Subject: Acquisition Department Annual Report
July 1997 — June 1998 (FY98)
To: William J. Studer, Director of Libraries
From: Carol P. Diedrichs, Assistant Director for Technical Services
Assistant Director for Technical Services
With the resignation of Jennifer Younger, I added the responsibility of Interim Assistant Director for Technical Services to my responsibilities as Head, Acquisition Department, effective on 10-24-97. In February 1998, three technical services committees (DMSC, PDG, CPAC) were merged into a single new committee, TSC. I believe this will focus most technical services policy decisions into a single committee rather than being spread across several committees.
Online Request Transmission
Implementation of ORTs (online request transmission) began in August 1997. As a result of training sessions designed and given by Marsha Hamilton and her staff, most collection managers were converted to the new system by late winter 1998. As of the end of November 1997, over 85 people had been trained. Marsha conducted a final session in late January. Since the supply of paper Materials Request Forms (MRF) was almost depleted, collection managers were encouraged to convert their processes to the online version. No new paper forms were ordered. An e-mail electronic products checklist has also been developed to replace the paper form for electronic products. We also hope to develop an e-mail form for ordering continuations. We hope to eventually place both of these forms on the Web for easier submission in that fashion.
Priority Assignment for Subscriptions by Collection Managers
In Dec./Jan. we began receiving decisions from collection managers on codes to be entered in the order records for subscriptions to indicate their priority status. This coding will continue as lists are received but this does not seem to have been a high priority with collection managers at this time.
Financial Accounting Division
In March 1998, Cheryl Stojak, Head of the Financial Accounting Division, began a two month leave and was expected to return in June 1998 just before year end closing. Jean McMeans and I assumed the most critical of her responsibilities. A few weeks before her expected return, Cheryl resigned. This did not leave much time for preparing for year end closing but we completed that process in record time with the assistance of Jean McMeans, Sheryl Williams, Michael Grimes, and Kathie Miller. Others in the department assisted as well in completing various activities by the deadlines. I placed Cheryl Stojak’s position on hold pending reorganization discussions. Sheryl was temporarily assigned to oversee FAD in the wake of Cheryl Stojak’s resignation; becoming direct supervisor for Jean McMeans and Mary Stiffler in addition to RAD.
Faxon ACQUIRE Test/RoweCom Subscribe Test
In February 1998, we confirmed the decision to discontinue the Acquire test late spring 1998 and to merge this group of orders into the regular Dawson account. This software has been more user-friendly than the RoweCom software but there is still significant duplication of work between it and the III system. The system is really designed for a smaller library without an integrated library system. The same decision was reached for the RoweCom experiment with implementation expected in fall 1998.
Credit Card Purchasing
A major transformation in ordering began in May/June 1998. The University began allowing the use of a Purchasing Card (like a credit card). Karen Carroll arranged for one to be issued for MAD to Marsha. As Deb and searchers identify orders cancelled by vendors for non-receipt or out-of-print status, they search various Web book "malls", online collections of the holdings of hundred or even thousands of bookshops connected by a single search engine. If a title is located, ordering information is forwarded to Marsha for ordering online using the Purchasing Card.
Deb and others are systematically working through older orders that were reported as back-ordered or for which a second hand copy was being searched. These are being searched on the Web and new orders are being placed direct with bookshops (domestic and throughout the world) that confirm the title is in their stock. This is a slow process but has important implications. After working through the large backlog of older titles, MAD will be able to shift attention away from routine claiming to title specific fulfillment follow-up. Web orders have an extremely high rate of fulfillment (we receive confirmation that the title is being shipped within 24 hours in general) and the turn around time for receipt is very quick (most are received within one week of order). This has only been possible because of recent changes in the Web and our ability to use a credit card. This will bring us closer to the goal of getting whatever collection managers want, regardless of where a title is located, and regardless of whether it is in print. Of course, some titles will never be available but we will be able to inform collection managers of that in a shorter time and with a higher level of certainty.
PromptCAT
PromptCAT benefits with Baker & Taylor have been disappointing. The PromptCAT service was slower and more costly than locally pfw'd OCLC records. In the process of working on these, we were disappointed to learn that OCLC was not using the complex algorithm they developed for PromptCAT with Baker & Taylor. They are using it with most other vendors but not B&T because the dates in the B&T records are not reliable and prevent the algorithm from working effectively. As a result, the matching that OCLC is doing for B&T records is strictly ISBN which has resulted in more mismatches than the original test (which used the more complex algorithm).
A second problem was the quality of the pass through bib records which we receive from OCLC when they cannot match the title with a record in their system. It is a very stripped down record, with mainly a 245. This is much less information than we received with the brief B&T records. Finally the call number indexing on these records was not working. As a result, the call number must be reentered in each record in order for it index properly.
These things end up costing more time than we anticipated and our time savings thus far have been minimal. As a result in fall 1997, the decision was made to suspend current testing of the PromptCat process with OCLC and B&T. We will revisit the process once a new vendor is selected for approval material (effective 1-1-99).
Library Has Statements
As a result of extended discussion in the OhioLINK Users Committee about the Lib Has statements, a small task force composed of technical services and public services people was appointed in October 1997 to review current policy and recommend a more workable policy. Work continue throughout the entire reminder of the fiscal year with a new policy expected in FY99.
Interns
Courtney Young (OSUL diversity intern) and Gary Branson (Kent intern) were hosted in the department in fall 1997. Courtney Young began her rotation in the Acquisition Department on Sept. 15 and completed her time in early December. She worked in each division for a period of time. On a project basis, Courtney worked on a review of Main stacks serials and their need for binding. This information will be used to test the pull slip system of III. Gary was with us for one quarter splitting his time between Acquisition and Rare Books.
