[Publib] Handling Large Numbers of Purchase Suggestions

[Julie Bauer]

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but we ask people not to suggest anything published more than a year ago.  (We make exceptions for older titles in a series that we own.)  We are lucky enough to have an aide who weeds out the old stuff and things we already own.  It won't make you more organized or automated, but it does cut down on the number of requests.

Julie Bauer
Collection Development Librarian
Loudoun County Public Library
Leesburg, VA





________________________________
From: catherine jasper <catherinej at dpls.lib.or.us>
To: publib at webjunction.org
Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 2:24:11 PM
Subject: [Publib] Handling Large Numbers of Purchase Suggestions

 
We
recently centralized our Collection Development to one selector for adult
materials and one for children’s.  Among the bumps in the road has
been one person (me) handling all the adult suggestions for purchase.  We
serve about 160,000 residents who generate about 400 suggestions per
month.  We have an online form that goes to Reference Staff,
they weed out ones we already own and then they come to me.  If a purchase
is made, a hold is placed and patron is NOT notified.  If the item is not
purchased, I customize a form letter and send an email or letter within 10
days.   
 
When
I started six months ago I was hoping that with better selecting, they would go
down and they have gone down some (about 10 percent), but we still get a large
number.  I hope to keep improving, but in the meantime, I’m looking
for ways to make the process more efficient.  
 
We
are thinking about creating a database that would automate part of the
process.  Has anyone developed anything like this?  Has anyone else
run into similar issues after centralizing Collection Development?  Any
strategies you have for making the process more efficient?  Please share!
 
Thanks,
Catherine Jasper
Collection Development Librarian
Deschutes Public Library System
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/publib/attachments/20090726/424da9a9/attachment.htm