[MinervaCats] Changing status codes

[Ellen Conway]

Hi MinervaCats,

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far to the Standards Committee's
request for input about item status codes.  I would like to review for you
what the committee intends to work on going forward from this discussion.

First of all, we most certainly will be looking at all the item status codes
with the goal of defining and clarifying them.  There actually may be some
codes that can be retired.  We would like to be able to standardize and
simplify as much as possible.

Second, we do think that there is a need to have a status for items that are
being held out of circulation but not withdrawn for varied reasons that is
non-requestable, or in other words, can't be reserved by patrons.  It would
be wonderful if we could all say that items in repair or in tech services
will be dealt with in short order, but I think the reality is that many
libraries' resources and/or priorities prevent this from actually
happening.  There should be a way of changing status so that holds can't be
placed.  No decisions have been made about which status to use, etc.

Third, I think that the term itself, "non-requestable", can be confusing,
owing to the fact that it is used in 2 different ways that have different
meanings in reference to item records.  When talking about item status,
"non-requestable" means it can't be reserved or held by patrons.  However a
nonrequestable i-type is one that can't be borrowed outside Minerva.

Thanks again for your input,
Ellen
On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 12:29 PM, Kimberly Madden
<kmadden at patten.lib.me.us>wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> Here's the take on this from Patten Free--
>
> We like the idea of making both "in repair" and "in tech serv" be
> non-requestable.  Jay's idea of perhaps standardizing the use of the
> different codes seems to make sense, too.
> So, here is how we currently use the codes to add to the other examples
> accumulating...
>
> Books "in repair" could be out of the loop for a while as we are dependent
> upon volunteers for this; it's also possible the book medics may not be
> able
> to save them.
>
> This is also true for items "in tech services" which covers a much broader
> range of circumstances.  This is anything and everything that is sent to
> the
> workroom for any kind of cataloguing attention or consideration of its
> physical condition other than standard book repair:  book jacket covering
> physically takes place in this room and av material that needs to be
> evaluated for cleaning/repair (in-house or out) or replacement/discard also
> collects here.  These can also spend a fair amount of time awaiting their
> turn and also may not be returned to the shelves in the end.
>
> Somewhere in the discussion the use of "in processing" was also mentioned.
> This is our default status in our template when creating new items.  These
> are usually headed out to circulation within a few days--again dependent
> upon part-time and volunteer schedules to get through the whole process.
> Sometimes when checking our part-time assistant's work I will find a record
> that I feel needs further work and will set it aside to move the bulk of
> the
> items along.
>
> Hope this is helpful.
> Kimberly
>
> Kimberly Madden
> Head of Technical Services
> Patten Free Library
> 33 Summer Street
> Bath, Maine  04530
> 207-443-5141
> www.patten.lib.me.us
>
>
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>



-- 
Ellen M. Conway
Maine InfoNet Cataloging Specialist
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