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)

I hear from some of you from time to time about the wrong item being sent with a request. You ask, what can we do to eliminate these errors.

The Pick slips generally have all of the information that we should need to identify a specific item that is being requested. The information that is on the Pick slip comes from the bibliographic record chosen by the end user. This can be found by looking at the Database/# line on the Pick slip. The Title line should display the title and the subtitle and series information. The rest of the information on the Pick slips is fairly self explanatory. Remember to look at the Request notes to see what special instructions have been provided to assist in filling the request with the correct item. Occasionally with compact discs your catalog will have more than one title match for classical music and other CDs. Look at the Publisher Info to make sure that you have the correct item. Look at the Description to make sure the item has the correct number of discs. The Database/# line will also have a publisher number for the requested item. All of these together will help you supply the correct item.

Sometimes there just isn't enough information on the Pick slip to identify what is needed. This would be a good time to use Conditional and ask for more specific information. As important as it is to use Conditional to ask for more information, it is equally important to respond in a timely manner to Conditional questions as a Borrower. For more information about using Conditional check out my June 20, 2006 posting. http://blogs.minitex.umn.edu/mnlink/conditional_requests/

Posted by Nick at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've mentioned this before in relation to other tips, but it is very important to respond to messages that are sent to your library. Near the bottom of both the Lender and the Borrower Work Queues you will see a row labeled Messages and a number slot in the Waiting column. Messages that are sent will only appear in the Waiting column because they are awaiting some type of Acknowledgement. When someone is trying to contact you with the chosen Action of Message they will show up here. Lately many of you have been choosing this option to clean up your Work Queues. Many messages have been sent to confirm that material has been Returned, but was never Checked In. To remove a request from this spot, you can either respond to the message or you can choose the Authorization Status of Acknowledged. You might want to change the Authorization Status as a way to let yourself know that you have viewed the request, but you are awaiting more information before you respond.

Sometimes a Message is sent with another Action, such as Conditional, Renew, Lost, etc. When a Message is sent with another Action the Message will show up in the other party’s opposite (Borrower/Lender) Work Queue Waiting column. If the Lender sends a Conditional message the other party’s Borrower Conditional Waiting column. The number will also go up in the Total column, but the requests in the Waiting column still need an Acknowledgement or a response.

You can single out the Messages that have been sent to you or the Messages you have sent. First go to the Advanced Request Search screen and in the Last Action drop-down choose Message. Then click Submit. This will display all of the active messages you have sent that may be awaiting a response.

You can also single out the Messages you have received by choosing Message-indication from the Last Action drop-down menu. You can limit it even more my choosing Acknowledged from the Authorization Status drop-down menu. This would show you the requests Acknowledged but possibly still awaiting a response.

Sometimes one party will Complete a request manually, without letting the other party know. If you send a Message on a request that has been Completed the request will reopen in the Work Queue of the other party. This will make them aware that there is some unfinished business with the request.

Posted by Nick at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Occasionally our users will add a note in the Special Instructions box that is important for processing the request. Statements about a specific edition, or a certain material type, or electronic delivery via MEDD, are all important notes to be passed along to prospective lenders. Just make sure to choose the New Note Type of “To All Lendrs” and add the note. Otherwise the information will not be received by the lenders, and will only be viewable by the borrower.

The same thing happens when you make the choice of “Local Change Request Details”. If the borrower makes changes to a request using this action, the changes will only be viewable at the borrower’s location. However, you can use the “Local Change Request Details” action to send a note “To All Lendrs”.

Posted by Nick at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)