For those of you who are number junkies, I thought it might be fun to share the total number of items that have been processed into the Regents Annex. When I say processed, I mean the items are now on the shelves in trays at the Regents Annex. This number excludes items that are en route.
92,215 items as of 05/21/08
Thanks to everyone who has been and continues to make the project a success!
The students, Cassidy and Annie, finished barcoding and linking the copy one dissertations, theses, and reports this week. Max is working on the remaining problems. Another milestone reached!
Around 4:00 pm on March 19, 2008, the last item was removed from the shelves in Room 139, to be shipped in the March 27th shipment. It is: Radical Nonintervention: rethinking the delinquency problem by Edwin M. Schur, published in 1973 by Prentice-Hall. We will ship serials from Room 03 for the first time in the March 27th shipment, also.
The last item cataloged at Nichols was completed at 9:19 a.m. today. The project to catalog and link Nichols materials was begun during the week of January 16, 2006. Congratulations catalogers!
Between snowy weather, sickness, and a mysterious unfinished run previously thought to be completed, our original finishing estimates are off. There is still no prize involved, but I thought I would post again to see if folks would like to provide a new guess on the finish time. Between now and the end of February, when do you think we will finish cataloging the last book at Nichols (excludes items sent back to Hale as problems)?
My newly revised guess is Friday, February 22nd, 11:01 a.m. What's your guess?
As we prepare to jump the last aisle in Nichols, the suggestion was made to see who could guess when we would reach the last volume. Post your best guess as to the date and time of the arrival. No prize is being awarded other than the personal satisfaction knowing your guess was closest. To start things off, I am guessing we will finish on Wednesday, Feb. 6th, at 3:41 p.m. What's your guess?
The Voyager 6.5.3 upgrade and tagtable updates have been installed on all the computers downstairs. I think you're good to go.
I think I like our book trucks much better...
Check out this photo from Colorado College from 1980: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tuttlibrary/122698023/in/set-72057594097880019/
Look at some of their other 'moving' pictures, too, while you're there!
Please pay extra attention to any Russian titles you encounter in Nichols. Why? Because we have completely different titles mistakenly on the same call number. If you have any doubts about whether the record you have found in Russian is the right record OR if you think we may have combined unlike things, please route them to Michelle in DBM. It is easier for me to work with these at the beginning rather than peeling things off incorrect records.
After six regular shipments to Lawrence (over 35,000 volumes), we’re establishing what appears to be a pattern. Right now the period during which an item’s status is “In Transit” - - the Black Hole in Circ parlance (thank you, Carolyn) - - is generally from two to four weeks.
Volumes might show up as "In Transit" but still be physically located at the KSU Annex for up to two weeks. Once shipped, "In Transit" books might be in Lawrence for up to two weeks before the KSU catalog is changed to show that they are available from the Regents Annex.
The process (usually) works like this:
Every other Thursday morning a semi-trailer arrives at the KSU Annex to unload 50 empty carts and load 50 full carts of books. The full carts are delivered that afternoon to the Regents Annex on the KU campus.
Once a shipment has left the building, KSU Annex students begin processing the next shipment, which includes changing each book's temporary location to "Regents Annex" and adding "In Transit" to the status. This processing continues through the next two weeks until the next shipment date.
Meanwhile, KU staff receive and begin processing the newly arrived books into the Lawrence facility. Almost all volumes are accessioned during the two weeks before the next shipment arrives. The processing of a few items is delayed until their storage trays are filled.
Once a week, KU sends us a file of the barcode numbers of newly accessioned volumes. I (or, in a pinch, Michelle) run the file through the Location Changer program to update the permanent location for each item to "Regents Annex" and to delete the temporary location and "In Transit" entries. We had various problems with this procedure early on, but we hope those are resolved now. Recently we’ve been able to update the location and status fields on the day we receive the file.
More than you ever wanted to know....
KU requires items under 30 pages be either bound or put in a Tyvec bag for shipment. For materials that are unbound periodicals, please continue to place them in the binding tub with a prinout of the holdings record. Use your judgment for non-periodicals in need of binding.
For any materials that are not periodicals, sturdy, and less than 30 pages, please add a goldenrod flyer. The goldenrod flyer will serve as a signal the volume needs attention before it can be shipped.
We are going to try something a little bit different with binding coming from Nichols. Terrell has asked that we place things ready for binding with their respective holding printouts directly into a gray tub to be shipped back to Hale. I have moved a gray tub over to where the cart holding binding was. The tub is marked "binding." The cart is on wheels so it can easily be returned to the shipping area by the door when it is full. We can swap to a flat cart if the wheels holding the current tub is inadequate. Questions? See Terrell or Michelle.
