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Darwin College Library CommitteeWho's whoStudent LibrarianYou can email the librarians via librarian@dar
Fellow LibrarianAnne Ferguson-Smith (Notes on this role)Pictures of the study centre and libraryA draft website for library users | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Fellow Librarian's jobThe day to day running of the library is left in the capable hands of the student librarians. The Fellow Librarian makes the following contributions.
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Agendas and Minutes
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held
Tuesday 28th October 2002 at 6pm,
in the Seminar Room. \\
Present:
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian], %%
Anne Ferguson--Smith (afsmith@mole.bio) [Fellow Librarian], %%
Ariane Kossack (ak280) [Student Librarian], %%
Elisabeth Leedham-Green (el17). %%
Deborah Pino (dsp26), %%
Andrew Bell (agb38). %%
Alexandra Gillespie (Munby fellow), %%
Felicity Henderson (Munby fellow), %%
Grant Tapsell, %%
Alexandra Lianeri (alianeri@yahoo), %%
Apologies:
Pamela Abbott.
o Minutes of the meeting held in January 2003 were confirmed.
o Committee membership.
Welcome to Alexandra Gillespie, Felicity Henderson, Grant Tapsell, Alexandra Lianeri.
There is no Council representative in the committee at present.
The email list lc@dar has been set up for this committee.
The web link for the email list is
http://www.dar.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lc
o 2003 Book check. 133 books are missing that were not missing 12
months ago. This figure is a welcome reduction compared with former
annual losses in the range 200-300. We attribute this reduction to
the convenience of the bar-code-based checkout system and the
effectiveness of email reminders.
o Donations. Ron Davies and Milo Keynes made generous donations
of Darwin-related books. 30 donations from students were also
received in the Summer, in response to our request for donations.
o Book purchases are going smoothly. CUP have made another
donation to our account. The accountant is helping us to obtain a
credit card number so that books can be ordered directly from amazon,
in cases where ordering through Heffers is not appropriate.
o Children's section. Deborah Pino was willing to enlarge the
collection. The committee agreed to approve up to £ 300 for the
purchase of further books for this section of the library.
o Fines for overdue books. A (very lenient) fine system was
introduced last year. This system has been extremely effective.
Letters warning that a charge was imminent led to the return of almost
all overdue books. As of 28 October only three individuals had failed
to respond. It was agreed that DJCM would send a final warning to
these individuals and then charge their college accounts in accordance
with the policy. [As of 11/11/03, all but one of the books in
question were returned; the missing book's value was £ 16.66;
DJCM took the decision not to issue a charge for this book, since the
fine system has proved so effective, and in the interests of good will
among the college membership.]
o Library website. St Edmunds College have `amazon associate'
links on their website. When anyone follows these links and buys a
book from amazon, a small commission (typically 5\%) is earned. The
Computer Committee recommended that such links be incorporated into
the Darwin website, with the revenue generating credit for the
purchase of books for the library. It was agreed that one or two such
links should be included in the Darwin library page, linking, for
example, to the titles in the Darwin Lecture Series.
o Vesalius. The Vesalius was moved to its current more-shaded
location upstairs, at the beginning of the Summer. Its temperature and
humidity records indicated that this move was a success. Conditions
were stable, with no large fluctuations. Ariane Kossack was consulting
Stuart Welch for further advice on humidity control. It was agreed to
order cushions to support the books.
o Magazine subscriptions. We believe the DCSA conducted a survey
of student opinions about magazine subscriptions. We wait to hear the
results.
o The relationship of the Finley collection to the University
Classics library had been reviewed by Elisabeth Leedham-Green. Whereas
originally there was an arrangement for access to the Finley
collection being granted by the Classics librarian, this arrangement
had not been used for some years, Classics were unaware of it, and it
was agreed it should be cancelled. Public information about the
collection has been updated accordingly.
A Historian will visit the collection in November.
o Automated Checkout system. Espen has improved the system so that
users can identify themselves by scanning their university card's bar code
instead of typing in their email identifier.
o David MacKay is replaced by Anne Ferguson--Smith as fellow
librarian in November. Elizabeth Leedham-Green agreed to take on the
role of secretary of the library committee.
o Date of next meeting.
Tuesday 27th January 2004, 6pm. (See email list for confirmation.)
{ http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/darlib/minutes.html } DJCM
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held Tue 24 June 2003 at 6pm, in the Seminar Room. \\
Present:
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian],
Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer],
Christian Goeschel (cag41) [Student Librarian],
Ariane Kossack (ak280) [Student Librarian],
Mike Sitch (dcsa-coms@dar) [for DCSA rep],
Anne Ferguson--Smith (afsmith@mole.bio),
Elisabeth Leedham-Green (el17).
Apologies:
Vasiliki Tsakali (vt218),
Deborah Pino (dsp26),
Jim Endersby (jje21),
John Craig (jsc1004),
Andrew Bell (agb38).
o Minutes of the meeting held in January 2003 were confirmed.
o Committee membership. There is no Council representative in the committee at present.
o 2003 Book check.
Will take place Monday 7 July for 5 days.
Espen will help set up the system.
o The flat screen and computer terminal dedicated to viewing the UL catalogue
are in place alongside the checkout terminal.
o
The New Newton catalogue is disappointingly poor and slow. It was agreed that
we would monitor closely the improvements provided by the University.
As a last resort Espen said he could create a much faster in-house database server to
serve the Darwin catalogue.
o Book purchases are going smoothly. We are not sure whether this is the last year of CUP's
donation to us. We already have Darwin's letters (contrary to ideas expressed
in the previous minutes).
o Magazine subscriptions.
Mike Sitch circulated a draft survey for students concerning
subscriptions held in the Reading Room. The committee suggested
a few amendments to the survey and looked forward to hearing the results.
o Tidiness of the reading room.
Some of the untidiness comes from the Library's
donations of cast-off books in the reading room.
Espen has spoken to the Bursar and suggested that we confirm that we have
no ties to any of the books there, so that the Bursar could arrange for
them to be removed if and when the room gets a face-lift.
o Donations. The student librarians will use `whatsup' and signs to encourage
students to make book donations now by dropping them in the returns bin.
Dr.\ Milo Keynes sent a generous offer to donate several books
with a Darwin family interest. DJCM will write to accept six books
identified by E.L-G.
