May 15 Users Group Meeting

We met, we talked and we learned at the May 15, 2012 NExpress Users Group meeting.

Welcome to Perry-Lecompton and Corning libraries – joining next, now that Richmond is live!
Jim discussing possible increases in Courier Costs
Gary shared these Guidelines and Best Practices for Fan Clubs:

Holds were being put on popular materials prior to the street date. For fan clubs, place holds AFTER you have a physical copy in your hand (and in your collection).
Place a maximum of 5 holds a day on a new title. Stagger the process – more ‘gentle’.
Libraries who have fan clubs should buy multiple copies of these materials. For example, Atchison will buy 3 copies reg, 1 LP and 1 audio of new books by authors on their fan club.

Liz revealed that the System Slow Down at 3 pm is due to Kan-ed becoming “totally saturated.” System logs show that Koha is actually busiest at 6 pm, not 3! If you have a second Internet connection, consider switching to it during a slow down period.
Lost Items and the Materials Replacement Fund – Mickey reminded us that our process mirrors the State’s ILL policy on materials replacement: Wait at least two (2) months beyond the due date before filing a claim. We also clarified that we favor the Transacting Library over the item’s owning library OR the patron’s homebranch when determining responsibility for lost, damaged or stolen materials. After a lengthy discussion about the overdue notices and triggers, along with differences in local policies, we decided that additional research is needed before any discussion of normalizing notices and triggers can take place.
Our next major upgrade to the system will be to 3.8. More information about what to expect is available in the Release Notes. There will be an aesthetic change to the staff client.
We will continue to search for an Enhanced Content provider that allows us the flexibility we seek – it may be that combination of services will be needed, if affordable.
Cataloging News and Notes from Heather

Contact Heather if you or your library still needs her Cataloging Refresher training
In preparation for sending the Catalog out to Marchive for clean up, please Weed!
Heather has created these WONDERFUL Cataloging Clean up reports by library – this should make bibliographic maintenance and catalog clean up quick and easy.
She also introduced new Collection Codes:

Gadget – electronics, peripherals, things with USB connectors, eReaders
Kits – CCode (along with Item type) for 6 x 6 kits and bifokals and read-alongs
Misc – Objects and realia like cake pans and die cuts and stencils and museum passes
TVSeries – DVD not helpful – Heather will help batch edit these
Videogame Platforms – Like DVD/VHS – Identify games based on manufacturer so: Sega, Ninendo, Sony and XBox.

For On Order items, Use Not For Loan (ordered) and normal IType and CCode
We have also constructed a new Videogame Framework that should help simplify the cataloging of games, leading to more consistent and complete records.

Dan demonstrated changes and enhancements made to nekls.org’s eContent pages. Feel free to use these resources in your library or link to them on your Web site.
Complete Minutes are available for download or at our Users Group Archive libguide

Questions, concerns, and general feedback can be sent to nexpresshelp.