Circulation Services Subcommittee Minutes

June 28, 2022

Phone/video conference

Action Items:

The CSS recommends creating Item Type DVDSET14 with a loan period of 14 days, hold policy of any hold, and limit of 2 renewals for Multi-part DVD TV series sets. 

Present: Zach Ott (BAR), Jeff Kauffeld (MAD), Margie Navarre-Saaf (MAD), Emily Harkins (WAU), Eddie Glade (STP), Autumn Baumann (POR), Tanya Bolchen (FCH), Robin Behringer (STO), Emily Noffke (MTH)
Absent: Steev Baker (SUN), Ronda  Evenson (VER)
Excused: Erica Kersten (PIN), Barbara Henderson (MID), Kelly Heasty (MCF)
Recorder: Michelle Karls (SCLS)

SCLS Staff Present: Heidi Oliversen, Cindy Weber, Tim Drexler, Vicki Teal Lovely

1. Call to Order at 9:32 am

a. Introduction of guests/visitors.  Local Holds Group - Bailey Anderson (BER).

b. Changes/Additions to the Agenda.  None.

c. Requests to address the Committee.  None.

2. Approval of previous meeting minutes: May 10, 2022

a. Motion: J. Kauffeld moved approval of the May meeting minutes.  E. Noffke seconded.

b. Discussion: none.

c. Vote: motion passed.

3. Action Items

4. Discussion

a. Review proposed parameters for local hold project

i. format BKAFI

ii. item type – BKALH14

1. loan period-14 days

2. hold policy-home hold

3. renewals-0 renewals

4. length of time items are marked Local Hold- 60 days

a. Discussion: H. Oliversen reviewed these parameters proposed by the Workgroup.  22 locations are participating in the Local Holds pilot project. H. Oliversen will post a list of the libraries participating on the Circulation webpage. 

b. Review Workflow/Best Practices for Local Hold pilot provided by LH workgroup.

i. Discussion: H. Oliversen reviewed the documents posted to the Circulation web page.  We have posted the recorded Circulation Update session for Local Holds, Talking points for staff to use when informing patrons, form to submit with questions/comments from patrons, FAQ for staff, workflow, etc.  Items will have a double status: Available/Local Hold.  After 60 days staff will change the Local Hold parameters to “regular” item parameters so that item(s) will be eligible to fill holds at any other location.   A. Gannaway and K. Linke reviewed the steps for modifying the items records, either individually or using the Batch Item Editor.  PCPL staff are going to add Staff Notes with a weekly date in order to extract records and remove the Local Hold parameters on a weekly basis, after the 60-day period.

c. Recommendation for new Item Type and loan period for Multi-Part DVD TV series sets.

i. Discussion: H. Oliversen reviewed the project.  The group agreed that the 14 day loan period is a good place to start and to use the Item Type code DVDSET14, as the structure and format is consistent with our other codes.  Overdue fines and item type checkout limits are determined by individual libraries. 

ii. Motion: M. Navarre moved to create Item Type DVDSET14 with a loan period of 14 days, hold policy of any hold, and limit of 2 renewals for Multi-part DVD TV series sets.  E. Harkins seconded. 

iii. Vote: motion carried.  This will go to the ILS committee for approval.

d. Update on alternate workflow for Lost and Paid Items checked in/identifying Refunds.

i. Discussion: no update.  MCF/MAD had previously reported that the Unallocated Credit report is providing the information they need to process Refunds for their libraries. The intent behind creating the new “Unresolved Refunds” report was to extract only refunds and not the other types of unallocated credits.  ACTION: H. Oliversen will provide a draft of the alternate workflow for the new report to K. Heasty and J. Kauffeld and review/revise before the September meeting. 

e. Update on Fast BIB Add form Item Type field.

i. Discussion: H. Oliversen reported that R. Zeich adjusted the Fast BIB Add form in production to require staff to select and Item Type before saving the form.  Item Types are required in order to circulate items. Demonstrated in the Sandbox.