A large collection of coins, both British and foreign, has been sitting
in a library cupboard, and is of unknown provenance. It was agreed to
take the coins to the Sainsbury's coin-sorter to separate the foreign
coins out, and dispose of them in a convenient manner, for example, donate them
to Oxfam or Unicef, or send them to the Fitzwilliam museum.
o Fines for overdue books. The
college council has approved the policy proposed in
the previous minutes for a trial period.
About 10 books are at present severely overdue.
It was agreed that appropriate letters should be sent to
the borrowers making clear that the books should be returned by the stockcheck
deadline, July 4th, and that a fine will be imposed if the book is not back within a month.
In future years such letters should perhaps be sent out in early May, for best effect.
o Vesalius. Elizabeth Leedham-Green, Jim Endersby,
and David MacKay met an expert who sent advice on the care of the Vesalius.
The cabinet has been moved upstairs with the help of the Clerk of Works.
Ariane volunteered to take over the monitoring of the Vesalius,
and to follow up the expert's advice regarding regulation of humidity.
Perspex supports will be found to reduce the strain on the books' spines.
We will look at the temperature readings to check whether the move upstairs
has indeed improved matters.
o Children's section. Since the last meeting, Deborah Pino
has stocked the children's shelf, and the system records that 18
items have been checked out by 8 users. The committee thanked Deborah for
starting this excellent project.
o Finley Collection. There was no news concerning the relationship
with the Classics Library and the question of whether
any of the missing volumes might have been borrowed through Classics.
Elizabeth L-G volunteered to find out more.
It was agreed that the Clerk of Works be asked to install a key store
for storing the Finley keys.
One lock had been found broken in March 2003, and was repaired by the Clerk of Works.
It is not clear whether any books were stolen.
o Student Librarians. Christian is likely to be working away from Cambridge
for 1 year. Ariane is happy to continue as Student Librarian for the next year,
which should be her last.
o Automated Checkout system. Espen plans to improve the system so that
users can identify themselves by scanning their university card's bar code
instead of typing in their email identifier.
o The window of the College Archive is letting in dirt from the roadworks.
o Date of next meeting: October, probably the first Tuesday of term, at 6pm.
{ http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/darlib/minutes.html } DJCM
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held Mon 28th January 2003 at 6pm, in the Seminar Room. \\
Present:
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian],
Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer],
Christian Goeschel (cag41) [Student Librarian],
Ariane Kossack (ak280) [Student Librarian],
Vasiliki Tsakali (vt218),
Deborah Pino (dsp26),
Jim Endersby (jje21),
John Craig (jsc1004),
Andrew Bell (agb38),
Vikram Negi (vn218) [Council representative, DCSA president],
Mike Sitch (dcsa-coms@dar) [for DCSA rep],
Elisabeth Leedham-Green (el17).
Apologies:
Pamela Abbott (pya20),
Jason Hawkes (dcsa-welfare@dar) [DCSA representative].
o Minutes of the meeting held on Mon 21st October 2002 were confirmed.
o 2002 Book check.
About 60 books
that were missing at the stockcheck have been returned;
the number still missing is now about 363.
o It was agreed that
a flat screen should be purchased for use
in
a computer terminal dedicated to viewing the UL catalogue.
The terminal will be placed alongside the checkout terminal.
o Tamper-proof `returns' book bin / postbox. The
committee records its thanks to the Clerk of Works for a splendid job.
o Book purchases. The CUP allocation
must be spent by 30 September 2003.
It was agreed to ask CUP if they would
in addition donate to us a set of Darwin's letters (which have
a cost of about £ 1000).
The question of purchasing policy was visited again, in the
light of the steadily increasing number of MPhil students.
It was agreed to stick to the current policy, which
is to solicit book recommendations from all members,
with an emphasis on books of general interest. Textbooks
may also be purchased if
they are not expensive and are expected
to have a long-lasting utility to students.
o Magazine subscriptions.
It was agreed that the whole system for magazines and
newspapers in the college deserves attention.
The reading room is often untidy. Perhaps the College Council
could consider how to improve the situation?
The committee felt that it would be appropriate for
the College to subscribe to some additional magazines
of general interest (titles such as Harvard Business Review
or New Scientist were mentioned), but that such magazines
would belong in the Reading Room rather than in the library.
The DCSA would also ask members to request suggestions
for magazine titles from students.
o Donations. It was agreed that students should be
encouraged to donate books to the Library when they leave Cambridge.
It was suggested that the librarians be authorized
to buy textbooks (that would be appropriate for the library)
from departing students, for a nominal price.
It was agreed that this was an idea worth trying.
o Fines for overdue books. The
college council minutes recorded that a few members of the council
were uncomfortable with the fines policy the library committee had
suggested, even though the policy was in our view the most lenient
and friendly possible. Vikram Negi expressed the view that
non-return of books by members should not be viewed as a big issue.
However the majority of the library committee affirmed that the
current rate of loss of books is unsatisfactory, and that the
problem does not appear to be theft (since many books are voluntarily checked out
and then not returned), but rather the inability of the Librarians to
make the honest but busy member return the book.
The committee agreed to recommend to the College Council that the policy be adopted
for a trial period of one year initially and reviewed.
{ If a book has not been returned within two months of its due
date, if at least two warnings have been issued to the borrower (at
least one by email and one by paper), and if at least one month has
elapsed since the second such warning, then the librarians may issue
a fine equal to the replacement cost of the missing book (or a lesser
sum, at the discretion of the librarians); fines are placed on the
member's college bill. A member who wishes to dispute the
appropriateness of a fine should request a meeting with the Dean and
one of the librarians; the Dean's decision will be final. }
The tamper-proof returns bin is now in place and works well.
o Vesalius. A meeting of Elizabeth Leedham-Green, Jim Endersby,
David MacKay, and an expert will be arranged shortly by EL-G,
to get advice on care of the Vesalius.
o Children's section. Deborah Pino circulated
a list of about 30 cut-price books, some of them second hand,
proposed for purchase at a cost of about 100 pounds.
The committee approved this list and thanked Deborah warmly.
The future growth of the children's section will be discussed
once feedback from members with children is received on this
initial acquisition. It was confirmed that the { Harry Potter\/}
books have already been ordered for the Adult section of the library.
o Finley Collection. CG reported a number of missing volumes on shelves. It was
believed that some collected works of Nietzsche were missing, though
they might be shelved elsewhere. The stockcheck will be consulted to
confirm the status of these books.
