Express Checkout News

The express checkout devices were updated Friday morning 12/30/2016. There are a few "bugs" that are being worked out. The following issues have been reported to IT:

• Failure to sent an email receipt when an email is entered manually at machine or when the email is on the account.
• The middle and right hand machine still display a "Make Payment" option on the screen. The left hand machine does not have the option.
• The numbers for PIN are briefly displayed after being typed in before turning to asterisks. 
• The right hand machine has a credit card reader device installed that is similar to the one we use with TeleCheck. The device is not functional at the moment. It was connected to help with the configuration and should be working in the next couple of weeks.

Returned ILL items

ILL items with a purple tag are not to be placed on the items from other library shelf. ILL items that are returned must be checked in properly and placed in the CEN bin to be picked up by delivery.

This afternoon, the ILL office called about an ILL item that was overdue and still on someone's account. The item was found on the items from other library shelf and still on the account. This is the fourth occurrence in the past couple months that this has happened. Before placing on item on this shelf, please check for the purple tag on the front cover.

Electronic Databases

From Marianne Lorio:

There are catalog records for electronic resources in the catalog. Often the links on these records don’t work properly and return error messages. Don’t give up. Go to the alphabetical Research webpage and find the link for the electronic resource involved. Most of the time you can gain access in this manner.  

This trick will also work if you are looking for a specific journal. Search the Journals & Periodicals webpage. If the title appears in our databases you will see the list of the databases in which you can find the title. If the links in the title record don’t work, you can go directly to the database on the Research webpage and find the title that way (specifics vary by database).

Returned Copy of Outsiders

On December 15th, we had a paperback classic copy of the Outsiders returned with no barcode or tag. The book is here, so if someone claims to have returned it in the next week or so, take them at their word.

And, since this is Mark posting a final blog post, I should like to say "that I am immensely fond of you all, and that eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits. I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
-Bilbo Baggins, A Long-Expected Party

3M checkouts

The 3M checkouts should all be operational. If you experience any issues, please let Edgar or Tim know and report it to IT accordingly.

Thank you,
Edgar

No Sale

Team,

Please make sure that if you do a No Sale that you do not enter any amount other than 0 if you are using No Sale to open the drawer. Some of you may be confusing "No Sale" with "Book Sale" and entering amounts into No Sale instead. While the money adds up in the end, Financial Services may question why we are entering them incorrectly, so please be cautious when taking money.

Thanks,
Edgar

3-M Checkout Update

The monitor to the right-hand Express checkout machine has been replaced and is now functional.

The left hand machine that went down this weekend is getting a new receipt printer. In the meantime, it will be out of service.

Picturebooks

Team,

Since we are expanding the picturebooks section, we will be receiving FLOAT picturebooks from a few different locations. I mentioned Kendall would be sending over a few boxes. Scenic Woods is also going to be sending us their duplicate picturebooks. As we receive them, please check them for condition, and then run them through Bertha to ensure proper checkin.

This will require us to start shifting pictrebooks now in order to accomodate the incoming volume of books.

-Edgar

Express Check-out Machines

The express machine on the far left is giving a printer error. The issue was reported to IT 12/17/16.

The express machine in the middle is not emailing receipts. The issue was reported to IT 12/17/16.

Home Library

At our last team meeting, we discussed changing "Home Library" in Workflows. Unfortunately, the change doesn't affect the customer's online account. If customers want to change their home library so that when they place any holds, the default library will be the one they use most, the change has to be made through the account online.

As you place holds on items for customers, if you see that Stella Link is not the default pickup location, please ask the customer if they would like to change their home location so that our library will be their default pickup from the drop-down menu. Customers have the option to have a different library as their home library. A customer may be visiting our location but use a library across town, so changing their home library without the customer's consent would not be wise.

As customers sign up for a library card or renew their library account, continue to put Stella Link as the home library. Then ask customers if they want this library to be their default pickup library location. If they say yes, please log in to their account and make the change. Otherwise, let the customer know they can always log in to their account online to make any changes.

Ray's Vocera

Ray's Vocera has been set up as "Ray Williams." If you need to reach him, you can now call him.

