Where’s the Book? 2nd Ed.

University of Arizona

Materials Access Team

Project MembershipCarrie Larson (Team Leader)

Mona AmmonSandra JoyCleo MarmionTravis Teetor

Purpose Identify and prioritize the reasons why

customers cannot find “library owned material” when they need it.

To improve customer access to the Library’s collections resulting in increased customer satisfaction by developing and implementing solutions to solve the major problems.

Problem Being Addressed Although the library’s shelving accuracy and

cycle times are under control, customers continue to indicate that materials identified as “In Library” in the OPAC are not where they should be.

Trends from LibQual+, Library Report Card and general complaints from customers and Library Staff indicated that customers cannot find library owned material.

Perceived disparities exist between the Catalog and the library holdings.

Macro Level Approach1. Reviewed existing data

2. Gathered additional dataa. Benchmarking datab. Sample Inventory/Shelf reading datac. “Shadowing” data

3. Analyzed data

4. Brainstormed possible causes/solutions

5. Prioritized/Implemented solutions

6. Investigating other possible solutions

1. Reviewed Existing Data Data from previous project teams used to

see what had already been done and determine what new data should be collected.

We looked at the data from our “searches” team for trends on where they were found missing items.

Data on high/low use areas of the library was used to determine where to conduct the sample inventory.

ItemGone(i.e. stolen or lost)

Internal StaffTraining

Failure to Provide EducationFinding aids,etc.

Customer

Knowledge/ Motivation

CirculationErrorsdown times, in/ out

CustomerShelving Errors

Student /StaffShelvingerrors

Cataloging ErrorsSabio call # ? call # on item

Items Waiting to be shelved or pickedup

"Removed" but not checked out

Lack of Clear Signage,Landmarks

2. Gathered Additional Dataa) Benchmarking data

Contacted peer institutions to determine what studies they have conducted and what approaches they have taken relative to this problem.

Learned that most institutions have the same problem, but have not conducted formal studies looking for the cause.

Learned that a traditional complete inventory is costly and labor intensive. As a result, none of our peers had conducted one in the past decade.

b) Sample Inventory/Shelf Reading Data Methodology:

2. Gathered Additional Data

Randomly selected starting points within high/low use areas in Main and Science Libraries.

Randomly selected an area in the Fine Arts Library.

Gathered data based on a minimum of 0.015% of the total population of each selected location.

b) Sample Inventory/Shelf Reading Data

6% of items in the stacks were miss-shelved (typically off by 2-3 books).

1.77% of items from the shelf list were missing from the proper location.

0.5%-1% of items in the stacks were not on the shelf list.

0.66% of items in the stacks had multiple barcodes/item records.

2. Gathered Additional Data

c) “Shadowing” dataGather data based on any time a customer

approaches a service site and reports that they could not locate a library item.

Verify the information about the item in the OPAC.

If the catalog indicates “In Library” and the customer has the correct location and call #, we immediately go and search for the item.

If the item is not found, it is declared missing alerting the searches team to look for the item.

2. Gathered Additional Data

3. Analyzed DataCauses Pareto Chart (based on total data for all sites)

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50

70

90

110

130

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170

Causes

Occu

ran

ces

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10

30

50

70

90

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130

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Causes

Running total

MAJOR CAUSES

80%

Legend for bar colors

Found by Shadowing

Found in CatalogFound by Searches

Not yet found

4. Brainstormed Possible Causes and Solutions

Condense # of Locations

Detailedinstructions for on-the-fly records

Sabio Cleanup

Redefinecorrectlyshelved

Links to map(s) on the OPAC

Searches Protocol

Help in the stacks forcustomers

Can't find an item brochures

Signs / Maps in the stacks

SuppressB & DRecords

Where's the item checklist

Paging items for customers

Inventory(RFID tags?)

5. Our Solutions

Solution 1: Signs/maps in the stacks Solution 2: “Can’t find an item?” brochure Solution 3: “Where’s the item” checklist Solution 4: More detailed “On-the-fly”

instructions Solution 5: Sabio cleanup Solution 6: Searches Instructions

Solution 1: Signs/Maps In The StacksPurpose:

We felt it was important to post the call number location guide and floor maps in the stacks.

We wanted this information highly visible right at the point in time when customers might be having difficulty finding their way around the library.

Solution 2: “Can’t find an item?” BrochuresPurpose

To have the following information in the stacks, easily accessed right at the point in time when the customer has difficulty finding an item. A concise explanation of how the Library of Congress (LC) call numbers are

arranged on the shelves. This is to help the customers educate themselves on how to use the LC call number system.

Details which the customer needs to notice, or can check, in the catalog record for an item. (i.e. the location, status, description, verifying the call number they used is correct.)

