[Eril-l] EXTERNAL: What is your experience with Inventory?

[Alicia Prosser]

We used to do inventory every year but have since scaled back to every two years or so.  Information/Technical Services is in charge of the project, but every able-bodied staff member does the scanning.  We try to limit it to one-hour shifts twice a day.  Usually, people pitch in and do extra time if they are able.

If you have any specific questions, please let me know.


Alicia Prosser, MLIS

Electronic Resources Librarian

Office of Mission Integration



Western University of Health Sciences

Harriet K. & Philip Pumerantz Library



309 E. Second Street, Pomona, CA 91766

aprosser at westernu.edu<mailto:aprosser at westernu.edu>



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From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> on behalf of Tony Zbaraschuk <tony.z at swau.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2021 2:52 PM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] EXTERNAL: What is your experience with Inventory?


Currently we are doing our first inventory in 20+ years, and most of the work is being done out of my department, Public Services.  Student workers do the actual scanning, and I train and supervise.  It mostly just requires attention to detail.


Books with errors (not in system, system record doesn't match book on hand, bad barcodes, books in the wrong section, several other types) are brought down to me and I review them.


As we finish a section, I also print out a list of all the items in that section which were not scanned during inventory, and either search for them myself or have a different student look for them.  Any found are then scanned for inventory.  It's necessary to monitor closely to see which workers are inattentive and missing stuff, but even the best ones occasionally miss very small books hidden between or behind others.


Some errors (books in wrong section, etc.) can be fixed just by shelving them properly.  Most others are sent to Cataloging for correction.  Lots of weird stuff can happen over decades.  (I particularly 'enjoyed' the error where, in our transition to the present system, quite a few multivolume sets lost all but one of their item records.)


In theory our inventory program (we use TLC) can also tell if the books are in the wrong order on the shelf.  I chose not to use that function since this was our first inventory in a long time and I wanted to deal with all the problems that I knew would pop up, without adding shelf-reading on top of the inventory proper.  (We have a regular shelf-reading program that's in good shape.)

Tony Z



Tony Zbaraschuk

Public Services Librarian, Assistant Professor – Library

Chan Shun Centennial Library

100 West Hillcrest Street | Keene | Texas | 76059

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From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> on behalf of Christina Torbert <ctorbert at olemiss.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2021 4:38 PM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
Subject: EXTERNAL: [Eril-l] What is your experience with Inventory?

THIS MESSAGE COMES FROM A SOURCE OUTSIDE SWAU. PLEASE USE CAUTION WHEN OPENING ATTACHMENTS OR LINKS.

A question has arisen in our library about what department should have the responsibility for inventory processes. By inventory processes, I refer to the actions related to physically scanning books in order to compare to the online catalog as an ongoing project. Follow up on missing materials or materials without barcodes would be handled by Stacks Maintenance and Cataloging respectively.



If your library regularly has projects like this one, or has completed an inventory in the past, which department took responsibility for overseeing the shelf scanning processes?



Thank you for your shared experiences.


Christina Torbert
Head of Continuing Resources and Acquisitions
Liaison for Philosophy and Religion
Associate Professor
J.D. Williams Library
University of Mississippi
662-915-7059 (o)
662-801-9434 (c)
ctorbert at olemiss.edu
she/hers
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