-Edgar

Stella Link Team Meeting December 14, 2016

Present: Carol Wu, Alex Gabitto, Jacob Hornbeak, Patricia Tucker, Nhu Le, Michael Kozman, Jose Zamora, Mark Hall, Ray Williams, Frances Saldana, Amethyst Taylor, Ade Odusanwo, and Tim Siegel

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Not Present: Jesse Farias and Linda Shen

Team Appreciation

·         Thank you to Frances and Jose for helping out at the Holiday Fun event at Vinson.

·         Thank you to Frances for helping your colleagues by assisting customers at the desk this past Tuesday when it was busy. This is an example of team work that was discussed during our last team meeting.

·         Thank you to Amethyst for helping out at the Literacy in the Bag event at Montrose.

·         Thank you to Patricia for shifting the Adult Hindi Collection to allow more shelving space for the Spanish Adult section.

·         A group meeting in one of the rooms spent extra time after closure on Monday and Ray, Jose, and Tim assisted the group in exiting the library. This group is called AMI and the contact person in Judy Baptist. This group is no longer allowed to meet at Stella Link.

Checking Out

·         Great work in assisting customers at the Express Checkout Stations. Demonstrate the proper method for checking out by placing the corners of the book inside the square area instead of showing them the tags. This is giving customers information on how to bypass our security system.

3D Printing

·         On every Wednesday in January, will be hosting 3D printing lessons by volunteer March Chung. The program will be held in the studio and is intended for teens only. The lessons will be limited to 10 students and registration is required. It recommended that the same students attend all 4 sessions as each session will build on the previous lessons.

Picture books

·         We will receive a shipment of 3 bins of Picture Books in the next few days from Kendall. This will aid in the expansion of our Picture Book section.

Alarms

·         Please continue to check customers that set off the alarm as they exit if you don’t know why the alarm was set off (such as an ILL item or the item had to be checked out at the desk). Politely ask to review their receipt or account to verify successful checkout. Ask if any items showed up red on the checkout screen instead of green and suggest retrying the item on future checkouts. There is no need to chase down the customer outside of the building.

Home library

·         When renewing a customer’s library card, please ask if STE will be their home library. If so, please change the location preference. An email is being sent to IT in an attempt to link the preference on Work Flows and the Public Access Website.

Disc Repair

·         Please make sure that you continue to put in any items that need repair in the box labeled "A/V Issues." Please include a note and attach the note explaining what the issue is to the item. For example:

"12/12/2016 - Customer stated that disc 3 and 4 skip; they appear to be scratched - EF/STE"

Below are the dates for our disc repair schedule. These are the dates when we can send in any items that need repairing.

Stella Link (STE)

March 20, 2017

June 5, 2017

Ebsco Discovery Search tool

·         Today marks the launch of the Ebsco Discovery Search tool. This added search bar will allow customers to conduct one search across all Ebsco databases instead of going from one database to the next looking for articles. Training will be forthcoming as a recorded webinar.

·         In January, we will be implementing the second Ebsco Discovery Service platform that performs a catalog and a database search when a customer searches the catalog.  Results will be presented in two different tabs. We will send you additional information when we have a go-live date for this

Lockers

·         We have 14 lockers at this library. Priority given to staff (including part timers and employees coming from other locations) who do not have a desk and need a place to store their items.

·         Those of us who have a desk should try to keep our belongings at the desk. Priority will then be given to volunteers who need a place to store their items. Keep in mind that 3-4 Jungman staff are coming in January and may need storage space as well.

·         There will be a sheet where we can write down which lockers are being used so help avoid confusion.

Schedules

·         If you see any oddities in your schedule (such as no lunch or you need prep time), please make sure to let me or Tim know so that we can adjust your schedule as best we can. We have a number of people out and while we make our best effort to review the schedule, sometimes mistakes happen. Please don’t take it personally – let me know and I can correct it.