Bindery Project
In January 1998, I continued the project started when Courtney Young was in the Department to evaluate the use of the bindery module for the subscriptions going directly into the Main Stacks. Wes and I are trying to determine if the system can be used to facilitate the binding of this material. Each title must be examined in the stacks to determine whether the title is hardbound or softbound on receipt, what the usual bindable unit is, and whether there are currently pieces to be bound. Trisha worked with Cheryl Stojak and Jean McMeans to train their students to gather this information and record it in the III system. With the retirement of Linda Kennedy, progress on this project ground to a halt.
Physical Relocation of MAD to 040S
In order to make way for the Special Collections Cataloging Dept., the Monograph Acquisition Division relocated from room 036 to room 040S beginning in July 1997. The move was initiated sooner than planned because of asbestos abatement which was being done in 036. With the departure of Mary Rider to the Law Library in August, the staff in copy cataloged was reassigned to other divisions in Acquisition and Cataloging. Natalie Warling joined the Monograph Acquisition Division. In order to fit the division into room 040S, desk/workstations were ordered and received in September. As part of this process, 8 of 11 MAD personnel received new furniture and replacement of older PCs continued. This change resulted in all of the Acquisition Department being housed in the same room for the first time in at least 11 years.
STATUS OF BASIC PRIORITIES
Monograph Acquisition Division
1. Perform pre-order search of order requests within 3 weeks of receipt
Pre-order searching was current every month of FY 97/98, although the limit was reached in February. This is significant considering the amount of disruption in the division during the fiscal year and the large number of incoming requests. Online Request Transmission (ORT) training continued throughout 97/98 until all locations converted to electronic request transmission. ORTs sped up the request process noticeably. Also, in times when student inputters were unavailable, searchers were able to complete orders themselves. Searchers assumed responsibility for assigning vendors to most requests.
2. Vend, input, proof and mail purchase orders within 4 working days following pre-order search
Purchase order production remained relatively current throughout the year although specific days in peak periods exceeded the 4 day limit as order requests were searched faster than the typists could process them. A factor that affects current status in purchase order production is student availability. Times such as between quarters, late spring, finals weeks and during breaks are when students are seldom available and p.o. production slows as staff assume that function.
3. Review the outstanding monograph order file for claiming once every 3 months
Claiming was current throughout the year. Beginning in July 1997, emphasis was shifted from mechanical claiming to order fulfillment. Although claiming continues, more attention was placed on reviewing outstanding orders for in-depth follow-up. This became a formalized process in May/June 1998 when the university authorized a Procurement Card (similar to a credit card) for MAD. OP. and difficult-to-obtain items were purchased on the Web using the credit card or a purchase order. This substantially changed the claiming, vendor status logging, and cancellation process in MAD. Fulfillment has increased noticeably for material which can be acquired in this fashion.
4. Process new, unique monographs within 1 week of receipt
Copy cataloging of monographs in MAD is done in several work flows. Nick processed a substantial number of gift monographs, especially DEPARs and Flory titles. Standardized note wording for the bib records is now established for all major gift collections. Incoming approval monographs in English (excluding Special Collections locations) are also processed as added volumes, duplicates or copy cataloged. This process has been extremely successful. Titles not processed prior to the next approval week are "spilled" to the Cataloging Dept.
5. Maintain the weekly approval cycle
The weekly approval cycle was maintained in the division although specific B&T shipments on occasion did not arrive in the Libraries in time for processing on the weekly cycle. Approval staff assumed responsibility in July 1997 for transporting B&T tapes to UTS when courier service was discontinued for financial reasons. B&T continued to decline in service throughout the year with tapes regularly being supplied late or in unreadable condition. Despite that, books were displayed on the shelves every week except during the move of MAD from room 036 to 040S in July and during the replacement of the carpeting in 040.
6. Clear invoices for payment within 4 weeks of initial display on the review shelves
Invoices and returns remained current throughout the year.
7. Process HEA/CHI materials within 1 week of receipt
For the most part, HEA/CHI titles were processed quicker in FY 97/98 than previously when current status was one month. There were individual HEA/CHI titles that were not processed within 1 week of receipt. This process is under review and will be further evaluated in FY 98/99.
Continuation Acquisition Division
1. Search, process, and vend continuation and serial unit orders within 4 weeks of receipt
The processing of serial orders from locations was current for the entire year. Serial unit orders were lighter this year, with only an average 79 per month, down from a high of 163 per month in FY94/95. Continuations orders remained steady at approximately 38 per month the entire year. All phone calls, claims, and correspondence from vendors/publishers were investigated and answered promptly; an immediate response was provided for any questions from collection managers.
2. Process priority and routine claims file for all regular frequencies once per month
The priority and routine claims files for all regular frequencies were processed monthly. All irregular categories were processed eleven months of the year. This activity resulted in 14,157 claims being generated and a year-to-date monthly average of 1,180. By the end of the year, 30% of the claims were transmitted electronically. Continuation order claims were processed once per quarter; this activity resulted in 352 claims and an average of 88 claims each quarter.
3. Review and acknowledge location-generated claims and/or subscription questions within 2 days
All location-generated subscription questions were reviewed and acknowledged within two days. By the end of the year, there were only 12 requests per month compared to 24 per month received in FY96/97.
4. Process first issues within 3 days of receipt.
Even with an extraordinary workload due to massive dealer changes, the first issues work flow was current for all but three months of the year, during the vacancy and retraining period over the summer.
5. Process title changes within 5 days of receipt.
The title changes workflow was current for all but four months of the year when it slipped slightly due to vacancies and training of new staff.
6. Process continuation invoices within 1 week of receipt.
This priority was maintained throughout the fiscal year. Invoices passed on to Michael from the Financial Accounting Division and designated RUSH were processed immediately upon receipt. Following the departure of Cheryl Stojak, Michael worked closely with Jean McMeans and Carol Diedrichs in review of invoices and statements.
