Dogs and children left in cars

From Sue's messages:

If someone leaves their dog in the car:

1. Check to see if the animal is in distress. Using the intercom, ask "could the person driving the black Element come to the reference desk?" When they get there, tell them that someone reported that there was a pet left in the car and we are required to monitor the situation and notify police if the animal is in distress.

2. If the animal is in distress or if it is extremely hot outside, and the patron does not take action within about 10 minutes, call 911 and fill out an incident report.

If someone leaves a CHILD in the car:

1. Determine if the child is in distress. We are obligated to call police if an infant is left in a car, if a child of any age is in distress and unable to get out, or any other dangerous situation. If the child is not in distress, we are not obligated to call, but if we get a patron complaint we should monitor the situation.

2. If the child is in distress, call 911 immediately with the car's description and plate number.

3. Using the intercom call the patron to the desk and tell them that we are obligated to call the police when we get a complaint. We can't stop them if they leave but I'm sure the police will find them.

4. Fill out an incident report.

Troubleshooting remote access to databases

From the Downtown Reference blog, some tips for troubleshooting problems patrons have when trying to access the databases remotely:

1) Ask if the patron can get to the database page and click a database. Do they get to the authentication screen? If one database doesn't work, have them check a different one.

2) Check the card number and PIN. (Note: new patrons no longer have to wait for the database to be updated. They will have immediate access.)

3) Ask the patron if they are logging on from work, and if their workplace firewall blocks port 2048. This port is required for remote access to our databases, so they would have to unblock it in their firewall.

4) If nothing else works, or if the patron never gets to the authenication screen, call Downtown and ask them to replicate the problem on their PC Reservation computer. (Deidre posted directions for them on how to do this.) This will help better identify the problem and Jeff can be notified if something needs to be fixed.