New card tips

From Thuan's, Peter's, Dan's, and Sue's emails, updated 12/29/10:

***All patrons must have ID with proof of CURRENT ADDRESS to get a library card***
We can no longer issue computer cards to those without proof of current address. This includes YAs: they must either have a photo ID and something with their address on it, or a parent, to get a card (there may be exceptions for teens with schoolwork, the homeless or others without a verifiable address). Residents of shelters and halfway houses should provide paperwork showing their residence at that location.

Per Peter 7/10/12: "Customers are using online resources (SRP, APS, banks, etc) for proof of address more and more. If a customer shows you proof of address through their phone, laptop/tablet, in-house PC, accept it just as you would a paper proof of address." Basha also uses the Maricopa County Assessor's Office to verify residence of those who own property in the county; if there's a match on their name and address in the Assessor's database, it counts as a government document.

***All Maricopa County Residents must have a library card to use computers***
We can no longer issue computer cards to out-of-county residents; they must pay $40 for a full card.

Computer cards: users can request computer-only cards if they really don't want to check out items, if they don't want anyone else to check out items on their card in the event they lose it, if they don't want their child to check out items, etc. We will not normally have any reason to offer computer cards as an option.

Here are a few pointers when making new library cards:

1. Check to see if patron already has card.
   
2. On the General tab, choose Adult/Child/YA. The default user profile of PROBATION will update to Adult/Child/YA when staff changes Patron Code from Probation to Public.


3. If the user is out of county, change the user profile to PROB-NONCOUNTY.


4. Use the first 5 digits of the zip code.


5. Expiration dates: Chandler ADULTS - Expiration date and address check date set to FIVE YEARS
       Chandler YA - Expiration date set to year of 18th birthday and address check set to year of 18th birthday
       Chandler CHILD - Expiration set to year of 13th birthday and address check set to year of 13th birthday
       NON-Chandler residents: Expiration and address check set to ONE YEAR


6. Use CAPS except for their email address.


7. Use - (dash) for their phone numbers, not . (dot) or , (commas).
   
8. Birthdate: Please remember to ask for ID when renewing cards in order to get the birth date for updating patron records. I noticed a new card created 8/14/14 with a DOB of 1/1/1900 - this should not have to happen as any new card should be created with the person's ID in hand. Thanks.

For P.O. boxes or alternate mailing addresses:
We now require proof of physical address (electric bill showing service address, voter card, lease agreement, etc.) A photo ID with only the P.O. box is not sufficient. (Explain to patrons that budget issues require us to determine residency and where their taxes are paid - we don't get reciprocal money from PO boxes.)

1. Enter the P.O. or mailing address as Primary. USPS or private P.O. boxes (UPS Store, etc.) are both acceptable. Enter the physical address as Home.


2. Chandler residents only can request that we do not record their physical address in the database, and only in extreme circumstances (witness protection, they are a police officer, etc).
   
3. Gila River Indian Community residents can get a card with only a P.O. box, as they do not have street mailing addresses. (Those living in Pinal County can also get a card for free.This includes Bapchule and Sacaton.)

Duplicate accounts:

If staff notice a duplicate patron account, please write down the name, library card numbers, and any other pertinent information and hand that off to Ezra for further inquiry. I believe that most staff do not have access to delete patron records, so please collect the info and let me know. Thanks.

Readers Advisory - online resources from "Back to the Book" training

Visit these useful RA websites for reading suggestions:

What's Next? Books in Series
Lists books in popular series, in order, for many genres.

Stop, You're Killing Me!
The place to find mystery series. Search by author or character.

Fresh Press
Find out what books have been featured on recent shows in the national media.

"Coming Soon" from Barnes & Noble
See what books are being published in the coming weeks.

Christmas Tree Applications

If you're looking for the Christmas Tree cutting application forms that are usually sent out around this time of year, the forest service has changed the way they're issuing permits. They have eliminated the applications by mail.

Permits will be on sale beginning October 10 at select Big 5 Sporting Goods locations. See this article from the Tonto National Forest webpage for more information. The closest participating Big 5 location is:

1244 South Gilbert Road, Suite 101 , Mesa AZ 85204
(480) 507-0137

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.

ILL tips

Here are some reminders about Interlibrary Loan.

What can we request
Only books and articles from newspapers/magazines, and sometimes microfilm.

What we cannot request
Media items, books published within the last 12 months, and textbooks. If a patron requests something that sounds academic, ask whether it's for a class. Most academic libraries won't lend textbooks, and because it can take several weeks for an ILL to come in, it's really not suitable for class use.

How long will it take?
This is difficult to estimate, but it won't be less than a week or two, and it normally takes much longer. Please do not tell people we can get an item in 1-2 weeks. It can take that long just to process the requests on her end and for the lending library to respond. 2-6 weeks is probably a better estimate.

If someone needs an item quickly and it's available at a local public library (make sure to search that library's catalog to make sure it hasn't been withdrawn since the record was uploaded to WorldCat), the patron would be better off going directly there.

ILL Contact
To place a request for microfilm or articles, email Mary Pena. To place a request for a book, use the catalog Suggest a Purchase page and choose "ILL option."

An active ILL request will have received correspondence via email from staff.  If they haven't received a direct email, the suggest a purchase may not have been reviewed; contact Marybeth or Charles.  If they've been contacted about an active ILL request and still have questions, these calls can be direct to Mary Pena.

Saving files on public computers

How to answer the question: "I saved my document on computer #40. Where is it now?"

Three possibilities:

1. If someone creates a document on our computer, the default save location (where it goes if they click Save without telling it otherwise) is D:\Files. You can get to it from the desktop with the Public Dropbox icon. Sometimes people create other folders in the Public Dropbox in which to save things.
   
   The Public Dropbox is supposed to be erased every night; however, the program that does this automatically may not be working. We have to periodically erase the Dropbox manually. So a patron might find their document again if they come back the next day, but they can't count on it.
   
   


2. If someone opens an attachment from an email, it is saved in the Temp folder. The Temp folder is on the C: drive, which means we have no access to it. When patrons open email attachments, they should immediately save them to the D: drive (Public's Documents) so that they can access them again.
   
   The only way to access the Temp folder is to log in with an administrator's password. This means calling Jeff or Ron. If it's during business hours, they should be able to access the computer remotely and search for the file. Call Jeff or Ron, tell them which computer it is, and make sure no one's using that computer.
   
   


3. If the patron saved their document to the desktop, and then the computer was restarted, the document was probably erased. Changes to the desktop are supposed to be erased when the computer reboots. If a patron might need their document after a restart, it should be saved to the Public Dropbox instead.