Ordering from Stacks

Meeja Ireland

Old system: You request the book online. They send you a confirmation email and shelve the book under your name.

New system: You request the book online. They send you a confirmation email which contains a call number which they ask you to bring. They shelve the book under the call number.

What am I missing about this? It seems that the new system is cumbersome and inconvenient, whereas the old one worked fine. The essence of a computerised system is surely that it cuts out the need for fiddly paperwork. This adds it in.

Is there a reason not to shelve the books under the name of the person who requested them?

This is a genuine question, by the way, and should be read not snarkily, but in a tone of velvety bemusement, like Orson Welles gazing at the unfolding majesty of the stars in the Southern sky, and murmuring his awe to a reclining Rita Hayworth.

Unshelved

The essence of a computerised system is surely that it cuts out the need for fiddly paperwork. This adds it in.

Is there a reason not to shelve the books under the name of the person who requested them?

There have been a number of problems with the new system, but this development should be welcomed.

Unfortunately the old system generated reams of paperwork. Every book that was ordered was accompanied by a computer-generated A4 sheet of paper detailing who ordered it, so that the books could be filed in alphabetical order according to who ordered them. The waste of paper was colossal.

Under the new system, because the books are now filed in shelfmark order, there is no need for such wastage. All the reader has to do is remember the shelfmark of the book that they ordered - so now there is no need for the Library to throw out loads of paper at the end of every day. You don't need to print out your email, just remember the number.

It's slightly more work for the Library User but it's much nicer to the environment.

Meeja Ireland

Unshelved wrote: »

There have been a number of problems with the new system, but this development should be welcomed.

Unfortunately the old system generated reams of paperwork. Every book that was ordered was accompanied by a computer-generated A4 sheet of paper detailing who ordered it, so that the books could be filed in alphabetical order according to who ordered them. The waste of paper was colossal.

Under the new system, because the books are now filed in shelfmark order, there is no need for such wastage. All the reader has to do is remember the shelfmark of the book that they ordered - so now there is no need for the Library to throw out loads of paper at the end of every day. You don't need to print out your email, just remember the number.

It's slightly more work for the Library User but it's much nicer to the environment.

Thanks for the explanation.

The shelfmark is the same as the Call Number, right? The email uses both terms.

sushisushi

I applaud the effort to reduce the amount of paper used, but when the librarians request that you give them the call numbers written on a piece of paper, it rather defeats the purpose. It just transfers the onus on providing the paper to the student, rather than the library.

Mark200

Unshelved wrote: »

There have been a number of problems with the new system, but this development should be welcomed.

Unfortunately the old system generated reams of paperwork. Every book that was ordered was accompanied by a computer-generated A4 sheet of paper detailing who ordered it, so that the books could be filed in alphabetical order according to who ordered them. The waste of paper was colossal.

Under the new system, because the books are now filed in shelfmark order, there is no need for such wastage. All the reader has to do is remember the shelfmark of the book that they ordered - so now there is no need for the Library to throw out loads of paper at the end of every day. You don't need to print out your email, just remember the number.

It's slightly more work for the Library User but it's much nicer to the environment.

Any idea when we'll be allowed to renew a book more than once? I think I remember an email saying that work would be done on it over Christmas, but haven't heard/seen anything since.

Sanguine Fan

sushisushi wrote: »

when the librarians request that you give them the call numbers written on a piece of paper, it rather defeats the purpose.

When collecting books from Stacks at the counter I have been asked to bring a printout bearing the call numbers and the book details. Apparently the way to do this is to print the e-mail advising that the book is ready for collection. If several books are ordered simultaneously, I think a separate e-mail is sent for each one.

If the purpose of the change was to eliminate paper, I am not sure it works, especially for multiple orders.