Spring Trainings coming up fast

It's that time of year again! We have a full complement of trainings being scheduled for the upcoming spring semester. Undoubtedly many of you have already attended many of these, but we do have several new volunteers for the spring and if you feel like a refresher or have questions about a particular service these will be a great opportunity for you.

So far this spring we have the following trainings scheduled, with many more to come soon! Have a wonderful Holiday Break!

Reference Skills

Date: Wednesday, January 3^rd 2:00 - 3:00 pm in West 211

Trainer: Shaun Saxon

Trainees will be able to:

· Conduct a reference interview.

· Determine whether a question can be answered quickly or needs to be referred to the 3^rd floor Reference Desk or elsewhere.

· Make appropriate referrals to the Reference Desk or elsewhere.

Campus Knowledge

Date: Wednesday, January 3^rd 3:00 - 4:00 pm in West 211

Trainer: Missy Shoop

Trainees will be able to:

· Answer basic questions regarding where and how to access common student services, including: the registrar’s office, financial aid office, paying fees and fines, campus maps, computer labs, and bus routes.

· Direct patrons to online resources that show information on these services.

· Direct patrons to campus locations of these services using a campus map.

· Give patrons phone numbers and other contact information for these services.

Library West Building Information

Date: Friday, January 5^th 11:00 - 12:00 pm in West 211

Trainer: Lori Driscoll

Trainees will be able to:

· Explain how the Library West collections are arranged in the new library.

· Explain what services are available in Library West and how to utilize those services.

· Direct patrons to various staff offices.

· Communicate library hours (both regular hours and holiday hours).

· Communicate basic library policies regarding library usage and services.

· Computer services: software, equipment, areas, printing, etc.

Study carrels have finally been assigned!

Repairs have been completed on all but a few carrels, and the lucky individuals who were assigned a graduate study carrel have been emailed. The other 400+ applicants who did not receive a carrel were also sent an email notification. If anyone has questions about the assignments, please feel free to direct those to Lori Driscoll. Please remember that, in keeping with library privacy policies, the list of assignees is confidential.

Fires, Pagers and Parties

In case anyone was wondering, the procedure to follow when at the Information Point when the fire alarm goes off is to lock your computer, grab your stuff and leave the building. The circulation staff have their own procedures to follow which include locking the group study keys and laptop cart. Their instructions can be found in the Circ Manual online.

If anyone asks, in case of a fire alarm, patrons who have checked out an "in library use only" item should take it with them when they leave. This includes laptops! The items are checked out to them and they are responsible for them during the drill/emergency.

----------

On another note, the group study Gator Wait system has been working great! Students and staff alike really seem to appreciate the service. We have noticed that if patrons fill out the Gator Wait form on the clipboard it is usually filled out incorrectly. So to keep the service working smoothly we should all fill out the form ourselves using the patron's Gator 1 Card information.

-----------

Finally, next week is our last week of staffing the desk. Friday December 15th will be the last Information Point staffing day of the Fall semester. I haven't gotten much feedback in the way of having a last meeting of the semester. Perhaps everyone would rather wait to have a Spring Orientation meeting when we return from the holidays? Please let me know via email or the Bulletin Board.

I hope to see many of you at the Holiday parties next week! We're having the evening party on Tuesday and the daytime potluck on Thursday. If you haven't RSVP'd please do email me and I'll make sure your name gets on the list! It's going to be a lot of fun!

Draft Schedule for Spring is ready

Please take a look at the draft schedule for Spring. Most folks seemed to want to keep their old shift, so I tried not to move too many folks around. Please let me know if you need to change your shift before the holidays begin.

Coming up next will be the Spring training schedule. I'll keep you posted.

I've noticed several folks have viewed the BBS page, but we haven't gotten any discussions going there yet. I have a question posted there now for us to discuss. Please come in and give your opinion.

Wednesday Nov 22nd we close at 6pm

I think that pretty much sums it up. ;)

We'll be back on the Information Point on Saturday November 25th.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Fall Schedule ends December 15th

The last day we will staff the Information Point is December 15th. An email calling for additional volunteers will be going out soon.

Spring trainings will be scheduled during January, and the Spring schedule will begin on January 8th.

Please take a look at the Fall Schedule and let Angela know if you would like to change your schedule for Spring. Several folks have expressed an interest in splitting their shifts to work a one hour shift twice a week rather than all at once. If you'd like to try something like that just let Angela know what days/hours would work best for you.

Non-UF patrons needing to access the Wireless Network

When a person who is a non-UF patron comes in and wants to use the Internet from a laptop (theirs or ours) we have a new procedure as to how they get a gatorlink guest login to access the wireless network.

The instructions can be found in the Circ manual online at: http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/ps/Circ/CircMan/guestgatorlink.html

Because this involves a PeopleSoft permission, only certain Circulation Staff members will have access to create accounts like this. So most of us will need to refer patrons over to circulation for these particular requests.

