Friday, September 02, 2005

Opening Day Collection : How It's Done

Technical Services (the department of the Library that orders, catalogs, and processes library materials) is gearing up for the Opening Day Collection for the Southside Branch Library. We have a $1,000,000 materials budget, and will be ordering over 50,000 new items. This is an enormous project for a Library system of our size, and we will be relying on our vendors and their outsourcing services to make it happen. Outsourcing means that the vendors we buy the bulk of the materials from will provide them “shelf ready”. They will catalog them, put mylar jackets on them, stamp them, and label them according to our specifications. In addition, they will store the materials free of charge until the new branch opens. Before the Grand Opening, the trucks will arrive, with the materials packed in rough shelving order.
       We will be ordering everything from the latest reference materials to picture books. There will be a good selection of Spanish language materials, DVDs, CDs, and audiobooks. So there should be something for everyone! Even though most of the materials will be provided shelf ready, the ordering, invoicing, and profiling of the specifications will keep us super busy. Right now we’re ordering the extra barcode labels and working with our vendors to set up profiles. They will then send us selection lists according to our specifications. We will also be ordering extra copies of many of the materials that are currently in our system – like the classics.
       The items for the new branch will be added to our catalog as they are processed, but they will not be visible to the public. After all, we don’t want people placing holds on material that are sitting in a vendor warehouse. Once the new branch opens, all the new materials will magically appear on the catalog (thanks to the marvel of technology) and be available for use.

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