Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Access Services

Services and Functions Affected by the Library Catalog Upgrade (updated)

UPDATE: See the 24 July 2014 post for an update on the status of the catalog.

With the coming upgrade of the software for the library catalog (Aleph), access and functionality will be limited as follows:

Search

  • The catalog can’t be searched at all from 4pm on July 10 through July 12
  • Search WorldCat instead with the understanding that you won’t be able to tell if the item is actually on the shelf

Renewals

  • Patrons will not be able to use the catalog to renew items from 4pm on July 10 through July 24
  • If patrons want to renew or check out an item, they can stop by the circulation desk

Requests

  • Patrons will not be able to use the catalog to request items from 4pm on July 10 through July 24
  • Any requests for books, even those that might be at other CUNY campuses, can be handled via interlibrary loan (ILLIAD)

Access to Online Resources

  • The catalog outages will have no effect on access to online resources (e.g., ebooks can still be found and accessed by going to relevant ebook databases linked to on our databases page)

Laptops Kiosk

  • The self-checkout kiosk for laptops by the reference desk will be offline.

Checking Out and Checking In Items

  • The circulation and laptop desks will still be able to check items out and in during the upgrade period

Self-Checkout Machine for Books

  • The self-checkout machine by the elevators be will offline

Fines and Account Blocks

  • Because patron accounts will be inaccessible, no fines can be paid during the upgrade period
  • If patrons have blocks, they can be removed for a 48 hour period to allow for changes in registration
  • If patrons have a block and are requesting a transcript, they will need to wait until Aleph is back online

Access Services Announcements in the Reference Wiki

You may have noticed in the past year, staff from Access Services have been adding pages to the Reference Wiki with the same aims we had when we launched the wiki years ago: to create a place where we could document policies, procedures, and best practices for our service.

As we gear up for the new semester, it may be useful to take a look at the _Announcements page that the Access Services staff are updating. It contains all sorts of nuggets of info that might help us at the reference desk.

MTA Collection: Access for Baruch Students

Baruch students can now borrow MTA collection materials to take home.  They can borrow up to 2 MTA items at a time, and get a normal loan period of 3 weeks with one renewal.  For more details, please see the updated entry on the MTA collection at the Reference Wiki.

To request MTA collection materials, and other paged items, patrons should bring the completed Request for Paged Materials form to the Circulation Desk.  We also updated this form, and copies are now available at the Reference Desk and in the Circulation area.

PagedMaterialsForm

Please email me if you have any questions. Thanks in advance!