Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2019 12:12:42 +0000
To: "acqnet_at_lists.ala.org" <acqnet_at_lists.ala.org>
I’ll chime in to say that we do not have our catalogers check every shelf-ready book. When we started our shelf-ready program years ago, they were more hands on with titles, but we’ve found that the records generally conform to the standards we want, and that even the ones that aren’t fully up to specs tend to be good enough for our purposes. We decided that it wasn’t worth the time and effort of our cataloging staff to check every book just for the once-in-a-blue-moon chance that there might be a bad record. We’ll occasionally do spot checks, but that’s about it. Of course, if there are any books where the physical processing isn’t quite right, our cataloging staff will make adjustments as necessary, but GOBI will generally flag these issues for us. So, generally, outside of the actual receiving process, we treat our shelf-ready books as genuinely shelf-ready. James Glosson Pronouns: he/him/his Collections & Discovery Librarian William & Mary Libraries 757-221-1638 jcglos_at_wm.edu From: acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org <acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org> On Behalf Of Rebecca Sandoval Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2019 8:39 AM To: acqnet_at_lists.ala.org Subject: Re: [ALCTS-acqnet] defining 'shelf-ready' Just wanted to add to this discussion. Much of our materials come in "pre-processed," which means for us that they have barcodes, spine labels and a branch label affixed. These items are still cataloged by a cataloger and linked (or added) to the records by staff responsible for linking. We have recently been trialing a vendor's shelf ready services, which includes all of the above, plus the items are cataloged by the vendor as well as added to the records (via an EDI load file). We are working to get this to the point of not checking every single item (though in the beginning of the trial we did). As items have come in with the labeling and cataloging according to our standards, we are "looking" at orders less, so that when they come into Technical Services, they spend a minimum amount of time with us before going out to our 10 branch libraries. There is some updating that I do via Global Item Update in our ILS, and our acquisitions' staff open the boxes, check items, and process invoices, so overall, the shelf ready items, should come in long enough to be checked, have files loaded, locations updated by GIU and then go out the door. Because our ILS provides a load results file, we can easily scan the call numbers, etc. to look for possible errors, so I think before long, we will be very close to opening the box and shipping the items out, with any problems being identified when the edi file is loaded. Best, Rebecca Sandoval On Tue, Jul 23, 2019 at 5:27 PM David Arredondo <acqnet_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:acqnet_at_lists.ala.org>> wrote: We are just beginning a shelf-ready collection for firm orders and have been referring to them as shelf-ready, however, I like the term “pre-process” that Stacey uses, as we will still probably check each title. This will be our first year with this new workflow, so we will be closely monitoring the physical processing and the catalog records. I’m interested to hear other’s take on this topic. David Arredondo Collection Services Librarian Assistant Professor University of Nebraska at Kearney (308) 865-8992 arredondodr_at_unk.edu<mailto:arredondodr_at_unk.edu> From: acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org> <acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org>> On Behalf Of Stacey Marien Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2019 12:32 PM To: acqnet_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:acqnet_at_lists.ala.org> Subject: RE: [ALCTS-acqnet] defining 'shelf-ready' I have always said the program should be named “Pre-process” and not shelf-ready. We use the term and it has caused misconceptions from those outside of Technical Services in our library. There is the thought that we can unpack the book and immediately send it to the shelf. I think it all depends on your level of comfort with vendor provided records – and of course, your budget and staffing levels. Although I am guessing that you are paying Gobi more for premium cataloging services. At AU, we made the decision that we would still touch every book. So we have a process where an acquisitions staff member opens the boxes for the shelf-ready approvals and handles the books first. She uses a copy cataloging checklist that was developed by the cataloging staff – those titles that pass the checklist go to circulation and those that don’t pass go to cataloging. We do the same with our firm shelf-ready books – one of my staff uses a checklist – pass, go to circ. Fail, go to cataloging. Our technical services unit moved off-site 2 years ago and we had to fight to have the shelf-ready books continue to be sent to us – the thought was those books would be sent directly to the library, unpacked by students and put on the shelf. We actually had some university workflow experts come and assess the whole situation – with the conclusion that we are the experts and that the books should come to us first. (moving off-site is a whole other issue, happy to discuss!) Stacey Stacey Marien Acquisitions Librarian American University 4801 Massachusetts Ave, NW Library Technical Services Spring Valley – Room 148 Washington, DC 20016 smarien_at_american.edu<mailto:smarien_at_american.edu> 202-885-3842<tel:202-885-3842> orcid.org/0000-0003-2608-4559<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__orcid.org_0000-2D0003-2D2608-2D4559&d=DwMFAg&c=Cu5g146wZdoqVuKpTNsYHeFX_rg6kWhlkLF8Eft-wwo&r=LdRUnABCEGleRBp4rSM-eV3JsJE3xOMnCrk_wAL_wZM&m=A6bTfGfGFFh0U5e6E5zRRZhCLDUaZ4CJx1W4IJMccaE&s=5gA70XqnkKk1q2LAPLU0pK129sR_qYcIhxa4g63jo9g&e=> From: acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org> <acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:acqnet-request_at_lists.ala.org>> On Behalf Of Jacque Dessino Sent: Monday, July 15, 2019 5:07 PM To: acqnet_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:acqnet_at_lists.ala.org> Subject: [ALCTS-acqnet] defining 'shelf-ready' All: At my institution, we order through GOBI and they do both the cataloging and processing. The standard procedure for years has been for the materials to come to the central cataloging department where a series of checks are done on the items and records. If they pass all the checks, they are sent to the campus. We have never considered these books as ‘shelf-ready’ because cataloging handles them before they are sent to the campus to be shelved. Due to budget cuts and severe staff shortages we are now working toward what we have been calling shelf-ready. Acquisitions will order them and GOBI will ship directly to the campus everything that meets are technical specs requirements. Only those that don’t meet the criteria at the GOBI end will be sent to cataloging to be handled. The recent question about turn-around time got me thinking about what other institutions mean when they say ‘shelf-ready.’ I would love to hear from others who are taking the same position we are, ‘shelf-ready’ means cataloging is not going to handle the items. They will go directly to the campus libraries to be received and shelved, especially how you determined that the cataloging was ‘good-enough’. Jacque Dessino, MA, MLS Electronic Services Librarian Libraries Tidewater Community College —————————————————— (e): jdessino_at_tcc.edu<mailto:jdessino_at_tcc.edu> Portsmouth: Virginia Beach: Library A240D Joint Use Library, L205L 120 Campus Drive 1700 College Crescent Portsmouth, VA 23701 Virginia Beach, VA 2345 757-822-2646 757-822-7154 [Tidewater Community College] -- [Image removed by sender. logo] Rebecca Sandoval Technical Services Manager rsandoval_at_sclibnj.org<mailto:rsandoval_at_sclibnj.org> | 908-458-4946 SCLSNJ.org<http://www.sclsnj.org> Somerset County Library System of New Jersey SCLSNJ Administration 1 Vogt Drive, Bridgewater, NJ 08807
