We had a slow start with this version, getting used to the new layout and overall "slowness". I am happy to report that since early October, ExLibris did a "Hot fix" and the response time has improved dramatically. Other than the slow response we all experience during peak hours on the Internet, Aleph is functioning smoothly.

In the past week, University of Minnesota-Morris-MNX has also started using Aleph as a lender and borrower.

1. University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus-will loan 6 reels per request.
2. Minnesota Historical Society-will loan 6 reels per request. *A patron can only have 6 reels out at a time.
3. Wisconsin Historical Society-will loan 6 reels per request. "A patron can only have 6 reels out at a time.

Sometimes, it isn’t always clear why a particular title is so popular in our libraries when it doesn’t show up on any national best seller lists. However, it’s probably due to a regional connection of some sort, such as a hometown author, or a mention in a local newspaper, radio, or television program. Occasionally a title shows up on the list just because so few libraries in our region own it, yet the demand is constant enough that it is never available via interlibrary loan.

When I compile a list of “In Constant Demand” titles (or as we call them, the “31’s”) each month, I search them in multiple library catalogs in our region to determine if there are circulating copies available. When the title has very few holds, or if it is finally back on the shelf at one or more libraries again, it is removed from the list. A title can remain on our list for as little as 1 month, or rarely, as long as several years, depending on demand at the libraries in our region. The lingering titles tend to be “Oprah” books, or extraordinarily popular titles like “The Da Vinci Code.”

MINITEX staff see a slightly different “31” list than we provide to you; I alert our staff to titles that might become available before the next list is published. That includes titles with a low number of holds showing up at local libraries, as well as items where it appears there may be a copy or two available on the shelf. In those cases, I ask staff to exhaust possible referral sources before sending a negative reply back to your office. However, if you are sure that a title is available and circulating, but still receive a report of “31”, please don’t hesitate to contact our staff (Raquel Franklin or Kevin Kelley) to ask that it be referred to the appropriate library.

I really enjoy putting the “In Constant Demand” list together, and I frequently add these titles to my own reading list. (With apologies to my public library for creating the extra work and lengthening their “hold” lists!) I am delighted when I find a new author that I might not have otherwise read. Occasionally, I find myself puzzled by all of the fuss. When I become annoyed that a book I really detested loiters on the list month after month, it’s a good sign that I need to take some vacation!

I hope you are finding the list useful. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about the "In Constant Demand" list, by contacting me at: c-nels@umn.edu

IN CONSTANT DEMAND – AV Titles
October 2006
• 16 Blocks
• Akeelah and the Bee
• Benchwarmers
• Brokeback Mountain
• Date Movie
• Failure to Launch
• The Family Stone
• Fantastic 4
• Final Destination 3
• Firewall
• Fun with Dick and Jane
• Good Night and Good Luck
• Hostel
• Inside Man
• Just My Luck
• Last Holiday
• Libertine
• Matador
• Munich
• Pink Panther (2006)
• Poseidon
• Prairie Home Companion
• Pride and Prejudice
• RV
• Scary Movie 4
• She’s the Man
• Silent Hill
• Syriana
• Tsotsi
• Wedding Crashers
• When a Stranger Calls (2006)
• X-Men – the Last Stand

Series Television
• 24
• Alias
• Arrested Development
• CSI Miami
• Deadwood
• Desperate Housewives
• Entourage
• Family Guy
• Grey’s Anatomy
• House, M.D.
• Lost
• Simpsons
• Six Feet Under
• The Sopranos
• Weeds