The University Classics Librarian has access to the Collection and
can allow borrowing from it. Andrew Bell agreed to investigate whether
the Classics Librarian has any knowledge of borrowed books,
and whether they at present have keys to the study centre
and/or the Finley shelves; and also to investigate whether
old Finley Fellows of the College have any knowledge of
borrowing from the Finley Collection.
o Date of next meeting: Tuesday 24 June at 6pm.
{ http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/darlib/minutes.html } DJCM
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*{Annual Report of the Librarian 2002 GB }
*{Barcodes and computerization}
The new barcoding system is working well. As expected, the labour
involved in the annual stockcheck has been reduced, the accuracy of
information that is collated about the library's collection is
improved, and the processes involved in book-borrowing are made
quicker and simpler for members and librarians alike. The labour
involved in issuing book-recall notices has been greatly reduced.
*{Losses}
Of our collection of about 10,000 books, 8651 were on the shelves in
Summer 2002, 423 went missing from the shelves during 2001-2002, and
the total number of books missing (since 1994) is 1345. Of the
latest 423 missing books, 15 are dictionaries; the most common
classmarks in the list of missing books are 100 (philosophy) (29
missing), 301 (social politics) (23 missing), 320 (state politics)
(17 missing), 330 (economics) (32 missing), and 823 (novels) (56
missing). We expect some of the missing books quietly to return over
the next year, but a regrettable trend of 200--300 losses per year
seems to remain.
*{Book purchases}
Suggestions for books to purchase are always sought from college
members. We continue to purchase books of general interest, and
books related to Darwin and evolution. We still have credit
available to buy Cambridge University Press books. Book
recommendations may be made as follows:\\
Go to the library support page,
{{http://metafaq.ytko.com/faq/darwin/library}}, select the `New
query' button, and enter the details of the book. Alternatively, if
you prefer to use phone, paper, or email, please send your
suggestions to x63547, ``The Librarians", or {{librarian@dar}},
respectively.
*{Acknowledgements}
The smooth running of the library is entirely due to the outstanding
work of the outgoing student librarian, Joanna Shearer, the new
student librarians, Christian Goeschel and Ariane Kossack, and the
Computer Officer, Espen Koht. I would especially like to note Espen's
invaluable involvement in library processes.
David MacKay
\\
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held Mon 21st October 2002 at 5.30pm, in the Seminar Room. \\
Present:
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian],
Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer],
Christian Goeschel (cag41) [Student Librarian],
Atif Aziz (aa267),
Ariane Kossack (ak280) [Student Librarian],
Vasiliki Tsakali (vt218),
Deborah Pino (dsp26),
Jim Endersby (jje21),
John Craig (jsc1004),
Pamela Abbott (pya20).
Apologies:
Carmen Tomas (ct270),
Ranmali Nawartne (dcsa-welfare@dar) [DCSA representative],
Andrew Bell (agb38),
Elisabeth Leedham-Green (el17).
o Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 19th June 2002 were confirmed.
o Committee membership.
Welcomes to Pamela Abbott, John Craig, Jim Endersby,
Carmen Tomas, Vasiliki Tsakali, and Deborah Pino.
o 2002 Book check.
The process of labelling all books with barcodes, initiated
nearly two years ago, proved its purpose this Summer with the
first entirely barcode-based stock-check. The number of items
logged as present in the stockcheck was 8651. 423 books were
missing at the 2002 check (and had not reappeared as of Mon
14/10/02) that were not missing at the 2001 check. Of these,
only 17 are recorded as on loan. Based on past patterns,
perhaps a hundred of the missing books might be expected to
quietly return in due course, and perhaps three hundred are
expected to be lost for good. Of the 423 missing books, 15
are Dictionaries. The most common classmarks in the list of
missing books are 100 (philosophy) (29 missing), 301 (social
politics) (23 missing), 320 (state politics) (17 missing), 330
(economics) (32 missing), 823 (novels) (56 missing). The
total number of books missing (since 1994) is 1345 (a reduction
compared to the figure of 1668 estimated last November).
The automated checkout and return system using the barcodes is
working well. Some members still fill in paper slips (which are then
transcribed to computer by the student librarians) but it is hoped
that appropriate advertising above the paper slips in the check-out
area will encourage people to use the much quicker barcode-based
system. Espen was warmly thanked for his splendid work on this
system. It was suggested that the system might be modifed to tell
the borrower the due date for a borrowed item. A feature that may be
added in due course is the ability of borrowers to request the recall
of a book that is on loan.
o New University Catalogue system. The adding of new catalogue
entries is proceeding without difficulty.
o The question of restoring to some location in the study centre
a computer terminal dedicated to viewing the UL catalogue was
discussed. The committee agreed that such a terminal would be
useful and that the feasibility of placing it on the large and
underused table in the entrance area should be investigated,
power cabling and noise emission being the two critical
issues. Alternative plans include putting it alongside the
check-out terminal (cramped, though perhaps feasible with flat
screen displays) or putting one terminal on top of the book
returns bin (if an appropriate kiosk were created over the
bin).
o Tamper-proof `returns' book bin / postbox. The student
librarians will ask the Clerk of Works whether he can complete
a book bin, as was agreed by him and Joanna before the last
meeting. The idea of including an upper surface appropriate
for a computer terminal will be raised with him.
o Book purchases. A gratifying number of book requests have
been made by new students. Over 1,000 pounds of CUP allocation
remains to be spent before December. All are encouraged to
help the student librarians decide what to purchase.
