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Delivery Advisory Committee Minutes

August 26, 2004
Notes

Present: Bob Blitzke (SCLS Delivery), Vicki Cothroll (ORE), Jennifer Endres (PDS), Jane Grogan (MA.D), Peter Hamon (SCLS), Diane Jaroch (MOO), Heidi Oliversen (SCLS Automation), Bruce Smith (SCLS Delivery), Bob Stack (STP)

Bob Blitzke began the meeting with an appeal to the committee for a volunteer to take John Thompson's place as committee chair. Jennifer Endres, who replaced John Thompson at Prairie du Sac, volunteered and was accepted as the chair by consensus.

Jennifer asked for a volunteer recorder. Vicki Cothroll agreed to fill that position.

The minutes of the February 26, 2004 meeting were approved on a Grogan/Cothroll motion

Business
A. Multnomah County Library Visit Report
Bruce visited the Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon to see how a Dynix library with branches handles delivery issues. He noted the following differences between Multnomah and LINK libraries:
" SCLS has more libraries and a larger area to cover than Multnomah
" Use of self check-out is more prevalent at Multnomah
" Libraries at Multnomah have created dedicated areas for delivery
" Multnomah libraries do more sorting than LINK. For example, they separate holds from non-holds items.
" Multnomah libraries always use slips from the receipt printer to process incoming holds. The slip has the patrons name in bold type using a larger font.
" Patrons pick-up their own holds in a central public area in each library, which are alphabetized by last name with the receipt bearing the patron's name on the spine of the items. Multnomah libraries requested that patrons who were concerned about privacy issues to notify their library. In those cases, the items are sorted by Dynix patron ID number. Very few patrons have opted for the patron ID number to display on hold slips.
" Multnomah no longer uses a delivery slip similar to our green ones. Staff record a hold's destination on a 2"x1.5" post-it note, which is put on the item. Tape and rubber bands are not used in the process. Delivery does not notice any difference in the loss of post-it notes as compared to delivery slips. Bruce would like to try this method using two libraries, Prairie du Sac and Sauk City. Both libraries would continue to use direct charge slips. Cost for post-its would be considerably less than printing charges for our current method. There was some discussion about library staff paying attention to Dynix in order to get the correct routing code on the post-it note. Also mentioned was the possibility of using super sticky post-it notes.
" Cothroll moved to implement testing the use of post-it notes at Prairie du Sac and Sauk City. Grogan seconded the motion. Motion carried.
B. Delivery Volume Report: Bob Blitzke reported the following increases for delivery: July 2004/July 2003 3.2%, and April 2004/April 2003 1.1%. .
C. Dynix Release 191: Has this techno fix been successful in reducing and /or better coping with delivery volume? Bob B. wanted to know if this release helped reduce delivery or made it easier. Heidi said that more information is needed to be able to answer this question. It is difficult to assess without more specific data. Reports from LINK libraries indicate that the libraries feel more of the holds being searched for are trapped for their patrons. The fix, which searches the collection of a hold's pick-up library for a requested item, happened immediately much to Heidi's surprise. Automation had expected to download additional software after Release 191. Bob B. also asked if there were techno fixes on the horizon for Dynix. Heidi said that Reduced Transportation Holds and clustering are possibilities. However, she and Bruce would need to carefully study these in order to determine what impact these would have on libraries before implementing them. Clustering appears to be more effective when it involves a range of libraries i.e. large, medium, and small.
Discussion then centered around Lakeview Public Library, which has implemented self-service machines. They want larger and darker fonts for work slip printouts. Dynix has it in the queue, but there no longer is a custom programmer at Dynix. Multnomah and Hennepin County libraries have this program. They also have a program to sort holds lists by patron Dynix ID number, name, or patron barcode number. These were custom reports. Dynix has not been able to find the programming paperwork. Without it no one currently employed at Dynix can do this program. Also discussed was the effect and/or problems that varying security systems poses when a patron checks them out at libraries using self-check systems.
D. Old School Delivery Volume Management: What measures work in reducing and/or better coping with delivery volume? Bob B. wanted to know if there are libraries that have handled delivery clustering. Jane Vriesacker started investigating a geographic location clustering. This was tabled partly because it only works if there is sorting on the route. Horizon handles this differently. There will be more options when we migrate to Horizon. Jennifer asked when that is scheduled to take place. It is early 2006.
E. How will annual SCLS intersystem ILL delivery volume (47,442 items) change with the switch to OCLC World Cat? It is too early to tell what impact this will have on delivery. Madison has been using OCLC instead of WISCAT for ILL. The current situation through WILS is not as fast and effective as OCLC. Patrons being able to do direct ILL requests exacerbated the situation. Other systems may join us in using OCLC instead of WISCAT for ILL.
Committee Reports
Because none of the committees met, there were no reports given.

Next Meeting Date
Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 27 at SCLS Headquarters.

Evaluate Meeting: Everyone present agreed it was a great meeting.

Adjourn: The meeting adjourned on a Stack/Grogan motion.

Respectfully submitted,

Vicki Cothroll, Recorded for the Day

For more information about the Delivery Advisory Committee, contact Bob Blitzke at (608) 266-4805 or bblitzke@scls.lib.wi.us.

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