Current Protocols in Immunology is back up and running. Thank you.
Thanks to Steve and Ryan, there is now a patron account for the Reference staff in Aleph. So, from now on, any new books of interest that are routed to staff should be checked out to this account. This accomplishes a couple of things. First, it means that these books show up in MNCAT as being checked out (instead of available, as they have in the past). Second, it means that patrons can recall them, if necessary.
Katherine has the actual library card. The account name is medref and the email attached to it is medref@umn.edu. This means that overdue notices, recall notices, etc. will be emailed to medref. If a book goes missing or is recalled, however, I am happy to make the rounds to track it down amongst the staff.
Questions? Please let me know.
Thanks,
Martha
Hello Everyone,
Liz informed Amy yesterday about a problem with Current Protocols in Immunology and Amy got in touch with Wiley this morning. As it turns out Wiley is having problems across the board and they are working to fix these problems as soon as possible, but we do not have a specific timeline. We will let you know when everything is up and running again.
Amy & Nicole
Hi all,
Bio-Med is moving forward with implementing a pilot IM (instant messaging) reference service. If you work the desk then you'll probably be answering reference questions in the near future with instant messaging.
In order to get everyone to feel comfortable using IM, it would be great if everyone could set up an IM account in one of the many commercial services that are available. Our IM service will be able to answer questions from anyone with these types of accounts:
AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)
GoogleTalk
MSN
Yahoo
U of M Jabber
Feel free to go to any of these services to set up an IM account.
Once your account is set up, you can either use the commercial client to IM, or download the open source software called Gaim from www.sourceforge.net
Gaim is the software we'll use at reference desk computer B to answer questions. You can also use a free web product called Meebo (www.meebo.com) to do IM through any of the above services.
I've created a Word document that outlines our project and provides Buddy names for our Medref IM service and staff who have IM accounts. Please download this and read, then feel free to practice with myself or another staff person to get used to doing IM.
Our expected roll-out date for this service is sometime early next semester. I'm also thinking of how to do training with everyone. I'm fairly certain that once we get the service details ironed out that it should be pretty self-evident, but I'm also up for group or one-on-one training as needed. If you have any ideas about this, please pass them my way.
Let's get ready to IM!
Lisa
Some questions about giving U of M salary information came up recently on the Chat Reference list, so I thought this would be a good time to remind Bio-Med reference staff about current and historical salary information.
Salary information is available on the UM Reports website for use by University faculty and staff. To use it:
1. Go to http://www.umreports.umn.edu
2. Click on User Login. You will be prompted for your University Internet ID (referred to there as your X.500 ID) and password.
3. You will need to read and agree to the University's privacy policies.
4. Click on the Search Reports tab.
5. Set the Filter By Category box to HR & Payroll and the SubCategory to HR Reports.
6. Find Personnel Basic Information in the alphabetical results list, and click on it.
7. Click on Select an Area.
8. Select the department or area in which you are interested, and follow the prompts.
In addition to finding salaries for specific individuals, you can also obtain "job code salary averages." This function can answer questions like "What is the average salary for assistant professors in Epidemiology at the U of M?"
1. Log on to UMReports: http://www.umreports.umn.edu
2. Click on Search Reports (upper left corner)
3. Type in "Job" and click Search
4. Scroll down and click on "Job Code Average Salary"
5. You can then search by Job Code (i.e. job category), or by College.
It gives you a listing of all of the members in that classification and an average at the bottom of the page.
Historical Information
As of 2005, salary and other budget data is available only online; printed budget volumes are no longer being produced.
PRINTED VOLUMES
Older printed volumes (1911 through 2004) are available for consultation in University Archives:
University Archives
Map & Directions: http://andersen.lib.umn.edu/andersenvisitors.html
Hours: http://www.lib.umn.edu/about/hours_fetch.phtml?LibID=32
As of mid-2006, both Wilson Reserve and Magrath Reserve have also retained the last annual printed salary volume:
Wilson Library Reserve (Basement) (salaries 2003/2004)
Map & Directions: http://wilson.lib.umn.edu/wilsdir.html
Hours: http://www.lib.umn.edu/about/hours_fetch.phtml?LibID=35
Magrath Library Reserve (salaries 2003/2004)
Map & Directions: http://www1.umn.edu/tc/maps/CentLib/
Hours: http://www.lib.umn.edu/about/hours_fetch.phtml?LibID=23
The report is called University of Minnesota Total Salary Report, and the Call Number is Quarto LB2334.3 .M56 U55x.
Patrons may use the Budgets during regular business hours. Photocopying is available at the current rate.
Some guidelines for giving this information to non-affiliated patrons:
It's okay to give salary information to unaffiliated patrons. InfoPoint will do three specific, short-answer lookups per person per day, so that sounds like a good guideline to keep in mind for Biomed.
If summary or trend data is needed, unaffiliated patrons should contact the Office of Institutional Research to arrange for assistance: (612) 624-4851.
The homepage for OIR is at:
http://www.irr.umn.edu/
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
Liz