The Massachusetts Library System

Transcription

1 The Massachusetts Library System

2 Delivery Service Contacts When your library needs to contact the delivery provider for routine communications please use the following phone and addresses. If there are non-routine issues, please contact the MLS office during regular office hours. For issues that arise during Saturday delivery, please contact Optima directly for prompt response. Optima Customer Service: MLS Delivery Contacts: / For additional information and FAQ s please visit our website. Sort to Light is coming to C/W MARS! Congratulations you ve been selected to be a member of the initial test group. Phase one of the Sort to Light implementation will begin Thursday, July 11th. Initial testing between C/W MARS and Optima has been successful. After transitioning five other networks to sort to light with excellent results we are confident this will improve your overall experience with delivery. What this means for you is that beginning Thursday, July 11th you should place any barcoded items into delivery without a delivery slip. Anything that does not have a barcode on the upper left hand corner of the front or back cover or anything for the Virtual Catalogue and Certified Libraries still needs to use a slip. Anything going outside of your network must still have a slip in it. Please read through the attached best practices document. We are happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you! Massachusetts Library System P: x (in-state) delivery@masslibsystem.org MLS Making Libraries Stronger

3 If you notice that a pattern of missing items has developed, particularly for media such as DVDs, CDs, or games, notify the MLS office immediately. What is sort-to-light? Sort-to-light is a semi-automated sorting technology that allows libraries to ship materials without requiring a label to indicate the item s destination. Our studies indicate that elimination of this step shortens the time for processing an item for delivery at the circulation desk by one-third, i.e., a transaction with a label takes six seconds while a label-less transaction takes four seconds. Sort-to-light technology is not new. It has been used for many years in other industries where it is also referred to as pick-to-light. This is the first implementation of sort-to-light technology in a library logistics setting. In MLS s case it works thus: an employee (sorter) at the contractor s distribution center opens a tote full of unsorted materials shipped by a library. The sorter scans a barcode located on the front of the item with a wrist-worn scanner. The scanner polls the shared integrated library system (ILS) at a remote site via the Internet. The ILS responds with a SIP2 message which indicates the destination for that item (similar to a transaction with a self-check station). An LED light flashes to indicate to the sorter into which tote in the sorting rack to place the item. This technology allows for the separation of materials by other characteristics, e.g., items on-hold versus returns. The sort-to-light technology employed for MLS includes error detection to improve sorting accuracy. Damaged Items Verify that the damage did not occur before the item was placed in delivery. If you are the owning library and you determine the item was damaged while in transit, send it to the MLS- Marlborough Office, using a C routing slip, Attention: Debra and fill out a claim form on our webpage using the Online Claim Form found on our website. If you are the borrowing library, please send the item back to the owning library and notify them of the issue. They can submit a claim as described above. Lost Items Verify that the sending library did indeed send the item out into delivery. If you are the owning library and you determine the item was placed in delivery and has not arrived at your library contact MLS via at delivery@masslibsystem.org or call our Marlborough Office (866) Fill out an Online Claim Form. If you are the borrowing library, please contact the owning library so they can submit a claim as described above. Please remember to notify MLS if an item for which you have submitted a claim turns up so we can stop the reimbursement process.

4 External Barcoding The External Barcoding Policy established in 2009 requires items barcodes to be placed horizontally on the upper left corner of the front of the item. It is easier to place a barcode on an outgoing item once than it is to continually place a delivery slip in it for shipping. External barcoding is helpful to circulation staff in all libraries because barcodes will be in a uniform location. If the items pre-date 2009 when the External Barcoding Policy was set, you do not have to re-barcode items that have barcodes displayed horizontally on the upper left corner of the back cover. Items that have the barcode displayed vertically must be rebarcoded regardless of when the item went into circulation. Sending/Returning items outside of your network The purpose of a statewide delivery system is to provide easy quick service between all areas of the State. When sending or returning items to a different network, please make sure to use the correct routing slip in order to ensure it arrives expediently. Use the Delivery Index found on our webpage. Make sure you use the specified regional slip (B, C, M, N, S, or W) and fill in the first line with the identification information found in the yellow portion of the delivery index. Rubberbands and packaging Most items are shipped without packaging or rubber banding. Exceptions include magazines and other items which are likely to be damaged like media cases that may open during shipping. A reasonable amount of wear and tear during shipping is expected and is part of doing business. What are the other benefits of sort-to-light? Sort-to-light can also provide an additional level of sorting accuracy and sorting levels. For example, MLS has agreed to provide separate sorting for holds and returns to the 55 libraries in the state with the highest delivery volume. Additionally, Optima can work with libraries to provide sorting based on departments. Any additional level of sorting is at the library s expense, with the exception of holds and returns for the top 55 libraries. To find out if your library is one of the top 55, please refer to the list on the next page. Why are we trying to end the use of labels? To make library processing more efficient and waste less paper. Our studies indicate that label-less sorting is one-third faster than labelbased sorting. Each labeling transaction takes six seconds. Each labelless transaction takes four seconds. Over a year this saves over 8,000 hours of staff time annually across the Commonwealth. In addition, it is greener. We estimate that Massachusetts libraries use about four inches of label paper for each of the 15 million items shipped annually. This is equivalent to more than 900 miles of label paper annually. How will the workflow at my library change? Staff will need to develop new routines in order to ease the transition to sort to light. Before the transition go through your libraries routine step by step and ask yourself how will this change if there are no paper slips? Some steps that have worked for Libraries in the past- Label specific areas in transit, hold, return Post reminders at circulation desk to check the monitor

5 Sort to Light Quick Guidelines Items with barcodes on the upper left front of the book, or upper left back of the book that were barcoded prior to 2009 can be placed into delivery without a slip. When placing items into the delivery bin, please ensure the barcode is placed facing up. If the barcode is on the back, then the book should be placed upside-down in the delivery bin so the barcode is visible. All items with barcodes on the inside of the book must use a delivery slip. Items being sent out via the Virtual Catalog must be labeled with a routing slip even if the barcode is on the outside of the book. Sort to Light cannot ascertain the destination of Virtual catalog items and these items will be sent back to your Library if they are not labeled. The sort site has been told to defer to the routing slip when a slip is present. If you experience any additional problems with properly labeled Virtual Catalog items being returned to your library, please let MLS know. Hold Items accidentally placed in an outgoing bin will be scanned and sorted back to the holding library. If an item is placed in a bin with an on the shelf status than it will be sent to its home library. Items going to out-of-network libraries (i.e. Minuteman or MVLC libraries, etc.) always need a slip. Items going to Certified Libraries should be treated like out-ofnetwork material and labeled with a slip clearly addressed to the receiving Library. MLS should be contacted right away if you begin experiencing the following delivery issues Your library starts receiving a high volume of mis-sorted material Your library starts receiving incorrectly labeled bins Your properly labeled Virtual Catalog items are returned to your library

6 MLS Library Delivery Services are provided to support resource sharing amongst Massachusetts libraries. Currently, delivery services are provided to approximately 600 libraries of all types across the state of Massachusetts. Our Website has lots of information about delivery and other services provided by the Massachusetts Library System Check it out today! MLS services are used to ship more than 14 million items annually among MLS member libraries and the library resource sharing networks. Find Information about- Delivery Policies Delivery FAQ Delivery Contacts Routes Information Daily Delivery Updates Delivery Schedules Routes Index Delivery Routing Slips Lost/Damaged Claim Form