[ILL-L] how does one drum up business?

Thu Oct 22 13:07:57 EDT 2009

Oh I'm such a Scrouge, I'll admit it. But, please do not send us little mass produced "thank you" notes for our lending activity.  They are meaningless to me. When I get those things I am annoyed because it's one more action I have to take on that transaction--dispose of it. 

Occasionally we receive original thank you notes from patrons at the lending end, showing appreciation for the rare or unusual thing that we sent out. Those are great to receive.

Kim Peterson   

-----Original Message-----
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Campbell, Heather
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 10:23 AM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] how does one drum up business?

JPL staff post all our "thank you" notes/slips on bulletin boards.  Not only is it a lift for the ILL staff to know their efforts are appreciated, it also is a lift for the Main staff who take a look at the boards when they drop of lending fills. Some of the "thank you"s are so clever.  They also serve to show Admin the impact of ILL.

Heather Campbell, Senior Librarian

Manager- Interlibrary Loan 

Jacksonville Public Library (JPL)

303 North Laura Street

Jacksonville, FL 32202-3505 heatherc at coj.net  (904) 630-2986

  _____  

From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Robyn Clark-Bridges
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 12:39 AM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] how does one drum up business?

Some ways previously not mentioned:

1) Try the personal touch...I handwrite a note to any library I've visited or where I formerly lived (MN, WI, IA) or vacationed (CO, IL, FL, WI) or wrote a paper about their library (Northern AZ U. in Flagstaff) or the city/state where a sibling or family member lives (Boston, MA, Conway, AR, Little Rock, AR, etc.) .  It's amazing how many MORE requests/repeat requests I get from those libraries where I have some kind of personal connection!

2) I used to send small candy bars or candy canes at Christmas to libraries nearby--in w/ their ILL books/videos...gotten away from that the past two years.  I still handwrite quick notes to anyone I went to library school with...just to say 'hi' & touch base.

3) Of course, the faster you are in responding & the clearer your copies are, the busier you'll eventually be...it takes time to build up a reputation for speed & accuracy.  I actually asked our access services librarian to temporarily SUSPEND requesting copies from a specific library this fall because every copy we received had pages missing or words blurred...there are many terrific ILL depts. out there to focus on...

4)  Create a "warm fuzzy" e-file to tuck away those compliments from libraries/ILL workers who appreciate your efforts...gives incentive to keep going on those tough days.

I'm in my seventh year working w/ ILL here...worked w/ ILL in a public library for 3 years prior to this.  I LOVE being busy...& I thrive on the challenge of filling everything that rolls my way w/in my eight hour shift. 

Best wishes, 
Robyn (Clark-Bridges)   MLS
ILL Assc. & PM Supervisor
Library, Mount Mercy College (OCLC code:  UIW)
Cedar Rapids, IA 
work phone:  319-368-6465 
fax number:  319-363-9060
work email:   rclark at mtmercy.edu

On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 8:03 AM, Campbell, Heather < HEATHERC at coj.net> wrote:

What's your OCLC symbol? Are you part of  any regional, statewide, or local ILL group? Is there a medical library ILL group you can join?  In Florida,  we're part of our statewide network and the network in our region. I don't know if the rules have changed since SOLINET and PALINET merged into LYRASIS- but you may want to look into joining SOLINE or SIXX.  Members agree to lend for free (SOLINE) or lend and provide free photocopies for members (SIXX).

Heather Campbell, Senior Librarian

Manager- Interlibrary Loan 

Jacksonville Public Library (JPL)

303 North Laura Street

Jacksonville, FL 32202-3505 heatherc at coj.net  (904) 630-2986

  _____  

From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Heather L Brown 

Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 1:41 PM
To: ill-l at webjunction.org

Subject: [ILL-L] how does one drum up business? 

We've been running ILLiad  for about a year and a half now. That fact along with implementing many workflow tricks from the IDS Toolkit have made our process so much more efficient. So much so, that we find pauses in the action. There is probably some administrative grunt work I could find for my lending person, but ideally I'd like to get more lending requests coming in.  So, how does one drum up business? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heather L. Brown, M.A.
Assistant Professor
Head of Access Services
-Interlibrary Loan and Photocopy Department
-Distance Education
-The Nebraska Medical Center Liaison

McGoogan Library of Medicine
University of Nebraska Medical Center
986705 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-6705

hlbrown at unmc.edu
402-559-7097
866-800-5209 (toll-free)
402-559-5498 (fax)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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