[ILL-L] contemplating a change: no due date on WRS transaction

[Peterson, Kim A.]

Yes, that's true. And that leads me to another question:
 
If you have only the WRS record, what do you do with the paperwork that accompanies books from other libraries? I would have to assume that you affix it to the book itself. Correct?
 
Kim Peterson
St. Louis Public Library
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Little, Lara B.
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 5:04 PM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] contemplating a change: no due date on WRS transaction


But for many of us there is no redundancy. For many of us, WRS is all we use. If it's not there, it's not anywhere.
 
----
Lara B. Little
Library Director & Reference/Periodicals Librarian
G.A. Pfeiffer Library
Pfeiffer University, Misenheimer, NC
 
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Peterson, Kim A.
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 4:56 PM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] contemplating a change: no due date on WRS transaction
 
But I already look at WRS data "with skepticism" because WRS is not our primary, authoritative record. WRS is not how we track lending items. For us, the WRS record is only an indicator, it's not the authoritative record on which we base responsibility, and that's both for lending and borrowing.
 
But I agree that the added info provided by WRS transaction data can help in solving a problem. But if it's not there--the bottom line is either we owe for a missing book or the borrowing library owes us regardless of the presence of the WRS record.
 
I think it's interesting how many defenders of record redundancy we have here. Perhaps I'll start a thread about that.   :) 
 
Kim Peterson
St. Louis Public Library 
 
 
 l Message-----
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Hiebert, Greta
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 3:17 PM
To: 'Interlibrary Loan Listserv'
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] contemplating a change: no due date on WRS transaction
I agree with the workflow-specific responses so far and would add this macro view of the issue: I believe this way of operating reduces the trustworthiness of the ILL request system for everyone: if even a few libraries undercut the tracking of item statuses, their lending partners begin to look at all OCLC transaction data with skepticism, and that reduces the value of the data. Seems to me that in the Common Good scheme of things, the time your borrowers would spend double-checking or second-guessing due dates, etc., would outweigh the time-saving for you as a lender.
 
Greta Hiebert
Interlibrary Loan                            interlib at bethelks.edu
Bethel College Library                   ph:316.284.5303
300 East 27th Street                     fax:316.284.5843
North Newton KS  67117               OCLC: KSB             
 
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Peterson, Kim A.
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 2:30 PM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] contemplating a change: no due date on WRS transaction
 
Re: Renewals 
This is one of the main reasons why this option is attractive to me because we do not renew. Even though our WRS policy states "no renewals" we still get several renewal requests each day. And, I do understand why, who really has time to read into a policy to find out if the lending institution renews, it's just much easier to send the renewal request. 
 
Our loan period is 6 weeks. I think that's generous and I'd prefer not to deal with renewal requests except in extraordinary circumstances and then, I figure the borrowing library can place a phone call to us.
 
We do not recall items.
 
We do not use WRS to track items, we use our internal ILS for that.
 
The information below about borrowers having to fill in due date on their ILL  management software (which we do not have) is useful because that gives me a picture of an additional step borrowers have to do. 
 
Kim Peterson
St. Louis Public Library
 -----Original Message-----
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Sue Kaler
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 2:00 PM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] contemplating a change: no due date on WRS transaction
Hi,
 
I know there are places that do this.  It is kind of a nuisance on the borrowing side.  We have to fill in the due date on our ILL management software, since it reads that from WRS.  There is no record to use if we'd like to ask for a renewal.  There is no record to use if you would like to recall the item.  There is no record on OCLC to jog us when something becomes overdue (although there are other reminders in our systems.)  You have less assurance as to where in the process your item may be.  It does save routine work, but leaves more possible problem solving work in the non-routine cases.  We hope it does not become a very common practice although we understand the appeal in this budget climate.
 
Sue Kaler
Interlibrary Loan Supervisor
Wellesley Free Library
530 Washington Street
Wellesley, MA 02482
OCLC symbol MLN
skaler at minlib.net
voice (781)235-1610 x1112, fax (781)237-4875

When responding, please be advised that the Town of Wellesley has 
determined that email could be considered a public record.


-----Original Message-----
From: " Peterson, Kim A." <KPeterson at slpl.org>
To: <ill-l at webjunction.org>
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:49:23 -0500
Subject: [ILL-L] contemplating a change: no due date on WRS transaction
One library that lends to us regularly does something that I think is a clever labor savings step: they set up the WRS transaction for returnables with a due date of "N/A" so that the WRS transaction disappears when I receive it.
 
I can't remember how they let us know the due date--I think it's indicated on the accompanying paperwork.
 
>From there we send the book out to our patron, and when patron returns item we ship it back to lender. There's no WRS transaction to update to "returned" and the lender doesn't have to "complete" the transaction.
 
What kind of problems does this create for you all? I like it, but I wonder if it will result in issues for you all that I can't foresee. 
 
Comments, please. 
 
 

Kim Peterson
Director of Technical Services
St. Louis Public Library
1301 Olive St.
St. Louis, MO 63103
T: 314-539-0320
www.slpl.org <http://www.slpl.org/>  

 


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