f. Review changes to Section XIII Notices, Messaging Preferences and Message Queue.

i. Discussion: H. Oliversen sent out the final version to everyone for review.  She accepted the changes and cleaned up the formatting in the conversion back to Word.  Did anyone have any changes at this point?  No.  H. Oliversen will post the section.  J. Kauffeld mentioned that the reference on page 7 is to the Checkout slips, instead of the header “Circulation Slips”.  H. Oliversen will amend the wording.  

g. Review specifications emailed on 5/26/2022:

i. Give patrons the ability to change hold pickup location for their Unfilled Holds in their Discovery Layer Dashboard.

1. Discussion: H. Oliversen reviewed the spec and asked for feedback.  No one had any additions/questions except that E. Kersten requested that the dropdown list of libraries be in alphabetical order by library name.  There were no additional suggestions.  DIS also approved this specification.  CSS approved and accepted this specification.

ii. Improve the proxy borrowing process

1. Discussion. H. Oliversen reviewed the spec and asked for feedback.  M. Navarre Saaf attended ALA and spoke with other vendors.  She would like to incorporate additions based on what she saw.  CSS members agreed to table this specification until the specification is updated with these additions. (See (h) Proxy Borrowing for more details).  This subcommittee will review the revisions/additions before approving and sending it to LibLime.

iii. Cancelled holds on Holds Awaiting Pickup report

1. Discussion: H. Oliversen reviewed the spec and asked for feedback from this group.  No questions or revisions. CSS approved and accepted this specification.

h. Proxy Borrowing – demonstration and discussion.

i. Discussion:  H. Oliversen demonstrated the Proxy Borrowing feature.  There have been some concerns about libraries entering patron URLs in the HPA notes for authorized users and how this may impinge on patron privacy. The Proxy Borrowing, when fixed to our specifications, would eliminate this work-around.  If CSS members think the Proxy Borrowing functionality would be useful, they could test this in the Sandbox throughout the month of July and deliver verdict.  If approved, we could provide another Circulation Update webinar to go over this with library staff.   V. Teal Lovely mentioned that if libraries wanted to continue to place urls in the Patron HPA Note, we should standardize what is entered for this because we are a shared system.  This isn’t a universal practice that everyone knows about.  Once proxy borrowing is fixed, we will need a way to clean this workaround up.  R. Behringer has a written procedure for adding urls to authorized HPA patron records.  We will post this to the meeting webpage and H. Oliversen will inform the subcommittee to review the workflow (and practice?) so we can discuss it at the September meeting.  M. Navarre Saaf will download the “improve Proxy Borrowing” spec and update with enhancements.  Then she will ask R. Behringer for input.  Then it will be sent out to the group to review prior to the September meeting.    

i. From May 10 meeting – Further discussion about checking in items on hold shelf to extend expiration date. Any feedback from library staff?

i. Discussion: At the May meeting, this group decided not to pursue development to recreate the ability to extend the expiration date of a hold on the hold shelf by checking in the item before the hold expired.  DCL has the largest need for this but are OK with the work around for now.  WAU staff has expressed frustration with this change.  It is not used very often but the current work-around options are clunky.  The group agreed that this is functionality that we would like to have restored, but we should discuss this and provide a workflow that does not include checkin and can be used to create a development specification that is specific to our needs.  Anyone interested in working on this, please let Heidi know.  M. Navarre Saaf and E. Harkins volunteered and will construct a workflow/specification for the September meeting.

j. Virtual vs. in-person meetings in 2022.

i. Discussion:  Meetings will remain virtual for September, November, and January 2023.  We will discuss the format of future meetings at the January meeting.    

5. Plan for Next meeting:  September 13, 2022 at 9:30 am via phone/video conference

6. Adjournment at 11:32 am

For more information about the Circulation Services Subcommittee, contact Heidi Oliversen.

SCLS staff are available to attend cluster meetings to share information and answer questions pertaining to this committee meeting and other departmental projects.

Circulation Services Subcommittee/Minutes/06-2022