During the past two spring semesters a random sample of UNM faculty and students have had the opportunity to participate in a nationally conducted survey regarding the General Library's (GL) collections and services. This is the first of three articles to address specific concerns commented upon by the participants of this year's survey.
Many of the 200 comments that we received from this year's participants dealt with the library collections, especially that the items they found in LIBROS (the online catalog) were unavailable - already checked out or not on the shelf as expected. Sound familiar?
As of Aug. 16, the GL collections total over 2 million items, 74,166 items are currently checked out and several thousand items are waiting on hold shelves to be picked up. Another several thousand items are overdue while several hundred are being searched. So, yes, there is a possibility that the item you are looking for may not be immediately available to you.
If the item is already checked out, we encourage you to request the item through LIBROS. You can click on the request key from the screen containing the record for the book you want. The book will be recalled and you will be notified when it is returned by the patron. Notification is sent to the address listed on your library record, so it is up to you to make sure that the library's circulation system has your current address, even if you've changed it on the UNM student database. Also, please pick up items you have requested as soon as you can.
If LIBROS indicates "check shelves" for the item you want and you have checked the shelf and it isn't there:
lDouble check to make sure that you are looking in the right location. Call numbers can be in several different areas in the library, so writing down the location and the call number correctly is important. We also have new signs, primarily in Zimmerman, so finding the locations will be easier. If you're not sure about the location, please be sure to ask at one of the service desks.
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lYour next step is to let us know. Go to the circulation counter of the library and fill in a search card. "Oh, I've done that before and never heard anything," you say. Currently there are over 3,000 items being searched, every one of which was searched by library staff within 24-48 hours of receiving the request and again within one week. Whether or not the item is found you will be notified of the results within 7-10 days of placing the search.
lIf you don't receive a notification, we were probably unable to read the search card information and/or we don't have your current address. Stop by the circulation desk and make sure your information is correct.
lIf the item is found, it will be put on the hold shelf at circulation for you to pick up.
lIf it is not found within the first week, you will receive a release to order the item through Inter-Library Loan (ILL). (ILL requests are handled electronically through the library's homepage). This service will request the item from other libraries that can loan it to us. We, in turn, will loan it to you. It generally takes 2-3 weeks for requested books to arrive.
In response to some of the survey comments, all 160-plus General Library faculty and staff will be participating in a shelf-reading project at Zimmerman this fall. This means that we'll be in the stacks, reading the call numbers of all the books on the second and third floors of Zimmerman to get the books in correct order. As you might imagine, this is a very time and labor-intensive project. We hope this project will rectify many of the problems that were brought up in the survey comments.
The General Library will continue to work with the UNM community on the concerns that are brought to our attention. Thank you for your feedback.
Susan Magee
Daily Lobo Guest Columnist
Susan Magee is the chairwoman of UNM libraries' Outreach and Communications Committee.
