Once a month Alma sends an excel spreadsheet to the Technical Services Specialist based on an Alma Analytics report. This spreadsheet lists all items marked as missing.
Open up the Library Missing Book Database spreadsheet in the Technical Services Sharepoint. This spreadsheet is divided in to two sheets "Not Lost on Loan" and "Lost on Loan".
You'll need to compare this list of missing items to the current spreadsheet. This entails adding new things to the lists and removing things that have come off. This part of the process can be a bit confusing and it is easy to miss something so it is important to compare totals after updating.
The "Last Check-Out" column is there to give a hint about whether or not something was lost on loan, but is not full-proof. For every new item that appears on the missing list you should look at the individual item record to determine whether or not it was lost on loan or turned up missing.
Note: I usually wait a month for items that have just moved to missing because they were lost on loan. Often times not long after students are billed for items they return them. Waiting the month seems to reduce the amount of extra items to deal with.
After the spreadsheet is updated the student aides go through and look for all the items that went missing that were not on loan. Updating respective columns for each search. When an items has been searched 3 times but is still missing it should be removed from Alma.
For items that were lost on loan I generally wait 6 months before deleting them from Alma.
Once a month the Technical Services Specialist will update the "Library Missing Books Database." After this has been updated it is the responsibility of the student aides in Technical Services to search for missing items on the Not Lost on Loan sheet.
The entire list should be searched using either a laptop or a printed version to go back and update. Take note of location of item as well as this list includes items that could be in Reference, J/YA, and Oversize.
When an item appears on the list for the first time a more thorough search for the item takes place. This search is broken down in to the following categories:
Date Completed – fill in this date after searching in all the places for the item
Verify call # - In Alma look at the 050/090 field to see if there is only one Library of Congress call number listed. Sometimes if there are multiple call numbers one will appear in Alma while the other is on the spine label. If you notice a discrepancy bring it to the attention of the Technical Services Specialist. After verifying, place your initials in the cell.
Last Check-in – In Alma look at the fulfillment activities of the item. If there is a check-in date (either in house or loan) record the date in this column.
✔ shelf item should be on – Check the shelf the item should be on. This includes looking between items on that shelf and behind. Sometimes smaller items get shoved behind or stuck in bigger items. Look at the 300 field to see if the item has few pages. If the item has fewer than 100 pages, it could be hidden in between larger items. If the item is the very last item on the shelf before a jump across a gap make sure it didn't end up on the other side. After checking, place your initials in the cell.
✔ surrounding shelves – Check several shelves above and below where the item belongs. After checking, place your initials in the cell.
✔ similar call # - If a book is mishelved this is most often where you will find it while searching. For example if a book with the call number LB1033.2 .B46 2011 is missing you'd want to check in the following places:
After checking, place your initials in the cell.
✔ Book Repair – Check if the item is sitting on incoming book repair shelf or the book repair shelves in the Technical Services office. Sometimes items make it to book repair without being put on status. After checking, place your initials in the cell.
✔ Reference shelves – Occasionally an item will make its way downstairs and then be accidentally shelved in with the reference books. After checking, place your initials in the cell.
For all subsequent searches a quicker search is performed. There are only a couple of spots to check. Mark each done as completed by recording the date and placing your initials in the cell as appropriate.
After the last search, move the entire row from the Not Lost on Loan tab to the Final Actions tab.
If you find a missing item, bring the item to the Technical Services Assistant.
