UXPROD-4087 - Getting issue details... STATUS UXPROD-4088 - Getting issue details... STATUS

Background

This workflow is in reference to Acquisitions/Resource Management implementers topic #18, and is intended for requirements analysis. This topic was originally raised by Julie Brannon 

Description

Libraries may receive periodicals or other pieces which get directly routed to one or more users upon receipt. These materials may or may not be represented in the PAC and may or may not be included in various collections. Routing often happens outside the normal circulation process, with each recipient receiving the material then passing it on to the next person when they're finished. The process is very informal, and may simply involve attaching a "routing list" to the piece, with the names of the recipients in the order in which they are to be passed along. The routing slip may include check boxes next to names, or recipients may simply cross off their names when they pass it along. When the material has been routed to everyone on the list, the library may then formally add it to the collection, informally place it in a reading room, informally place it in a staff area (most commonly for library-specific trade publications) or discard it.

For certain types of material it is not uncommon for the library to receive multiple copies of a given periodical. In such a case, the most common scenario is that each copy has its own assigned routing list.

Prerequisites

• The system must be capable of tracking when issues of periodicals are received.
• The system must be capable of tracking multiple copies of a given issue
  • The system will ideally do so independently of the existence of associated item record

Foundations

• Determine whether recipients must be associated with Users or whether a dedicated, independent routing table should exist
• Recipient routing order should be definable on a per-copy basis (i.e. the library determines the routing order, which can be modified at any time by authorized staff.) The assumption is that this will be a manual process rather than a configuration piece or programmatic assignment.
  • Institutions have internal criteria for determining who gets a given issue first and who gets it last, and the routing solution should reflect that.
• Determine whether routing should be per piece or composite
  • Most current solutions manage routing per piece
  • Once the routing process has been started (i.e. the piece has been sent to the first recipient on the list), libraries generally don't get involved until the last recipient returns the piece
  • Opinion: I see little benefit in overengineering this. Non-library users are generally preconditioned on the routing process, and inter-office mail generally knows how to handle.
• Library should know desired suppression behavior
  • Materials designated as staff-only (trade publications, etc.) will usually remain suppressed throughout.
  • Materials for which some copies are routed and some copies are immediately added to the collection will need proper item-level suppression handling
  • Materials which are added to the collection once routing is complete will need a suppression status until they are available to the library community at large
• Library should understand post-routing workflow
  • Possible implications for managing routing/post-routing specific notes or similar in Inventory (e.g. "discard after routing" or "place on magazine rack in Popular Materials")

Workflow

• One or more copies of a given periodical issue arrive at the library
• Library staff update the system holdings to indicate receipt of arrived copies
  • This may or may not include creation of item records
• The system identifies that there are materials to be routed
• The system identifies the people to which those materials should be routed
• The system creates a printable output of the lists of recipients in receipt order
  • Printable output should be library-definable in terms of format and size 
  • Some libraries use pocket labels, others use index cards, others use standard Letter-sized sheets
• Routing lists are attached to copies of issues and distributed to the first recipient.
  • The process of the routing itself generally happens outside the system (i.e. Circulation functions are not involved.)
  • Routing typically follows a "pass it on to the next person" model rather than "return to the library for distribution to the next person" model.
• When copies have finished routing, they are returned to the library for appropriate handling
  • There should be a place somewhere in the system to keep notes about what happens when a piece returns to the library from routing.
  • It is possible in some institutions that whoever is last in line is permitted to keep or discard the piece directly.

Walkthrough

• University Library has 3 subscriptions to Library Journal:
  • Copy 1 gets routed to certain Library staff
  • Copy 2 gets routed to certain Library & Information Sciences faculty
  • Copy 3 is added to the Periodicals section of the Library, and is not routed.
• All 3 copies of the latest issue of Library Journal arrive at the Library concurrently.
• Library staff receive all 3 copies within the library system.
  • The system generates routing lists for copies 1 and 2.
  • No routing list is generated for copy 3.
• Staff attach routing lists to copies 1 and 2.
• Copy 1 is placed in the mailbox of the staff member at the top of the Copy 1 routing list.
• Copy 2 is sent to the LIS faculty member at the top of the Copy 2 routing list.
• Copy 1 returns to the Library after a given period of time. Copy 2 does not get returned to the library.
• Staff processes Copy 1 per library practice, if applicable.

New Routing Request

• New subscription arrives with a routing request
• Staff processes the subscription per standard process
• Staff selects copy of subscription to associate with routing
• Staff assigns user to routing list for that copy

Add/Edit Existing Routing

• User requests to be added to existing routing
• Staff opens the requested journal subscription and identifies the most appropriate copy
• Staff adds the user to the routing list
• Staff modifies the routing list order, if needed (e.g. a particular user needs to be at the bottom, or the new user has priority for some reason.)

Complications and Considerations

• Accounting for turnover among recipients. What happens when someone leaves and needs to be removed from routing lists?
• Is there a need for reporting on routing?
• What is the process if copies are missing, i.e., the library routes 2 copies but only 1 arrives?