[LM_NET] HIT: inefficiency

[sarah <sarah.ludwig@GMAIL.COM>]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my request for help with my
processing...process. :) The new process will be:

1. order books pre-cataloged from Baker & Taylor

2. order books with covers and barcodes

3. order MARC records

4. when book arrives, check to see if call number works for us, stamp, put
on spine label, and shelve

....my only question remains: what kind of system do you use for tracking
your orders? Do you make up a list of the titles you're going to order and
then type the titles into the catalog to check for duplicates?

Here are some of the responses I got:

We order our books from a vendor, and many provide free
processing.   We use either Follett, or Mackin.

When a book order comes in, we check the contents of the box against the
invoice, and then sign the PO and return it to the business office, so the
vendor will get paid.
The books come mostly processed -- i.e. pockets, mylar covers, spine labels,
barcodes, etc.  I do a quick glance at each book, just to be sure I don't
need to change call numbers ( sometimes I make an E book  into FIC, or add
classification labels to the spine).  The book is stamped with our ID stamp,
and is basically ready to go.  I need to download the MARC records from
either the vendors website, or the provided disk, and upload to our
circulation system. The records require some editing, i.e. adding copy
numbers, mostly, but that can be done at my leisure.
The books are then ready to go.
Books which are not shelf-ready ( the industry term)  take much longer.
 These are usually donations from families, book fair titles, or  books I
buy right from a local bookstore ( like the new HP one) .  I  have students,
a parent volunteer or a part time clerk do most of the processing... apply
dummy barcode, insert pockets, stamp ID, etc. I create a call number spine
label and apply it, then input record into our circ system.  Ready to go.
The one thing I definitely suggest is to purchase as many books shelf- ready
as you can.   Baker and Taylor offers the service, I'm 90 percent sure of
it.

You can cut out the whole accession number thing and keeping a binder shelf
list. If you really want a shelf list, you can always run a report in your
circ software in dewey order, just in case.  You could run a new one every
year.  Or, I am sure you can run a report now and then every year of just
books added that year that you could add to the binder as an update.  Books
do not need accession numbers for any reason.  I dont' even have a shelf
list.  The entire database is not just on the server, but also on back up
tapes that are off-site.
You also don't have to catalog anything.  Get the books already processed.
It not all that expensive.  When you download the records into circ, you can
have it flag duplicates (books you already have) and you can tell it to
either add the new record, add the barcode to the existing record, or not
catalog it at all and you can deal with it later.
I am not sure why you color code spine labels.  If you choose to continue
this, you can probably buy clear tinted spine label protectors. You could
slap those right over the spine labels you make on the cheap labels, or on
the labels that come on the books that you had pre-processed.  We had some
yellow ones to distinguish the college study guides from regular books.  I
even stopped doing that because I didn't understand why we were doing it-- I
decided to give the college books a prefix "college" and dumped the yellow
color coding altogether.
Incidentally, I don't think any library school covers any practical stuff
like this.  It's all just sort of "learn as you go."  Luckily, I worked in a
library with another librarian so I didn't have to bungle around trying to
figure it out!


Where to begin?  First of all, if you are automated, you can ask the book
company for a MARC rcord disk that you can import into your system.  The
books are cataloged by the book company.  Gumdrop Books has an excellent
MARC record for every book.
Accession numbers are not necessary  -- your predecessor probably could not
part with them, but they went out quite a while ago.
You can print a paper shelf list, using your automation system.
Your system can check for duplicates.  Also,you can "look at" the MARC
records that are suggested by the book company and change them to fit your
own specifications.
You can order your books with all labels unattached, then you can have your
aide attach the spine labels, stamp the book with the library name, and put
plastic covers on books that have dust jackets.  (Clear spine label tape can
be purchased to go over the spine label, as well as mylar covers.  ==
available from Demco.
Or you can have your books ordered from the book company "shelf ready".  The
books will come with the spine labels already on, as well as the tape and
book covers.  You may have to stamp the inside of the book with the library
name, but I think that can be done by the book company as well.  I usually
write on the title page of the book:  the vendor, school year purchased, and
price, as well as the bar code number.

Do you have an automated catalog? It sounds as if you do and so do you all
back it up nightly or does someone backup the network? If so, here is what I
can suggest and I am sure you will get more suggestions.
First, I have not kept accession numbers since my first year as a lms. With
our automated system, I don't need it. I also do not keep the shelf list
boxes either.
When I purchase books from a vender, I order cataloging done. They can send
it by email or put it on a cd for you. At present, all records go to our
central office and are entered into our city wide catalog and to our school
library. If we purchase book s from a book store, we must copy the title
page and verse and send it to central processing and they put the book into
the system. We order barcodes and lables and we put them on. We record the
price and barcode no. into the books and the date we got it. Also, we stamp
the school name on several pages.
We cover the books with a clear cover which we purchase and it is ready to
go.


The best way is the next time you order, have them all PRE-processed!  It
only costs a bit more but the savings in manhours, books unused, etc.
totally outweighs the cost.  Get with your Baker and Taylor rep and have
them set up the barcodes, spine labels, etc. exactly how you have it.  The
only things you have to do when they arrive are to load the disc and POOF!
there are the marc records and stamp in the school name. (Of course you have
to double check the order list and possibly the nonfiction # to make sure it
is classified correctly.) But it is GREAT to have the books put out on
tables for teachers to preview all the new stuff and then have the students
look at them.  Then just watch them all get checked out within a two week
period.  Helps with all that shelving at one time, too!
Just make sure that if you shelve certain types of books separately from
others and give them a special call number, that you tell the rep that.
Otherwise you will have to relabel those.  For ex.  I'm PreK-5.  I have my
graphic novels in a separate area and their call number starts with GN and
then either the nonfiction # and author or just author for fiction and easy
books; board books are BB; bilingual books are ES; my award books with AW
CAL 1961 (Caldecott winner of 1962) or AW NEW 1988 (Newbery winner of 1988)
or AW TXB 2001 (Texas Bluebonnet winner of 2001), etc. so the label looks
like this:

AW NEW 1988
BID (author's last 3 initials for easy and fiction books)

or you can do

AW NEW 1988
F
BID

then

AW TXB 2001
595.2 (Nonfiction #)
BID (author's last 3)

The award books you might have to redo spine labels yourself.

GN  (I think they come with a # 749 or something unless you specify)
SIE

BB
CLE

ES
597
COL



****Most of the responses I got were along these lines. If you want to see
all of them (about 45 in all!), let me know and I will email you off-list.

Sarah Ludwig
Director of Library Services
Wilbraham & Monson Academy
sarah.ludwig@gmail.com

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