Where the customer should go to ask for help if they were not able to find the item(s).

Describes the procedure our library uses for following up on missing items.

Solution 3: “Where’s the item” ChecklistPurpose:

To create a more uniform and consistent response to a customer’s report that they could not locate an item.

The form is also used to record the data which we track. This data is used when reporting to the library and to measure whether we are meeting our quality standards.

Solution 4: More Detailed “On-the-fly” InstructionsPurpose:

To enhance the training module used in training circulation desk students regarding creating on-the-fly records (i.e. how to create temporary bibliographic and/or item records). We added detailed steps, graphics, explanations.

The goal is to enhance student and staff understanding of the process, and decrease inaccurate record creation.

Solution 5: Sabio Cleanup

By reviewing these records and ultimately removing them from the catalog we will have more accurate catalog entries and create less confusion for the customer looking for materials.

Purpose:Discovered that customers often do not look at

the status field.

Discovered that there numerous items in the catalog marked as missing/on search/lost which have not been dealt with.

Discovered that there are old status codes which should no longer be in use.

Solution 6: Searches Instructions Purpose:

To create alignment in the searches process amongst all of those involved in the searches process.

To maximize our success in finding those items which are still in the library.

To help ensure that those items not found get replaced or removed from the OPAC in a timely fashion.

6. Investigating Other Possible Solutions

Investigation 1: Linking to maps from the OPAC

Investigation 2: Inventory

Investigation 3: Paging items for customers

Investigation 1 – Linking To Maps From The OPAC This investigation’s intention was determine if

linking maps from the OPAC would help reduce the number of instances where customers have difficulty navigating the stacks to find items in their correct location.

We plan to have a link to a map from the location field in addition to a general call number location guide.

The implementation has been delayed due to the UA Library’s work in implementing our new website.

Investigation 2 -Inventory To investigate whether or not it would be

feasible to conduct a full inventory.

Our findings indicate that the various options for doing an inventory are to costly.

While we will not be doing an inventory, we expect that our shadowing process and declaring items missing in a more timely manner will help us to cleanup our OPAC.

Quality Standards Being Developed 97% of items reported missing will either be

found or declared missing within 30 minutes of the report.

50% decrease in the percentage of shadowing forms where the:

1. Item was in the correct place.

2. Item was on reserve.

3. Item had a location other than general stacks.

Investigation 3 – Paging Items For Customers The intent of this investigation was to determine if

we could reduce complaints by actually pulling items for customers.

We benchmarked with our peer institutions to find out who offers paging to their users.

We have developed various high/low cost options for paging.

It was decided that this idea really fit better under the services of the Document Delivery Team (DDT) and this investigation was handed it of to DDT.

Conclusions Changes in MAT’s work

Increasingly limited resources and time both Library wide and for MAT led to a focus on non-mediated circulation services and changes in the work MAT does. We have been consolidating service sites. MAT now provides reference and other services in addition to circulation duties. For example, the library has started circulating laptops, is increasing the workload at the Main service site. The increased work load at the service sites is making it more challenging for staff to follow through with collecting shadowing data and the procedures for assisting a customer who can’t locate a book.

Constant changes in our physical layout We have been doing major shifting. This meant we needed to postpone or redo the implementation of some of our solutions.(I.E. Maps have been delayed and the brochures will need a major update.)

ConclusionsSome of the solutions require cross team

effort and hence are not directly under our control. The maps to be post in the stacks and on the OPAC will be developed, after shifting has progressed sufficiently, by the library’s graphic designer who has been very busy with the update of the library’s web site. Also the activating maps on the OPAC will require assistance from DLIST (Digital Library Information Services Team).

While much work has been done on the OPAC cleanup some of this work is still to be done as TSAP (Technical Services and Archival Processing Team) has limited time and resources and has had to prioritize their work.

The possibility of paging items for customers was handed of to the DDT (Document Delivery Team) to investigate.

Conclusions Learnings

Data collection is often the loser when in competition with other duties for our time and attentionCollecting data has helped to illustrate how many customers are having trouble locating items.

FindingsCustomers do not appear to be familiar with catalog records and call number systems. They appear to be unsure how to interpret and use these tools. The shrinking level of staffing is motivating more customers to learn to utilize these tools so that they can be more independent.

CaveatsIt is difficult both to implement and to measure the effect of these “solutions” when both the physical environment and the nature and volume of our team’s work are constantly changing.

Causes Pareto Chart (based on total data for all sites) for FY 2005-2006

-10

40

90

140

190

240

Causes

Occ

ura

nce

s

-10

40

90

140

190

240

Causes

Running total

MAJOR CAUSES80%

Legend for bar colors

Found by Shadowing

Found in CatalogFound by Searches

Not yet found