Strength in Reserve (and Periodicals too)

Date: 8-30-06 Time: 2:45 pm Location: East Asian Library (Wilson sub-basement) Type of Incident: Crime
Problem: Student from EA Lib came to Wilson Ref Desk to report that her purse had been stolen from her work area in EA Lib while she was at lunch. I recommended that she call 911 and offerred her use of our phone, but she decided to return to EA Lib to make the 911 call, which she did. U Police came to EA Lib and took her statement. I notified the Security Monitors who were just coming on duty. Note: The student may also be filing an incident report of the theft.
Action Taken:Called 911 Police

Remember: The on-line incident report form is located at http://staff.lib.umn.edu/security/ Report these types of problems to 911, and never endanger your personal safety

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Attention all students!!!

We need a report back from everyone on whether or not you have a key to the unit.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 05:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

This fall the Libraries will be running a pilot program to experiment with extended hours for the Map Library, East Asian Library, Ames Library and the Annex. The goal is to increase the hours of access to these four collections within the confines of a modest budget.

To do this, two students from Wilson Stacks will be stationed at a central point at the bottom of the stairs during evening and weekend hours. There will also be a student stationed at the desk in the Map Library since we have a computer lab there. The students scheduled during these times are there to provide increased access to four collections. They will help patrons find materials with call numbers and answer directional questions, but they are not providing reference service. They will have a red phone so they can call the reference desk for quick help. More complex questions will be referred to the 1st floor reference desk. (The Map Library student will be able to offer some limited help to patrons in that collection.) The central students will report to Julia Kiple’s unit. The Maps student will report to the Map Library.

There will not be students or staff sitting within Ames, East Asian or the Annex. One of the students will always remain at the central point. The other will circulate through the collections and will page materials from the Annex. As you recall, the second security monitor hired last January covers only two floors ­ the basement and sub-basement. This has worked out well. During the fall semester, security cameras will also be installed in the central corridor of the sub-basement (as well as other locations in Wilson Library). All of these measures are intended to provide security for people and collections.

The increased hours will have collections in the sub-basement open as follows:
* M-Th 9 a.m. ­ 8 p.m.
* Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
* Sat. 1 p.m. ­ 5 p.m.
* Sun 1 p.m. ­ 5 p.m.

At the end of fall semester, we'll evaluate the pilot and decide whether to continue, modify, or discontinue based on data gathered during the fall.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Date: 8/24/06 Time: 2:35pm Location: 2nd floor wilson Unit: IT Computer SUpport
Problem: A group of kids were roughhousing on the 2nd floor and taking up all of the computers. They obviously have login information available to them because ALL the computers were being taken up by this group of kids. A patron was trying to look for a computer and was upset that the whole 2nd floor was taken up by game-users.

I was stopped by the patron and asked where they could get on a computer to look up a book. I walked patron down to the 1st floor and showed them the comptuers in the reference room.

I talked to my supervisor and am now aware that as staff I may ask for U of MN ID or ask a security monitor to do this if I feel uncomfortable (there were 8 or more young men all in a group).

Action Taken:Reported to Supervisor; Took patron to a less disruptive location.

Reminder: Use the incident report form at http://staff.lib.umn.edu/security/ Report these types of problems to the security monitor and your supervisor. Call 911for criminal behavior. Never endanger your personal safety.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Make way for new computers in Wilson Library!!

Timeline. The first new public computers in Wilson's reference room are installed and are functioning. Like before, there are 6 login and 4 open access computers. Installations for the sub-basement, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of Wilson should be done by the end of the day today. We hope to finish the basement by the end of the day Friday. We will also be visiting Filmscanner by the end of the day Tuesday or Wednesday.

-- OPEN ACCESS will still run Public Browser with the block list (e.g. no popular email sites like yahoo, etc.). There is a link to a USB stick from the toolbar in public browser. Security is tight and should mimic what you are all used to with a few exceptions. Patrons should be able to save directly to their USB stick from the Save As menu. They can verify their downloads through the link provided to USB in the toolbar. There is also a "safely eject usb" button which patrons can use to properly eject the hardware from the machine. If you simply unplug USB you do run the risk of corrupting data on the stick.

