BTECH minutes - 6/6/01

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BERKELEY TECHNICAL SERVICES DISCUSSION GROUP
MEETING MINUTES

June 6, 2001 
Recorder: Lisa Sanchez
Guests: Tom Raftery, Rebecca Green 

Announcements:

Due to the July 4th holiday, there will be no meeting next month. 

Pam read an e-mail from Preservationist Norman Beaudoin noting that
AH-C has begun sticking the piggyback barcodes on post-it notes on the
backs of title pages of books that will be going to the Bindery for New
Cases. Norman suggested that this is a good idea, as when the book returns
from the Bindery the post-it note (with piggyback barcode on it) can be
peeled from the page, the barcode peeled from its lower layer and affixed
on the page, and the post-it note with lower layer then discarded. This
would solve the problem of so many books with the lower part of the
piggyback barcode remaining in the book. 

Because of the volume of materials sent with piggyback barcodes, the
group was in favor of attaching piggyback barcodes on post-it notes when
handling older books (i.e. 19th century). Since the damage of these
barcode backings is not known, this technique, especially for older books,
would be a favorable. 

Agenda:

BPM online update - BPM Subgroup on Web Site Support 

The newly written segments of the BPM are almost ready to post on the
Web. Pam will send out the URL address of a beta-test version to the group
for comments and suggestions. The improvements to the BPM website
will make it more navigational. The the INNOPAC and Conservation
sections have been completed but the Serials sections are still in need of
some updating. The procedure for replacements billed on CARS is still
pending and will be taken up at the next Circulation Services Group before
going to the Technical Services Council for approval. 

BTECHGRP / review of role and purpose - open discussion
     
Currently, the BTECH Group is an informal forum for staff to come and
discuss various problems or concerns and share tips, etc. The pros and
cons whether the BTECH Group should become an official committee were
discussed. Becoming a formal group would require that a representative
from each technical processing unit would need to attend all meetings and
a new Committee charge would need to be created. It was thought that at
this time by the group that this would cause some hardships especially for
units with varying levels of staffing. The group also felt that any change
in format would cause the attendance to drop. The group agreed unanimously
to keep BTECH Group as a informal discussion group. 

Processing media with accompanying printed material - Tom Raftery

There have been problems recently with the receipt of books with
damaged CD-ROMs. This could be a result of improper packaging/handling of
book items with accompanying media when in transit to shelving and/or
cataloging units. Physical damage is most likely to occur with CD-ROMS
attached to the inside back cover of soft-cover book items. Tom Raftery,
Media Cataloger from the Technical Services Department, reviewed the
procedure of routing these items appropriately. In particular, it was
discussed that a flag should be inserted to alert staff to the presence of
media.

Pam brought some plastic, re-usable CD-ROM protection cases and
bubble envelopes as possible solutions to prevent damge when the book
supplier/vendor has not provided jewel cases. Pam will look into
purchasing a large number of these plastic CD protectors that can be
reused and/or recycled. If any units would like to obtain some of these
reusable cases once they are ordered can contact Pam. It is recommended
that units make arrangements with Tom, to discuss special handling needs.
Any material that may come with the item (i.e. container, instructions,
etc.) MUST remain together until the item is cataloged.

Pam will also discuss proper packing/routing procedures with Library
Mail Services to be sure staff are aware of special handling needs. 

Tracers for monographic items routed to Technical Service - Pam Daniels
     
Pam Daniels has taken over tracers for monographic items. Requests
for tracing items received and in process in Central Technical Services
will be done for primary clientele, and only when it has been established
by circulation services and/or a selector initiating the request that the
item is urgently needed and no other available material will meet the
patron's needs. Many items that spend a long time in the Cataloging
Department are usually in need of original cataloging. As the discussion
went on it was decided that the length of the standard CATA charge was to
short. The new recommended times for charging materials is below. 

CATA
rush
4 months
                                     
CATA
nonrush
6 months

These new changes will be made in the BPM, pending approval from the
Technical Services Council. It was noted that levels of staffing and
expertise in certain languages (e.g. Greek, Finnish, Dutch,) are down in
Original Cataloging, requiring a longer period for charging items routed
for cataloging. It should also be mentioned that Lost-in-transit items
still need to be traced since these items are already cataloged and should
have theoretically been forwarded to the owning location. 

Collections Core Services/Overview - Rebecca Green
    
Rebecca Green announced that Order Division has changed its name to
Collections Core Services. This new name will be more representative of
all the units that are included. The name "Order Division" left out the 4
other major groups: Payment, Coarse Reserve, Out-of-Print and INNOPAC
Management. Contacts and phone numbers have not changed. 

Collections Core Services
Division Head
Rebecca Green 2-2645
                         
Course Reserve Unit
Claudia Monroe 3-9166
Toni Walker 3-9166

INNOPAC Management Unit
Jim Gordon, Unit Head
2-3966

Fayette Elliott 2-5621
Kate Fletcher 2-4144

Ordering Unit
Jim Gordon 2-3966
Barbara Hill 2-3966
Danie Martin 2-8259
Marilyn Ng 2-3966
Michael Shepler 2-6487
                                                    
Out-of-Print Unit
Marilyn Ng, Unit Head 2-3966                                                  
Danie Martin 2-8259
                                          
Payments Unit
Jody Bussell, Unit Head 2-2645
Chris Haight 2-2645
Don Lee 2-6487
Margy Wilkinson 2-6487

The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 am.