The issue of reducing the collection by withdrawing outdated
books was raised. It was agreed to hold a retirement party
for such books around the time of the next stock-check.
o Student Librarians. The student librarians requested a
pay-rise from 5 pounds to 7 pounds per hour, a figure in line
with junior librarians' pay at other libraries in Cambridge,
and suggested a change in the number of hours worked from 20
per week to 14 per week (7 hours each) so that the net cost to
the college per week would be essentially unchanged. The
committee agreed to recommend this change to the Bursar,
noting the highly skilled work that Christiane and Ariane are
performing. The office hours provided by the librarians,
consisting of three morning periods and two afternoon periods,
were approved.
o Subscriptions. It was agreed to subscribe to T.L.S.
for 3 years in order to obtain a discount.
o Fines for overdue books. Christian suggested that, seeing as
degrees are not awarded if money is owed to the college, there
should be a similar policy regarding unreturned books. (EL-G
joined the meeting here.) After discussion, in which the
importance of a generous and forgiving atmosphere was agreed,
the committee agreed to suggest the following policy to the
college council:
{ If a book has not been returned within two months of its due
date, if at least two warnings have been issued to the borrower (at
least one by email and one by paper), and if at least one month has
elapsed since the second such warning, then the librarians may issue
a fine equal to the replacement cost of the missing book (or a lesser
sum, at the discretion of the librarians); fines are placed on the
member's college bill. A member who wishes to dispute the
appropriateness of a fine should request a meeting with the Dean and
one of the librarians; the Dean's decision will be final. }
Warning messages regarding missing books will be modified to reflect
this new policy, if it is adopted by Council. Any uncertainty about why
books went missing will be reduced once the tamper-proof returns bin
is completed.
o Library website. The committee approved Pamela's draft
library pages, and confirmed that the links to the University
Library facilities should be upgraded to the most appropriate
links for Darwin users, as the new Newton system evolves. Jim
Endersby volunteered to take digital photographs of the main
library shelves, the Finley room, and the Vesalius, and pass
them to Pamela for possible inclusion in the website.
A link to the `books out on loan' page will be made available
by Espen.
o Vesalius. Jim Endersby volunteered to become the custodian
of the Vesalius and to investigate the inclusion of dehumidifying
sachets in the case.
o Any other business.
Children's section. Deborah Pino asked if a
children's section could be created in the library, for the use of
children whose parents are at the college. One reason for putting
such a collection in the library rather than in the reading room was
that it would give the opportunity to parents to teach their children
the appropriate use of libraries. The committee noted with pleasure
the regular use of the study centre by members' children, and warmly
welcomed this idea, and Deborah's offer to coordinate the acquisition
of appropriate books. A preference for low-cost, perhaps second-hand
books was affirmed. Donations might be solicited from college
members. The committee agreed that the new collection should be put
on an appropriate low shelf in the library, and that a message should
be sent out to members with children with the help of the Deanery,
drawing attention to the collection, and emphasising that no
penalties would be issued in the event of these books' becoming
damaged. Children's books would be barcoded as normal and borrowed on
the college member's account.
o Date of next meetings: Tuesday 28 January at 6pm and Tuesday 24 June at 6pm.
{ http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/darlib/minutes.html } DJCM
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held on
Wednesday 19th June 2002 at 1pm. \\
{ Present:}
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian],
Joanna Shearer (jms85) [Student Librarian],
Hannah Thompson (ht206),
Karin Tybjerg (kt206),
Andrew Bell (agb38),
Susie West (scw29),
Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer],
Christian Goeschel (cag41),
Ariane Kossack (ak280),
Angelique Edmonds (ae227),
Elisabeth Leedham-Green (el17).
{ Apologies:}
Atif Aziz (aa267).
{ Absent:}
Ranmali Nawartne (dcsa-welfare@dar) [DCSA representative], \\
o {{Minutes}} of the meeting held on Tue 29 Jan 2002
were confirmed.
o {{Committee membership}}. We welcomed Ariane Kossack and
Angelique Edmonds to the committee, and bade farewell to
Joanna Shearer and Susie West, whose work was warmly acknowledged.
o { Matters arising}. The buildings and grounds committee
has been too busy to consider the suggested modification
of the locks of the doors onto the balcony.
It was agreed, in view of
overheating problems in the Finley room,
that { both\/} doors onto the balcony (from the Finley room
and from the main space) should be modified.
[Note added Mon 19/8/02: Buildings and Grounds have refused to make
the modifications to the locks that the library committee suggested.]
o {{Book check}}. The 2001 book check is almost complete.
Tasks remaining are to repurchase books believed to be missing,
or remove them from the catalogue.
August 1-7 was chosen as the date for the next book check.
A campaign for book returns should be started now before
students depart.
o { {Automated checkout}}. Espen might find time to complete this
system over the summer.
o { New University Catalogue system} presents difficulties,
but it is hoped that they can be overcome and a set of instructions
for librarians developed.
o {{Book purchases}}. Roughly 40 books bought in reponse to user requests.
o {{Tamper-proof `returns' book bin / postbox}}.
The Clerk of Works will build a book bin.
o { Student Librarian(s)}.
Angelique, Christian, and Ariane
are all interested in sharing the post of student librarian.
The situation will be finalised when their course funding
is confirmed.
o {{Vesalius}}.
Karin reported that the temperature and humidity
are both somewhat above the guidelines.
Expert advice will be sought on what measures can be taken -- for example
the use of silica gel to reduce humidity.
Joanna will ask the Clerk of works whether there is a second key to the case.
o {{Other business}}.
{itemize}
o {{Shelf labels}}. The new shelf labels have been installed and
seem fine.
o { Drinking water dispenser}.
It was agreed to obtain a drinking water dispenser with conical cups
and a small outlet (into which only small cups fit).
o { Food eating} continues; indeed, after bops, members have been
seen bringing in drinks from the bar.
The committee agreed that no food at all may be consumed in the
library, that any open food should be confiscated, and that the
cleaner should be asked to throw away any foodstuffs found in the
library.
o { Colonization} of multiple spaces continues. Some users make permanent
use of three or four. It was agreed that leaving of personal possessions
overnight should be discouraged, and that library books should
be reshelved unless reserved with an appropriate slip.
{itemize}
DJCM
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held on
Tue 29 Jan 2002 at 6pm. \\
{ Present:}
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian],
Joanna Shearer (jms85) [Student Librarian],
Andrew Bell (agb38),
Susie West (scw29),
Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer],
Christian Goeschel (cag41),
Elisabeth Leedham-Green (el17). \\[0.12in]
{ Apologies:}
Hannah Thompson (ht206),
Karin Tybjerg (kt206),
Ranmali Nawartne (dcsa-welfare@dar) [DCSA representative],
Atif Aziz (aa267).
o {{Minutes}} of the meeting held on Tue 30 October 2001 were confirmed.
