One Card

I am reposting this information which was posted here back in November 2007 and sent out to staff from Fred Schumacher about the One Card initiative.

Here is the link to the original post from November. I am also copying the text of Fred's e-mail again so we are all on the same page. Please pay very close attention to the area in boldface. I will ask Sylvia to update us on where CEN is on this.


Greetings all.

As you may have heard, HPL and HCPL have been working toward implementing a one card solution that will allow customers of both systems to use one library card to access both their HPL and HCPL accounts. We are excited about being able to offer this service enhancement to our customers, and we anticipate that it will be well received by customers who use both library systems. As an added bonus, the enhanced service will also allow us to check in HCPL items mistakenly returned to HPL branches and HCPL will be able to check in HPL items mistakenly returned to one of their locations. I hope you agree that this will be welcomed by our customers. As a first step toward system-wide implementation of this enhanced service, the Horizon ILS circulation client has been installed at Bracewell, Stella Link and Park Place branches, and the service enhancement will be implemented at each of these locations beginning Monday, November 5th. Please be aware that customers choosing to access their HPL accounts using their HCPL Knowledge Card barcodes may do so at any HPL location from that day forward.

You may expect to have the HCPL Horizon shortcut installed on workstations at your branch at some point during the next two weeks. Once the shortcut is installed, please contact your LA Supervisor to arrange for training for staff to implement the service enhancement at your branch. Our goal is to have the service enhancement implemented system-wide by the end of November.

Please let me or your LA Supervisor know if you have any questions.

Thanks.

Fred Schumacher
Circulation Services Manager
Houston Public Library

Procedural Information and Staff Questions

Greetings all,

Please check the Central Services Blog (http://hplcen.blogspot.com) for procedural issues and answers to questions. Also, please be aware that the intent of that blog is that all staff can post to it. If you have a question or an answer to something other staff have posted or asked, please feel free to answer on that blog. This will be the site and place we use to make sure all staff are informed as we work are way through procedures.

Thanks a lot,
Mike VC

Item Retrievals and Shelf Checks

Until we move Remote Reference over to Jones we will continue to retrieve all shelf-checks by filling out the forms on the internet. CLST will then retrieve the items and contact the customers. This is the same process we have been doing for the past two years.

We will change to the new system for shelf-checks when we are all at Jones.


Thanks,
mvc

FIrst Day

Greetings,

Phones are coming to all (or most) service desks today. This is the top priority for this morning.

Computer for Welcome Desk and printers for all other desks are on their way as well.

A reminder that we want to avoid telling people"Go to..." somewhere or finger-pointing and should instead go with them, even if it means leaving a floor. This is true even if we are referring them to a person who might know something we do not. Please take the person to the person you refer them to instead of pointing or telling them to go somewhere else.

Stat sheets should be coming to all service desks. Please remember to record all stats...especially reference questions, which should be on the rise now that we have reopened.

Other than that, there are still many, many details to be taken care of but everyone is doing a great job rolling with things. If you note anything that is lacking or needs addressed, please let me know.

Thanks for all that you do,
Mike VC

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

Greetings all,

I cannot express how pleased I am with the outcome of this weekend. Every last person on our staff came through and did an outstanding job. 99% of the comments I heard and conversations I had with our customers were not only positive but extremely so. One of the things I heard the most was how helpful everyone was.

I owe you all a huge party and more to express my appreciation for what an amazing job you all did. I want everyone to know that I was extremely proud and inspired by your exceptional commitment to customer service this weekend. No matter how tired we got, everyone kept smiling and making customers feel welcome. You are all phenomenal!!

Thank you so much for making this historic event a huge success and a lot of fun.


Mike VC

Reference Staffing

Before we begin staffing the floors I would like to share with everyone a modified view of roving. Given what we experienced this weekend, I would like to ensure everyone that even if you are assigned to be a rover, you will have a home base where you can and will need to sit--so long as you are attentive to what is going on on the floor and rise to greet and help customers as they approach--as always. Here is how the schedule will read and where your home base is:

WD = Welcome Desk
R1 = World Languages Desk (check on Customer Service North occasionally)

R2 = Customer Service North
R2 = Customer Service South
NOTE: Work this out with your partner for the hour; you can switch midway through if you prefer. We will not have a person always at the CORE desk.

Reference and R3 will switch off roving the floor and sitting (yes) at the reference kiosk on the third floor.

At least initially, LST staff will only be staffing the CS North desk on the first floor where they will help with Laptops and Holds and basic CS needs.


Thanks for all the great work to make the past weekend and the future a huge success.

mvc

Schoolwork at Work

Greetings,

I have been asked to share a reminder based on an issue that has come up in another library division. While we do encourage staff to pursue degrees in Library Science, staff are not allowed to work on school work of any kind during work hours for which they are getting paid. All work done when staff are "on the clock" should be HPL work. You are--of course--free to work on school work (or whatever you want--provided it does not impact other staff) during lunch or breaks. Schoolwork, as with any personal activity, needs to be done on an individual's time.

Thanks,
Mike VC