Project Specialist
1. Complete monthly statistics within 5 working days of the end of the month
Mary completed the department statistics on schedule every month except for June when all the forms and templates were converted to Quattro Pro from Excel and adjustments were necessary. In December, when we began putting monthly statistics on the server, Mary converted the department’s monthly statistical document from Excel to Quattro Pro and put it on the "W" server where she and the division heads could input their own statistics directly to the document.
2. Complete PC backups monthly.
Mary was current with the PC backup through May when backups were discontinued; at that time, most staff had switched over to the Windows environment on the server which is backed up regularly by Automation.
Receiving Acquisition Division
1. Check-in continuation pieces on OSCAR within 7 days of receipt checked-in
Continuation check-in was well within the 7 day guideline most of the year. As usual, after holidays in Nov., Dec. and Jan., material was older than the 7 day guideline. Also as usual, shifts of staff, students and other priorities were made within the division to regain the turnaround time within a few weeks after the holidays.
2. Check-in unit order pieces on OSCAR within 7 days of receipt processed
Unit order pieces were processed within this guideline throughout the year with few lapses beyond 7 days. Special arrangements to hold some non-book or non-Western language materials requiring transliteration longer than 7 days occurred a few times throughout the year.
3. Add serial holdings to OSCAR within 7 days after check-in
Serial item records were created for checked in materials within the guidelines except for the post-holidays periods mentioned in number 1 above.
4. Process unit invoices within 7 days of receipt
Invoices with no problems and for which the pieces had already been received were processed within the guideline throughout the year.
5. Catalog unique monographs within 1 week of receipt
Copy cataloging at point of receipt was maintained throughout the year. There is no time lag between receipt work and copy cataloging done in RAD.
Financial Accounting Division
1. Review statements and resolve invoicing problems monthly Statements were kept current early in the fiscal year. From Sept. 97 to March 98 when Cheryl Stojak began a two month leave of absence, the division was not current with this goal. Since Jean McMeans had to maintain division activities in large part on her own, statements were put in a holding pattern anticipating Cheryl’s expected return in June. With Cheryl’s resignation`in June, statements remained in a holding pattern until after the closing of the Fiscal Year.
2. Produce, review, and distribute Accounting Reports on the first of each month; process prepayment accounts just prior to running monthly accounting reports
Accounting reports were produced and distributed in a timely fashion throughout the year.
3. Review and reconcile FAS reports within 3 weeks of receipt
FAS reports were kept up to date through most of the year. Their review was delayed from the beginning of Cheryl Stojak’s leave through the end of the fiscal year.
4. Review and mail checks within 2 days of receipt
Checks were reviewed and mailed within 2 or 3 days of receipt throughout the year. If checks had to be held overnight, standard security measures were followed.
5. Batch process invoices for payment daily
Batch processing invoices fell behind established goals with Cheryl Stojak’s departure. The division was no longer able to batch on a daily basis but most items were batched within a few days.
6. Receipt of checks from Accounts Payable within 3 weeks
This priority is not completely within FAD’s ability to control. For most of the fiscal year, checks were received within 5 to 10 days.
7. Open, sort, and distribute mail by 5:00 p.m. of the day it is received; during staff shortages, the mail will be completed no later than 10:00 a.m. the next day
This priority was maintained by FAD staff and students with occasional assistance from staff and students of RAD.
8. Collect and proofread timesheets for students and staff; verify that appropriate signatures are included; deliver timesheets to Library Personnel by 10:00 a.m.
This priority was maintained throughout the year.
PERSONNEL RESOURCES
Monograph Acquisition Division
Natalie Warling (LMTA2) became a part of Monograph Acquisitions in August 1997 following the dispersal of the former Copy Cataloging Division and the departure of Mary Rider to the Law Library. Natalie‘s responsibilities from her former position included cataloging HEA/CHI materials. To this was added approval "overflow" not copy cataloged by Dennis Gordon and Pete Risley during the weekly cycle.
Marsha was on Family Medical Leave from June 23-August 4, 1997. Upon her return, she accepted the assignment of promotion and tenure procedural work formerly performed by Sharon Sullivan. This is a time-consuming activity but is the most intensive from Sept-Jan.
Continuation Acquisition Division
In early April, Heather Beckley resigned her LMTA2 Cataloging Specialist position to take a promotion to an LA1 position in ISD. While the position was vacant, Faye assumed her duties. On May 11th, Linda Cole began work filling this vacancy.
In mid-April, Jim Whitcomb resigned his LMTA2 Claims Specialist position to accept a LMTA2 position in the Receiving Department. While the position was vacant until May, Linda, Trisha and Terry assumed the duties and maintained priorities. On May 21st, Tiffany Hampel, began work filling this vacancy. In early May, Rick Gween resigned his LMTA2 half-time Records Specialist position to take early retirement. He took vacation for most of the month, and finished up his hours in early June. While the position was vacant, Faye assumed his duties. On June 22nd, Anne Rasmussen began work filling this vacancy.
Effective May 4th Mary Spillman moved to CAD from the Administrative Area of the department. She continued to perform some administrative responsibilities as well as assist with CAD work flows.
At the end of May, Linda Kennedy, Supervisor, Orders Section (LA2) retired after 30 years of service. The position was vacant until July; Terry and Trisha assumed the duties and maintained priorities. As of July 1998, Terry Camelford was promoted into the LA2 position leaving her LMTA2 Orders Specialist position vacant. She continued to cover both positions until her replacement can be hired.
Receiving Acquisition Division
Lisa Iacobellis (LMTA2) resigned in April 97 to accept an LA1 position in Cataloging.
Jim Whitcomb made a lateral position move from Continuation Acquisitions to the position vacated by Lisa on April 13, 1997.
Financial Accounting Division
With the retirement of Marion Ramage (LMTA 1) at the end of June 1997, Alenda Hicks was hired on August 11, 1997. Alenda resigned in December 1997. This LMTA1 position was vacant again until Mary Stiffler was hired Feb 23, 1998. During the times the LMTA 1 position was empty (approximately 4 months of the year), many of the duties such as first class mail distribution and phone coverage were handled largely by FAD students and staff.