DJCM apologised for failing to circulate a timely
reminder of today's meeting.
o {{Committee membership}}. We welcomed Christian Goeschel to the committee.
o {{Book check}}. The 2001 book check and relabelling process
is waiting while the large number
of new books is dealt with.
o {{Book purchases}}. A satisfyingly large number of
recommendations came from college members
after the whatsup announcement made in
November 2001. We have finished up last year's allocation
of credit at the CUP bookshop and started spending this year's
allocation.
o {{Smoking, mobile phones, etc.}}
The use of mobile phones continues. Particularly antisocial
is the leaving unattended of phones which subsequently ring.
A single incident of smoking in the large computer room
had also been reported.
A small number of members have started playing music on
their laptops, `because their friends don't mind'.
Some members listen to music with headphones, but
this can also disrupt the quietness of the study centre,
as high frequency sounds hiss out of the headphones.
The committee discussed these matters and agreed the
following policies which aim to ensure that
the primary function of the study centre -- study --
may take place effectively.
(a) The library committee is firmly of the opinion that the
study centre should provide a quiet study environment.
Those who wish to work in an environment with music are
asked to work elsewhere. Music may not be listened
to using headphones, except as specified in (b) below.
Mobile phone use remains forbidden.
Mobile phones must not ring in the study centre.
Silently-vibrating phones may vibrate, but conversations on mobile
phones are not permitted.
These rules apply throughout the study centre --
in all computer rooms and corridors and
in the main space of the study centre, and in the Finley
room, except as specified in (b) below.
(b) We would like to encourage increased use of the Finley room.
A booking sheet for reserving the Finley room for
group activities (such as discussions) will be
provided on a noticeboard in the study centre.
When the Finley room is not booked,
conversation and the considerate use of headphones
will be permitted in that room.
Mobile phone use is not permitted in the Finley room.
(c) Smoking and the consumption of food are not permitted
in the study centre.
It had been suggested by a member that the balcony outside
the Finley room might be made accessible for use as a
smoking area. The committee did not agree a policy on
this matter, but did agree that it would ask the
Buildings and Grounds committee to {{add\/}} an appropriate
lock to one or both of the doors so that
it will become possible -- if the existing keyed lock
is unlocked -- for members to unlock the door from
the inside and enjoy the balcony.
Once this possibility exists, policies on when
to unlock the keyed lock and how to ensure
the security of the building will be discussed; and
the question of whether
smoking would be permitted on the balcony may
be revisited by the library committee.
The area with the bench is apparently not to be made
accessible to members on safety grounds(!).
o {{Tamper-proof `returns'
book bin / postbox}}.
The catalogue of book bins does not include bins of the right size
to fit under the borrowing desk. Joanna will ask the Clerk of Works
whether he might build an entire book bin of the appropriate
size.
o {{Vesalius}}.
Karin Tybjerg has been caring for the books.
o {{Computerization of the loan system}}.
Since 6th November all book borrowings that have been recorded
by members have been logged in Espen's new computer system.
(Paper borrowing slips are still being used during
this first transitional stage; the student librarian enters
the details in the filemaker system.)
From these logs, useful statistics can be gathered.
The librarian can easily view all checked-out books
and send out emails to borrowers of overdue books. [This
last feature was one of the main reasons for the
relabelling of all books with unique barcodes.]
From 6 Nov 2001 to 28 Jan 2002, 208 loans were recorded,
made by 75 different borrowers. The average duration until
a book was returned was 23 days. 107 books are on loan today.
17 are overdue.
It is conjectured that a number of other books have been
borrowed without a slip's being filled in.
It is hoped that the new system, shortly to be implemented,
will sufficiently reduce the labour involved in legitimate
borrowing that the practice of borrowing without
checking the book out will cease.
The new system is intended to have the following features:
(a) Members will be able to borrow a book by scanning the book
with the scanner on the borrowing desk and entering their
email ID, or scanning their university library card.
(b) Members will be able to renew a borrowed book by bringing it
in to the library and rescanning the book.
(c) Members who would like to determine whether a book is out on loan
will be able to do so on a college web-page connected to the
loans database.
The system will allow the member to initiate either or both
of the following actions, if the book is on loan:
i. have an anonymous email sent to the current borrower,
alerting them to the fact that another
member is interested in viewing the book.
ii. request that the loan system notifies the prospective
borrower when the book is returned.
(d) Book returns will be recorded by scanner by the student librarian.
(e) Members with no email address will be able to borrow books by
filling in an old-fashioned borrowing slip.
o {{Shelf labels}}. The committee viewed a selection
of labelling systems and chose shelf labels
for mounting on the shelves themselves.
o {{Other business}}.
{itemize}
o Credit Card: Joanna can now
order books online from both Heffers and CUP so the demand
for a credit card has declined.
o There was a small flood in the archives, coming through
the wall from the Silver Street side, a month ago.
It had been dealt with satisfactorily.
o Valuable books.
It was agreed that the small number of rare books currently
held in the librarian's office should be added to the
catalogue with an appropriate annotation.
o Sherry. The committee agreed to request that tea, not sherry,
be provided at future meetings.
{itemize}
o Date of next meeting:
Tue 25 June 2002, 6pm.
DJCM
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*{Annual Report of the Librarian November 2001 GB 746}
*{Barcodes and computerization}
This year we continued the process of computerizing
information relating to the library.
This process started several years ago with the entering
of the entire Darwin collection into the University
Libraries' catalogue. The next step, taken
this year, was to relabel all our books with new labels bearing
a unique bar code corresponding to the identifier
in the University catalogue. Each book has been given two identical
labels, one on the back cover, and one inside the front cover.
These unique labels offer several advantages.
o
Future stockchecks will be sped up:
we will simply scan all the back covers.
o
Book-borrowing can be made more efficient for users:
instead of filling out a slip with the book's classmark,
author, and title, and their own name,
the user will (when the system is complete)
be able simply to enter their email identifier
and enter the book's identifier (or scan its label).
It is hoped that reducing
the work involved in checking out a book will lead to
a reduction in the level of unrecorded borrowing.
o
When the computerized book-borrowing system is in place,
the labour involved in issuing book-recall notices
will be greatly reduced. Instead of writing recall
notices by hand, the student librarian will be able
to send an automatic reminder by email.
The barcodes will also make easier the recording of returned books.
Other administrative tasks, such as the replacement of
damaged spine labels, will also be partly-automatable.
