DATE: 4 October 2001
FROM: Nancy Helmick, Information Technology Division
The following document was distributed as an email message to liball:
Date: 04 Oct 2001
From: Nancy Helmick <helmick.1@osu.edu>
Subject: Use of status M vs. status S
This message is intended as a reminder for all library staff who do item record maintenance:
There are two different status codes that display to the public as ‘missing,’ but they serve different purposes. Although this has been communicated previously to circulation supervisors and public service librarians, it is important that all who update item records know which one to use in what circumstances.
The status code M should be assigned only via the circulation holds process, not in item record maintenance. When the status code is changed to M via the circulation holds process, the item gets reported in the weekly Onsearch Report, which is made available to all circulation supervisors for local searching. The status is corrected if the item is found during the course of the week after it is reported. I update the status of all unfound items to S after one week and add a note to the record to indicate when it was first reported to be missing (“Onsearch file yymmdd”). This is information is critical to collection managers who must decide whether to replace or withdraw the item.
If the status code is changed to M in item record maintenance, the item does NOT go into the Onsearch file and therefore is not reported to circulation supervisors for searching in all locations. The status code is never updated to S and no dated note is inserted into the record, so we don’t know how long the item has been missing.
If you don’t need to have the item searched in all locations and don’t want it to be reported in the Onsearch file, you can changed the status code to S in item record maintenance, although you should add a note and a date to indicate when you made that change. Please do not use the status code M in this case.
Thanks,
--Nancy
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