ARC Customer Service Interest Group - January 11, 2008 Meeting Notes

ARC Interest Group History and Scope

Prior to the formation of interest groups, ARC had function related committees, including a circulation committee and an interlibrary loan committee.

Under the new structure, there are four interest groups: Collection Management, Reference and Information Literacy, Customer Service, and Archives & Special Collections (http://www.cmrls.org/arc/arc_interest_groups.htm). The function and scope of the groups are not defined on the CMRLS ARC web site, but the site does state they are “cross-functional” in nature. This implies that Customer Service could cover circulation and interlibrary loan, but could also include other functional areas.


ARC Strategic Plan Goals

The CMRLS/ARC Academic and Research Collaborative Strategic Plan 2009 –2013 identifies two goals for the Customer Service Interest group in the section entitled “Goal II. Demonstrate ARC’s Impact on the Community,” Objective C. “Promote ARC’s traditional resource sharing services” (See page 8 of the plan).

The two activities assigned to Customer Service under this objective are:

1. Assure that all resource sharing library staff are aware of emerging development/software. Target date is Spring 2009. Assigned assessment is a written report with summary of proposed technologies.

2. Review existing resource sharing/cross borrowing services to identify areas for improvement. Target date is Fall 2009. Assigned assessment is a written report.

This strategic plan was written subsequent to the ARC strategic planning session held on June 4, 2007. Nineteen representatives of 17 member institute libraries participated in the strategic planning session, which was facilitated by Rob Favini and Anja Smit of NELINET.


Customer Service Interest Group Discussion

The group’s responsibilities were discussed. It was determined that the hub function would be circulation and interlibrary loan, but would reach out to other departments including reference and technical services because customer service is a responsibility of all departments. Customer service is important both internally with the library and externally with patrons.

Action Item: Matthew Haggard and Barbara Merolli will draft a mission statement for the Customer Services Interest group for discussion and refinement at the next meeting.

The group discussed the ARC organizations’ cross borrowing program and noted there is a new template coming out for the ARC borrowing letter and cards.

Action Item: Obtain a copy of the template from Rick Levine at CMRLS.

The group identified interlibrary loan and circulation practices:

· There are no pending major changes to ILL Software (CLIO, ILLiad, Ariel) anticipated at this time. The most recent change was an upgrade to CLIO that was required to accommodate the new OCLC five-digit code.

· CMRLS has just adopted a change in practice regarding the placement of bar codes on books. The new policy now states, "To prepare for an eventual delivery solution, the CMRLS Executive Board urges member libraries to: place barcode circulation labels on the front of all new materials, in the upper left corner, parallel to the top of the item." Holy Cross is choosing to do bar code placement on the on the back cover of the book parallel to the top on the right hand side near the spine.

· Envelopes are no longer required for transporting books from library to library through CMRLS. Rubber bands can be used to package books together.

· Discussed the increase in the occurrence of “not found as cited” results for ILL requests.

· Discussed using tutorials to teach patrons how to request material through ILL, either within databases or using an online form on the libraries’ web sites.

· Discussed using blogs or wikis to communicate and share ideas.

Provided by Dodie Gaudet subsequent to the meeting: There are some documents and policies listed in the ARC section of the CMRLS website http://www.cmrls.org/arc/arc_docs.htm

Action Item: Best practices in using ILL and/or circulation software packages and other procedures will be discussed at the next Customer Services interest group meeting.

Customer Services Interest Group Officer ElectionThere were no volunteers for new officers. Matthew Haggard will continue as Chair and Barbara Merolli will continue as Secretary. Action Item: Identify term lengths for officer positions for discussion and approval at next meeting.


Customer Service Interest Group – Future Meetings

The group decided they would meet on a quarterly basis, with the next meeting scheduled for March 28 at 2:30 p.m. at Holy Cross College. Meeting room location to be confirmed and announced at a later date.
Ideas suggested for future meetings include:

· Speaker from NELINET on providing better reference through ILL “Capture” program.

· Demonstration of using clicker technology to provide library instruction to student circulation staff by Assumption College.

· View and discuss Zingerman’s Deli’s Ari Weinzweig’s speech on customer service.

· FISH! Motivational book discussion

· Creation of a blog for Customer Services interest group on the CMRLS ARC web site.