Fines:

In order to change the way fines are calculated at your library we need to collect some information from you.  Polaris allows us to charge different fines for each material type and patron type (code).  Please visit this online survey and answer the fines questions ASAP so we can make these changes.  THe change I refer to here is to make fines consistent for your patrons (no matter who owns the item if it is circulated from your library the patron is subject to your fine policies).

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zR2pZq9GnE9SbGTzIm99Lw_3d_3d

CAP:

Most of you have been struggling with the new CAP requirement, another form to fill out.  I will do all I can to make sure I have everyones form collected, signed and sent in on time.  If you haven't sent in a form expect a phone call.

Building Renovations:

Please be aware that our building is now under construction.  As I write this I can hear the power tools in the background.  Many of us are now sharing offices and even phone lines.  We are working hard to make sure your new books get out to you in a timely manner.  However, we are currently behind.  

Please be aware that phone extensions may not work properly during this renovation.  The best way to contact NLLS is through our new Help Desk.  

Our New Help Desk!

Need to get in touch with someone at NLLS?  Send your questions, supplies orders, problems to the help desk at help@nlls.ab.ca or visit http://help.nlls.ab.ca to submit your questions.  This is the most effective way to get your queries to the right people here at NLLS.  Go ahead give it a try.

Withdrawn Items: 

I have now mass deleted your withdrawn items.  This will become a regular monthly practice so please be aware.  There are a handful of libraries out there who did not have any items in a status of withdrawn! When OTFs (On the Fly Items) come back you need to change their status to withdrawn - Polaris does not automatically delete the record.  ILL - OTFs absolutely must be set to a status of withdrawn upon checkin.

You can change items to withdrawn by "managing" them at checkin. Single click on the item in the Checkin window you want to withdrawn to highlight it in blue and then click on the manage button.  In the dialog box that pops up you can change the circ status to withdrawn.

If you have a large number of items you want to withdraw you can create a record set of the items and send the name of the record set to our help desk for us at NLLS to bulk change. Some things to remember when creating these record sets:

1. Be sure to create an item record set
2. Make sure the record set is owned by your library and not your username

Getting a count of your deleted items:

If you'd like to know how many items you have withdrawn.  You can do a search for your deleted item records.  Simply search by record status deleted and limit by your assigned branch.  I realize that for the annual report you'll need to divide this number into print vs non-print items.  By the end of the year we'll have a report that can do that.  Here is an example of the search for deleted records: (By the way we can restore these deleted records quite easily if need be).

Chili Fresh! Writing, Reading and Rating.

Your patrons (and you too) can now write book reviews of your favorite or least favorite title that will appear in the PAC.  This adds a little more web 2.0 to your diet keeping us all regular.  So enjoy!

For some instructions on using the product see here: Chili Fresh - How to and to market this new service feel free to print these bookmarks: Chili Fresh Bookmark.

Online Training Opportunities:

The onlin training sessions Leanne and Coral have been teaching appear to be a great success.  As we take a step back and evaluate the sessions to this point new sessions are on hold for the moment.  The last session will be: Adding Item Records on Thursday June 18 from 10am to 11:30am.

Leanne Drury has taken the position of assistant director of the new Lois Hole Library in Edmonton.  We'll miss her.

Coral Kratchmer will begin full-time employment with Northern lights on July 6th.

We hope to begin offering courses agian in July.  We are also waiting for some dates from EBSCO who plan to offer us online training of the new databases available to us.

New Online Databases!

We now have acces to Novlist K-8 and EBSCO's Hobbies and Craffts Database.  Login to TRACpac and visit the E-resources page to get access to these great new sources.

We now also have access to the Automotive Repair Reference Center.  Please let your patrons know of this valuable new resource and that our subscription to Chilton (auto repair database) will expire and not be renewed in early October.