Next Infopoint Team Meeting coming up

It's a good time for us to meet for our mid-semester check up and to talk about how all these budget cuts may affect the Information Point.

We'll meet in West 253 from 3-4pm on April 1st. I know it's April Fools' Day, but this time seems best for most folks. A few may need to leave a little early, but that should be fine.

And who knows, maybe some April Fools' humor will help us keep our chins up in these tight budget times.

(I know I've already got my April Fools' joke all ready to go for my spouse. I can't wait!)

Back to regular statistics

Our three weeks of the special self-check stats are finished. Thank you everyone for keeping those! We'll be back to our normal, easy reference statistics starting Sunday, March 2nd.

Have a great week!

The Pilot of the Week

This week Circulation is doing a pilot escort service. (I just couldn't resist)

Effective immediately, at the request of the directors, Circulation staff will be sending a staff member (or student) with each group when they check out a key in order to check the room for vandalism. They will also maintain a list of patrons who have checked out the rooms.

To manage this, there will be one station specifically designated for group study rooms only. This station will not be the Information Point. So during this week's pilot, if a patron is interested in checking out a room they will need to go to the designated station.

The revised policy soon will be placed online at:
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ps/circ/studyroompolicy.html

Please encourage students to fill out a comment card about the new policy/procedure.

"I just want something fun to read"

With the idea of promoting recreational reading, we have designed 8 bookmarks that highlight some "classic" books students might enjoy reading for fun. Even if students don't find that particular book on the shelf, they might find other items in that area that they would enjoy reading.

The bookmarks are in the acrylic brochure holders between the escalators and on either side of the New Books shelves. Feel free to grab some and distribute them as you like. If you notice they're running out or you think of other ways to use them let Angela know.

New Laptops for Faculty

You'll notice there are three new laptops in the laptop cart this week. These are for faculty to check out. The old laptops are only able to be checked out by students, and these new ones are only able to be checked out by faculty.

If you have a faculty member who needs to submit reserves requests or ILL requests you can suggest they can check out a laptop as an option. The faculty laptops have bright orange copies of the policy taped to the top.

That reminds me, late last week we also attached copies of the laptop policies (in white) to the student laptops. This way you no longer have to enclose a copy of the policy every time they check out a laptop. Still, do make sure to tell them the due time and offer to write it down on a scrap piece of paper (or the policy sheets we have left).

A new tidbit I learned at the ILL training

Maybe you knew this already, but I was happy to learn this at the recent ILL training and thought I'd share.

We have a lot of things that show up in our catalog that are not located in the Smathers libraries. Sometimes a patron is looking for something that is only at Mead, Law or an IFAS station. I found out that if that is the case, they CAN ILL the item. The only exception is Health Science. If the item is at HSCL they'll have to go there to check it out. But if the item is only at Law, Mead, one of the IFAS centers or somewhere else, we can suggest they use ILL. Good to know!

Sample Statistics for SelfCheck

Starting Sunday, February 10th you'll notice a new statistics sheet at the circulation desk.

These statistics are to show how many circulation transactions could be handled by a SelfCheck machine and how many would still require a staff person's help. We also need to continue tracking each Reference Question we answer for other library-wide statistics.

Basically for any customer coming to the desk, first ask yourself if they needed a person at all. If not, mark as "NO staff needed." If they did need a person, tally mark once in the "ANY staff needed" column AND tally mark as needed to indicate how many reference questions they had (if any).

Each stats sheet is for just one day, so there will be a new one each day. we're keeping these stats for 3 weeks only and then we'll be back to our normal ones. Thanks so much for helping us gather these sample statistics! If you have any questions please ask the circ staff on duty, or you can call back or email Angela also.

Ergonomic seating at the Information Point

So do you guys think this new kind of seating would be worth having on the Information Point? One hour a week could make all the difference!

(If the link above isn't showing the video clip try here.)

Thanks to Cool Librarian for the link.

Microfilm on Reserve

I've had two students already looking for microfilm put on reserve for Professor Ziegler's history class. The microfilm is NOT in Ares. It's shelved back next to the professor owned books by newspaper title and issue. The student will tell you the title, month and year and you'll find it on the shelf.

Clarifications on the new stats sheets

I've had some questions about what kinds of transactions/questions we record on the new statistics sheets and which ones we don't. I asked the Access Services managers and the clarifications are below. Please ask if you have more questions, I know it's hard for me to remember what to record and what to skip after over a year of using the old sheets!

Do we record ILL transactions? Nope. If it's a simple checkout or return of an ILL item we don't record it as a question. If they ask questions about the survey bookmark, the due date, renewals, etc. be sure to count those though.

