Part II:
You’ve gathered the low-hanging fruit and tossed the sour milk. Now what?
You’ve gathered the low-hanging fruit and tossed the sour milk. Now what?
Get your inventory game-plan started. Determine which section to start with and how long it will take. Smaller sections allow a bit more flexibility when you are interrupted through the process. Perhaps you can start with the 000-300’s. And remember you can do a shelf or two a day.
Inventory-Get'r Done!
Hints:
- Be sure to use the Copy Call No range, it will be the easiest way to get a complete inventory.
- Scan over the course of several days, if needed. You can always stop scanning and come back later to begin scanning again. Just use the top drop down menu to find the inventory you are working on to resume.
- If you are Importing from a list, the missing items report will include books with invalid barcodes.
How-To:
1. Initialize Library System - It will ask you to name the inventory when you click Initialize Library System. Be descriptive enough to know what section you are inventorying.
2. Attach a barcode reader to your laptop and make sure the cursor is in the Scan Copy Barcode box. Start scanning. The books will show up in the list below.
3. When you have finished scanning the section* you’ll want to Finalize the Inventory by changing all unscanned items to missing. You will sleuth out the missing items next.
Do not do Step 4. It is an optional step that doesn’t work well for our district.
Troubleshooting the Inventory Process
1. Gah! Invalid barcodes or barcode not in range: what to do?
If you are scanning your inventory in Insignia (there is the option of importing a list of scanned items. Troubleshooting a scanned list will be more difficult) this is your opportunity to really make sure your data matches your shelves. When a barcode comes up invalid, open the Find/Add window. Then try these:
- Try typing the barcode number instead of using the barcode reader. If that works, you might need to reprint the label. Now type the barcode into Inventory.
- Type in the title. If it returns the title without a copy attached, maybe this copy has already been deleted. If you are keeping the copy, add it back in as a new copy, but use the already attached barcode.
- Take a look at the Material Type, or Collection Type of the title. Perhaps the copy is attached to the wrong title. You can relink the copy to the correct title. For example: a print copy of Little Women is attached to the DVD version with the same title.
- If the barcode is one of the old 6 digit codes, you might need to type “3 + school code + the old barcode” into the inventory window to get it to “read.” See this list for school codes, add zeroes in the middle as needed to make 14 digits.
- Let Rae know if you have any other situations that aren’t covered here. Screenshots in an email are very helpful.
2. Grrr! The Find/Add search results show titles that I've weeded!
The Find/Add window will show titles with no copies. The reasons are various, but include: the title was originally cataloged in your library, you once owned a copy and now you don't. Don't worry about these.
- Titles are held at the district level. Other schools may have copies attached to those titles. I know it's frustrating to think you've weeded yet still see these titles in a Find/Add search. The Find/Add window is geared toward cataloging: adding new books to existing titles, etc.
- To see what you have on your shelves (or rather, what Insignia thinks you have on your shelves) use the Search feature. Then use the filters on the right to narrow the search down if needed. These search results will tell you at a glance what copies are In, Out, or Reserved.
Reconciling the Inventory
After Inventory is finalized for each section, you’ll want to run some reports. The Missing Items list from Inventory (or Report>Reports>Catalog>Inventory - Missing Items) allows you to track down missing books to determine whether they are really lost. If you find missing books, be sure to change their Copy Status in Insignia to “In” or if they are lost, change status to "Lost" or “To Be Deleted.”
Weeding in Earnest
- The Least Circulated report is popular for weeding. It will list titles of books under a certain number of circulations within a chosen timeframe. (Report>Reports>Circulation>Least Circulated Items) It is easy to print off this list and hand it to a trusted helper to pull books for your review at a later time. Be sure to “Order By: Copy Call No” for quicker work (at the bottom left of the report window).
- Consult the MUSTIE
- Delete weeded items from Insignia
Use the Comments section below to reflect on these questions:
- How’s the collection looking now?
- Are you ready to develop the collection plan?
- How will you market your collection using the space you’ve gained from weeding?
Resources
BVSD Materials Selection Policy
What!?!?! You can stop scanning where you left off and resume later? I always did small sections because I thought we were told once you start, you have to finish that section. This is a game changer for me, Rae. And thank you so much for the troubleshooting tips on "invalid barcodes." (That is frustrating). I so wish I'd known about the Least Circulated Report last year when I weeded/prepped my library for our remodel. This is good stuff!
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