BTECH minutes - 2/7/96

[Library Web Manager <webman@library.berkeley.edu>]

BERKELEY TECHNICAL SERVICES DISCUSSION GROUP
MEETING MINUTES
February 7, 1996

Recorder: Pam Daniels
Guest: Lorelie Mansur

Announcements

FAXON renewals
Renewals from FAXON went to publishers late.  Implementation of Source
during renewal time may account for this delay.  The Technical Services
Department, Order Division has been receiving notices for FAXON titles for
nonpayment.  Although, FAXON assures us that the invoices were paid, many
clients in the Western division have voiced their concerns regarding this
lack of service.

By now, staff will note the following situations: 

- orders for titles with low frequency such as annuals and quarterlies
appear to have lapsed or 
- orders for titles with high frequency such as weeklies or monthlies will
have skipped issues.

Staff are encouraged to generate skipped issue or continuation claims.
FAXON has promised to process these claims promptly.  Any problems or
questions can be directed to Serials Payments.

The Branch Processing Manual on the WEB
Later this month, the BPM will be found on the WEB.  New procedures and
revisions will no longer be distributed in paper format.   The Librarian's
Office will send BPM holders a revised Table of Contents with the URL
addresses of new or updated procedures.  After review by PSAG-TS, the URL
for the manual will be announced.

Agenda
CARS - Lorelie Mansur
Lorelie, who is on the CARS (Campus Accounts and Receivables System)
implementation team, presented a detailed overview of this new system.
CARS is a computerized billing system which is being used ampus-wide.  The
Library will use CARS to bill patons for book replacement charges.
Currently, staff must type sundry debtor forms and bill cancellations
manually, which is very labor intensive.

Lorelie distributed two handouts to the group at the beginning of her
presentation: 

CARS (Campus Accounts and Receivables System) - Training Documentation
written by Julie Trujillo.  This procedure is a "work in progress".  Final
documentation will either be mounted on the WEB or distributed to units
when completed.

CARS - what happens when?   
which can be found directly at URL address:
      http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/CARS/charts.html.
Lorelie directed our attention to look at three flow charts in particular: 

- A billed item is paid for 
- A CARS-billed item is referred for replacement or withdrawal 
- A non-CARS billed item is referred for replacement or withdrawal

CARS is linked to GLADIS Maintenance and AutoCirc by the barcode
information contained in the V/C.  Because GLADIS Maintenance and AutoCirc
are not in sync, CARS will necessitate a greater degree of protection for
circulation and billing information.   Therefore, whenever an item reaches
the billing stage, the entire V/C will become "edit protected" in
Maintenance to ensure all billing information and links are preserved.
Beginning March 1st, any item with a *b in the V/C will require an
AutoCirc authorization to perform withdrawal and/or replacement procedures
in Maintenance.

With the new "RFR" AutoCirc command, a CARS billed item will be charged to
"RFR" (i.e., the *b in the V/C will be changed to a *cRFR) and a circ note
(*nX) will be generated which records the date the RFR command was issued
and the barcode i.d. of the billed patron.  This will not cancel the bill
or unblock the patron, but will preserve the circulation information.
Once the RFR command is issued, units will be able to do withdrawal and/or
replacement procedures.  Units will receive overdue notices in 30 days and
Bill Cleanups for items charged to RFR which have never been withdrawn.

If the item was billed on CARS, the AutoCirc RFR command will work.  If
the item was not billed on CARS, the AutoCirc UNBLOCK command must be
used.  For items billed on the Sundry/Debtor system or via IOC for UC-ILL
patrons, using the UNBLOCK command will change the *b to *cMISS/B
(MISSING/BILLED).  The patron will be unblocked but the bill will not be
canceled.  If the patron needs to be blocked, staff can request a manual
block from the Service Desk. 

NOTE: Unlike the RFR command, the patron-item link is not preserved.
Units who want to retain this information in the V/C should add a *nX or
*n. 

Dana Santa Cruz asked about the use of x-level records.  If a unit needs
to bill an item which is manually circulated and the item does not have an
existing Gladis record, the system will create a x-level record, and
generate a temporary barcode.  The x-level record will automatically be
deleted when the bill is paid or canceled. 

Michael Shepler and Judy Walker asked about q level records.  If a unit
finds a q level record for an item for which a patron is being billed, the
"edit protected" V/C can still be moved to another record (i.e., copied
and retrieved).  However, transfers can not be done because the LOC
structure in the V/C can not be changed.  If it necessary to perform
withdrawal or replacement procedures, use the RFR or UNBLOCK command, as
appropriate.  Tonette Mendoza informed the group that Main is no longer
creating q-level records and is circulating items manually.

Judith Weeks raised some concerns about billing serial volumes which were
barcoded and circulated "on the fly". Especially in those cases, when a
serial has undergone many successive entry changes, the V/C will fall on
the lowest GLADIS record number. To correct this, the V/C may be copied
and moved to the appropriate record even though it is "edit protected"
using the RFR command.

Lorelie reminded the group that AutoCirc is BARCODE DRIVEN.

Craig Alderson asked about analytics.  Again, as decribed above, the V/C
can be copied and moved to the appropriate record.

The CARS system will be implemented on March 1st.  Lorelie will present a
CARS demonstration at the next Group meeting on MARCH 6 in MOFFITT Room
440c.  ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY!!!  Please have at least one staff person
from your unit to attend.  Report any problems with the system after March
1st to Penny Bertrang via the HelpDesk.

Lorelie encouraged staff to send CARS related questions to her.

At the present time, the SET BILL command is fully operational.  New BPM
procedures for the SET BILL command, withdrawals and replacements of
billed items will appear on the WEB in the near future. 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 a.m.