Do we record reserves transactions? Not if it's a simple one. If they have the call number and you are just checking it out it doesn't count. BUT if you're having to go into Ares to find the class and call number please do count that! That's a lot of work and should be reflected on the stats.

Other departments might record their desk statistics differently, so if you have questions please ask. The way Lisa explained it to me was if the circ transaction didn't really require any questions or answers then they don't record it.

I hope this helps clarify things. You can always ask one of the circ staff or students if you have a question too.

Ever heard of a Transparency Copier in the Libraries?

A student came in on the first day of classes with a hand-out (presumably from her instructor) that listed resources, and under Library West it said that we had a transparency copier for $.15 a page.

I've checked with the Reference Desk and with Colleen and I can't find any information about any equipment that would allow printing onto transparencies (for use on an overhead projector) if that is what is meant by "transparency copier." Our Xerox printers and copiers don't allow alternate paper sources, no bypass trays, so they can't just insert printable transparencies either.

If anyone knows differently, please share! In the meantime, if you get this question on the desk, try to get the instructor and course number and I'll try to clarify this with the instructor.

Spring Schedule & Upcoming Training Opportunity

You'll notice the Spring Schedule and The Weekly Schedule are now linked up and all set to go. Welcome to Suzanne Brown, our newest Information Specialist! and Welcome Back to Cathy Martyniak!

See you all on the desk next week!

With only one new person starting on the desk this semester I hesitate to offer the plethora of training opportunities we've had in past semesters. If anyone thinks a refresher training would be helpful though please let me know and I'm happy to set it up!

Right now there is one training coming up soon that would be great for us to attend. It's the staff ILLiad training and it's set for Wednesday, January 23rd in West 211. There are two sessions available to choose from: 11-12pm and 3-4pm. I hope to make it there myself!

When the website goes down

If the website goes down while you're on the desk, Rich Bennett sent a handy link that will help out.

Direct Link to the Catalog - Use this link when the Smathers website is down to access the catalog. If you click on "FCLA" in the grey bar (footer) you will find links to the Library Catalog, Research Gateway, E-Journal Locator, Course Reserve, ILLiad, etc. It also has direct links to ALL databases included on the "Databases A-Z" page normally available on the Smathers "Find Databases" page.

You might want to bookmark that link now, just in case.

New Simplified Statistics Sheets

Starting with the Spring semester we'll use the same statistics sheets as the other public service desks. There are only two categories of questions: Reference Questions and Other Questions.

Reference Questions are those that require you to use resources to find the answer. I would include questions that require the catalog, databases, an internet search, etc.

Other Questions are things that are informational, easy to find, or directional. Things like where a call number is located, who is librarian for a particular subject, when we close, how to get a job at the library, etc. would be Other. I would include policy questions here too.

If you relate these two new categories with our old stats sheets, anything that you used to put under Reference is a Reference Question. Anything you put under Directional, Policy, Equipment, Referred, or Other is probably an Other Question.

What about all those Circulation transactions though? Well if you are doing something in Aleph, you do NOT have to count it at all. These transactions will be tracked in Aleph. This includes checking things out, returning things, and activating cards. BUT for those questions that require you to USE Aleph but aren't really transactions, would still count as Other Questions- I'm thinking of questions like: How many books do I have checked out? How much was I fined? When is my book due? etc. Those would all be more informational kinds of questions and would count as "Other" on our new stats sheets.

Hopefully that helps explain the difference. If you have questions you can call me, or ask one of the folks on the circ desk. These are the same sheets they've been filling out since July so they'll have a good idea of what kinds of questions count as each type.

The other important change is that we'll all share the same stats sheet now. Each week there will be a new sheet on a clipboard at the Information Point. There is a pen chained to the clipboard too. This sheet will be used by everyone who sits at the information point for that entire week. (Think of all the trees we'll be saving!)

The reason behind this switch is that our stats have been really consistent for the last year in showing the ratio of question types that we answer. We still have to track total questions for ARL stats and administration, but if we do need more information on types of questions we can run a sample for a week or two instead of doing the more complex stats sheets all the time.

Please ask if you have questions. And I'll see you on the desk!

Follow-up from meeting

Just to follow up on a few items from our meeting:

I talked with the circulation folks about possibly extending our hours of coverage on the desk during the extended hours at the end of the semester. They thought that would be great! So at our mid-semester meeting we'll know when the Spring extended hours will be and I'll recruit volunteers to work extra shifts on the desk that week or two.