Cheryl Stojak, Account Clerk Supervisor, took a two month leave of absence, April 9 - June 9. She resigned June 11.
REVIEW OF GOALS for 1997/98
Monograph Acquisition Division
1. Train all locations on ORT online request transmission. Gradually replace paper MRFs with online records. This includes enhancement of the "Needed for Patron" streamer.
This goal was accomplished. Marsha developed ORT training materials and held a series of workshops. Faculty, staff, and students representing all locations attended training sessions. All locations were gradually moved from paper MRF forms to ORTs. New procedures were coordinated with RAD, Circulation, and locations to notify technical and public services areas of action to be taken on a title, whether it be processing instructions or charge information for patron requests. This was a particularly successful transition and ORTs are well liked by most collection managers.
2. Rebid the major English language approval plan. Investigate splitting the plan which now covers US, selected Canadian, Dutch, and British imprints. Ensure Charvat fiction titles are received uninterrupted. Monitor state-wide discussions of joint approval ventures. Work with Purchasing to develop RFPs to improve approval performance.
State-wide events overtook this goal. OhioLINK bid a voluntary state-wide approval plan for members. Marsha, Gay, several collection managers and I were involved in OhioLINK meetings and proposal editing for the plan. A vendor acceptable to OSUL was selected and a separate bid process to replace the B&T English-language plan was not needed. Those involved met to discuss the Charvat plan and whether to bid it separately or remain with the OhioLINK vendor. That activity will continue in FY98/99.
3. Review the outstanding order file. Resolve problems with receipt, revend orders or cancel as appropriate. Mark reviewed records to remove them from the claim files. Develop a mechanism to review outstanding orders on an ongoing basis.
Major work was accomplished in FY97/98 to switch emphasis from claiming to fulfillment. Deb and students resumed responsibility for logging vendor reports and processing cancellations. A quantum leap was made when the university authorized a credit card to the division. By June 1998, procedures had been outlined for purchasing o.p. and difficult to obtain items from thousands of individual bookshops in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia via Web search engines. Long outstanding and o.p. English language titles since June have been routinely searched on the Web and ordered with the card. The fulfillment rate has been very high and collection manager satisfaction and awareness continues to increase. Over 1400 Chinese and Latin American long outstanding orders were cancelled internally beginning in June 1998 to further clear the claim and outstanding order files. In coordination with RAD, the vendor file was compacted and slips for ORTs were no longer filed after the late spring. The vendor file will contain new CJK titles and older outstanding and problem titles, that will now be easier to identify for resolution. The increase in fulfillment has been the greatest success this FY.
4. Develop and implement the plan to label gifts and approvals cataloged in MAD. Investigate and purchase appropriate printers and label stock. Format software, in coordination with Sally, to handle call numbers correctly. Coordinate with other cataloging centers on their labeling plans.
Marsha coordinated with Wes on label printing procedures currently performed in Collection Maintenance. Wes raised issues of the quality and durability of non-heat fused label stock. He also discussed the current process of hand trimming labels done by students. These factors, and the problem with formatting call numbers correctly, raised concerns that labelling in MAD might substantially slow copy cataloging production. Investigation of labelling was tabled. The new approval plan vendor, PromptCat, and shelf-ready options will be investigated in FY98/99 prior to a return to investigation of labelling in MAD.
5. Review PromptCat for cost effectiveness and functionality. Determine if product can function as advertised or discontinue pending selection of a new approval vendor.
PromptCat was implemented and reviewed in FY97/98. It was tabled in November 1997 due to problems with the B&T database. PromptCat records supplied by an ISBN search (not the OCLC matching algorithm) had too high of an error rate and caused staff time in problem-solving. PromptCat was tabled until a new approval vendor was selected and could be tested. Due to efficiencies implemented in MAD copy cataloging, it was determined that PromptCat was not providing a cost effectiveness alternative under current conditions.
Continuation Acquisition Division
1. Continue to develop and expand procedures and work flows for handling electronic products orders.
Trisha, Teri, and Michael all worked diligently to develop and implement standard procedures for ordering and monitoring receipt of electronic products. Over the year, Teri worked almost exclusively on ordering, receiving and monitoring electronic products, including CD-ROM unit orders. She worked closely with Trisha, Gay, Michael and other staff in Acquisition and Cataloging to develop work flows and procedures for both electronic databases and e-journals. In order to gather as much information as possible before ordering a new title, an electronic products checklist was introduced to collection managers. This form, requesting information specific to electronic products (format, networked, free with print version) has replaced the traditional MRF as the instrument used to initiate an order for an electronic resource.
This year OSUL acquired several new e-journal packages including, ACS, SIAM, IOP, and Oxford University Press titles, as well as the continuation of the JSTOR project. A new procedure was implemented to update holdings for such packages that add titles and holdings on an ongoing basis. As updates are announced via the libejrnl list, Teri revises the information for titles already in Felix and creates records for newly available titles. After she "receives" the new journal, the title is forwarded, via an e-mail message, to Jim Murphy for cataloging.
2. Continue working with Faxon Westwood to resolve subscription problems before our account is switched to the Illinois office. Begin working with Faxon Illinois for the switch over of the 1998 renewals. Monitor service from Faxon Illinois service center.
This enormous transfer process resulted in several problem areas:
1. Duplicates. The Illinois office requested that these duplicates be returned to them for resolution. By July 1998, duplicates were still being received and seven boxes of issues and volumes had been mailed to date.
2. Lapses. The Westwood office canceled our orders however, the Oregon office was not notified to start a subscription. These are being discovered through lapse review.