-- LOGIN - GRAND REFERENCE TABLE (1st Fl). The login computers on the grand reference table are almost identical to the Smart Learning Commons computers. Once logged in a patron can have access to the start menu and a variety of programs. Patrons can save to the hard drive (My Documents is a good location) and then email, burn a data cd or dvd, secure ftp, or transfer data to a USB flash drive. The University provides all student, staff, & faculty with server space in which to hold files. Info can be found here http://www1.umn.edu/adcs/guides/accounts/filetransfer.html . Computers on the grand reference table also have Microsoft Office installed on them. Other than the Smart Learning Commons these will be the ONLY computers in Wilson that have Office installed.

-- LOGIN - GENERAL (includes Periodicals room). The login computers in the rest of Wilson will only have Microsoft Viewers on them, not the full Office suite, other than that the image should be identical.

****Please note ALL these computers have a security program on them called "Deep Freeze" which will destroy any changes made to the computer after it is rebooted. If you are working with a patron encourage them to save to a removable media (CD/DVD/USB) or off site location (email, UMN Server space, etc...) frequently to prevent any data loss.

***For LOGIN computers, there is a 10 minute time out for inactivity. We have a screensaver enabled that will automatically logoff the user (and lose any data) if the computer is inactive for 10 minutes.

*** Please note, No new public computers have floppy drives.

*** All computers will have three printers installed. Smart Learning Commons Black & White ($0.10/page). Smart Learning Commons Color ($1/page). And Wilson Uniprint ($0.10/page). All support duplexing.

All students please comment that you have read this new, exciting news.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Uniprint will be down Wednesday August 23 and available sporadically Thursday – Friday, August 24-25.

Plan A: For library users using the microform scanners, you can offer options & alternatives to printing:
• Email images
• Burn to CD or DVD
• Save to flashdrive

Plan B: If these alternatives do not work for the patron, refer them to full-time staff. If the print job is an appropriate size, we may decide to print it for them (they can email the images to us and we can print on the office printers).

Plan C: If full-time staff are not available, refer the patron to Copy Services. They should see "Barb" or "Mark" there -- not one of the desk workers. Walk with the patron to Copy Services if possible.

NOTE: Options above are not available for patrons printing from regular computers. This is only for those using microform scanners.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Date: 8/16/2006 Time: 4:45 pm Location: Wilson Reserve Service Desk - basement
Type of Incident: Other Inappropriate Behavior
Unit: Wilson Library Reserve & Periodicals
Hair Color: black Sex: male Description of clothing: yellow short-sleeved t-shirt & jeans
Problem: service desk was closed. patron startled me by peering into the periodicals book-drop and saying "you're crazy." he then asked me for a quarter. he also said that he "liked kittens", pointing to our calendar with a picture of a cat. he asked me to flip the calendar so he could see the other pictures. he looked at me very sexually the entire time, making me very uncomfortable.
Action Taken:Contacted Security Monitor & Reported to Supervisor

Reminder: Use the incident report form at http://staff.lib.umn.edu/security/ Report these types of problems to the security monitor and your supervisor. Call 911for criminal behavior. Never endanger your personal safety.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At long last, the announcement we’ve all been waiting for! Tirelessly writing the same number a kajillion times only to get a new number, and write that a kazillion times, then stuffing envelopes contributing to carpal tunnel syndrome and general zombification… is over! That’s right, the microfiche transfer from envelopes with film damaging stickers to acid- and sticker-free envelopes is complete! This project started in 2003 (yikes!) until just this past week, when the last stickered envelopes, hiding in plastic boxes, were discovered by Brandon, who wrestled them to the floor and ripped them to shreds. Maggie and Jacey then rescued the fiche from the rubble, branded new envelopes, and delivered the shaken but safe fiche to new homes.

A huge thanks to everyone who worked on this project. We appreciate all your hard work—even and especially when the hard work is incredibly easy but also incredibly tedious and seemingly unending. You’re the best.

Posted by Meg Holle at 04:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I read a bit of library humor in the Onion today... check it out!

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/51562

Posted by Charles Heinz at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Copy Center has now completed their move. When referring patrons to the Copy Center, direct them to the service desk next to the basement exit, where they will find both:
-- Circulation Services AND
-- Copy Center Services

This desk is staffed entirely be Copy Center staff, who can do both circulation and Copy Center services for library users. There will no longer be a separate desk staffed by Circulation staff.

