ACQUISITIONS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES: NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

1. ACQUISITIONSIN PUBLIC LIBRARIES:NOTTINGHAMSHIRE presentation for EUUG conference 2004 by Nick London (Principal Systems Officer, Notts Libraries)

2. The Nottinghamshire Consortium • 2 separate public authorities + schools service (ELS) • Jointly, one of 10 largest public systems in UK • Went live on Unicorn July 2002 • Modules used : circ, cat, acq, opac(iBistro) (limited EDI from March 2004) • Upgraded to U2003.1.2 in June 2004 Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

3. Notts public libraries in figures Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

4. CONSORTIUM LARGE SCALE MULTIPLE COPIES SELECTION PROCESS RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 3 independent contracts with vendors Large no copies ordered/received Distribution to 80+ libraries 100+ copies of popular titles Standing orders Heavy reliance on vendor’s lists Focus on new short-run titles Purchase decisions at local level Admin of acquisitions at centre Distinctive Features Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

5. Licensed vendor contracts (3 x a/c + variable discounts) Reliance on vendor’s lists and bibliographic data(bulk loading of bib. records) Local autonomy in bookfund management(many requisitions for same title at different times)  Multiple licensed vendor records  No ‘Selection list’ wizards  No use of ‘Smartport’ Many orders for same title Many, many fund IDs:  No full bookfund mgt on Unicorn Implications for Unicorn (1) Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

6. Central admin of acquisitions(division of labour) Multiple copies & standing orders High volume of orders placed & received/loaded order, receive, cataloguing functions done by separate teams Access to order info for local staff is difficult Increasing use of order maps Many order/line nos. for same title  Holding Codes heavily used Implications for Unicorn (2) Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

7. Holding Codes + Fund IDs Requirement: • Librarian wants a separate fund ID for each branch • Acquisitions team need to identify copy defaults at time of order placement • Acquisitions staff need minimum keystrokes & minimum decision-making Solution: 2,400 FIDs/HCs (120 ‘branches’ x 20 stock types) Format: 123/99 branch code stock type code Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

8. Fund IDs: Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

9. Holding Codes: Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

10. Fundings & distributions: Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

11. Order maps: Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

12. Standing orders: genre fiction Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

13. Invoicing • We don’t do it! (yet…) • Some other UK public users do • Key factors for future development: • Ease of creating invoice record from received order • Co-operation & support from Finance dept. Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

14. Problems (& some solutions…) • Fund management limited • Change to centralised/high level fund management • Fund IDs & Holding Codes • Custom report automates order inputting • Order status for front-line staff & customers • Enhancements to Orders folder in Item Search & Display wizard • Access to cancellations • More cancellation reasons + IS & D wizard enhancement Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire

15. Problems (& some solutions…) • Finding records where order/line no. is not known • Receive & Modify wizards have improved, but still a problem • Receive & Load as separate processes • Unicorn 2005?? • Items appear ‘on-shelf’ when on delivery vans • Custom fix to charge all loaded items to ‘NEW-STOCK’ location • Stock rotation defaults at order stage • Sirsi Ltd customisation; new core function “Collection Exchange” Acquisitions in Nottinghamshire