monograph collection,  is complete.  Brian scanned most of the collection on his own, and created instructions and tips for passing along to others who will be working with the new RFID inventory procedures. Thanks Brian!

Thanks also to Lorraine Baker and Janine who assisted when possible.

Mackie Collection update

Students and staff have prepared and shelved another 28 boxes MacKie collection books for the History of Medicine collection this week!  Thanks to all.

AIMG

I stopped by the International Medical Graduate office this week and mentioned that we at times have clients how to connect to a medical study group.  They recommended suggesting the Alberta International Medical Graduates Association  site to the clients:

http://www.aimga.ca/cms/

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

Wishing you all a pleasant weekend.

Mary

Rapid vs. Systematic Reviews

Liberating the Literature (a blog by Jon Brassey, creator of TRIP) has recently published two articles about the differences between rapid and systematic reviews. Lots of links to other good articles in here.

Rapid versus Systematic Reviews

Rapid versus Systematic Reviews - Part 2

HSL News Link for Embedding in LibGuides

I've noticed that the feed for HSL News isn't working when embedded in LibGuides - it just keeps trying, unsuccessfully, to load the posts. LibGuides Help says this is a common issue if the feed isn't programmed in a standard way, and recommends running the URL through FeedBurner to create a new and more stable link. I've done this, and it works. So here is the link you should you if you want to embed a link to HSL News in your LibGuide: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ucalgaryblogs/hslnews.

HSL Access Notes April 13

Hello,
A few notes for the week....


Doors and Gate
Main Entry: There is still work being done on our doors to coordinate the gate alarm and door locks. At the moment it appears that the locks are not always tripped by the gatre alarm as expected. Staff are asked to monitor the gate alarms and follow up with any clients who set off the alarm. This might mean getting their attention before they exit the library.

Gate: We have had some 'phantom alarms' recently, where the gate alarm rings with no one in sight. Please report these in the shift report or to your supervisor. Items with RFID tags, such as some CPL books can also set off the alarm. These items should be passed around the gate separately.
Please let me know if there are any situations of concern with the gate and doors.

Exit door by Individual Study Rooms
There has been a OneCard swipe pad installed in the hallway outside the exit door by the individual study rooms. Staff will eventually access that area of the library from the hallway (across the hall from our workroom entry door), once the programming is complete.
From the inside of the library this door is still on the Securitron alarm and should show a green light when properly alarmed. We do have a key to reset the alarm if necessary.

Access to the 1461 - 1464 Study Rooms
We undersatnd that access to the 1461-1464 study rooms is coming soon. Once doors are operational, we will have access to this area evenings and weekends only.

Annunciator panel
We now have an annunciator panel sitting at the service desk by station #3. This panel, once completely set up, will show a light and give an audible alarm when an alarmed door has been breached. It will be fully operational once we have acccess once again to the 1461-4 group rooms. At the moment, it does give an audible and visual alarm for the main entry. This mean that if the main entry goes into alarm you will also hear the annunciator panel and see a light for 1450. To silence the annunciator panel alarm, press the red button. To reset the lights on the panel, the alarmed door in question needs to be reset. We will have more detailed information available once the system is completely up and running.

Self Checkout
We would like to promote use of our new self checkout machine. Could staff please mention this option to clients checking books out at the desk - they may wish to try it next time. Please also offer to assist clients at the checkout , or provide if they are interested in seeing how it works. Clients who have given this a try seem to be impressed. Have you tried it yet?

Hold Notices
A message from Mary Jane in Discovery Systems regarding hold notices:
To answer a question arising at today’s CSCG Meeting, users should only be receiving one hold-available-for-pickup notice per hold item.
If the user already received a pickup notice and the hold item was subsequently charged to a “transit” card” and then discharged and the hold trapped again, the system has tracked that one notice was already sent. Our report settings are currently set to send only one notice. For U of C, notices are sent out for holds available at 5:30 p.m.

Note that you can see the Notified date in the glossary (the window that pops up when you click on the underlined item):


Holds
If there is an item with multiple holds, and the first client does not pick up the hold, the hold ‘expires’ and the item automatically shows as ‘available’ in Sirsi for the next client, even while it still sits on the hold shelf. This can cause some confusion, especially if expired or cancelled holds are not pulled from the shelf quickly. The client will not be notified by email until the items is actually processed by staff, but in some cases the client may think the item is ready for pick up before it is available. As noted above, checking for the ‘Notified’ date may help in tracking the status of a hold.

Technology
We have had some comments from clients about weak wireless signal in the back of the library. If there are any more comments/complaints from our patrons, Lourdes would like to track. Please forward any comments or concerns about the wireless signal to Lourdes or your supervisor.

Term loans
We have had a number of clients asking about when they will be able to renew their term loans. On May 1st, term loan items can be renewed and will have a new due date of Sept. 15th. There will be renewal reminder notices sent to all those who have term items on loan.

Room Bookings
We have noticed that more and more people are using the self-serve room booking system. Clients need to log into the system using their ucalgary email username and password (the same one they would use to access webmail for example). Once the login information is entered, access into the system is quite slow. If clients are still having trouble accessing the system with their login and password, please pass along their name and the username they are using to me and I will investigate with ITS.

Equipment Booking
Further to the note last week about the HSL equipment booking, I would like to clarify that this equipment is for staff sign out /use only.
Clients wishing to book equipment, for example a data projector for use in the 1453 - 59 rooms, they can contact Medical AV Services at 210-3839, during regular business hours M-F.

Reserve override
When trying to check out reserve items for TAL clients, for example the Toronto Notes, you will need to enter the override password twice.

a few friendly RefStats reminders

Good afternoon everyone,

A few friendly RefStats reminders to close out the week:

1. Directional questions: clients asking whether or not they can wait in a particular spot/place etc., need not be recorded. Rather, please just record directional questions requesting locations of units, departments, buildings, etc.

2. Circulation transactions mediated by staff (i.e. staff renew books, place holds, etc. for patrons) should not be counted. Rather, it’s the process of showing clients how to renew, place a hold, register for an account (the clients then perform the action themselves) that is to be recorded.

3. Again, please exercise caution to select the correct question category type when inputting questions (there have been a few directional questions listed as reference and vice-versa).

University Timesheet Schedule

Here's a link to the University's timesheet calendar for 2012 in case you need for planning purposes: http://www.ucalgary.ca/hr/files/hr/De-Central_Master_Calendar_2012.pdf

Includes timesheet lock and manager approval dates.