Community Engagement

·         For those of you who may not be familiar with Community Engagement, they are a unique department within the Houston Public Library. Community Engagement has a Mobile Express bus and they can drive out to places around the Houston area, including libraries and community centers, to offer programming such as computer classes, gaming, 3D printing, Lego robotics, ESL, etc. Organizations can request the Mobile Express in advance (by emailing hpl.mobile@houstontx.gov) and they may be able to come out to do a particular program. For Summer Reading Program, they came out to do programs at Stella Link!

Read more about them here:
http://houstonlibrary.org/our-partners/community-engagement

The full list of services they provide can be found here: http://houstonlibrary.org/sites/default/files/files/15_revised_mobile_express_booklet_final2.pdf

Pot Luck & Ugly Sweater contest

Next Wednesday is our pot luck. Nhu sent out an email, so if you haven’t responded, there’s also a signup sheet posted outside the manager’s office. 

Workflows Searching

From IT HelpDesk:

We have had several reports across the system that searching is not working properly in WorkFlows. We are aware of the issue and have an open ticket with SirsiDynix. We plan to run a report early Friday morning that will hopefully resolve some of these issues. Because this report has the potential to run long enough to affect system performance into the workday, we are waiting to run this on Friday when it will have the least impact. 

Disc Repair

Please make sure that you continue to put in any items that need repair in the box labeled "A/V Issues." Please include a note and attach the note explaining what the issue is to the item. For example:
"12/12/2016 - Customer stated that disc 3 and 4 skip; they appear to be scratched - EF/STE"

Below are the dates for our disc repair schedule. These are the dates when we can send in any items that need repairing.

Stella Link (STE)

March 20, 2017

June 5, 2017

Patricia will ensure that we check out any items that we are sending in to repair to our STE-REPAIR account, and she will send all the items needing repair in one shipment (up to 100 discs) out to:

LMS Float Team

Attn: Robert Harrison

Disc Repairs from (unit name) / date. 

SP Adult Shift

The HI adult collection has been dropped to the bottom two-three shelves of the range they occupy. The Spanish adult collection thereby moved to the right. Although I'm currently in the midst of this shift I hope to generate a space between adult fiction and adult nonfiction. This will be accomplished through weeding and elimnation of most duplictes.

Science in Context

From Marianne Lorio

Did you know that scientist have officially added four new elements to the periodical table? Now we have the perfect database to find out more: Science in Context. This is a Gale database provided through TexShare. The interface is similar to the interface in many of our other Gale subscriptions.

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/?p=SCIC&u=txshrpub100185 

Ebsco Discovery Search tool

From Judith Hiott:

Staff in Digital Strategies have been working for the last few months to implement Ebsco Discovery Service at Houston Public Library.  The following is the timeline for training and Go Live:

December 8, 2016:  Staff can PREVIEW the link below to one of two Ebsco Discovery Service platforms. We call this platform the Ebsco Platform. It consists of a search box that searches multiple databases at once. On the search results page are full text and  filtering options.  Please familiarize yourself with the search features using the link provided.

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,shib&profile=eds&custID=s8492860&groupid=main[search.ebscohost.com

December 14, 2016: The Virtual Services team will put a link to the Ebsco Platform on the research page.  The link will be labelled  Search All Databases as a fourth bullet under the heading  Search Online Databases

December 16,2016: Ebsco will be conducting a half hour training webinar to introduce staff to the service.  All staff should view the training. It will be part of the CE Managers meeting on Friday, other staff  can dial in next Friday at 9:00 AM  using the access information at the end of this email, or you can view a recording of the training the following week on the HPL training portal. 

January 2016: In January, we will be implementing the second Ebsco Discovery Service platform that performs a catalog and a database search when a customer searches the catalog.  Results will be presented in two different tabs. We will send you additional information when we have a go-live date for this platform.

We hope you like the new service.

