It's Academic

Here in Library Storage Land, we’re welcoming well over 100,000 new items into our stacks as part of a renovation at the main library. This move should be finished within the year, but that doesn’t mean the work is (all hail the long tail). After such a big move, I’d like to take stock of what we have in our facility by undertaking a large shelf reading or inventory auditing project.

Like any other active collection, library storage requires collection maintenance; it just looks different from reading call numbers and putting them in order. In our case, we call shelf reading “auditing,” which refers to the process of scanning each item barcode in a tray into our software, checking our actual inventory against what our software says we have. It doesn’t matter what order the books in, it only matters that the book is sitting in the tray its barcode has been assigned to. It’s a way to identify whether there are any gaps in our trays–either due to a missing book, a circulating book, or simply a tray we didn’t fill up all the way when shelving it. It’s also way to see whether a book has been reshelved in the wrong tray or whether a book somehow ended up in a tray without being entered into our software. With a collection of over 3 million items–most of which circulate–in an environment where items are sorted by size instead of call number, one incorrectly shelved book can mean that book being virtually lost until we stumble across it again. Performing regular audits is one such way to prevent such an end result.

Another key aspect of shelf reading in storage that makes it different from on-site shelf reading is the physicality of the facility. Not only do we have more of an inventory to look through than a typical on-site library, but most of our books are too high for a person to reach. Anyone who wants to participate in an auditing process needs to be certified in operating an order picker, which can potentially rule out the use of temporary employees and student workers. Instead of pulling out books lined up side by side, we have to pull each tray (which are shelved two or three deep) from the shelf and scan each book. This means more time and physical exertion is required. So, keeping all that in mind, such a project can take a very long time to complete, which is why it’s prudent to be intentional about it.

I am currently working on prioritizing individual shelves using the following criteria: how long ago were these items accessioned, which shelves had problem items when we made the switch from a homebrew inventory management software to CaiaSoft, and which shelves are we most often pulling from to fulfill requests. Talking to our operations manager, who has a great deal of institutional knowledge, I can also identify shelves that are already known to be error-prone areas. I will have to work with our technical services department and the rest of my team to develop a process for fixing any errors that the auditing may reveal. After these shelves are audited and fixed, our facility may be able to transition out of project mode to the practice of auditing randomly generated shelves as routine maintenance.

When our inventory is accurate and responsive, we can provide quicker and better service to our patrons. Auditing in storage, however, requires much more involvement than typical shelf reading, and therefore requires special considerations. I hope to be able to write another post a year or two from now letting you all know how it went!

We are excited to share the selected reading for the second session of the Spring 2022 series of the Virtual Journal Club, sponsored by the College & Research Division of the Pennsylvania Library Association!

Our second session focused on inclusive libraries will take place on Thursday, March 17th at 2:00. We will read and discuss: Simms, S., & Johnson, H. (2019). Subtle activism: Using the library exhibit as a social justice tool. Alexandria, 29(1-2), 130-144.

Contact me at akirby@pennhighlands.edu if you’d like to join us in our Zoom discussion of this article.

A few years ago my library investigated the possibility of creating an app.  We hoped to create an app that enabled access to key library resources like our databases, the catalog, ebooks, and our contact information.  We reached out to several app developers that specialized in libraries, but the high cost of these solutions prevented us from moving forward. 

Eventually we stumbled upon the app developer Goodbarber. Goodbarber lets you create an app without the need to code the app from scratch.  By using their visual interface you design your app, then add your own links, text, and images.  The process is not unlike using WordPress or a similar tool to make a website.   When you are done, you can use guides created by Goodbarber to submit your app to the Apple and Google app stores.   It’s a technical process that does require some knowhow but it’s doable for a determined tech savvy person. The process entails that you create a Google Developer Account ($100 one time fee) and an Apple Developer Account ($100 yearly).  The yearly costs for Goodbarber are less than $600.  Which is a fraction of the cost of most app creation options.  You can see their pricing here – https://www.goodbarber.com/pricing/content/   Our app can be seen here – https://www.pennhighlandslibrary.org/library-app/

If anyone is curious about using this process to create an app please let me know.