Voyager tagtables have been updated on all the Annex computers.
Belger Trucking of Lenexa will begin shipping the OFB collection to the Regents Annex in Lawrence this Thursday, July 19. Right now we're close to having 50 carts of books processed (temporary location and status fields changed in each item record), packed, shrink wrapped, and ready to go. The schedule calls for shipping 50 carts every other Thursday morning.
The Annex problem tray has gone away! What does this mean for you? In order to make the problem solving easier for me, I ask that you just place a printout in a few of the problem volumes and ship them back. Link what you can. This change is to help me speed the problem solving along and reduce time needed to recreate the problem.
We've had two alarms over the past few weeks, which brought to my attention that we need somewhat more formalized procedures. In case of an alarm, first of all use common sense. Leave the building via the nearest exit to the outside. Don't use the stairs in the center of the building or the elevators. Once you are out of the building, proceed to the front of the building (Anderson Avenue side), where I (Max) will be responsible for making sure that library staff and students are accounted for. We do not require staff to sign in and out, and don't have any very realistic way of doing that, so I will periodically be checking downstairs to keep track of who's in the building (including GovPub and Circ staff and students).
Aside from some odds and ends, most of the OFB collection is ready to ship to the Regents Annex in Lawrence. The odds and ends include: Nelda and Roberta are working on exactly how we are shipping and when. We are still targeting July. The pre-shipment procedures for changing temporary location and status of items in transit have been developed and tested, along with post-shipment procedures to make permanent changes to item records. Meanwhile, Annex students have begun barcoding the archival copies of older dissertations and theses, in addition to supporting the work of CatSer staff in the Nichols collection.
As OCLC continues to grow, so do the number of records input by libraries in various countries. We are beginning to see more parallel language records available. What is a parallel language record you ask? One that is input using non-AACR conventions and where certain descriptive portions of the record look different. For example, if the 300 looks a bit different than anything you have ever seen, you may be looking at a parallel record.
You can identify these records by looking at the 040 field. Check $e and $b. 040 $e is the coding of the descriptive conventions. 040 $b is the language of the cataloging. If you are cataloging a serial in Nichols and can only find a record with an 040 $e $b, please route it back to Michelle. We may need to input an original record.
Please avoid the temptation of using any latest entry serial records you find in OCLC. If a latest entry record is all you can find, please send the title back to Michelle. An original, successive entry serial record may be needed instead. The problem with latest entry records is that they contain multiple title changes on one record and this is not good!
You can easily identify whether a record is successive or latest entry by looking at the S/L fixed field. If S/L contains a zero, it is a successive entry. If the S/L is a 1, it is latest entry and to be avoided at all costs. Questions? Please see Michelle or Mary.
Annex computers were by turn reluctant or stubbornly unwilling to log in to the network for a few days. Ryan Hoskins from the library help desk adjusted some Novell settings on each machine, which seems to have solved the problem. Thanks, Ryan!
The heavy rains Wednesday night found their way into an electrical conduit above shelves in room 03 (Nich collection). This is the same leak we discovered a couple of weeks ago, although this time the result was approximately 200 wet (not moldy) volumes. The volumes have been spread out to dry in room 01. Facilities personnel have inspected the problem today (Thursday, 5/24). In a separate development, an air conditioning unit on the second floor has been leaking off and on for the past two weeks as well. So far we have only some water-stained ceiling tiles in room 152. Facilities is also working to resolve that problem.
Pat, Margaret, and Merry have finished the serials retrocon lists from OFB. Great job ladies! Michelle will be running further Access reports to make sure nothing was skipped or in need of being marked missing.
If all you can find is a truly less than great serial record (no 260, 300, 6XX fields, etc.), please route it back to Michelle for enhancements. This is our one chance to get minimal identifying information in the catalog before the item goes to the Regents Annex. If the record you find has equal or less information than we have in the brief record, it needs help. Thanks.
We are approaching an area in room 03 at the Annex with large-sized historical society volumes. Some of the volumes are fragile and hard to work with due to their size. Please consider only filling the top shelf of a cart when working with these materials.
We have updated the catalog records for the 2,400 volumes we sent to Lawrence in March. The location for each volume is now "Regents Annex," and the temporary "In Transit" status has been deleted.
I'll be out next week (March 19-23) and all of our student assistants will be away.
Catser staff will work their usual annex schedules, however.
Manny and Larry's crew will not make daily pickups and deliveries, but will be available on request. Contact Manny or Larry directly.
Marty Hartford complimented the good work by staff (especially Lynn and Charlene) in dealing with moldy books and shelving last week. Thanks! She is ordering two-gallon Ziploc bags, which can be used for larger volumes in the future. She also suggested that, if possible, a duplicate barcode be produced and placed on the outside of the bag. That would eliminate the need to open the bag once the volume has been sealed within it.
