Upcoming ASRS Request Changes
As we get ready to head into the long break, I wanted to give you all a heads-up to a change Mary M. and I will be making to the OPAC when we get back. Specifically, we’ll be changing the workflow for users requesting items from the ASRS.
Currently, if you request an item from the stacks, you are asked to log in before selecting your pickup location. When you request an ASRS item, you are asked to type your GVSU login or your name into a text box and then select your pickup location. This has the effect of letting users type whatever they want into the box, including G numbers, nicknames, or naughty bits.
I went and talked to Mary M about why the catalog had been set up this way. From what she told me, originally it was decided that because Steelcase had many public kiosks, we didn’t want folks to have to log in who wouldn’t have GVSU credentials, especially since all of the books at Steelcase are in the ASRS.
However, Steelcase no longer has public kiosks that work without a GVSU or Guest login. Everyone who has access to a public computer will have an account. Thsi doesn’t give you access to Sierra, necessarily, but the vast majority of visitors who use computers are there to surf the web and print. The ones who get books from the ASRS generally visit the front desk, anyway, from what I learned from the downtown staff.
Because of the text field problems, I’ve been asked to write a lot of code to validate these entries, and frankly, it makes a lot more sense to route folks through the login.
Routing folks through the login will still move the crane immediately (after they’ve logged in). It would also fit with the way folks request items that are in the stacks. This has become more important now that MaryI has items in both ASRS and stacks.
And so, the week of January 4, Mary M and I will switch the workflow for ASRS items to include logging in to the users Library account. The only effect this should have on staff workflows is for helping visitors to request ASRS items and for staff that routinely request items from the ASRS for their work. (I’ve already talked to Nancy H and Darlene about this, and I know that Vicki in ILL has a visitor login for requesting items already.)
If you have any questions, let me know!