3. Wrong titles. On a few titles, the Westwood office transferred the incorrect title.
4. Payment questions. On many of the titles, both the Oregon and Westwood offices paid for subscriptions.
Despite these transition problems, the service that we are receiving from the Oregon office is quite an improvement over the Westwood office. Responses on order questions, claims, etc. are investigated quickly and they are referring fewer problems to Westwood. The Oregon office frequently calls CAD to investigate problems they have discovered, a dramatic change in service and attitude.
3. Conduct successful renewal of Faxon ACQUIRE and RoweCom test titles. Continue to monitor the RoweCom Subscribe database and subscriptions. Prepare an analysis of our experience with the Subscribe system before 1999 renewals are processed.
Both the Faxon Acquire and the RoweCom Subscribe experiments were ceased and the subscriptions transferred. Acquire was ended in May and Subscribe activity will cease in fall 1998. Both systems required redundant, time-consuming work for staff members. Each order, claim and renewal had to be first updated on Felix and then entered into the Subscribe or Acquire database. The systems would work better for a small library that could use either system totally. When the decision to end the experiment was made, Faxon was able to transfer the orders with just a programing change. RoweCom orders had to be canceled individually and re-ordered through new vendors - a project expected to be completed in August.
Throughout the year, Teri monitored our subscriptions in the Subscribe database and Linda followed our orders on Acquire. Linda’s work was much simpler in that Faxon updated our programs on the PC, monitored our titles from the same service center and billed us through the same accounts. Routine Subscribe maintenance was considerably more time consuming and less user friendly. The PC work included backing up the subscription files, downloading catalog updates and new versions of Subscribe from the RoweCom web site as they became available, and processing claims. In November 1997, Teri worked with RoweCom Tech Support to remove the Subscribe database from Trisha’s PC so the renewals could be run from Teri’s faster machine. Our orders renewed successfully, with all 174 titles expiring in December 1998.
4. Investigate the use of "Online Request Transmissions" for serials and continuations.
This concept of using ORTs for continuations (serial subscriptions) was considered and rejected due to limitations on transferring the order once the ORT has been created. A new continuation form was created to replace the 3-part form. Each location was sent e-mail with the new form as an attachment. This new form was copied and/or e-mailed to collection managers as needed. For serial unit orders, however, both collection managers and CAD staff used ORTs beginning in January and were very pleased and enthusiastic about the change. Due to the ongoing creation of continuation ORTs by collection managers, a temporary, manual solution was devised. When Mike Valinis discovers continuation ORTs that should have been directed to CAD, he simply prints them out and forwards them to Terry for processing. The only hitch came in June when Mike discovered 15 continuation or SUO ORTs that were submitted using the continuation number range and thus were never collected in his ORT booleans. Terry and Mike immediately processed these orders and Mike set up procedures to search for such mistakes in the future.
5. Expand testing of FTP capabilities for serial invoices to include all invoices from our major vendors.
Michael continued to work successfully with the FTP processing of invoices from major vendors. In FY96/97 he processed the Blackwell’s and Faxon invoices via this method; this year he added Swets to this procedure and began using the FTP option to process the invoice from Dawson, Illinois. These three vendors combined make up nearly two-thirds of our total PAID continuation standing orders. Not all of these orders are necessarily billed on the annual periodical invoices, but clearly, this procedure permits Michael to process a huge number of invoices/order payments in a few hours or days. The basic III procedures work fairly well, although normally some corrections to purchase order numbers are needed before the invoices can move to the final approval stage. Michael is also careful to note and correct/condense any multiple use of a purchase order number which causes discrepancies to encumbrances. Michael also has learned to be diligent in reviewing all invoices at the earliest stage to make any necessary fine-tuning, such as adding notes indicating added charges or decreases, before moving to the final invoice possessing stage.
6. Continue to test the III electronic claims module with the appropriate vendors.
Currently titles with Swets, Blackwell’s and Harrassowitz are being electronically claimed. Whenever any problem is discovered with a claim, the system "flags" the requests. These claims can then be looked at individually for problems. The usual reason for the "flag" is the absence of the vendor’s subscription number in the check-in record. There have been no problems with the process and it is obvious that the vendors are receiving these claims and processing them smoothly.
7. Continue to work with staff in location libraries to move serial handling information from their manual check-in files to Felix check-in records.
During the year, we continued to work with FIN and SEL, and set up new procedures for EHS and BUS. Faye and her staff continued to build/update hundreds of Loc Label fields for these locations throughout the year. The high volume of work in this section, along with changes in staffing and resulting shift in priorities precluded the expansion of this effort to other locations.
8. Develop procedures for the efficient processing of GPO titles by working with staff in Documents and RAD.
Although considerable effort was made in this area, our procedures and diligent efforts did not result in efficient processing. Faye led the efforts to review and revise our procedures, and the move of Heather to ISD greatly accelerated the volume of materials sent to CAD. Heather kept up with GPO first issues until the onslaught of paid first issues began to arrive in January; after Heather’s departure, this workload was assigned second priority and slowed dramatically. Once Nancy Courtney made the decision to use LC call numbers for GPO CDs, and to house them in Docs, most of the CD titles were processed or sent to Cataloging for processing. Boxes full of materials have been received and sorted, but hundreds of serial titles and dozens of CDs remain to be set up.
Project Specialist
1. Continue to become more computer literate with the various software packages in the department.
In July, Mary completed the HTML coding of various documents for the department Web page. With the arrival of the Corel Suite in October 1997, she began experimenting with the new software but continued to use the Administrative PC which was not on the server. In Nov./Dec., she attended workshops on Quattro Pro, Windows 95 Intermediate and WordPerfect for Windows. In preparation for the PC in the administrative area to be upgraded to Windows 95, Mary transferred all the documents to disk, converted them and reloaded them after the upgrade.
2. Become current with the department filing and improve the look of the files.
We began the FY with a 12 week backlog of filing; progress was made throughout the year by Mary and students from FAD. We were caught up by May 1998. Starting in September, Mary printed new labels for some of the files and created new files as needed which has improved the appearance of the files.
