[Publib] Preventing problems at self-check

[Bruce MacDonald]

The best fix is to program the bar-code scanners on the self checkout
machines so they cannot read the problem bar-codes. ISBN uses the Bookland
EAN bar-code standard. I have yet to come across a library that uses
Bookland EAN for their own bar-codes. It seems to be exclusively used for
ISBN and UPC. The self checkout machines only need to read library
bar-codes, so it should be safe to turn off Bookland EAN.

If you have a service contract with your self checkout vendor, they might be
able to send you a programming procedure. This usually involves scanning a
series of special bar-codes. If you don't have their help, it may take some
digging around to find out what type of bar-code reader your self checkout
has, and how to program it. A word of caution, this can be very tricky.
However, I would think that a bar-code reader in a self checkout machine
would be programmable.

-- 
Bruce MacDonald
Circulation Services Librarian
Peter White Public Library
Marquette, Michigan



On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 12:07 PM, <janet.griffing at wadsworthlibrary.com>wrote:

> Good morning:
>
> Within the past 6 months, we've moved to self-service checkout and holds
> pick up. We still have one staff member available in the vicinity of the
> checkout stations to handle customer problems, and one of those problems
> consistently appears to be that the customer either doesn't scan the correct
> barcode (using the printed ISBN code, resulting in an error) or scans it,
> ignores the error, and leaves without actually having checked out the item.
> Obviously this not only interferes with our ability to locate late/missing
> items, but impacts our circulation stats as well.
>
> I asked technical services staff about covering all publisher-placed
> barcodes with white labels, but they reminded me that our staff uses the
> ISBN barcodes when working on collection development/management. Covering
> the barcode but leaving the ISBN number visible works except for those cases
> where only the barcode is printed without the number.
>
> To those libraries also using self-service checkout: How are you handling
> this problem? Any fresh ideas would be most appreciated. Thanks!
>
> Janet Griffing
>
>
> Janet Griffing
> Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator
> Wadsworth Public Library
> 132 Broad Street
> Wadsworth, OH 44281
> Phone: 330-335-2604
> Fax: 330-334-6605
>
> *
> “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun
> is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if
> there is a light from within.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, 1926-2004 *
>
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