Status Report for May 2000

AAL project Test Run Beginning Tuesday,May 30, 2000

The Anywhere-Anytime Library project is ready to start a test run of the ILL system using real Interlibrary Loan requests. The test will start on Tuesday May 30.  It will apply to Pinellas Park, Palm Harbor, Sarasota County, SUNLINE libraries and Tampa-Hillsborough.  Pasco County and St. Petersburg have not yet been set up.

 On Tuesday, May 30

Please take your ILL requests for books only and search AAL. Request any books you find available from participating libraries.  Larger libraries may wish to limit the number of requests that they submit the first day or two to about a dozen requests. However, you may do as many requests in AAL as you are comfortable with doing. 

We recommend that you do your requests in the morning. 

If you are unmediated (Tampa-Hillsborough, Sarasota and SUNLINE) and you normally run your "list of holds to pull from the shelf report" in the morning, then you may want to run it again later in the afternoon.  This will display any requests made by other libraries using AAL. 

For Tuesday only, please email Lauren (stokesl@tblc.org) after you have submitted your requests. 

 Please include in your message:

1.      How many requests your library submitted that day

2.      If you have encountered any problems. 

 If you are not sure about something, please call Lauren, Beth, or Karen at 813.622.8252.

 Beginning Wednesday, May 31

Continue submitting requests the following day as well.  It may take two or three days to make sure all is running smoothly.  Please keep submitting requests until you are asked to stop.  If all goes well, we will not be stopping the requests. 

Submitting Requests

Remember that you may submit requests two ways:

Method #1 - Patron Login

·        Go to anywhere.tblc.org and log on as if you were the patron.  You will need their barcode. 

·        Find the book and click on the blue request button. 

·        Confirm patron name and need by date.

·        Choose a pickup location (your library). 

·        Do NOT put anything in the Librarian note field. 

·        If you have the patron’s email address, you may want to enter it. 

·        We recommend that you keep the slip of paper that has the information that you are working from and write down the request number that is displayed. You will only need to do this during the trial period.

·        Remember that you will need to login as each patron using this method. 

 Method #2 - Staff Login 

·        Go to the staff login (gator.thpl.lib.fl.us/~ursa/staff_login_frame.html) and use your user id and password (or your department’s user id and password). 

·        Choose “Search Virtual Catalog” from the staff menu. 

·        Search for the book, and click the request button when the item is found. 

·        Edit the patron information and submit the request. 

·        We recommend that you keep the slip of paper that has the information that you are working from and write down the request number that is displayed. You will only need to do this during the trial period. 

Incoming Requests 

SUNLINE, Tampa and Sarasota Libraries are unmediated.  This means the requests that you will be filling will be on your “Holds List”  (RHA=Dynix). .  Remember, when a patron puts a note in the notes field, the request automatically becomes mediated.  These unmediated libraries should also check their Provisional file. 

Pinellas Park and Palm Harbor are mediated and they will need to check the Provisional file for incoming requests.  

Some libraries may have requests in their Provisional file that patrons have submitted with notes on them. Please deal with these requests on Tuesday, May 30, 2000. 

Unmediated libraries, be sure to tell your circulation staff or staff that handle the holds lists that AAL requests will be coming through starting on Tuesday. They will handle the automation hold as they normally do:

·        fill the hold on the system and then either give the item to the ILL department or log in to AAL and set it to "shipped" in the Anywhere-Anytime Library

·        band the item and prepare it for delivery through the DLLI system. 

Your library needs to determine the best workflow for your library on handling these requests.  

Circulation of AAL Books

Lending libraries need to check out books being borrowed for 35 days.  Borrowing libraries will check out the books to their patrons for 21 days. No renewals are allowed on books borrowed through AAL. 

You will want to make sure that your automation system is set up correctly for these items and patron types before Tuesday. 

Identifying Bands

Any books being shipped to borrowing libraries using AAL need to be identified as AAL books. Please identify the book as an AAL Book and include the request number.  A recommended band is being sent to you as a camera-ready copy.  Please call me if you need the file in a different format so you can make modifications.  If you make modifications, please retain the cat logo, TBLC logo, and the information about the Anywhere-Anytime web site.  Please copy or print the bands on BLUE paper.  This way AAL ILL’s will be easily identified.

 Delivery of books

In most cases, delivery is through the DLLI System (orange bags).  Please take care to use the Route to line on the label when sending to a branch of the Tampa-Hillsborough and Sarasota County Libraries and when sending to the libraries that route through the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative office (Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, Seminole Community and Tarpon Springs). Interlibrary loan between Pinellas county libraries should use their PPLC delivery system. 

Tasks to do before Tuesday

	Check to make sure the URSA ITYPES that you created are set to circulate for 21 days and the URSA Patrons are set to circulate items for 35 days.
	Make sure that all library staff (or departments) that need staff logins have been assigned.
	Tampa, Sarasota, Pinellas Park and Palm Harbor need to make sure the information in their Library and Branch profiles is correct and complete.
	Tampa, Sarasota and Palm Harbor need to make sure all of their branch profiles is correct and complete.
	Prepare the AAL bands for the books.