Receiving Acquisition Division
1. Strengthen unit order processing staff skills so all 4 individuals can receive varying formats and copy catalog any call numbers within guidelines.
Staffing changed in the unit order section during the year. Lisa Iacobellis took a position in the Catalog Dept. and Jim Whitcomb took her position in RAD in April. At the end of the fiscal year, Linda Trombetti was copy cataloging all call numbers independently and Jim was learning copy cataloging. Vika Novikova and Suzanne Hochman, who were our mainstays for M, N, & P call number range copy cataloging over the past year, have become more familiar with receipt processing of different formats. The division also arranged to consult with Beverly McDonald in the Catalog Dept., individually and in group meetings, to resolve complex cataloging questions and to increase the staff knowledge about cataloging issues. RAD is also providing the information from these sessions to CAD and MAD for their use.
2. Examine what activities related to continuations need additional staff support or reassignment in light of the increasing service requests on the horizon.
There have not been any major changes in the continuation process during the year. Some activities were streamlined. Staff can refer pieces to CAD without record printouts now, providing the record numbers with the piece instead. 3. Evaluate the options for label production at point of unit order receipt based on the experiences in MAD for approvals and gifts.
Based on the issues found in the Monograph Acquisition Division’s investigation of unit order label production for approvals and gifts, firm order label testing was not pursued.
Financial Accounting Division
1. Work with each division member to make them familiar with their assigned duties and the software used.
Jean McMeans became familiar with the Felix system, the ledger created and maintained in FAD using Excel, the Accounts Payable online system and aspects of Windows 95 and WordPerfect useful for her work. Basic duties training was done in the LMTA 1 position twice, once for Alenda Hicks and in 1998 for Mary Stiffler.
2. Review processes and streamline; consolidate and eliminate unnecessary or cumbersome tasks where possible.
Due to an increase in the size and number of files we retain, Jean rearranged the vendor file cabinets. Instead of 1 vertical, 4 drawer cabinet per year, each year’s paper file folders are reoriented horizontally across the 5 file cabinets. The current year is in the top row, previous years are below. Since paper records for the fifth year are rarely accessed, these are stored in boxes in room 022. This has increased accessability and decreased damage to the paper files themselves. A master list of individual vendor folders was created and hung next to the file cabinets to provide a search aid to students and staff looking for particular records in the cabinets or for refiling paperwork. The audit trail paper files were relocated in the Precat area so they are easier to access.
Jean rewrote the first class mail sorting/distribution instructions.
Cheryl Stojack investigated switching the general ledger from Excel to Quattro Pro. She and Jean attended a basic Quattro Pro class. Some features of Excel are not available in Quattro Pro. The Libraries are now considered a move from the Corel Suite to the Mircosoft Office Suite. As a result, the ledger will be left in Excel.
3. Devise a plan where FAD functions smoothly in the absence of one or two full time staff members.
Definitive progress on this goal was elusive. Turnover in the LMTA1 position throughout the year meant much time was spent training new staff and students for the work and arranging schedules in FAD and in conjunction with other divisions to keep the activities of the position covered.
During Cheryl Stojak’s two month leave and after her subsequent resignation, Jean McMeans maintained adjusted priorities with student help and guidance from me. Shortly before the end of the fiscal year, Sheryl Williams was assigned to assist with FAD management and supervise division staff members. Plans were laid to hire a temporary account clerk in the new fiscal year to assist with some work, but job searches were unsuccessful. Some work was distributed to a wider circle of staff (Kathie Miller and Sheryl Williams in RAD and Mike Grimes in CAD) to ease the workload on Jean and me.
4. Monitor ARMS implementation for the Accounts Payable functions. Participate in the development of an interface between III and ARMS if the University decides to pursue that.
FAD staff were given access to the Accounts Payable On Line System (APOLS) which shortened the time necessary to track down invoices previously sent to A/P. The ARMS Implementation Team has notified us that no development of an III/ARMS interface can be expected in the short term.
5. Take on responsibility for mail sorting operations for the incoming serial and monograph mail. Streamline and staff the process as needed.
The unit assumed this responsibility in Fall 1997. Jean McMeans and student assistants open the boxes of serials and monographs, arrange them on book trucks and deliver them to RAD. The work was done by Jean and the students in the Mail Room initially, then in room 040, later in a corner of room 031 set aside strictly for this purpose for several months and finally, around the end of the fiscal year, moved to a room, later named 022, in the opposite hall of the basement. The room, a storage space, required cleaning and painting (done by Jean and students) plus addition of fans, a dehumidifier, some carpet remnants and tables to make it useable. In addition, because the room is in a sparsely populated hall on the other side of the building from ACQ, security for materials in the room and access to it when needed had to be worked out. Jean and students, with backup help from RAD staff and students, maintained the incoming material flow throughout the year, despite the turmoil of the year. This new process has its positive and negative aspects. On the positive side, our material is now opened and sorted in a useful manner. Material is rarely damaged in the opening process as it once was. On the negative side, using students for this activity means that staff must fill in went students are unavailable. This processing has added a considerable workload to the department with almost no additional permanent staff to devote to it.
NEW INITIATIVES and ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Monograph Acquisition Division
1. Revamped Firm Order Process — With the implementation of ORTs, the collection managers and their staff were trained to submit orders in this fashion. The bibliographic searchers were trained on vending and assumed responsibility for assigning the vendor to each order. The new process lowered the number of student inputters and proofers needed in MAD, sped up order process, cut down on "lost" orders, got requests online earlier in the process which lowered the unindicated duplicates and titles dup’d on approval or gifts, compacted the vendor file, cut the number of titles for which vendor slips needed to be pulled, and coordinated more closely with RAD on problems, returns, and receipts.
2. Developed Fulfillment Approach to Firm Orders — The handling of vendor reports and claims was moved back to the division and assigned to student inputters. A procurement card was obtained. Procedures were established to search the Web and order online for o.p. and difficult to obtain English-language titles. Cancellation of long-outstanding titles which are unavailable was undertaken. Desiderata titles were logged on Web search engines. Less emphasis was placed on routine claiming and more on follow-up of problematic orders.
