Re: Patron book list

[Steve Sowder <sowder at andrews dot edu>]

Why not change the whole thing.

Check out any three books. Keep as long as you like. No due date. 

No overdue charges, reminders to return, etc. 

Keep a wish list of books, which can be checked out as books are 
returned. Always have up to three books at a time. (ie max of 3 
checkouts.)

All for $17.99 a month per patron.


What's not to like?
(Academic libraries might have a problem.)


What do you think?


Steve Sowder                          Systems Librarian
sowder at andrews dot edu                   Andrews University



On Sun, 2 Jan 2005, Elizabeth Thomsen wrote:

> I think there's a group of library users who want to use holds the way
that NetFlix customers use that service.  Whenever I decide I want to see 
a particular DVD, I add it to my NetFlix queue.  At any given time I have 
over 100 titles in my queue, and I believe this is not unusual.   My
NetFlix queue is a wishlist, what Carol's patrons want, but it's also a
sort of patron-centered, rather than bib-centered, holds queue.  My
"holds" are filled according to a rule that I am entitled to have 3 DVDs
out at any given time.  During periods when I have time to watch a lot of 
DVDs, I have fast turnover.  During times when I don't, I don't watch and 
return as many, so I don't get as many new ones.  I never have too many,
or too few.  Perfect flow control with no effort-- at least for me, the
system functions flawlessly.

The problem for many library users is that they are trying to do the same 
thing with holds, with less-perfect results.  At the library, I don't
have one single queue of the next 50 titles that I want, a queue that
responds to my borrowing activity to control flow.  Instead, my holds are 
units on 50 different hold queues, all of which are functioning
independently, moving me up the queue in ways that have nothing to do
with my activity.  

The result is that patrons may get called for ten holds one week,
annoying them and annoying staff when they fail to pick them up, and then 
nothing for the next six weeks.  The system doesn't know that the patron
can't possibly use all those books at once, or that the patron happens to 
be away for two weeks and isn't around to get those holds pickup notices.  

Being able to freeze holds is a great enhancement and is useful in the
situation Corey describes, but for patrons trying to manage multiple
holds, to prepare for a vacation they would need to freeze all their
holds-- is there a way for them to freeze and unfreeze them all at once,
instead of individually?  Even if there is, that doesn't help life's more 
unpredictable situations that make it not a good time to get holds.  

Of course, I'm not sure how a library system might incorporate
NetFlix-like functionality into holds processing, which is strictly tied
to a limit based on my contract-- 3 at a time-- which may not translate
well into a library system.  And what impresses me about NetFlix is also
the seemingly limitless stock they have available at any given time,
something that's not typical of library systems, where the whole problem
with bestsellers is the ratio of copies owned to patrons wanting to
borrow them at the same time.  But it does seem like there should be some 
way for systems to think of holds in a more patron-centric model.

Which is why I asked Carol originally about the connection between a
wishlist and holds.  After all, her users already have a way to build a
list of books they want to read-- the holds process.  Maybe the simplest
solution is what Corey describes, if I am understanding him correctly,
which is to have the system allow users to build a wishlist that is, in
fact, a list of holds pre-frozen for their convenience, which they could
thaw at their convenience, as a way of achieving some sort of flow control.  

Elizabeth

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 07:41:15 -0500 "Seeman, Corey" wrote:

> Carol and Elizabeth --
> 
> I think some of these ideas would be great to have an enhancements.  It 
> will be very interesting to see how these new features of holds will 
> work, but as at Netflix devotee, I agree that it would be great to see 
> that kind of functionality move over to library systems.
> 
> Conceptually, this is an interesting question because we think of holds 
> only as as bib level and item level.  With the ability to freeze a 
> request, the intent is that a patron will be able to go on summer 
> vacation without the risk of missing the 6th Harry Potter book when 
> their hold becomes activated.  Thinking of using this in a different 
> fashion might work well for libraries and patrons might really enjoy 
> this.  They can search the catalog every other month and just collect 
> titles to read and then unfreeze them as they want.  Using this as a 
> wish-list manager could work (conceptually) and may do the trick.  One 
> of the things that we might need to do is to assess the number of holds 
> that we allow patrons if this will also be for a wish-list.
> 
> The creative use of the system to attain local goals should be our 
> mission as system librarians.  However, the enhancements process should 
> be used by users to "dream loud" and suggest the system that we really 
> want to have.
> 
> Best -- Corey
> 
> P.S. Happy New Year.
> 
> 
> Carol Gyger wrote:
> > Elizabeth,
> > 
> > I was looking through the Release 2005 priliminary enhancement list and
> > there is some mention of holds.
> > 
> > # It will be possible to display the approximate time before a hold
> > request will be filled.
> > # It will be possible to allow patrons to "freeze" a request, allowing
> > other holds to be filled while it is frozen without losing the patron's
> > place in line when it is unfrozen.
> > 
> > These two features might help customers do a better job of managing 
> their
> > holds.
> > 
> > -carol
> > 
> > Carol Gyger
> > Systems Administrator
> > Fort Collins Public Library
> > 201 Peterson St.
> > Fort Collins CO  80524
> > (970)221-6716
> > gyger at julip dot fcgov dot com
> > 
> > On Sat, 1 Jan 2005, Elizabeth Thomsen wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>On Sat, 1 Jan 2005 12:10:30 -0700 (MST) Carol Gyger wrote:
> >>
> >>>Yes, we use Preferred Searches but it isn't as straight forward as 
> I would
> >>>like for producing a list of titles.  For example, if you drill
> down to a
> >>>full bib record level and click the Preferred Searches button, your
> >>>original search is saved not the title itself.  It would be great if it
> >>>saved the title.  One can work around this by starting with a
> title search
> >>>for each title you want to add to your list.  I think our
> customers would
> >>>like something like Amazon.com's Wish List.  You click an item and 
> it adds
> >>>it to your wish list.
> >>>
> >>>Sounds like an enhancement idea.
> >>
> >>It does sound like an enhancement request, and an interesting one.
> >>
> >>Do you see this interacting with holds at all?  One of the biggest
> >>problem with holds, in any system that I know, is that our most active
> >>patrons have no means of flow control.  They place holds on everything
> >>they want to read, and it's totally random when each hold becomes
> >>available for them.  Some weeks they may end up with far too much
> to read
> >>(or watch or listen to), and some weeks they get nothing.  I'd love to
> >>see kind of a list feature that would somehow interact with the holds
> >>process to give people a steady stream of material.  Something like the
> >>way the NetFlix queue works would be wonderful.
> >>
> >>--
> >>Elizabeth Thomsen, Member Services Manager
> >>NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange
> >>Danvers MA 01923
> >>et at noblenet dot org
> >>
> >>
> >>--
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> > 
> > 
> > --
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Corey Seeman
> Asst. Dean for Resource and Systems Management
> University of Toledo
> 
> corey dot seeman at utoledo dot edu
> http://library.utoledo.edu/userhomes/cseeman/
> (419) 530-2333




-- 
Elizabeth Thomsen, Member Services Manager
NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange
Danvers MA 01923
et at noblenet dot org


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