Laptops and Remote Access

If you have a non-UF patron who needs to access databases or other remote access features, they must use a library desktop computer. If they are using the guest wireless login on either their own laptop or one of the circulating laptops, they cannot gain access to the databases unless they log in through the proxy server (thus they must have a gatorlink account).

I suppose this is obvious when you think about it, but I hadn't thought about it this way before and I thought I'd share.

2nd copier on 2nd floor is working...sort of

I just spoke with the xerox repairman. He said that the 2nd copier on the 2nd floor IS working now, but only one tray is available until he gets another part for it. Patrons shouldn't have to do anything special to select the right tray though so as of now it's working. (It just might run out of paper faster.)

Checking out reference materials...or not

We will check out non-circulating Reference books only if they are accompanied by a completed orange slip. Otherwise you will need to refer the patron back to Reference to obtain one. Note that the study guides shelved at Reference actually are *circulating* items, so no slip is needed. The item status will help you identify these. If you have any questions about the orange slips or lack thereof feel free to refer them to the circulation staff or ask a circ staff member.

Office Supplies at the Information Point

As we discussed at our team meeting, I have an organizer with office supplies on the shelves under the counter to the left of the Information Point. We have scissors, highlighters, pencils, pens, sticky notes, paperclips, rubberbands and whiteout. I'm ordering golf pencils and I'll gather up some non-pink scratch paper to have out in a little holder there too (if you have a supply of quartered scratch paper feel free to contribute). A stapler, tape dispenser and hole punch are available at the circ desk in a variety of spots so we don't have these in our organizer. Let me know if there are other supplies you need out there.

October Statistics are now available

Finally I've finished compiling and charting the October Statistics. Whew!
I think you'll be impressed with how much circulation we're actually doing now that we're tracking circulation we're doing separate from the circulation referrals. Check out the statistics from the Information Point Homepage.

Copiers: To my knowledge we still have one copier working on the 1st floor, one on the second floor (the second is out of order) and two working on the 3rd floor. If anyone notices a change they can post a comment here on the blog, email me, or use our new BBS page! That's right, we now have our very own BBS section for the Information Point. You can find us at the bottom of the list at: http://libbs.uflib.ufl.edu/phpBB2/

Feel free to post whatever is on your mind there. Only library staff can post here so you'll have to register. It's also a possible place for us to get more feedback from Access Services staff. I brought this up with the Access Services managers (that you all requested more feedback from Access Services during our October Team Meeting) and they will try to do this both in person and on the BBS.

Odds and Ends:

• To my knowledge all the elevators are working, and they are allowing access to the 6th floor fine.
• The escalators are working.
• All copiers with the exception of one of the 2nd floor copiers are working.
• Melody has begun her new position and will no longer be available during the 2-4 Wednesday shift. I'll be covering that shift now. If anyone is willing to trade over to this shift I'd be happy to swap! Just email me and we'll work it out.

Copiers on 2nd floor are down

Both copiers on the 2nd floor are not operational at this time. This has been reported to Xerox.

Copier update

One of the copiers on the 2nd floor is working and the other is being repaired right now. We should have both working shortly.

We have more copiers

We now have Xerox copy machines located as follows:
Floor 1 - One - to the far right of the elevators as you face them
Floor 2 - Two - in the East alcove from the Desk
Floor 3 - Two - in the East alcove from the Desk

There are two card dispensers on Floor 3 and one on Floor 2 in the East alcove from the Desk.
Report any problems with these to Xerox at 336-4407 any time of the day and leave a message stating which floor, which machine, and the problem. Of course if you are lucky enough to actually speak to a person, give them the same info.

Currently it appears that the two copiers on the 2nd floor are out of order.
~Angela

The new "Gator Wait" system is up and running!

We have started using our new pagers when there is a wait for group study rooms; they are a huge success! They are located under the 3rd workstation along with a clipboard for the log. We should all be aware of the procedures. I would recommend checking with the Circ staff member on duty the first few times you work with the Gator Wait system (if you choose to do so).

Gator Wait Instructions:

1. Record on the paper log:
-patron’s name
-UFID
-number in group
-pager number

2. Give the patron a pager (do not check-out in Aleph). Inform patron to return to Circulation Desk when pager flashes and vibrates. Let them know they only have 5 minutes to get to the Circ desk when it goes off.

3. Note the room capacity of returned keys; try to match the room to the group size as best as possible, especially for the larger rooms (142, 229, 230).

Paging instructions:

1. Type pager number into transmitter
2. Press “Enter”
3. Record time on log
4. Contact next group if first group fails to respond in five minutes

6th floor access

Facilities informed us that the RIGHT elevator is not recognizing the security system and will not allow anyone to exit on the 6th floor.

The LEFT elevator is working fine. Please advise any students needing to access the 6th floor to use their cards in the LEFT elevator.

