presentation on elag 2014: going digital in closed stacks
DESCRIPTION
Presentation on ELAG 2014, Going digital in closed stacks - Library logistics with a smart phone Many research libraries have large parts of their collections in closed stacks and lend out numerous inter library loans or collect books for the patrons from closed stacks. Most of these libraries orders are printed out on paper and then managed manually by librarians. But for the patron, the pathway is all digital: their order is placed via the webpage and an email notification arrives when the material is available for pick up. A couple of years ago librarians at Stockholm University Library started to question our logistic work with closed stacks: can we make this work-flow easier, seamless, faster and all digital? And can we combine all types of orders into one work-flow? Previously or originally we had a couple of persons that every day collected inter library loans for other libraries. Another group of people collecting local orders from closed stacks and a few people looking for books that were reported as missing. Three different people walking to the same bookshelf looking for books at three different times of the same day! We started to play with the thought: what about one person having three different kind of orders with him looking at the shelf only one time that day. Local orders, inter library loan and missing books in one list! One work flow – one data system to manage the orders, a system connected to our other library systems. The result of the idea was named XYZ – three different work-flows into one! (The name is just one that someone used to describe the three different work-flows and it stuck!) Briefly how the work-flow works: For the work-flow to work we had to develop a new system, a data system that could collect the different types of orders, mix and sort them into one digital list. It became a web based system, which nowadays is named Viola. This is how the work-flow goes: The patron or another library places an order in our opac or in an ILL-system. The orders come to the library and are collected in to a database, Viola sorts them into one list. From that list the librarian selects the orders he or she want’s to collect that day, they do it sitting by their own computer. The chosen orders are downloaded as a file to a hand computer or smart phone. The information in the phone contains all the data needed to find the book. The smart phone can read the barcode or RFID-tag in the book and save information about the book, in most cases it’s the barcode. When the list is downloaded the librarian goes to the shelves. When all the books in the list are gathered, the librarian transfers the list of orders back to the Viola-system. Viola automatically updates the library system, so the book’s status becomes lent or reserved. Viola also sends an email to the patron stating that the material is available for pick up. The librarian can simply put the material on the shelf for collection.TRANSCRIPT
Going digital in the closed
stacks –
Library logistics with a smart phone
About the presentation
• Introduction to Stockholm University Library
• About the new way of working
• Reflection and experiences
• The development
2014-06-18 / Eva Dahlbäck and Theodor Tolstoy, Stockholm University Library
2014-06-18
9 libraries
Stockholm University Library
/ Eva Dahlbäck and Theodor Tolstoy, Stockholm University Library
5000 visitors/day
2.5 million books
300 order/day
Stockholm University Library
Before
Digital paper digital
2014-06-18
Local orders from closed stacks
Interlibraryloans to other
libraries
Missingbooks
/ Eva Dahlbäck and Theodor Tolstoy, Stockholm University Library
New ways through the closed stacks!
Local orders from closed
stacks
Interlibraryloans to other
libraries
Missingbooks
Oneworkflow:
XYZ
Digital workflow
Viola
How it works:
• A movie showing the smart phone in work:
• http://youtu.be/BQB5leXwQb0
Reflection and experiences
• One work-flow for several different types of orders
• All digital road – fewer manual steps
• Faster – less time collecting books, patrons gets the book faster
• Easy for everyone in the library to follow the orders step by step
• 5 persons can do the work that 10 persons did before
• Competence development of technical skills in the work force
• Viola is connected to the invoice-system
• Satisfied customers (library’s and patrons)
2014-06-18 / Eva Dahlbäck and Theodor Tolstoy, Stockholm University Library
The Development
• Developers in the library working closely together
with librarians that know the functionality
• Thoroughly documented requirements and
workflows
• Work with “user stories” has been key in the
collaborative work
• Intention is to release it as open source
2014-06-18 / Eva Dahlbäck and Theodor Tolstoy, Stockholm University Library
User stories – the start of a conversation
As a fetcher of books, I want to be able to print out slips to put in the
books that i have found in the shelves
• Not a requirement as much as a starting point for conversation
• Easy to write and prioritize
• Easier to follow progress
• Conversation splits the User story into tasks and Definition of Done
2014-06-18 / Eva Dahlbäck and Theodor Tolstoy, Stockholm University Library
Involvement
• 1 350 regular expressions in Viola
• 7 written by developers
• User interface design
2014-06-18 / Eva Dahlbäck and Theodor Tolstoy, Stockholm University Library
Technology
• Built on top of ASP.NET MVC
• The database is SQL server,
– Replaceable thanks to the ORM PetaPoco
• Android App
– Xamarin Monodroid
• Since april, most of these technologies are Open
Source
2014-06-18 / Eva Dahlbäck and Theodor Tolstoy, Stockholm University Library
Questions!
2014-06-18 / Eva Dahlbäck and Theodor Tolstoy, Stockholm University Library