Copy Center offices are located nearby in Room 2 (go into Business Reference/Government Documents area, and the room is immediately to your left). Room 2 will eventually have a service window as well.

Please go over and see this new space so that you can refer patrons accurately.

A cafe will be located where the Copy Center used to be. This coffee shop is expected to open Spring Semester.

All students please comment that you've read this post and checked out the new Copy Center arrangement.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Please report any malfunctioning Library Cash to Card machines directly to:

1) Report problems directly to Wilson Reserve & Periodicals full-time staff.

2) If full-time staff are not available, report problems directly to the UCard office at 6-9900. Please ask for Mary or Sarah and give them the location of machine. They are available M - F 8-4:30. If it's outside of these hours, leave a message, and the machine will be fixed the next business day.
**If reporting to UCard office, communicate this to full-time staff**

Estimated Service time is 3 hours, but 2 hours will be their goal.

Tips for Helping Patrons When Cash to Card machine is down:
-- Refer to first floor machine at Wilson Library
-- If both Wilson machines are down, refer to another West Bank cash to card machine location:
Anderson Hall, Lower level
CSOM, 2nd level
Elmer Anderson Library
Humphrey Center, Lower level
Law Library, Main level
Middlebrook Hall, Main level
WBOB, Main level

Listing of all campus Cash to Card machine locations is at the UCard page: http://www1.umn.edu/ucard/umtc/tcg4g.html

All students please comment that you've read this post. Thanks!

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Date: 8/10/06 Time: 4:30, Location: Wilson Library, Unit: Wilson Reference
Type of Incident: Other
Problem: A patron came to the Reference Desk and said that he has been studying here every day for the last week from morning until evening and every day all day there are kids playing on the computer with their music turned up disrupting his ability to study. He said that it is the same group of kids all the time. I reported it to the security guard who went up and told the kids they had to turn down their music. I asked the patron to call us on the red phones whenever it is happening and we will send someone up to deal with the kids. The patron was very upset. I also gave him a comment form which he took with him.
Action Taken:Contacted Security Monitor

Reminder: The on-line incident report form is located at http://staff.lib.umn.edu/security/ Report these types of problems to the security monitor and your supervisor. Call 911for criminal behavior. Never endanger your personal safety.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday 8/11/06 staff will relocate the public photo copy service from its current location in the basement center lobby area to the area behind the basement circulation/exit desk to make room for the future Wilson Library Cafe.

Limited photocopy service will be available during the move.

Photo copy staff and services currently housed in basement Room 20 will relocate to basement Room 2.

The future Wilson Cafe is expected to begin operations in Spring Semester 2007. It will be located where the Copy Center currently is.

We will keep you updated on new Copy Center services and operating procedures. Questions/Concerns - contact Margaret.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The conversion to Aleph version 18 begins this Friday, August 11. (Aleph powers the software used to check in/out items and the online MNCat.)

With Aleph version 18, library users will see a few changes in MNCat:
-- Browse with no match. When doing a browse search where there is no match, text "would have appeared here" will appear in list of items
-- Renewals. When a user tries to renew and cannot do so, more explanatory text will appear to tell them why (such as the item has been renewed already in the past 24 hours)
-- Basket Fix. When doing a search that they want to save, users will no longer have to redo their search after logging in. They still have to log in, but their last MnCat search will still be available. They can then select items and add to their "basket" as desired.

Starting Monday, go into MNCat, and try each of these three new features yourself. This will best help you assist patrons who might have questions about changes.

Aleph 17 (our current version) will work as usual until 4:30 p.m. Friday; however, there may be periods when response time is somewhat slow.

NOTE: Over the weekend, several things will happen, including the "My Account" feature will be disabled and circulation will occur "off-line". Aleph will also be down for 1/2 hour beginning at 4:30 Friday and for 10 minutes late Sunday. These things do not affect us because Reserve is not be open Sat. or Sun.

Late Sunday, conversion to version 18 will be complete.
--MNCat users will be accessing version 18 automatically.
--Staff users must use the version 18 to access Aleph.
--Aleph ILL will be available.

Beginning Monday, August 14:
--Online (regular) circulation will resume
--Access to Your Account will be restored.

All students please comment that you have read this post

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 09:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

To answer a couple of questions about a posting below on the new copiers:

What are Copy Center Hours?

