MnLINK VDX Blog

I've heard occasionally that some libraries aren't responding to questions in a timely manner. When you don't respond to messages or perform a responsive action you may be putting people at another library in a tough situation. For example, when your Lender Cancel Pending queue has requests in the file it is very important to respond. If you do not give a responsive action, the end user can't request another item.

It's also very important to respond to Borrower Conditional requests. Make sure to perform the responsive action Conditional Reply-Yes or No. Do not just send a Message or the other party will not be able to update the request. If you are contacting your patron for more information you may want to change the Authorization to Acknowledged for the request as a way to let yourself know that something has been done. You can do this by selecting the Acknowledge button on the results display. Do something to move the request along, because someone has taken the time to ask you a question and they are now waiting for a response.

Renewals are a similar matter. As I explain in detail with my Sept. 26 blog posting http://blogs.minitex.umn.edu/mnlink/2006/09/renewals.html if you don't respond to a renewal request it is common practice to assume that the renewal has been granted.

The Messages at the bottom of the Lender and Borrower queues may also require a response. When one party chooses the Message option it will show up here. At the very least there will be some communication that will need to be followed up on with these Messages.

If you have any questions about this posting or any others, don't hesitate to contact me. If you find that you are always struggling to catch up on your workload, please let me know. I'll try to help in any way I can.

Posted by Nick at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Conditional requests can be helpful in getting a request filled with the correct material or to check if an alternate version is OK. As a Lender when you choose the Answer Conditional option there are a couple of important things to remember to make the process work correctly.

First, it is important to clearly state what your conditional question is. There is a list of Reasons in a drop-down menu when you select Answer Conditional, but it is better to add a note. You can do both. When you add a note, leave the New Note Type as ToCurrnt Lndr.

Second, your conditional request will expire the next day if you do not change the Answer Date. I would suggest that you add 14 days to the Answer Date. 2 weeks should be enough time for the end user to be contacted and the Borrower to respond. If the Conditional expires the request will move on to the next lender in the rota. The Borrower will see the Answer Date information in the Audit Answer Details and also in the Service tab it will display as Date in Answer.

Posted by Nick at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)