Searching and Shelf Reading are two of the more difficult and tedious tasks in the Circulation Department but both are indispensable as ways to uncover missing items and maintain the collection. These separate tasks are usually scheduled together on the daily schedule. It is up to the individual Circulation Assistant as to whether they would like to do 30 minutes of each task or one of the two tasks for the whole hour.
Searches
Searches are often scheduled at 9am each day in at attempt to address simple searches from the previous day as soon as possible. Often, staff will be unable to find material in the stacks due to shifting and book moving projects and the resultant overflow. Morning searches give us a chance to locate books that are in overflow or only slightly misshelved and route them to the staff members or patrons that need them.
Other searches are initiated as a result of a Reading Room request (or “page”). If a book is not on the shelf and not checked out when a patron requests it, it becomes a Search. Books go missing in the library for a variety of reasons: shelving or labeling errors are one cause; another is that the book is removed from the stacks without being checked out to the person or service that has it.
The initial search (—is the book small? Has it circulated in the past week?)
Before we tell the patron the book is missing and submit the book to a full-scale search, it’s usually a good idea to double-check a couple of likely scenarios. Try and do these two things immediately.
1. If the book is very thin, it is worth checking the shelf again. Sometimes very skinny books can get pushed back on the shelf and lost between two bigger books. It might be a good idea to have whoever didn’t originally page the book (perhaps the person working the Circ Desk) double check the stack area.
2. If the book was recently checked in, it could have the status “Item in Place” in ALMA but still be in pre-shelving or on a cart in the stacks, waiting to be shelved. Give these locations a quick scan as well.
To find the size of a book:
Pull up the book’s item record in ALMA using “Physical Items”
Click on the hyperlinked title of the item
Scroll down in the MARC record to line 300 and make note of:
- The number of pages (this will tell you how thick or thin the book might be)
- The height of the book in cm
To find a book’s circulation history:
Pull up the book’s item record in ALMA using “Physical Items”
Click on the three dots on the right side after “Edit items” and “Requests”
Select “Items” from the drop down menu
Select the “Fulfilment History” option under the History tab
This will tell you if the book has been returned and checked in recently and will give a strong clue that the book is somewhere in the process between the check ins and the shelf.
An Official Search
If the book does not turn up in the initial search after checking these two possibilities, the person at the Circulation Desk should do two things. The first is to tell the patron or staff member that the book is missing and to get an email address for contacting them in the event that it is found. The second is to fill out an official search slip using an old fashioned paging slip from the card bin at the circulation desk.
The search process
After the initial search, the person at the circulation desk should have the book’s size and last check-in date. These should be written on the back of the call slip, and the word “Search” should be written in the “Location” space on the call slip. Then the card can be placed in the search slip holder on the bulletin board. Make sure the correct date is written on the front of the call clip so we will know how long the search has been “active”. You should also be sure to include the patron’s contact info at the bottom of the slip.
1) Shelf area
Phase 1 of an active search should begin by searching possibilities that would be the result of common shelving mistakes.
These include -
Most mis-shelved books can be found one to two books away from where they should be, or at least within a few feet. The four feet on either side of where the book should be is the best place to start looking.
2) Other areas
There are a number of other shelving areas where books go that are in transition or otherwise not in their location as defined in Millennium. These areas should all be scanned as part of Phase 1 of a search. They are:
- Pre-shelving (including carts, open shelf, auction cats, pamphlets, etc.)
- Temp and Staff reserve shelves (including oversized, specials, and circ staff)
- Return shelves and photocopy areas (B, K, 3, 4, microfilm)
- Overflow areas
3) Checklist
Using the stamp under the returns counter, keep track of your progress on a search in case you can’t look in every area and someone needs to pick up where you left off. Write the following relevant information on the back of the call slip and date and initial each category of the search as you go.
Size _______ pgs ________cm Last Checked in ______________
(these should already have been written on during the initial search)
Shelf Area _______
(you can list the call numbers and areas checked underneath)
Pre-shelving _______
Temp Reserve _______
Staff Reserve _______
Return/Photocopy _______
New books _______
Overflow _______
Problem books _______
If you find the book
Check in the item, unless otherwise directed to give the book that you find to the circulation manager. They will notify the patron who requested the book, then place the book on Temp Reserve for Reading Room patrons, or deliver to AIC/SAIC staff offices.
Giving up
If you come across an active search slip that is 1) more than two weeks old and 2) has been searched by two separate circulation staff, bring the slip to the circulation manager. They will notify the patron that the book is lost and help them explore other options for continuing their research.
Shelf Reading
The purpose of shelf reading is to systematically verify that books are in the correct location, in call number order, and labeled correctly. Anything found out of order should be reshelved. Anything drastically out of order should be checked in ALMA so that any “missing” notes may be cleared from the books’ records.
How to do shelf reading
· A shelf reading list will be on a clipboard at the circulation desk. Staff members will list the start and end point of their progress in order to indicate where the next staff member should start reading. Going book by book, you will confirm that the books are in correct call number order. This is also an opportune time for shelf maintenance; you can make sure that books are being supported and stored on the shelf correctly [according to the standards set out in section 6.3 Shelving - Book Handling] When a certain stack area has been fully read, we move on to another. Forever and ever.