The major task of adding the new labels to the books
was undertaken at the same time as
the annual stockcheck. The main collection has been labelled
and the labelling of the Finley collection is now being completed
-- a more difficult task,
as most of the Finley books have identical classmarks.
Several hundred books not present in the catalogue have emerged
from this thorough book check. These books are being added to the
catalogue. The task of keeping the online catalogue up to
date is considerable, and is carried out with exemplary
thoroughness by the student librarian.
Our current estimate of the total number of missing books is 1668,
relative to the online catalogue, which was created in 1994.
*{Book purchases}
Suggestions for books to purchase are always sought from
college members. We continue to purchase books of general
interest, and books related to Darwin and evolution.
Cambridge University Press have generously provided a substantial
credit.
Recommendations of appropriate C.U.P.\ books are thus especially
sought at this time.
Book recommendations may be made as follows:\\
Go to the library support page,
{{http://metafaq.ytko.com/faq/darwin/library}},
select the `New query' button, and enter the details of the book.
Alternatively, if you prefer to use phone, paper, or email,
please send your suggestions to x35778, ``The Librarians", or
{{librarian@dar}}, respectively.
*{Acknowledgements}
The smooth running of the library
depends on the fine work of the student librarian, Joanna Shearer.
Joanna carried out the enormous task of the relabelling
with cheerful efficiency.
The close involvement of the computer officer, Espen Koht,
has been essential to the success of this year's developments,
and the college owes a great deal to both Espen and Joanna for their
work this year.
David MacKay
\\
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held on Tue 30 October 2001 at 6pm
\\
Present:
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian], \\
Joanna Shearer (jms85) [Student Librarian], \\
Hannah Thompson (ht206), \\
Karen Tybjerg (kt206), \\
Andrew Bell (agb38), \\
Susie West (scw29), \\
Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer], \\
Katy Lancaster [DCSA representative], \\
Elisabeth Leedham-Green (el17).
o Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 26 June 2001 were confirmed.
o Committee membership. Katy Lancaster agreed to circulate an
email seeking student recruits to the committee. The DCSA Welfare
officer will be asked to join the committee when elected.
o The book check and relabelling of books started in August. All
books in the main collection have been labelled inside the front
cover and on the back cover with new labels featuring barcodes that
are unique to each book. This system will allow computerization of
the processes of book checkout and recall in the near future. The
Finley collection remains to be labelled. Several hundred books not
present in the catalogue have emerged from this thorough book check.
The relabelling process is described on this webpage:
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/darlib/barcodes.html. Our current
estimate of the total number of missing books is 1668, relative to
the online catalogue, which was created in 1994.
o Book purchases.
No requests for books have yet been received from the student
body this year, despite interest shown during college tours.
The announcement for `whatsup', soliciting book suggestions
by email or web interface, will be repeated. [08.11.01: A large number of
recommendations came after the whatsup announcement.]
o Noticeboards.
Little abuse of the noticeboards has occured recently.
A spot is provided for DCSA announcements.
o Mobile phones and other library crimes. The use of mobile
phones in the study centre is common, in spite of abundant prominent
and unambiguous signs forbidding their use. The committee confirmed
that the use of mobile phones is forbidden and asked the computer
officer and student librarian to continue to send out a firm message
to infringers of this rule.
Consumption of food had also been observed in the study centre.
The committee was at a loss how one could convey any more clearly to
college members that these practices are not permitted.
o The mechanism for a tamper-proof `returns' book bin has been
loaned by Newnham college. Sadly, the bin is too larger to
fit under the borrowing desk. The idea of constructing a
pill-box for the bin was rejected; the committee preferred to
explore the option of buying a smaller bin to go under the
returns desk (at an estimated cost of £ 300) and
modifying the desk. The student librarian was asked to find
the precise cost of a custom-designed book bin.
The idea of installing a trolley or shelves for `books for reshelving'
was discussed, in light of the numerous small piles of books left
by users. Concern was expressed that this might further increase
the work of reshelving without greatly reducing the leaving of
books. It was thus agreed to institute a policy, like that in
the University library, where reservation slips are supplied,
and any books without reservation slips may be reshelved.
o Vesalius.
Elisabeth Leedham-Green supplied the names of two
advisors at the University Library who can give guidance on
best practice in looking after our valuable books.
Karen Tybjerg is currently responsible for turning the pages
of the books occasionally.
[The following guidance on care of these books has been provided
by E L-G: \\
Turn the pages regularly. \\
Temperature: should be at a fixed point between 13 and 16 degrees
C (with a tolerance of 1 degree C on either side). \\
Relative humidity should be at fixed point between 45\% and 60\%
(with a tolerance of 5\% on either side).]
o Annual report.
DJCM will write the annual report, featuring the new labels
and the sterling work of Joanna and Espen.
o Other business.
{itemize}
o A decision on whether a credit card can be provided for library
purchases is still awaited.
o The library's acquisition policy was discussed. It was
reaffirmed that the collection centres on books of general
interest and books related to Darwin and evolution. The acquisition of
valuable books is not one of our aims, as we have nowhere to keep them,
apart from the Vesalius cabinet.
o Shelf labels. Large label holders had been acquired but
judged too intrusive into the architecture of the building. A catalogue
of alternate systems was inspected, and it was agreed to request
samples in several styles.
{itemize}
o Date of next meetings:
Tue 29 Jan 2002 6pm, Tue 25 June 2002, 6pm.
DJCM \\
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held on
Tuesday 26th June 2001, Seminar Room \\
Present:
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian],
Joanna Shearer (jms85) [Student Librarian],
Heather Richards (hgr21) [Student Librarian],
H. Thompson (ht206),
Elizabeth Leedham-Green (el17) [Archivist-in-waiting],
Pang Yu (py202),
Peter Friend (pff1000@esc).
Apologies:
Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer],
P.A. Botley (pab48).
o Minutes of the previous meeting were approved.
Matters arising: EL-G advised that, whereas the Finley papers had
been deposited by Darwin in the University Library, it
was most unlikely that the Finley collection itself could be
similarly deposited.
o Committee membership. Pang Yu was welcomed to the committee.
Three other student members had responded to the email
inviting volunteers to become involved in the book check.
Peter Friend confirmed his intention to retire from
the committee, and was warmly thanked for his immeasurable
contributions.
o Book purchases.
