Getting Started with Outreach Services
Outreach Features
The Outreach Services module offers the following features.
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Detailed interest profiles may be created for an individual user or outreach site. |
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Interest profiles are used to select materials based on the same search criteria available in the online catalog. |
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An outreach user record can have an unlimited number of interest profiles attached to it. Materials may be retrieved to satisfy a wide variety of interests, and may be further limited for a given interest profile by physical format, publication date, or other criteria. Interests may be as general as new books, or as specific as gardening, books by John Grisham, or The Cat in the Hat. |
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History records keep track of which items have been selected and/or circulated to a given user or site. Items may be marked to be reselected after a given time, so that a user can request and receive the same item at regular intervals. Items may also be marked to be excluded from selection for a given user. History records can be viewed by library staff to help them in selecting materials. |
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Searches based on user interest profiles can be performed interactively or with a report. |
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Pickup and shipping lists can be produced by reports. |
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Interest profiles and circulation histories can be retained in the system, even when the patron’s outreach user status has been set to inactive. Interest profiles and circulation histories of inactive users can also be removed by reports. |
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Next and last delivery dates are automatically calculated and stored. |
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Delivery dates can be skipped on demand. |
Outreach Prerequisites
The library should consider the needs of the outreach users and the resources available to meet those needs. Issues that should be discussed include delivery methods, whether fees should be charged for services, which library materials may be included in outreach services, and which users are eligible for outreach services.
Before implementing outreach services, the library should consider the scope of services to be provided. The following considerations will affect how SirsiDynix Symphony policies should be structured.
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Delivery methods and routes |
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Limiting materials to be distributed |
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Eligibility for outreach services |
Delivery Methods and Routes
The way in which library materials are distributed to outreach users may affect the structure of the outreach delivery routes that will be maintained with the Outreach Route Information and Maintenance wizards. Some examples follow.
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If the library will be using a van to make point-to-point deliveries, at least some outreach routes should group outreach users geographically. |
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If a library will be shipping materials to users, one or more outreach routes should be created to allow for different shipping schedules. |
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If the library holds outreach materials at the Circulation Desk for outreach users, an outreach route for this group of users may be necessary. |
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If the library has one or more bookmobiles, geographically-related outreach routes will be needed. |
Fees for Services
SirsiDynix Symphony permits a great deal of flexibility in determining which, if any, outreach services will be incur a fee. Libraries may elect not to pass any charges to their users, or may recover costs in the following ways.
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Assessing a privilege fee for outreach services for some or all users |
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Passing along shipping costs |
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Assessing a per charge fee |
Limiting Materials To Be Distributed
A library may decide that certain materials will not be included in deliveries to some or all outreach users. Though circulation policies will usually be sufficient to prevent charging restricted-use items, such as reference works, the library may choose to limit or disallow distribution of some item types for some delivery methods. For example, audio-visual items may be held at the Circulation Desk for outreach users who pick up their own materials, but audio-visual materials are not shipped to remote users.
Libraries must also consider the frequency of delivery and the number of items to distribute to outreach users. Since outreach users typically have limited access to the library, they might be permitted to charge more than the standard number of items at any given time. Since selecting materials places title level holds, it may also be necessary to adjust the maximum number of holds permitted for outreach users.
Eligibility for Outreach Services
Since outreach users must be individually activated, the library should determine criteria for eligibility for outreach services. One library might decide that any registered user may be an outreach user. Another library may wish to limit outreach services to a given user population.
Steps for Implementation
The Outreach Services module supports a number of different approaches to providing outreach services to library users. Depending on the library’s needs, selection and delivery of library materials can take place according to a regular schedule or on demand.
Certain actions are common to all libraries, regardless of how the library implements the Outreach Services module. Before offering outreach services, the library staff must complete prerequisite planning and configuration tasks. After the staff completes the preliminary work, the staff performs day-to-day operations in selecting, locating, and delivering library materials to outreach users.
The following list displays the sequence of actions for the outreach services.
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Make plans for implementing the Outreach Services module. |
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Create outreach users. Any user who is to receive outreach services must first have a SirsiDynix Symphony user record. Interest profiles, which describe in detail the library materials of interest to the user, are also a part of the user record. Interest profiles are created by library staff in response to the user’s description of his or her reading, viewing, and listening preferences. |
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Create an outreach route record for each outreach delivery route, and assign outreach users to each route. |
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Select materials. After library staff creates interest profiles for outreach users, the staff uses the Search Interest wizard to see a suggested selection list. In high-volume operations, materials may be automatically selected for groups of outreach users through either the Search User Interest Records report or the Search Route Interest Records report. Staff members review the list of suggested items and either select, reject, or skip items. Once an item has been selected, a title level hold alerts Circulation staff that the item has been selected for an outreach user; however, like any hold, it can be overridden. |
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Retrieve materials. Once items have been selected for outreach users, library staff members retrieve items from their current locations. The Print Route Pickup, Ship List report and the Print User Pickup, Ship List report can be used to generate a pickup list sorted by library, location, and call number to help staff in retrieving items. Staff can create separate lists that sort materials by user name for grouping a user’s materials prior to charging and delivery. When retrieving materials, staff may discover some selected materials are unavailable or unsuitable. The staff may choose to make alternate selections, or deliver only the located materials. |
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Charge materials. Once staff members retrieve materials from their current locations, they charge items to the outreach users with the Checkout wizard. Standard SirsiDynix Symphony policies govern the circulation parameters, such as the due date. |
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Update user records and distribute materials. When staff members select or reject items for outreach users, SirsiDynix Symphony creates history records. When the staff members charge items to the outreach users, they may update history records and outreach records in batch with the Set User Delivery, Skip Date and the Set Route Delivery, Skip Date reports. These reports update history records to reflected the charged and delivered items. SirsiDynix Symphony sets the shipped date in the history record, and sets the next delivery date in the outreach user record. SirsiDynix Symphony skips users who requested to be skipped in the previous delivery and sets them to be included in the next delivery (unless they requested to be skipped for more than one delivery). The library staff can produce notices that include a list of charge items and their due dates, as well as address labels. |
Policies to Configure
The following circulation and user policies should be configured when implementing outreach services.
Circulation Configuration Policies
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Bill Reason – Create a new Bill Reason policy to use when billing users if your library plans to recover associated costs of outreach services, such as shipping. |
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Billing Structure – Create a Billing Structure policy if your library wants to recover costs by assessing a charge fee to outreach users, or decline to assess overdue fines on outreach users. |
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Loan Period – Create a new Loan Period policy that is in sequence with the distribution cycles used for the various routes. Similarly, if users must ship materials back to the library, allow for shipping time in the new loan period. |
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Circulation Map – Add one or more lines to the Circulation Map policy to ensure that outreach users receive special consideration when charging items. |
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Circulation Rule – Create one or more new Circulation Rule policies to implement a longer loan period and to waive fines for outreach users. |
See the Circulation Configuration wizard topics for more information.
Outreach Configuration Policies
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Outreach User Extended Information– Configure the extended information entries that will be used for outreach user records. |
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Route Extended Information– Configure the extended information entries that will be used for outreach route records. |
See the Outreach Configuration wizard topics for more information.
Module Configuration Policy
Configure the Outreach Module Configuration policy to specify the hold range for the title level holds that are placed on items selected for outreach users.
User Configuration Policies
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User Profile – Create a new User Profile policy, if desired, for outreach users since a library may permit a larger number of items to be charged to them at a given time. |
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Miscellaneous – Libraries may also lengthen grace periods and reduce or eliminate overdue fines and other fees. |
See the User Configuration wizard topics for more information.
Related topics
Overview
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