If you would like to see more photos from the March 2nd Regents Annex test shipment of 2200 items from OFB, see this link. The photos range from actual shipment to the K-State items being processed into the Regents Annex. Many thanks to Donna E. for posting things to Flickr.
On March 2, we successfully loaded a test shipment of about 2200 monographs and sent them to Lawrence. It took about an hour for Max, John Brandau, Ryan Swartz, and Shawn Wade to fill the KU movers and load them in the truck. Photos are located at w:\Everyone\Images\Annex Project\Annex test and Clinton lecture .
We are using these items to test our shipping and retrieval processes before we begin shipping in earnest next summer. Thanks to everyone who participated and especially to Max for checking all the books out last week to help the packing go quickly!
Staff from the Regents Annex in Lawrence will be in town March 2 to pick up approximately 2,200 volumes of our OFB collection. This "test sample" will allow us to identify any problems in the preparation of volumes for shipping, and also provide a basis for testing our retrieval and return procedures. We expect to begin making regular shipments from Manhattan to Lawrence sometime this summer.
OCLC Connexion has been updated to 1.7 on all Annex computers as of this morning.
The four computers in Nichols are now running OCLC Connexion Client 1.7. Margaret and I will be contacting folks shortly in other areas to assist with the upgrade.
Michelle
You can read the article at
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-library25dec25,0,2952745,full.story?coll=la-home-local
Just a friendly reminder on Nichols or OFB items you cannot find copy for in OCLC. Please link what you can and send the first volume you have over to Hale with a zero copy note. I'll check OCLC again and create any needed original records.
We had wireless network disruptions late yesterday and again briefly this morning. From what I can gather, the problems were the result of the installation of new computer equipment in the basement, and specifically the replacing of a worn-out UPS battery. The technician I talked to seemed confident that we'd have no further problems. We'll see, won't we?
It's been a few weeks since we've experienced network problems, so perhaps we were due. The renovations to various offices on the first floor have generally improved connectivity throughout the annex. Thanks to Charlene and Linda for alerting me to the recent outages.
Thanks for your work this year! I delivered two pans of brownies to the Annex this morning - one for first floor and one for the basement. Hope you enjoy the holiday treat.
Nelda put it well:
Work at the Library Annex will be suspended December 26-Dec. 29 and will resume Jan. 2. Circulation will set their own retrieval policy for that time period.
Congratulations go out to Linda who cataloged the volume designated the half-way point in the Nichols collection. For her efforts, Linda received a Hastings gift certificate to spend as she wishes. The exciting volume was entitled, Sediment data for selected Canadian rivers with a call number of QE471 .C32. Happy cataloging!
Just a friendly reminder to check each volume to see if it contains any accompanying materials (e.g., maps, charts, etc.). We appear to be in an area of the collection with more than the usual amount of accompanying materials.
Accompanying materials in Nichols are handled just like accompanying materials in Hale. On the item record, insert a note with what is present (e.g., 1 v., 1 map), adjust the piece count, and add a circulation review to the item status. Remember the volume counts for 1 piece in the total number.
Catalogers and annex students: Have you found something interesting stuck in the pages of a volume from 1894? Give it to Max. I'll keep a file for a possible display.
A small refrigerator is now available for staff in the basement (Room 03), courtesy of Linda Duncan.
Friday problems were encountered with Nich computer #4 (farthest machine from the door). An email has been sent to DSP Help. In the meantime, please use a different machine.
Max will be out of the office October 9-17, and back on Wednesday, October 18. Questions and problems concerning the Annex can be directed to Nelda at 2-7437 or nelder@ksu.edu.
According to information I've received, we might experience brief and sporadic network outages in Room 03 over the next two or three weeks. This is due to remodeling of CTS (formerly CNS) offices on the first floor, which will occasionally require moving the wireless hub. Richard Williams of CTS will try to provide advance warning of any interruptions in service. I understand that the project includes upgrading the network equipment, so it might be that we'll eventually have improved performance.
The elevator off the lobby in the old part of the building has been repaired. Thanks and praise to Roberta!
Updated work schedules for CatSer staff and Annex student assistants are at
This is just a quick reminder not to overfill the book trucks. Trucks with materials on all shelves and both sides can be very difficult to maneuver around the room and up the slight ramp to the shelves.
Also, if you are the last one to leave Nichols in the evening, please make sure all of the computers and fans are off. Thanks!
A box in which to put paper or cards with sensitive information is now on a shelf near Mary's bindery truck. The material will be periodically collected and taken to Hale for shredding.
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