JMS circulated a list of recent purchases.
We still have a lot of credit with CUP.
To facilitate rapid purchase of books from amazon, JMS
has been using her own credit card. DJCM will
ask whether the college could supply an appropriately
controlled credit card.
o Shelf labelling. It is planned to
renew the labels at the book check.
o Book check and renumbering.
The book check will run from August 1st to 7th.
Notices will advise college members of this date
and remind people to return all borrowed books.
Three or four helpers will be recruited.
JMS will request a printout of all books from the UL,
and, if possible, an electronic copy.
DJCM will advise the Bursar that, owing to the extra work
involved in the planned renumbering and relabelling of books,
we would like to slightly increase the budget for this
year's book-check.
JMS will buy a second label-printer, and book tape for
preserving the labels.
o Tamper-proof `returns' book bin / postbox.
JMS said it is possible that
the old Newnham machinery can be inherited by Darwin
later this year. If not, we will investigate the cost of buying new.
o Any other business.
a. Vesalius. The student librarians will care for the Vesalius
for the time being.
b. The Finley papers have been deposited in the UL.
Technically, they still belong to Darwin College.
The filing cabinets will be taken by Prof.\ Whittaker later.
c. The installation of a work of art in the study centre had
involved the arrival, without warning, of scaffolding, furniture
rearrangment and noise on 26th June. DJCM will ask the
Bursar to try to arrange, in future, for the Librarians
(librarian@dar) to be warned in advance of works like these,
so that they can advise study centre users about
the expected duration of the disturbance.
d. Noise in the library remains a problem. Mobile phone use and
conversations in the corridor are the main sources.
It was agreed to continue posting ``Quiet please'' signs
in appropriate places.
o Dates of next meetings:
Tue 30 Oct 2001, Tue 29 Jan 2002, Tue 25 June 2002, 6pm.
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held on
Monday 23 April 2001, Seminar Room \\
Present:
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian],
Joanna Shearer (jms85) [Student Librarian],
Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer],
Heather Richards (hgr21) [Student Librarian],
Peter Friend (pff1000@esc).
Apologies:
P.A. Botley (pab48),
H. Thompson (ht206),
Eric Speckert (eips2) [DCSA representative],
J. D. Bourriau (jdb29) [Archivist].
o Minutes of previous meeting were approved; there were no matters arising.
o Committee membership. We agreed to advertise the next meeting by
email in order to recruit more student
members to the committee.
o Book purchases.
CUP have given us £ 3000 credit to
buy books this year. The email-based request for book
recommendations produced a gratifying response. About 20
recommendations were made by email, and two in writing. Most
of the recommended books have been ordered; about 10 were CUP
books. While our policy is not to buy specialist textbooks, a
couple of inexpensive textbooks that were requested have been
ordered, since we would like to encourage recommendations.
It was agreed that online ordering of books for the library,
rather than shopping in person, would provide a better
response to library users' requests. DJCM has not yet asked
Amazon if they are willing to give a discount similar to
Heffers (20\%). However, this might not be necessary since
Heffers have an online facility also:
http://www.heffers.co.uk/. The referal arrangement with {
amazon} such that website visitors who follow a reference from
the college and buy books at { amazon} generate 5\% or more
commission for the college was again mentioned. It was agreed
to recommend to the College's web committee to consider such
an arrangement in the new website.
JMS will ask the accountant whether credit card purchases
are a possibility. (Payments by cheque slow down book delivery.)
o Shelf labelling. JMS will investigate the acquisition of
larger shelf-label-holders, and a wider label-maker.
o Book numbering. EHK suggested gradual renumbering of
the books, and the creation of a book-checkout program
that helps the user confirm the correct title/author
in the event of ambiguous numbers.
The committee agreed to start assigning unique numbers
to new books by changing, for example `937.9SHA' and `937.9SHA' to `937.9SHA.1'
and `937.9SHA.2'; it was agreed to decide at a later date whether to
renumber all existing books at the stock-check
or to renumber only the fraction of the books with the most popular numbers.
Issues to investigate include: automatic production of labels;
automatic assignment of new unique numbers (DJCM to write software).
o Connection to Darwin lectures.
The speakers for `Power' (2002) having been confirmed,
it was agreed to order their books and
set up a special shelf.
o Student librarians' hours.
JMS's hours have been a little increased
and HGR's a little decreased.
JMS confirmed that her supervisor approves of
her current balance between PhD work and library work.
o Noticeboards.
A new noticeboard has been installed, and
unauthorized use of the noticeboards has dropped.
o Computer issues:
It was agreed that the college website should include a user-oriented
page describing the library.
HGR offered to draft the contents of a suitable page.
DJCM also offered the draft site,
http://wol.ra.phy.cam.ac.uk/darlibrary/,
as a starting point.
(Not to be confused with the library Committee website,
http://wol.ra.phy.cam.ac.uk/darlib/
o Tamper-proof `returns' book bin / postbox.
JMS will invite the clerk of works to inspect the
book-friendly system at Newnham college. It is being dismantled,
so perhaps we could beg for the Newnham machinery and have
it installed under the desk.
o Any other business.
a. Hardback versus paperback. It was agreed that lifeguarding paperback
books at a cost of 50p per book was better than buying
costly hardbacks.
b. Unhealthy books.
It was agreed to replace books like `The Rough Guides' within a
couple of years.
c. Logging of lost books. It was agreed to use the `book missing' tag in the
catalogue for books that have been missing for two book-checks.
d. Vesalius. PFF offered to write a history of the donated Vesalius,
and to write instructions for its care.
Someone should be appointed to look after it - perhaps by
the bursary?
e. Finley papers. At short notice, Finley's personal papers had been
moved from Classics to our library at the beginning of this year.
Elisabeth Leedham-Green kindly negotiated their transfer into
the safekeeping of the University Library.
The question of the long-term future of the rest of the Finley collection
was raised. It was agreed that in future the demands for
shelf space of our regular collection may give a reason
for discussing the transfer of the collection to the UL.
f. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. It was agreed to stop subscribing
to this magazine (cost, £ 120), unless library users
request that it be restored.
o Date of next meeting:
Tuesday 26 June 6pm.
