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Shelf Reading: Every Library Does it Can Technology Help

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Shelf Reading: Every Library Does it Can Technology Help

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    1. Shelf Reading: Every Library Does it… (Can Technology Help?) Colin Magee Instruction Librarian Madisonville Community College http://www.madisonville.kctcs.edu/facstaf/cmagee

    2. Shelf Reading & Inventory Why should we do shelf reading and inventory?

    3. Shelf Reading & Inventory Why should we do shelf reading and inventory?

    4. Shelf Reading & Inventory Why should we do shelf reading and inventory?

    5. Shelf Reading What is shelf reading?

    6. Shelf Reading What is shelf reading?

    7. Shelf Reading ADVANTAGES Gives part-time workers something to do—always a task that needs to be done. Some errors will always be detected during a shift, even if only a handful. Cheapest and quickest way to maintain the order of the book collection throughout the semester.

    8. Shelf Reading LIMITATIONS Boring, repetitive work. Lapses in concentration can quickly lead to errors. Call numbers are complicated. Part-time workers sometimes don’t want to master the necessary skills. Doesn’t take into account which books are missing off the shelf or if call numbers are actually wrong.

    9. Inventory What is inventory?

    10. Inventory What is inventory?

    11. Inventory What is inventory?

    12. Inventory ADVANTAGES of using a handheld device Each book can be thoroughly examined individually while it is being scanned, which helps with repair, weeding, etc. Compares what you have on the shelf to an actual inventory list. This tells you what is missing from the shelves.

    13. Inventory LIMITATIONS of using a handheld device The KCTCS system office loans the handheld devices to each community college library for a limited time period. Scanning each book’s call number takes a long time to do. The software used to communicate between the handheld device and the computer is very complicated and hard for everybody to use.

    14. Inventory LIMITATIONS of using a handheld device This method ignores call number discrepancies (since the barcode is what is examined and not the call numbers). Handheld inventory doesn’t put the shelf in order: it is simply an inventory program to check what is there, compared to the master list.

    15. How to solve the problem Combine the two together! To solve the problem, you need to combine shelf reading with inventory. 1) You need an actual inventory list (ordered by call number) that will show you what your shelves should look like. 2) You still need to physically examine the shelves and compare what’s on your shelf to what’s on that list. You don’t need a handheld device to do this.

    16. Shelf Reading

    17. Inventory (handheld)

    18. Shelf Reading with Laptops

    19. How to get started 1) Get your KCTCS Library Inventory List http://libsys.kctcs.edu

    20. How to get started 2) Format the list in Microsoft Excel.

    21. How to get started 3) Compare what’s on the spreadsheet to what’s on your shelves.

    22. Results We tried it out last May-June and it took about five weeks to do the whole library. Around 25,000 books. 2 senior library personnel spent a few hours on it each day (not something for student workers). Shelves were put in complete call number order. List of hundreds of missing/stolen books was developed and given to library director to create a replacement plan.

    23. Special Surprises! 1) Call number errors. (Less than 100) Wrong on the book (spine label error). Wrong in the catalog (cataloging error). 2) MARC 852 errors. (Over 100 in total) MARC 852, subfield 1, must be coded for the book to show up on the inventory list (doesn’t affect it showing up in the OPAC though, so easily missed.)

    24. Special Surprises! 3) Ghost Books. (Several hundred) Missing from the shelf, but still in the catalog. Several hundred books were purged a few years ago but their records were never properly removed. Still on the shelf, but no longer in the catalog. Conversion errors and other mistakes would leave books on the shelf that really should have disappeared years ago. 4) Location errors. (Several dozen) Some items (reference, reserve, AV) would move from location to location but never have it reflected properly in the catalog.

    25. Conclusion The best way to put your collection in order is to physically compare what’s on the shelf to a master inventory list. Laptop/Spreadsheet can help with this. We were surprised by the amount of errors and discrepancies that we uncovered last summer. Many errors dated back several decades. Shelf Reading is not enough. Some form of inventory is critical to keeping the collection in order.

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