When to Request a Search
On occasion, a patron will come to the Circulation desk because he is unable to locate an item in the stacks. Perhaps the material is being used by another patron within the library. Perhaps the item was mis-shelved. The reasons why a book is not where it should be can vary, but we need to be able to assure the patron that we will do our best to find the missing item.
All Circulation staff should be proficient in the process of taking the initial 'Search' request from a patron and have a general familiarity with how a Search request is processed.
Therefore, the first thing you should do when a patron comes to the desk unable to locate a book is to check its status in Aleph. The item's status will be your first hint as to why the book itself is not on the shelf.
Back to Circulation procedures
All Circulation staff should be proficient in the process of taking the initial 'Search' request from a patron and have a general familiarity with how a Search request is processed.
Therefore, the first thing you should do when a patron comes to the desk unable to locate a book is to check its status in Aleph. The item's status will be your first hint as to why the book itself is not on the shelf.
- Is it currently signed out?
- Has it been sent for repair or relabeling?
- Is it a Saint Mary's book?
- Any of these statuses will give you the opportunity to give the patron an immediate answer to their dilemma.
Back to Circulation procedures