DJCM \\
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*{Darwin College Library Committee}
Minutes of the meeting held on
Tuesday 23 January 2001, Seminar Room \\
Present:
David MacKay (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian],
Joanna Shearer (jms85) [Student Librarian],
P.A. Botley (pab48),
H. Thompson (ht206),
Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer],
Eric Speckert (eips2) [DCSA representative].
Apologies:
Heather Richards (hgr21) [Student Librarian],
Peter Friend (pff1000@esc),
J. D. Bourriau (jdb29) [Archivist].
o Minutes of previous meeting were approved; there were no matters arising.
o Committee membership. We would like to recruit more student
members to the committee.
o Book purchases. JMS circulated the list of
new books.
It was agreed that online ordering of books
for the library might be useful, especially
if numbers of ordered books
increased. DJCM will ask online services if they are
willing to give a discount similar to Heffers (20\%).
EHK mentioned that St Edmunds College has a referal
arrangement with { amazon} such that website visitors
who follow a reference from the college
and buy books at { amazon}
generate 5\% or more commission for the college.
It was agreed to recommend to the College's web committee
to consider such an arrangement in the new website.
o Book labelling. In view of the peeling labels,
HGR suggested that we relabel old books with new printed labels
during the Summer stock check.
o Shelf labelling. It was agreed to replace
the present shelf labels by a greater number
of more legible shelf labels, and remove the rather
tattered shelf plan from the end wall.
o Book numbering. The idea of renumbering
the books so that every book has a unique number was discussed.
One advantage would be that this would make it straightforward
to computerize the book-borrowing system and the issuing
of recall notices. (Issuing recall notices consumes
about 8 hours of librarian time per month.)
EHK and JMS will collaborate on downloading the current
list of books from the catalogue and estimating how
much work such a change would involve. Updating (say) 4000 old
catalogue entries might take about 4 days' work.
o Book check.
The next one will be in the Summer.
o Charges for University catalogue.
Assuming we spend £ 3600 per annum on books,
the new charge for the creation of catalogue records
would be
£ 360 in 2001-02
and
£ 180 per annum from 2002-03 onwards.
It was agreed to recommend that the College buy in to the new system.
The inclusion of our books in the catalogue is
valuable to our own members and to students of other colleges.
o Connection to Darwin lectures.
It was agreed that it would be good to set up a special shelf or
two of books related to current, past, and future Darwin Lecture Series.
o Student librarians' hours.
The current librarians' hours seem to be useful to library users.
HGR said she might be able to offer some regular afternoon
or evening hours to complement Joanna's regular morning
presence.
o Noticeboards.
It was agreed that JMS and EHK would collaborate on reorganizing
the noticeboards, including, if appropriate, acquisition of
a glass-fronted noticeboard for about £ 83.
It was agreed that the study centre noticeboards
should be strictly for postings by the computer officer and
librarians.
o Computer issues:
a. Committee webpage.
DJCM has set up a website
http://wol.ra.phy.cam.ac.uk/darlib/
on which Library Committee agendas and minutes will
be posted. It was agreed that agendas should also be circulated on
paper, and minutes will be placed on the web.
b. DJCM and EHK have set up a
`metafaq' system for the library,
through which library users who have problems,
want to donate books, or want to make book-purchase
requests, can contact the librarians.
The committee members were asked to test this system now
so that we can confirm that it is working OK.
There is also an email alias librarian@dar
for non-web-users to send requests to the librarians.
When we announce this facility
on tidings@dar, we'll encourage members
to make suggestions of books to buy.
c. It was agreed that the web serf should be asked to give the
library a more prominent web-presence.
o Any other business.
a. EHK asked if the committee would be happy for network points
to be installed in the upper floor of the study centre, for
use by laptop owners. This was agreed,
and it was recommended that the network points should be clustered
at the East end of the building.
b. JMS will ask at Newnham where we can acquire a tamper-proof `returns'
book bin. If one cannot be found, we will ask for a
postbox to be built into the librarians' office's door.
c. Mobile phone use in the study centre has dropped somewhat since
the notices were posted.
o Date of next meeting: The college calendar stipulates
Tuesday 26 June 6pm, but another meeting at the beginning of
Easter term was agreed: Monday April 23rd at 6pm.
DJCM \\
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Email list for Library Committee
The web page for users of your mailing list is:
http://www.dar.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lc
|
administrator link
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How the Library Support system worksThe library support system is for college members who
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Using metaFAQWhenever a library user has an enquiry, they ask it through the library support system, which may already contain the answer to their question, in which case, they go away happy, and no-one gets troubled by any email. If they have a new question, request, or suggestion, then they enter it, and an email is sent to librarian@dar, an address which forwards email to all the librarians's cus accounts, or wherever. The email from metaFAQ gives a URL to follow in order to process the question. There is a box to put a personal reply in, and a box to put a public reply in. You can write either type of reply, or both. Then you press one of the two buttons at the bottom:
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Handling book requestsIf an enquirer requests a book, and you would like to add it to our shopping list, you can do this by forwarding the query to the Shopping List. When shopping time comes, we can download the shopping list from metafaq (login as 'darwin', maintainer is 'Librarian', password is the short one; or log in here) by going to "Kbase" and selecting the bottom left button which says 'download form responses'. Librarians can also directly add items to the shopping list here or here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Updating the database of questions and answersIf you want to edit old QA pairs, Log in here and select "edit kbase". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
How the Bar Codes and book numbers are assigned, and how stock checks workEvery book should have a unique ten-digit number beginning 570, assigned by the union catalogue. It also has a non-unique classmark of the form 170 DOG, assigned by the Darwin librarian. Note that, while the union catalogue allows multiple copies of single books to be given a single catalogue entry with only one ten-digit number, we have decided to ensure that all multiple-copy books have distinct ten-digit numbers. (Otherwise when such a book is returned, we don't know which borrower returned it.) Where to put the bar code labels
First stock check (including new labels for all books)
New books
Future stock checks
How book checkout could work
Note we can automate the sending of reminder emails to people with overdue books. And returned books can be logged using the barcode reader. Label sizesStaples have some own-brand 63.5x38.1 labels (and 21 per sheet rather than 24) for £7.69 per 2100 labels (in quantity). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Care of the Vesalius
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For Librarians onlymackay/pub/cgi-bin/library-form.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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David J.C. MacKay, Fellow Librarian (retired) Site last modified Tue Jul 25 13:20:05 BST 2006
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