More to Explore

There should have been a graphic of the barcode with this, but perhaps if I’d copied directly out of MS Word, it would have worked.

 

MORE TO EXPLORE

The Explore collection will undergo a slight change in appearance and in the management of circulation, beginning in July. The barcode that is pictured is the new one that will be used for this collection.

In July Technical Services staff will give each Explore book its own unique barcode. The barcode will be linked to a bibliographic record in the catalog. In CARL.Solution, Explore books will show at the end of the list of branch holdings and will be assigned to the branch ~XPLOR. Tilde branches do not show in CARLWeb so these items will be invisible to the public.

The change will enable us to track circulation for each title and to link a specific item to a patron’s record. When the patron checks out an Explore book, the title will appear on the charge receipt. Items that are not returned will go into a lost status and the patron’s record will be blocked until the item is returned. Items assigned to the branch ~XPLOR will float but will not pick up holds.

The reason for the change is to provide us with inventory control over the collection. The current method of checking Explore books out on generic barcodes does not allow us to link the item to a patron or to track on the collection. We know the collection has been popular with patrons and we want to continue to be able to account for the titles that are purchased.

With this change, branch staff will need to return all Explore books in CARL.Solution. It will not be necessary to change the branch to SRV1 when Explore books are sent to the Service Center. All shipments of new Explore titles will be sent to the Service Center, rather than drop shipped to branches from the vendor. When new Explore books arrive in the branch, they will be ready to shelve; it will not be necessary to return these materials before making them available to the public.

If you have questions about this change, please contact Tracy LeRoy or Nancy Messenger.