Cheat Sheet for during Maria’s leave, Sept-Dec 2022
General go-to roles:
Electronic Resources – Ellen
Book purchasing – Linda (Herrick), Nic (Scholes) POs/Invoicing - Linda (Herrick), Nic (Scholes)
Fiscal/budgeting/fund allocation – Linda (Herrick) and Deb Cataloging - Linda (Herrick), Becky (Scholes)
Physical processing of monographs, DVDs etc - Linda (Herrick), Becky (Scholes) Physical processing of serials - Linda (Herrick), Nic (Scholes)
Collection Management team supervisor (timesheets, PTO, coordination) - Samantha
For Collection Management team:
Question about taking time off, calling out sick, scheduling?
Go to Sam, [email protected] or x2945 Where do I send my regular agendas?
Instead of sending to Maria, please send to [email protected] Confused about something in Alma related to POs, invoicing and the like?
Check out SUNY Library Consortium’s robust training materials and FAQs
Brett, as an Alma administrator, is a resource.
SUNY has a help desk email, [email protected], and likely Yvonne or Michelle from SUNY Library Services will respond to you soon
Submit an Ex Libris help ticket
Check in with Linda if she’s experienced this issue before
Confused about something related to cataloging, either OCLC or Alma related?
For MARC records, such as explanation of a field or punctuation, go to the OCLC help page for bibliographic formats.
For SUNY-specific cataloging guidelines, check out SUNY Library Consortium’s Metadata Standards and Policies’ Best Practices page.
For what MARC fields are excluded from exporting from OCLC to Alma, please check out FAQ What Fields Were Excluded from the OCLC Network Zone Records?
For call numbers, look to Class Web, library processing manuals (for items like MFA theses or Zines), as well as Scholes’ conversion from some T series to N series, so art subjects stay together.
For working with metadata and cataloging and creating holding records in Alma, go to SUNY Library Consortium’s Alma Resource Management Overview and FAQs.
Check with Linda if she’s experienced this before.
Check with Sherman for niche art-related questions.
Check with Sam for call number questions Question about a donation?
Check in with the liaison librarian who approved item, check out the donation paperwork Library Liaison assignments:
Brian:
College of Business all subjects
Ellen:
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Gerontology
Modern Languages Psychology
John:
School of Art and Design all subjects
Kevin:
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Astronomy Athletic Training AUNY - Literacy AUNY - Public Administration
AUNY - School & Mental Health Counseling Biology
Chemistry Communication Computers/Computer Science
Education English
Environmental Studies Geology
Global Studies
Government Information History
Mathematics Philosophy Physics Religion
Women's & Gender Studies Writing 1 & 2
Laurie
University Archives and Herrick Special Collections (NYSCC Archives = Laura) Maria (Ellen will take over during leave):
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Anthropology, Criminal Justice Political Science Sociology Mechele:
College of Business All subjects
Samantha:
School of Engineering All subjects
Question about where something should go in a collection?
If not clear from precedent, check with the librarian who either requested/facilitated a purchase or is the assigned subject librarian.
Who will review Herrick Suggestion Box items?
Sam will review and connect with appropriate library liaison if needed.
Question about the Zine collection?
Adding Zines to the collection: connect with Kevin first, follows same purchasing protocol as Scholes monograph ordering
Using the Zine collection: connect with Kevin or Haleigh Donated Zines: Kevin will review
What if I have a rush item at Scholes?
Rush for item purchasing, please do all of the following:
1) fill out Scholes book ordering Google book sheet as usual
2) put “Needed ASAP” or RUSH in Notes of Scholes book ordering Google sheet
3) send an email marked as High importance to Scholes’ CM team (Becky, Nic, and Sam), indicating the need for rush purchase and processing
4) All books need to go to Nic first, either in his mailbox or if they cannot fit, in the mailroom
Rush item for adding to collection, please do all of the following:
1) send an email marked as High importance to Scholes’ CM team (Becky, Nic, and Sam), indicating the need for rush Alma collection addition and processing, plus who needs to be contacted once the processing is finished
2) All books need to go to Nic first, either in his mailbox or if they cannot fit, in the mailroom
3) if a book is being dropped off that did not originate from an order (aka, a handoff etc that the CM team would not be able to track via shipping number), please send an email marked as High importance alerting CM team to item’s arrival.
For Electronic Resources:
What if I cannot access an e-resource that Alfred has, like a database or an-ebook?
Check in with both Ellen and Brett via email, they may be able to explain or solve the issue, or liaise with SUNY or the appropriate vendor
What if I want to purchase an e-book?
Check in with Ellen via email, she can look up pricing and users, and place the order with the vendor. She will share invoicing information with Deb and Nic. FYI any ebook that is single user over $50 or unlimited access over $200, will require follow up questions about usage and purpose.