Stella Link Team Meeting December 7, 2016 Notes

Present: Patricia Tucker, Linda Shen, Jesse Farias, Alex Gabitto, Jacob Hornbeak, Michael Kozman, Frances Saldana, Nhu Le, Carol Wu, Mark Hall, Amethyst Taylor, Ade Odusanwo, Ray Williams, and Tim Siegel

Leading: Edgar Fuentes

Not Present: Jose Zamora

Staff Appreciation

• Great work everyone on assisting with checkouts at the 3M Express Machines. STE has one of the highest percentages of express checkouts in the system. This is beneficial for customers that don’t need to wait in a line for help at the service desk.
• STE received a perfect score on the site review conducted by the US Department of State. A big thanks to the entire team that make this service possible.
• Alex did a great job on the winter holiday display.
•  Jacob has lead several programs for NaNoWriMo this month and a Retro Video Game program and has quite a following for these events. Way to go Jacob.
•  Thank you Jesse for taking the initiative to shelve hold items while roving and shelving books during your PIE hours.
•  Jose worked hard to help shift the juvenile nonfiction to make room for the expansion of the picture book section. The top two shelves of this area will be juvenile audiobooks and the lower shelves will be for picture books.

Monday Help from Jungman

• Beginning in January, team members from Jungman will be coming on Mondays when they are closed to the public.

Classics

• Adult cataloged classic items (hardback and paperback) will be shelved with the adult fiction or nonfiction, depending on the call number.
•  The catalog currently lists these items as “paperback,” but a solution is being sought to hide this classification to avoid confusion.
• While paging, check in both fiction/nonfiction and classics in the event an item was misshelved. 

Phone and Desk Assistance

• If the phone rings more than twice and you in the work room, please pick up the phone while you are doing delivery, B/O, or another task. Multiple rings mean that the team members at the desk are too busy to answer the phone.
•  If you are shelving or on the floor, please assist at the desk if the line starts backing up.
• Please keep your team members in mind and help out when necessary.

Newsletters

• Customers can sign up to receive emailed newsletters specific to library locations. They can join this service by signing up at http://houstonlibrary.org/find-it/readers-link/newsletters-all-interests .

Library Card Registration

• In the near future, customers will be able to register for new library cards and update information online.
• This means that the traditional paper application will disappear.
• As an update to a question from a previous meeting, we can assist in signing up customers instead of directing them to a computer.

Assisting Customers

• We should always personally assist customers find items or areas of the library.
•  Please search the catalog rather than pointing them to a computer
• Please walk a customer to an area instead of pointing them in that direction, unless the customer says they can do it themselves.

Meeting Room Reservations

• Please ask about serving food when taking a room reservation. If prepared (hot or cold) food is to be served, please inform the customer of the $25 fee. This fee is to be paid on the day of the event in case of cancellations.
•  Please avoid promising customers extra chairs or tables. The only tables and chairs available are those in a particular room. Moving chairs would cause a burden for staff and any other meetings.
• The library does not provide any service or materials other than the room and the allotted number of tables and chairs. Extension cords, projectors, laptops, and similar items are not provided.

Holds

• Many items have been found on the STE hold shelf that should have been shipped to other branches.
• Please be careful when processing Book drop/Others to ensure that items meant for other branches is separated from STE hold items.

Holiday Books

• Books with a “Holiday” sticker (red firework icon) that are not a major holiday such as Valentine’s Day or Thanksging can be shelved with the majority of the picture books.
• These items are so few and do not need a separate shelf.
•  Please shift books from the bottom shelves of the holiday books when room allows.

Passports

• Returning customers should only be allowed head-of-the-line privileges when only one component is missing to complete an application, such as a money order or birth certificate. Please attach a completion slip and make a note as to the information needed.
• Incomplete applications or applications missing multiple components will need to wait in line. Do not attach a completion slip.
• Customers who are eligible to renew a passport by mail with a DS-82, but elect to apply at our facility with a DS-11 will not experience a delay in processing time. A customer applying by DS-11 will receive a new passport in the same timeframe as if they used the DS-82. 

Express Check Out Machine on right is not working

The self check out machine on the far right is having problems with the touchscreen. A tech was out this morning to fix the problem, but it appears to not have been completely resolved. A new ticket has been opened with the IT helpdesk as of 12:45PM on Wed 12/7/16 by Tim. The machine is currently off with a sign announcing this to our customers. Thank you.

Plumber to fix leak on toilet in public women's room

The plumber will be on site Wednesday morning to fix the leak in the public women's room.