3. Database Cleanup and Maintenance — The division recoded short bib, order, and check-in records for consolidation of EDU, SWK, HEC, and UND to EHS. "Floating" bibs created in the order process were identified and cleaned up. Cancellations were suppressed from public view in rapid updates and a large number of approval and other titles were deduped on an ongoing basis.
4. Processing of Large Collections — As part of the gift workflow, Nick Felt prepared large numbers of Flory, Monash, Sisson, Burnham, San Francisco, and other collections for review. Following collection manager decisions, large numbers of gifts were copy cataloged at point of entry without the interim step of creating an order record. This sped gifts to the shelves and reduced unindicated duplicates of new gift review copies donated to the Libraries. Nick also cross-trained in Bindery Prep and keyed in large numbers of titles into the LARS bindery system.
Continuation Acquisition Division
1. Electronic Products Activities — Teri and Michael continued to take on more daily tasks regarding electronic products. In addition to ordering, receiving, and problem solving for electronic orders, Teri writes a monthly electronic products report, which is sent to collection managers via e-mail. The report provides information on status of on-order e-products, renewals, cancellations, pending upgrades and subscription or access problems. Michael continues to focus a significant portion of his time on renewals and invoices for electronic products. These often involve more work and detailed communication with Gay Dannelly and collection managers as a simple renewal evolves into an upgrade or to an increased user level or to a change from disc to a web version.
An extremely large and vitally important project was completed when Teri created short bib records for the 1,105 Elsevier electronic journal titles acquired through OhioLINK. She also built order, check-in records and LIB HAS statements for these titles using the OhioLINK EJC as a guide. Clean-up of these records continues on a case by case basis.
On a regular basis, Michael reviewed and annotated publisher’s lists of journal titles from OhioLINK; these lists are primarily an "inventory" of OSUL’s titles on standing orders from specific publishers. For each, Michael indicated the correct number of subscriptions and also updated bibliographic records to include the publisher name in the 799 field. This year’s lists included Highwire Press, Springer-Verlag, American Chemical Society, Royal Chemistry Society and the Institute of Physics.
2. Use of WWW resources — The web is now a vital part of order searching, claims, and problem resolution. This expanded use of online databases helps to verify SUO and continuation orders. In the past, only SWETS, and FAXON databases were available. Now many smaller vendors and hundreds of publishers have their databases online, and include important data such as: phone numbers, addresses, publication schedules, back issue availability and pricing. This means a more significant learning curve for everyone, but results in far fewer orders being sent to venders without prior verification, quicker resolution of claims, and fewer problems created.
Project Specialist
1. With the retirement of Marion Ramage, Mary Spillman assisted in her responsibilities until a replacement was hired. She then assisted with the training of Alenda Hicks and served as a resource person for administrative responsibilities and PC usage until Alenda’s resignation in November 1997. She continued to serve in that capacity for Alenda’s replacement Mary Stiffler.
2. Mary began working on the Bindery Project coding in March and completed it by April 23rd. With some initial training from Faye Yungfleisch she wrote procedures and prepared a spreadsheet for statistics. She coded a total of 1,462 records in 16.5 hours and referred an additional 58 records to Faye as problems.
Receiving Acquisition Division
1. Vika Novikova joined the division in June 1997 but moved physically into RAD in July. She and Sheryl spent time together discussing the order receipt process and Vika was processing most materials on her own before the year was closed. Vika and Suzanne likewise shared with Linda Trombetti, Sheryl, Lisa Iacobellis and later Jim Whitcomb their copy cataloging knowledge, especially on local practice regarding M, N and P call number ranges, throughout the year.
2. Much time was devoted to making changes in the physical layout of RAD and ACQ as a whole. In early 1998, the Libraries administration allocated funds to replace workstations for approximately half the ACQ dept members. RAD staff scheduled for inclusion worked with Sheryl to design their ideal workspace. Sheryl led a group representing every division to plan the overall purchase and installation. These activities consumed many hours of the second half of the fiscal year. Meetings with vendors, drafting of purchase order details, planning for deliveries, communicating with everyone in ACQ and with our OSUL customers, moving of all electronics and installation of new workstations was time consuming and disruptive in various degrees to individuals and workflows. Before these items were delivered, more funding was allocated to replace the rest of the dept workstations and install new carpeting in room 040. The group that arranged the first order, Sheryl Williams, Deb Cameron, Faye Yungfleisch and Jean McMeans were joined by Teri Hagerman for the second workstation order process and led their coworkers in preparation for the carpet project. The second delivery of workstations and peripheral items was arranged to come after the carpet replacement.
3. The carpet installation was potentially the most disruptive improvement of the year but the end result -- new carpet was a wonderful improvement to the working environment. Every piece of furniture, PC, printer, phone, wall shelving, wiring, etc had to be moved or secured for the removal of the old carpet and installation of the new. There were meetings with the flooring contractor and extensive preparations within each division. Arrangements were made with other Tech Service areas to provide workstation space for ACQ staff during the days when our terminals were unavailable. The entire process was scheduled to take 8 to 10 work days. With the wonderful preparation work done by all ACQ members, the project actually took about half that time.
4. By the end of the fiscal year, all RAD Wyse terminals but 3 had been replaced with Micron PCs. [Those 3 were replaced in July 98.] All division staff attended off campus workshops about Windows 95 and WordPerfect for Windows 95. Lisa Iacobellis assisted staff in learning how to manage e-mail and other work on these new machines.
5. In a related matter, Sally Rogers identified how we could print check-in labels efficiently from Micron PCs. We could not institute that change though, until all Wyse check-in stations were replaced with Microns, because the software change affected all label printing workstations. Since Mart, Bessie and the student check-in station did not receive Microns till after the 97/98 FY, those staff who got the first Microns could only print check-in labels through a laborious process. We shifted format workloads among staff to avoid this situation as much as possible.