Circ staff also expressed how happy they are to have our help at the beginning of Summer B and Fall when so many brand new students will be coming in too. So we'll endeavor to extend our coverage of the desk during those few weeks too.

About the sign for the Information Point: while there are no plans for permanent signage there, I did get permission to recreate the paper sign for the plastic holder. The old sign must have gone missing at some point, so I'll make a new one and have it up in time for Spring.

On the silver boxes, I brought up all the points we discussed and the Access Services managers are compiling a proposal on what we'd like to have at the desk. The proposal should be going to the directors in January. Hopefully we'll have those silver boxes gone sometime in Spring!

I'm working this week on the Spring schedule. So far I've added Cathy Martyniak back in the schedule - welcome back Cathy! I've had a few other nibbles but nothing concrete yet. If you know of anyone interested in spending one hour on the Infopoint a week, send them my way!

Have a safe and happy holiday everyone!

Minutes from December Meeting

We held our December Team Meeting on Tuesday, Dec 4th. Here's a synopsis of the meeting:

Scheduling
We will staff the Infopoint up through Thursday, Dec 13th. That will take us up through the end of finals. We'll start back on the Infopoint on 1/7/08, the first day of Spring classes. We'll only staff the Infopoint 11-3pm M-F in the Spring, but for Summer B and Fall semester we'll arrange 8am-8pm triage coverage for the first few weeks. An interesting suggestion was that we offer to provide extra hours at the end of the semester instead of only at the start. I'll bring this up with Access Services. It sounds like a good idea- it's been really busy this past week!

Spring Schedule Changes
So far it looks like most everyone is willing to stay on the Information Point for Spring. I do have one empty spot (we'll miss you Angie!) and we have four people who have 2 hour shifts now. I'll be sending out a call for volunteers to fill the 1-5 hours we could fill with new volunteers soon. If anyone would like to change their shift for Spring please let me know.

Moving to the other end of the desk?
We talked about the possibility of moving to the other end of the desk (near the lost and found, reserves, holds and keys) but the unanimous decision was to stay where we are (closer to the entrance, ILL items, and laptops). Looks like we'll stay put!

Silver Boxes
You know there was a lot to say about these! We considered ways to hide the wires (cable tunnels), the desensitizer (bookmark/brochure holder), and whether we needed the dual monitors (they're not used as intended because of privacy issues, so what about getting a large overhead monitor like Marston?) I've passed our suggestions on to the Access Services Managers and they're sending the proposals up to the directors. Let's hope we lose the big silver boxes soon!

Other stuff
Naomi had an issue come up when she called our desk to be transferred to the reference desk and instead was transferred to Paul M's voicemail. I doublechecked the numbers posted at the desk and they're typed correctly, but lucky Paul has a number really close to the ref desk number:
Paul M- 3-2655
Ref desk- 3-2665

I think that about covers the meeting. If you have any questions let me know.

GRE Test Prep- Available Online!

I know I've had many patrons come by checking out or returning GRE Test Prep books. Well I just found out that we have GRE Test Prep materials available online! Refer patrons to the Testing and Education Reference Center by Gale.

Ben Walker suggests this as the easiest way to access it: go to Databases, search by title, select "t" from the alphabetical list, and find Testing and Education Reference Center.

It looks like they can take the practice tests and look at the online test prep books for the following tests:
GRE
MCAT
LSAT
GMAT
MAT and more

I'm impressed!

Upcoming training on Ares

Ares (course reserves) training is available next week. Sign up online here.

This training will provide tips on how to better serve the patron when they come to the desk with Ares questions.

Training Dates, locations, and times:
Library West Room 211 (3:00-4:00PM)
December 12th and 19th

If you have questions please contact the Reserves staff at or call 273-2520.

Questions on Guitar Hero? I think that falls under "other"

There is a library event this Thursday on the 3rd floor. It looks like all patrons and staff are welcome to attend.

Guitar Hero this Thursday, December 6, from 2-4pm on the third floor of Library West in the InfoCommons presentation area.

Please contact: Stacey Ewing, Laura Jordan, or Laurie Taylor with any questions.

It sounds like fun!

Time to think about Spring

Our end of semester meeting is next week on Dec. 4th at 2:30 in West 253.

Topics for discussion include:

The upcoming Spring semester
How did it go having the triage for the first 3 weeks, should we do that for Spring?
Spring Schedule changes?
Discuss possibility of changing the location to the other end of the desk.

The big silver boxes
We have been asked for proposals on how to replace the big silver boxes. Our proposals are due on 12/5 so bring your ideas!

Wrap up the fall semester
Looking at the Fall Statistics
Your feedback from the desk