Copy Center hours can be found on the Libraries Hours page at http://www.lib.umn.edu/site/hours.phtml
Go to Wilson Library >>> "Photocopy Services"

Hours are also posted on the side of the Copy Center itself.
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Should we do things like clear paper jams at the copiers?

Yes, if you can quickly and effectively help a patron at the copy machines, do so.

Use your best judgement about this. It's better to refer the patron to the Copy Center than to take more of the patron's time by struggling with something with which you are unfamiliar. Also be aware of other responsibilities you have to attend to -- like staffing the Reserve Desk. If helping at the copier is going to pull you away from other responsibilities for too long, refer the patron to the Copy Center.

Also, we have not trained students about how to troubleshoot copiers, so unless the problem is a quick fix that you are completely comfortable with, refer the patron to the Copy Center.
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What should I do to solve copier problems with patrons when the Copy Center is closed?

When the copy center is closed, refer problems to full-time staff.

If full-time staff are not available, do the best you can. Offer options and alternatives, like:
1) trying another copier
2) offer courtesy cards
3) If all copiers are wacked, go with them to another floor (Closest is subbasement) to try a copier in a different location
4) If it is an emergency situation and all options are exhausted, seek help at Circulation. Circ staff may NOT know more about about the copiers, but they are a good "last resort"or backup if there is a crisis you need immediate help with.

NOTE: If the person is angry/upset about copy center pricing or recent changes, refer them to talk to Amy B or Peggy Johnson (see posting below on the new copiers)

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From reading this blog, you've probably noticed that there have been a few thefts (lap tops, purses) at Wilson Library recently.

To help prevent theft, the Libraries Facilities department (FOM) has prepared a simple notice to alert library users that it is not safe to leave their laptops, backpack, and other personal items unattended. Please be on the lookout for unattended items and leave a notice on such items for the patron. Take a supply of notices to use while shelving.

We will keep a supply at the desk. Please alert Margaret when we are running low on these notices.

All students please comment that you've read this. Thanks!

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Click Here for New Copiers Information

The Libraries have come up with the "talking points" above for communicating with patrons about our new copy machines. It's important that everyone consistently use these messages when fielding questions about the copiers.

Please note that patrons who are unhappy about these new policies can be referred to voice their concerns to Amy Boemer, Head of Photocopy Services, or Peggy Johnson, Head of Access Services. However, as always, technical problems that you can't help the patron solve (paper jam, copy card problems, etc.) should be referred to the Copy Center. These kinds of technical issues should not be referred to Amy or Peggy. Let Margaret know if you have questions about what issues should be referred where.

All students please comment to indicate you have read this post, including the attached document.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

It happens all the time: a patron needs help because the journal they need is not on the shelf.
1) Remember that one of the most helpful things you can do is to check online availability or other formats like microform. This is an easy process using MNCat.
2) If it's unavailable electronically or otherwise, get full-time staff who can do an on-the-spot search for the patron.
3) If we are not around, fill out a blue search card for the patron and give it to full-time staff. Make sure to get the patron's first name and preferred contact information (phone or email).

It's important that all students are familiar with how to do this for patrons. If you are unsure about any part of the process outlined above, please see Margaret. Thanks!

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Attention, attention!! New copiers have been installed throughout Wilson Library.

The new machines take cards only (U Cards or Copy Cards). The new copiers do not take cash or coins.

Pricing for the new machines is $0.17 per page for all copies.

Since they have been installed, there have been large problems with paper jams. Refer patrons experiencing this kind of frustration to the Copy Center.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Salary Report Procedure

New information just out on helping unaffiliated patrons and students access U of MN Salary reports (remember, these are the folks who can't access the information online).

Refer unaffiliated patrons & students who want salary reports beyond 2003-04 to the “Ask Me” links (email, chat, phone) on the Library home page. http://infopoint.lib.umn.edu/

There, they can connect with “InfoPoint” librarians who can look up salary data for up to three individuals at a time. These librarians also have information on where the person can get information if they need more than three.

We are also keeping a copy of the last Salary Report available in print in course reserve. This procedure will be included in the binder for handy reference.

Click here for previous post with information about accessing the online version of the reports.

All students please comment to indicate you have read this post.

Posted by Margaret Ostrander at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)