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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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