6. The August 1997 UPS strike affected both serial and monographic workflows for a few months. At first little material was received. After the strike, the workflow burgeoned for quite awhile as other carriers picked up business formerly handled by UPS. When work was scarce RAD staff helped other ACQ divisions and worked in reading rooms and other areas of Main. When deluged, RAD shifted staff and students as needed and let lower priority workflows build for awhile.
7. With the advent of ORT records, orders created on Felix by collection managers and their staff, new field code options and directional notes became part of monograph receipt work. RAD worked with MAD and collection managers on refining the use of instructional note fields so pieces will be processed as efficiently as possible.
8. Voice mail for selected phone lines in the Acquisitions Dept was established. Sheryl worked with Units and ACQ Dept. members on details of what to purchase and how to use the system.
9. Linda Trombetti and Sheryl reviewed the damaged/defective pieces process. They identified some ways to speed up resolution of some problems. Whenever possible, Linda first tries to solve the situation via an interlibrary loan request for replacement pages. When that does not work, she contacts vendors and publishers via phone or fax. Letters become the last resort. Since this change was made, quicker solutions for these situations have resulted.
10. RAD coordinated with the several libraries that merged into EHS regarding delivery of their serial mail during the moves. Since the moves were done in stages, staying on top of whether to mail pieces each day and to where was an activity that stayed on the front burner over several months. After EHS was completely moved, the outgoing mail cabinets were reorganized as well as the use of locking bins that move exclusively between RAD and some location libraries.
11. Lisa and Linda worked with Terry Camelford in CAD on a new way of acquiring replacement copies of serials. By contacting publishers’ web sites, copies can be found and printed out here.
12. Sheryl and Ellen worked with CAD staff to move the deleting of old check-in cards from the project mode of the previous few years to an integrated part of CAD’s new card building workflow. Guidelines were adjusted as needed.
13. RAD staff worked with MAD on the phasing out of the monographic vendor order record files. By the end of the fiscal year, order slips for outstanding orders were filed only for languages written in non-Roman scripts or complex orders with attached documentation.
14. After a discussion with Marsha about quality control issues in ACQ, Sheryl began a project to identify order records with possible incorrect location/fund code relationships. She ran booleans by location and worked with collection managers to resolve any situations where a wrong fund had paid for a piece or a piece had ended up in a wrong location because of the original order record coding.
Financial Accounting Division
1. Design, planning, ordering and installation of new workstations for all three staff and varying numbers of student in the division took much time in the division. Jean McMeans was the division coordinator for this effort and worked with the other division representatives on all furniture and equipment orders and FAD’s preparations for the carpet installation.
2. The division received its first PC in Oct 1997. Cheryl and Jean shared use of it. The division continued to use one Wyse terminal to print reports.
3. Cheryl and Jean instituted cross checking daily postings against the ledger totals to balance the ledger and reduce keying errors. This activity, handled by Jean, helps with tracking vendor name changes and invoice number errors between A/P and ACQ.
4. The division took on the daily opening of packages and book truck preparation of incoming serial and monograph piece mail as detailed in the Goals section of this document. Arranging the student staffing for this work and moving the activity three times to new work spaces during the year without missing any production were significant accomplishments for Cheryl, and especially for Jean who directly managed the process of setting up the student operation and moved the operation each time.
5. Cheryl worked on a new workflow, our first experience doing an international electronic fund transfer. She made a partial payment on a special Beckett collection purchase. The seller wanted the payment deposited electronically in their bank in Ireland. Arranging this transaction with Accounts Payable personnel was very difficult but finally Cheryl was successful.
6. ACQ was given access to the Accounts Payable Online System for the first time this year. Being able to check online for the status of an invoice that had been sent to A/P for payment has cut time from problem resolution and improved customer service to collection managers and vendors.
GOALS FOR 1998/99
With the reorganization of technical services expected in Fall 1998, this will be the last comprehensive Acquisition Dept. Annual Report. As a result, the usual goals for the coming fiscal year may change as a result of the reorganization. What follows is included only for a general sense of what we anticipate working on in the coming year.
Monograph Acquisition Division
1. Manage the transition from B&T to YBP Approval Plan
2. Investigate PromptCat and selected shelf ready processing as a part of the YBP approval plan
3. Continue firm order fulfillment and Web work to resolve long outstanding orders
4. Continue to maintain current status in MAD workflows
Continuation Acquisition Division
1. Complete the training for the many new CAD staff and catch up with backlogs generated during vacancies and re-training periods.
2. Adapt to the changes in functions and responsibilities required by the impending technical services reorganization.
3. Integrate Mary Spillman completely into the Order Section activities as she is relieved of responsibility for administrative duties.
4. Complete the transfer of Teri Hagerman’s Order Section duties (gifts, memberships, exchanges, routings, snags) to other sections in CAD to allow her more time for electronic products work.
5. Advance the processing of Gov Docs serials and CDs; work with ISD staff to more clearly identify the most efficient work flows.
6. Develop and implement procedures to create linking bibliographic records in Felix as quickly as possible after electronic journals and databases become available
7. Develop and implement a procedure for acquiring and setting up access to electronic journals that are included at no extra charge with our print subscriptions.
8. Complete the vendor subscription number project so more titles may be claimed electronically. This will require input of subscription numbers into all Faxon order and check-in records.
Receiving Acquisition Division
1. Address any changes in the Acquisition Dept organization that affect RAD staff. Financial Accounting Division
1. Determine staff needs of the division and hire personnel to that end.
2. Continue training and cross training on administrative and accounting tasks.
3. Continue to look for ways to improve accounting workflows within the division and externally i.e. with Accounts Payable, Research Foundation
4. Prepare for the ARMS implementation
Page last modified: 8 November 2011