OWWLAC Meeting, April 23, 2013

Attendees

M. Correia, A. Grace, B. Horn, S. Hylen, E. Robinson, S. Wicksall, B. Morris, L. Stratton

Excused

T. Streb

Old Business / Updates from Previous Action Items

New Business

OWWLAC communications

We have been discussing, internally, how to communicate OWWLAC discussion topics and recommendations more effectively, and thought that publishing the agenda to PLS-L / PLS Notes with a recommendation for people to route issues to their directors and directors to their OWWLAC reps. Does this seem like a good idea? Other / better options?

Item Statistical Category Changes

Selecting "Not Applicable" for required elements in item records causes problems in Annual Report data; Annual Report translates Not Applicable as "unknown", requiring libraries to manually reassign the numbers to the appropriate categories.

• Proposal to resolve these Annual report problems - Remove "Not Applicable" options for: Annual Report Category, Age Level, Fiction/Nonfiction
  • Copy records would have to be fixed to reflect accurate categories, PLS is currently testing options

Change in phrasing of emailed 7-day Overdue Notice

Current language:

From: Newark Public Library
Subject: Overdue Notification Dear Nybody, Julie
Our records indicate the following item/s are overdue.
Title: a ticket to china
Barcode: 11111111111111111
Due: 2013-03-26
Item Cost: 23.00
Total Owed For Transaction: 1.40
Library: Newark Public Library

Concern raised that "Total Owed for Transaction" is misleading since the item is continuing to accrue fines and may have a different total owed upon checkin. Proposed new language something like "Current Balance for Transaction."

Hold Protection review - in place for 1 month, what feedback have libraries received?

Feedback submitted in advance:

• Age-Based Hold Protection Feedback
• Example No Local Demand report for WIL: NoLocalDemandWIL_B.xls

Discussion:
In general, there were few strongly negative responses - only one notable patron example. Many libraries do feel pressured into using Age-Based Hold Protection because most of the others are. Some libraries report that hold fulfillment is slower. Otherwise, positive responses include patrons commenting on enjoying shelf browsing and being able to check out popular materials. Interestingly, small libraries report greater satisfaction with availability of materials for shelf browsing, whereas larger libraries report greater dissatisfaction with holds fulfillment rates.

Various points were raised regarding the administrative tasks related to holdings management workflow, keeping up with reports, and collection development. We discussed when to purchase additional copies - for example, the basic ratio of holds to copies driving the High System Demand report is 4 copies for every 1 hold, libraries use similar ratios to drive purchasing of additional copies. Questions were raised about responsible use of funds to purchase multiple copies, what to do with extra copies once demand has slowed, and various funding sources (example: a Friends group provides a set amount for extra copies of certain types of material); as well as larger libraries being able to afford additional copies more so than smaller libraries. We discussed the burden on holdings staff to determine which materials should have age-based hold protection applied, versus which should not - value judgement implicit in selective application of protections, how to determine a "hot" item, or how to handle titles that are slow to become popular but then become very popular, how to determine if age-based hold protection should be removed, managing item attribute templates for materials with protection vs. no protection.

Directors eagerly anticipating the No Local Demand report. Interest expressed in a set of brief talking points to use to help staff explain the holds environment to patrons.

Betsy's notes, submitted to Cassie, aimed at helping to address the patron complaint sent to Cassie: OWWLAC_AP_Review_20130423.pdf

eReader Committee Report

• Review draft boilerplate for circulation policy: EreaderPolicyGuidelines
• Review draft physical handling / checkout and check in procedures: EreaderHandlingProcedures (DRAFT)

Discussion:
Question re: what is the standard circulation rules for eReaders, how does this compare to the circulation periods for OWWL2Go materials? EReader device circ rule = 2W, no renewals. OWWL2Go materials can be checked out for 7-days, 14-days, or 21-days at the patron's choice. The device rule can be modified to accommodate a longer, 3W period using the "long" option. This depends on the type of content/device (patron can load content vs. pre-loaded content) being loaned.

Library Card + Keytag combo

Submitted by Wendy Krause (HPL) - reconsider current practice of offering patrons only library card OR keytag, and offer both

• Card Fob quote
• 1 card-1 fob (diagram)

Discussion:
OWWLAC sees no problem with offering this as an option to libraries, on a per library basis. Some potential issues identified: if one part of the card/fob combo is lost, both must be replaced; risk of having up to 4 cards floating around.

Other

Library card/account pre-expiration notice

Can we change the language in the account pre-exiration notice to remove the word "expiration" and replace it with something like "Your account information needs to be updated and your access to library services extended, please contact your library..."

Several directors at the meeting concurred that patrons interpret this as meaning that they need entirely new cards, like expired credit cards.

Question re: delivery materials and rain

Clarification was asked for about the drivers' practices re: protecting delivery materials from rain. General consensus held that the drivers are typically very good about protecting delivery bins, and that the event in question was probably a fluke due to extremely windy and rainy conditions. Betsy and Lindsay will mention this Cindy.

Actions

• LS - Post future agendas to PLS Notes / PLS-L
• PLS-CANS - remove "Not Applicable" item stat cat options; test process for fixing item records; communicate procedures once change is implemented; update related documentation
• PLS-CANS - change language in 7-day Overdue Notice
• PLS-CANS - finalize No Local Demand report
• PLS-CANS - package Aaron's Age-Based Hold Protection presentation as a video
• LS - add Aaron's presentation to the next OWWLUG agenda
• PLS-CANS - draft "talking points" document for library staff
• Reps - continue to gather user feedback and data on the impact of age-based hold protection
• Reps - contact library Directors re: interest in card/key fob combos
• PLS-CANS - change language for Account Pre-Expiration notice
• BM/LS - follow up with Cindy re: handling delivery materials in inclement weather

Outcomes

• Going forward, the OWWLAC meeting facilitator (Lindsay Stratton) will submit agenda topics to PLS Notes / PLS-L in advance of meetings. All issues/comments/questions regarding agenda items or other topics are welcomed. Please route topic suggestions to directors, who should in turn submit suggestions to their OWWLAC rep, who will bring it to OWWLAC. Suggestions can be made anonymously - please indicate to the OWWLAC representative that this is the case.
• "Not Applicable" Item Statistical Category values will be removed from Copy Editor selection lists; detailed information about handling effected records will be forthcoming.
• 7-day Overdue Notice (emailed) language will be changed from "Total Owed for Transaction" to "Current Balance for Transaction".
• A "No Local demand Report" will be finalized and offered as an Ad Hoc Report for libraries; this will be used to evaluate records and to remove age protect from items that have system level holds but no local activity.
  • This report, Age Protected Items with No Local Demand, is now available via the Staff Client > Browse Reports > Ad Hoc Reports. See also Aaron Zsembery’s announcement.
• OWWLAC will continue to collect feedback on Age-Based Hold Protection, to be reviewed again in August.
• An Age-Based Hold Protection "talking points" document will be created, to help staff answer patron questions.
• OWWLAC sees no major problems with offering Library Card/Key fob combinations, the combo would be another option available to libraries/patrons on a per-library basis; OWWLAC members will contact library directors to determine levels of interest - a cost estimate is attached to this page
• Account Pre-Expiration Notice (emailed) language will be changed to remove "expiration", exact language to be determined.