Title: Inventorying and Shelf Reading the Collection with Voyager
1Inventorying and Shelf Reading the Collection
with Voyager
- Presenters
- Doug Frazier, University Librarian
-
- Ann Fuller, Head of Circulation ILL
- Armstrong Atlantic State University
- May 17, 2007
2Others who led the way
- Paul Johnson, Bryan College
- Shelley Schultz, Kirkwood Community College
- Richard Palladino, Iona College
3Two parts of the project
- Performing inventory on the collection, presented
by Ann Fuller - Using inventory scans to find errors in shelving,
i.e. shelf reading, presented by Doug Frazier
4Inventory method in a nutshell
- Record what is on the shelf (scan barcodes)
- List what is supposed to be on the shelf
- (Microsoft Access query)
- Flag the discrepancies
5Use a handheld scanner
- Symbol Technologies P460 scanner
6Use item statistical categories as flags
7Create a file of scanned barcodes
8Open a blank Excel worksheet, format the first
column as text
9Load the barcodes from the scanner
10Save the worksheet as a text file
11Also save the barcodes as an Excel file for
later use
12Use Access Reports to create a list of items that
should be on the shelf
13Items Not Out List created by the Access Query
14Save the not out barcodes
15Open Voyager Pick and Scan in the Circulation
client
16Set statistical category to inventory missing
17Switch to the items tab and select the file of
not out barcodes
18The statistical category will be set for each
barcode in the file
19Next, change the statistical category to
inventory present
20Switch to the items tab again and process the
scanned barcodes file
21The inventory missing code is cleared and
replaced with inventory present
22Access query for items flagged inventory missing
23List of inventory missing items
24Shelf reading in a nutshell
- Link shelf-order list of scanned barcodes to
Voyager database information - Use an Excel function to flag incorrectly shelved
items.
25Create a local table of item records with call
numbers and titles
26Make-table Query
27Barcodes, Items, Call Numbers, Titles
28Open the Excel file of scanned barcodes, insert a
column and number the rows
29Insert a row and add column headings
30Import the spreadsheet into Access
31Choose Excel file type
32Use Excel column headings for the Access table
field names
33Index the number field with no duplicates
34Index the item_barcode field
35The number will be the key field
36Save the table with a descriptive and distinctive
name
37Create a query with the table you just imported
and the main data table
38Query the two tables with a left join
39Query builder view showing left join
40Barcodes and related information in scan order
41Send the query to Excel
42Insert a column labeled status
43Function to check for errors in shelf order
44Example shelving errors
45Use conditional formatting to highlight problem
rows
46Problem rows highlighted
47Final product
48Problems
- Wouldnt scale well without some modifications in
procedures - A lot of manual work is involved that could
perhaps be automated - Runs of miss-shelved books wont be labeled as
problems except for the first or last book in the
run.
49Problems (cont.)
- Time lag between scanning and flagging records
may introduce errors.
50Miss-shelved item not marked
51Bonuses
- Requires very little training for people doing
the scanning - More accurate than manual shelf reading
- Uncovers special kinds of problems
52Record and spine label dont match
53Zero used in call number for O
54Barcode not linked to an item
55