Circulation Committee Minutes – January: 1/14/2025, 9:30-11:00 AM 

Topics/Updates/Demos  

App- WLS Mobile:

We are still waiting for the app to be approved by the Apple store. The Android version was successfully published in late December and the Aspen administrators have been given updates on it and have also provided feedback on the app. Lindsay and I are currently working on implementing and testing LiDA app self-check functionality. We greatly appreciate library staff who have tested the app and provided feedback! As soon as both apps are available we will update all staff and patrons as well. 

Tipassa

For those that are unfamiliar – this is a new software from OCLC for Inter Library Loans. Krishna and Molly have been relaying the reported issues to OCLC while they work with them to iron out the kinks.  Most of the book strap and notification issues are a result of a mismatch between how the system is using Tipasa (with member libraries placing requests) and how the features of Tipasa were designed (with patrons directly placing requests). OCLC is aware of our unique use case and they have been working together to figure out how to fix the existing issues and improve your ability to monitor and edit requests. In the meantime, please let whomever at your library that processes the ILL-requests know to continue sending in their issues to the Help Desk, and to CC Krishna and Terry.  

Message Bee

The contract is in the process of being finalized, and expected within the week. Once the contract is signed, we will begin configuration. This will be used to facilitate SMS/text notifications for circulation transactions and holds because the ILS no longer has the capacity to manage the changing SMS technical environment.

  • Potential for future notifications customized to go out, but only sms is the priority right now.
  • Lindsay can turn on a notification about untargeted holds/cancelled holds and will explore more.

Patron Point 

Automatic Patron Renewals. PLDA Voted: 13 yes, 13 no = pause on the discussion. 

Bookletters

Syndetics Unbound and/or Aspen to replace Bookletters.

 Reminders:

Handling of Damaged Items:

There was an email thread in early December about how to handle damaged items from other libraries that are returned to you. In the thread, the consensus is to:

    • Check items before scanning them!
    • Contact the patron that last had the item, even if it’s not your patron, and try to come to a resolution. Let the owning library know and if no resolution can be made in thirty days, send the item back with a note.
    • If a damaged item came in the bins from WLS/another library, add a note and send it back. Retarget the hold for the patron, or offer to fill out an ILL request if there are no more copies.
    • If the damage is not too terrible, and the patron will accept the copy – add a note describing the damage and your initials so the patron will not be billed when it is returned.

Hopeless Holds and “untargeted expirations”:

Why do holds become hopeless with untargeted expirations?

  • In Lindsay’s words, “This is hugely complex.” There is no specific period after which a hold request is updated as an “untargeted expiration”. It seems to relate to why a hold is considered “untargeted”. 
  • For each hold, the system scans all potential copies to find a match, the target. This cycle repeats every 24 hours until a copy is targeted, captured, and made available. In cases where there is no matching item to target for the hold, the process eventually times out and the hold is cancelled for “untargeted expiration”.
  • The great majority of untargeted holds were cancelled after a few days because copies were marked missing or deleted, and/or the entire title record was deleted. Many untargeted holds appear on Hopeless Holds lists, and I just added the statuses Available Soon and On Order as being prone to hopeless holds as a backup.
  • Best practice recommendation is to use the Hopeless Holds functionality (Local Admin) to keep on top of unfilled holds. We could also set up reports to specifically track long unfilled holds.

Save and Clone:

The Save and Clone feature is available in the Patron Registration page. This feature can be handy when registering families. 

  • Initially, when we first migrated to Evergreen- we advised against this feature because it also grouped the patron’s fines together and caused confusion for patrons and staff that were unfamiliar with the feature. 
  • Deleting a patron that is linked to other accounts will not affect anyone else.
  • In Aspen, patrons can link themselves to other accounts. They will need to know the barcode and PIN, and the other person will have to accept the request.

From Marge Perlin: Unfortunately, even with “Is Group Lead Account” unchecked, the cards are still linked and the balance owed for all cards (group fines) is visible on each account from our end. One would have to take the extra step of removing group members to keep the accounts autonomous. I think this will prove confusing for staff.

Testing from the patron view, information from the other accounts isn’t visible unless the patron opts to link accounts.

“Clear These Holds”

From the Holds Shelf Interface. Remember that this button will remove the hold status from every item listed. 

  • This causes confusion, especially if an item from another library is on the hold shelf and then has the status changed to Available. 
  • The Best Practice is to check Expired Holds in using the Clear Holds Shelf checkin Modifier. 

Allison Pryor checked Launchpad Bug #1961534 , and Dan Briem from HAR had submitted the greying out of the button as development back in 2022 and its been getting worked on ever since. The last update to Launchpad was in August 2024 and it looks like the change is going to be tested in 3.14-beta. Allison Pryor added heat to it. (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1961534)

Patron Registration –

Patrons address fields are now updated to be in all CAPS.

  • In November, Lindsay batch updated patron records to have names switched to be in ALL CAPS.
  • Reminder going forward: 
    • Staff will still need to enter patrons names in new records in all caps – this will not be automatic
    • Staff will still need to enter street names in new records in all caps – this will not be automatic
    • Edits to any of these fields will need to be entered in all caps
    • To maintain preferred capitalization (and other data entry accuracy) I recommend running monthly reports of new records created to catch and fix exceptions early

We have a List Serve now!

Please confirm the circulation contacts spreadsheet information – staff names and emails, and policies. If your circulation committee member name has changed, please email Lindsay or Allison P to update. 

  • Email us at support@wlsmail.org, not individually.  
  • Volunteer for March Minutes 

Discussion/Q&A 

Museum Pass software –

Tixkeeper is ceasing operations. The two most common replacements are Museum Key and Springshare LibCal.

  • If your library wants the museum pass software to integrate with the ILS for checkouts, look for products that use SIP2. Submit a help desk ticket with questions about a specific product, or to configure the ILS connection.
  • The general process is: the library starts a ticket and includes the name of the service and any related IPs (provided by the vendor.) The vendor will ask for the ILS hostname, port, and user credentials. Lindsay will create the user account, and submit the account credentials and IPs to our ILS host support to be added to the Evergreen server. Lindsay will then provide the hostname, port, and user credentials to the library, who will provide them to the vendor.

Forgiving Older Fines

Parameters for fines that can be forgiven for other libraries’ items older than 5 or more years, so that patrons who have expired cards can be purged from the system. 

  • With the goal that the committee could come to some consensus and present a recommendation to PLDA for a director level discussion/decision based on the following:  
  • Some intermediate steps might be to consider libraries remove their patrons’ old overdue fines totaling more than $25 
  • libraries resolve their patrons’ migrated bills 
  • libraries review their own old, lost materials on any patrons’ accounts and resolve the circs and bills 
  • remove old lost bills under $25 for items that are within an age range or type of material, or things that would have been weeded – for example items created 5 or more years ago, or board books, or previously popular titles 

Success! Who’s got some good news? 

There was a shout out for Justin Sanchez at the Greenburgh Library for his help with setting up LibCal.

And a warm welcome to Leslie Albamonte – the new refernece librarian at Briarcliff!