ALEPH Libraries

MINNESOTA

OCLC Library Name

ACO Riverland CC – Austin
ANR Anoka Ramsey Comm. College-Coon Rapids
ANT Anoka Tech. College
BNC Central Lakes College
CAD Minneapolis College of Art & Design
CKK Concordia College – Moorhead
D4W Dunwoody Institute
DT5 Lake Superior College
HCC Hibbing Community College
LCO Century College
MAG MN Attorney General’s Office
MBE Bethany Lutheran
MCO Minneapolis Community & Tech College
MCR University of Minnesota, Crookston
MCV Mesabi Range Community and Technical College
MDF MN Pollution Control Agency
MDH MN Department of Health
MDN MN Department of Natural Resource
MDT MN Dept of Transportation
MEG MN Dept of Em. & Ec. Development
MFF MN State Comm. & Tech. College, Fergus Falls
MHS Minnesota Historical Society
MIC Itasca Community College
MIH Inver Hills CC
MLR MN Legislative Reference Library
MNB Bemidji State University
MNF College of St. Benedict
MNG Gustavus Adolphus
MNI Winona State University
MNJ St. Johns University
MNS St Scholastica College
MNM Minnesota State University Mankato
MNR Hill Reference
MNV SW Minnesota State University
MNY St. Mary’s Univ Winona
MRU MN Dept of Revenue
MSL Minnesota State Law Library
MST St. Cloud State
MUC Perpich Center for Arts & Education
MUO Minnesota State University Moorhead
NHE North Hennepin CC
NOR Normandale CC
NTC Northland Comm. & Tech. College, Thief River Falls
P2D Rasmussen College
RCC University Center-Rochester
RRC Rainy River Community College
SBU Minnesota School of Business
SPB Crown College
VCC Vermillion Community College
WCO Ridgewater College Willmar
WEH St Cloud Tech College
WOR MN West CTC – Worthington
X02 Pine Technical College
XOH Saint Paul Technical College
XOJ Metro State University
XOR St. Mary’s University – Twin Cities
XOS Alexandria Technical College
XOT Dakota County TC
XOU South Central College – Faribault
XOV Hennepin Tech & Comm. College-Brooklyn Park
XOW Hennepin Tech & Comm. College-Eden Prairie
XOY South Central College – Mankato
XPO Riverland CC – Albert Lea
XQC Anoka Ramsey Comm. College-Cambridge
XQG MN West CTC – Granite Falls
XQH Ridgewater College Hutchinson
XQJ MN West CTC – Jackson
XQN MN West CTC - Canby
XQP MN West CTC - Pipestone
XPG Northwest Technical College, Bemidji
XQF Fond du Lac Tribal 7 Community College
XX1 MN State Comm. & Tech. College, Detroit Lakes
XX2 MN State Comm. & Tech. College, Moorhead
XX3 MN State Comm. & Tech. College, Wadena
XX4 Northland Comm. & Tech. College, East Grand Forks

NORTH DAKOTA

DIP Dickinson Pub Library – Billings Cty
NBJ Bismarck State College
NDJ Raugust Library, Jamestown College
NDS** North Dakota State Library
NDV Valley City State University
NGF Grand Forks Public Library
NMI Minot State University
NMY Mayville State University
NWQ North Dakota State University Library
UND University of North Dakota

**NDS refers on behalf of MINITEX to the following libraries:

BHE North Dakota State Health Department
BHR North Dakota State Highway Department
BHY North Dakota State Highway Department
BSF Minot State University Bottineau
DHF Dakota Heartland Health Syst Med Library
FGK Grand Fork AFB Library
FGT US Air Force, Minot AFB Library
FSH Meritcare Health System Library
GFH Altru Hospital Medical Library
JSH North Dakota State Hospital Health Science Library
LRJ Lake Reg State College
MGP Northern Great Plains Research Ctr Library
MTM Trinity Health
NIF NRI Med Library
NJA Alfred Dickey Public Library
NWY Williston Community Library
SA3 Saint Alexius Medical Center Library
TBI Trinity Bible College
UDJ USGS Brd N Prairie Wildlife Research Center
UNW Williston State College Library
VAH Veterans Administration Med Center, Fargo
WAP Wahpeton Public Library

http://illresources.blogspot.com/2006/05/ill-dashboard.html

I really like the look of this - it seems to give a really complete overview in just a very small amount of space. It looks like there is some new technology involved, but when does anything these days not involve another piece of software?

I see posts by staff from MINITEX libraries on the list frequently. Today, a post by Mike Grossman from Duluth Public Library illustrates how a good idea can become reality. After several of the "posters" grumbled about how difficult it is when a patron circumvents their ILL office to contact a lender directly to obtain special privileges, Mike offered this post:

"All responses to Heather's post below agreed - as do I - that there is
no good circumstance for a patron to go directly to a lending library,
around the borrowing Library's ILL staff.

I want to suggest that the problem really isn't that patrons go around
the borrowi ng library, however, it is that sometimes the lending library
responds to the patron's request (, promising to lend, granting
renewals, etc.) rather than send her or him back to the borrowing
library.

We can't control patron behavior, but perhaps we can influence the
behavior of ILL staffs. Perhaps it would help if the next revision of
the ILL code added a section specifying that it is the responsibility of
the borrowing library to respond to the borrowing patron, that lending
libraries should ALWAYS refer borrowing questions to the questioner's
home library."

It was such a good idea, that within a very short time of Mike's post, a member of American Library Association's Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) committee, who actually make changes in the National ILL Code commented that she will bring up his suggestion at the next meeting!

To sign up for the ILL-L list.