Due time reminder slips

When checking out an item with a shorter than normal due date, please remember to remind the patron verbally of the due time and offer to give them a reminder slip. Circulation has 'official' reminder slips for the laptops and the group study rooms, but for any other short term loan items you can just write the time due on a pink slip of paper for them.

Right now it isn't mandatory to give out the reminder slips, but since laptops and group study rooms come with very large fines, it is a good idea to err on the side of caution. I will have a small stack of the two 'official' reminder slips available at the Information Point right next to the de-sensitizer.

Just a few updates

As you can see, things must be calming down in the new building. I don't have nearly as many updates lately!

Here are a few though:

The southwest stairwell (when sitting at the desk it's the one off to your right that you can't see) is now open into the stacks on the 1st floor. For some reason this one stairwell wouldn't allow folks into the first floor stacks, but now it's working.

The 4th floor is now fully loaded in terms of wireless signal! We finally have the oodles of signal we were promised! I was just up there yesterday afternoon and I can confirm that it was at full strength in room 419! So if you have anyone complaining of weak wireless signal in the building please let me know and send a Syshelp.

New fines information in the circulation manual. Basically the cap on short term loans has been changed to 25$.

We spoke a bit at the meeting last week about the future direction for the Information Point. I met with the Library West Building Issues group (I don't know if that's an official name) and we decided to continue gathering data through November before making a final decision. So we'll keep going this month and then before the holiday's I'll meet with them again and we'll look at how the stats have changed over the semester, in particular how the circulation (referrals and those you're doin) transactions look. I should have more information for you before the holiday break.

October Team Meeting Notes

In attendance: Naomi, Hank, Jan, Patricia, Jody, Angie, Christy, Gerald, Suzanne, Doug, Angela, Margeaux, Pam, Cathy, John, Kenneth, Travis (please let me know if your name was mistakenly left out)
-------------------------
Comings and Goings: Introduce Nick Kontax as our new weekend staff member, say goodbye to Melody who is heading up to the 3rd floor, see if anyone can move to Melody's shift (Wednesdays 2-4pm) and Angela will take their old shift.
• LeiLani said Melody may still be able to work the same shift, or may have to move shifts but very well might keep some shift on the Infopoint. She’ll check on this and let Angela know.
-------------------------
Statistics from August and September: share the September stats, and the comparisons to August. (handout)
• Naomi volunteered to print color copies next month for everyone.
-------------------------
Feedback on the new statistics forms & new maps: ask how the new stats forms are working and get feedback on the new maps (examples)
• No questions on the statistics forms, although we discussed how some questions may be categorized differently by folks (e.g. I have a reference question. Referred to Reference or Directional; Can I check out a laptop? Equipment, Policy or Referred to Circulation; How do I print? Equipment vs. Directional)
• One patron asking many questions counts as multiple questions. Also, if you activate a card and then they check out a laptop that would be two circulation transactions (or one transaction and one referred to circ if you referred it).
-------------------------
Recruiting for Spring: get folks to start thinking about the spring, whether they'll need to change their schedules, if there are others in the library who have expressed interest, good times for trainings, etc.
• Cathy may need to arrange coverage for her shift later in the spring semester.
• Suzanne may have two new recruits contacting Angela soon.
• Hank is getting a lot of admiration from co-workers for working the infopoint.
-------------------------
Suggestions to improve the service:
• Infopoint staff would like to see more feedback from the Access Services staff to see if they are annoyed by our help. (Angela assures us they are greatful, but folks have experienced some friction and are concerned.) Angela encouraged all infopoint staff to let her know privately about any particular issues that arise at the desk with Access Services staff.
• Naomi noticed that some A-D Judaica books and West books are being mis-shelved in each section. Meaning sometime a West book is in call number order, but in the Judaica section and vice versa. Angela will bring this up with Ben Walker and Emily Madden to see if the area can be shelf read more often. Also suggested was that we have the Judaica call number range cards printed on a different color paper (blue was suggested, please do not choose yellow). Colored stickers were discussed, but due to practicality and cultural sensitivity the group decided not to suggest it.
• We would like the following supplies at the Information Point, perhaps in a basket hidden on the lower shelves to our left:
o Stapler
o Tape
o Scissors
o Paperclips
o Whiteout
o Golf pencils
o Non-pink scratch paper
o Hole-punch
• We would like a recycle box placed near the printer.
• Sometimes the due date slips don’t have the sticky tab on them. Angela will check into this to see if they should always be pre-stickified or if we need access to the tabs.
• The BBS might be a good addition to our communication tools along with the website, blog and email list. Angela will see what needs to happen to get a topic heading on the BBS and will put the info on the blog and a link on the website.
• The food and drink policy is not as strictly enforced as we’d initially hoped. At this point, circulation staff are accepting any lid as an acceptable drink container. We have no written policy to follow, but Angela is sending folks with food to the first floor and if a drink is uncovered (a hand over the cup doesn’t count!) then they must take that downstairs also.
• October statistics should be available on the website sometime in the next two weeks.