For CM team specifically: if purchased, Ellen will place order and activate on Alma, Deb will pay physical invoice and Nic will attach POL for invoice in Alma similar to regular POL/PO/invoicing for electronic resources.
What if I cannot log in to a database off campus?
Check in with both Ellen and Brett via email.
What if I want the libraries to subscribe to a new database?
Please email Brian, Ellen and cc Maria with all information and an explanation of why subscribing to a new database is important. Decisions will likely be made upon Maria’s return from leave after looking into usage statistics and doing an overlap analysis to what our current offerings are.
What if I want usage statistics for a database or ebook collection?
If this can wait until Maria’s return, please table this. If it is an true necessity, please give Ellen as much advance notice as possible to run the proper usage statistics, and please schedule additional time if you are not familiar with reading COUNTER 5 reports.
For Physical Resources:
What if I want to purchase a book?
Please follow regular procedure: add to Scholes book ordering google sheet or for Herrick, please email Linda. For some items that are higher cost, approval may be required.
What if I want to subscribe to a new periodical?
For Herrick, please contact Linda and cc Brian and Maria with all information, including ISSN number.
Linda will look into pricing via EBSCO and potentially other vendors/the publisher itself. For Scholes, please contact Nic and cc Brian and Maria with all information, including ISSN number. Nic will look into pricing via WTCox and potentially other vendors/the publisher itself. More expensive subscriptions may require additional approval. Please be advised that subscribing to a new periodical via a vendor or publisher, may take several months to go into effect.
What if I have an incoming new donation?
Please follow the regular donation procedure: accept the donation at the front desk with paperwork filled out and drop off at the respective libraries’ Collection Management donation space. Collection Management will work through the donation as their schedule allows.
What if there is a “big deal” donation?
Please follow the regular donation procedure, but also involve the subject’s liaison librarian in your respective communication. Email CM team members, the liaison librarian to flag that a “big deal”
donation is incoming and to fast track the donation paperwork to Deb so that an acknowledgement is sent speedily. Collection Management will work through the donation as their schedule allows.
What if there is a donation that crosses archives/collection management, specifically in Scholes?
If possible, table it until Maria’s return. If not possible, please follow existing documentation about the breakdown between what goes first to Collection Management, Archives etc.
What if I want to add a non-traditional object (sewing machine, synthesizer etc) to the collection?
Please call a brief meeting and discuss in conjunction with Public Services and Collection Management team members either Becky (Scholes) or (Linda), as this new object may live in reserves and require special instructions, as well as special and specific physical processing. If this non traditional item falls into a previously/already underway category (Teaching Collection in Scholes Special Collections, DVD players at Reserves in Herrick and Scholes), please follow existing protocol.
A book’s barcode/colibri cover/physical processing seems off to me – where should I go?
Please first evaluate if this is a personal preference or not and if access is truly inhibited (check in with Mechele if needed). If access is truly prohibited (for example, a bar code does not work), please bring to either Becky (Scholes) or Linda (Herrick) and they will follow existing procedures to rectify the
accessibility issue. If possible, please do not initiate an new processing workflow until Maria’s return or if a new process is adopted, please email Maria and she and the CM team will review that option when she returns from leave.
I’m expecting a physical periodical but not sure if it arrived yet, who do I talk to?
At Herrick, please check in with Linda. At Scholes, please check in with Nic.
I have a project that affects Collection Management, what should I do?
Fact gathering for future projects is to be expected, but if at all possible, the library will avoid initiating new, complex projects for the team. All projects currently underway (weeding at Herrick, large
donations at Scholes etc) have been plotted out for the semester. If there is a rapidly unfolding project that necessitates the CM team’s time, please check in with Sam who will coordinate with AU Libraries’
administration about the feasibility, necessity, and timeline.
I have a question about usage of the physical collections, I want to find certain books via Subject, I want to create a list of books by location – where do I go?
This is done in Alma Analytics, and SUNY Library Consortium provides an Alma Analytics guide here. This is an area where individuals may need to check in with fellow library workers for support on accessing the information they need if they are not comfortable creating an Analytics report themselves. Examples of people who have run reports recently include: Brett, Ellen, John, and Mechele. In the past SUNY Library Services have also held open-office hours to support library workers in creating analytics report.
Feel free to ask for help at: [email protected]
Financial questions
I have a question about periodical and database renewals, who should I speak with?
All periodical renewals have been submitted for the 2023 calendar year. For a breakdown of the
timeline from renewal submission to final invoicing (November/December), please check in with the AU Libraries admin team
I have a question about fund allocations
Please check in with Deb, and if Linda (Herrick) or Nic (Scholes + electronic resources) are not already involved, please cc them as appropriate.
Who will be included on invoices, fund allocation updates, or renewal information?
The same library staff (including Maria while she is on leave) will be included on these.