Available/checked out concerns and helping patrons in early and mid June

When WorldCat is pointed over to WMS (estimated for June 6th; it's possible on OCLC's end to make the switch earlier but ASD and Cataloging depts both urge waiting until at least June 3d)...

Access Services will be entering all of the checkouts and returns info that they've saved up for three weeks (only applicable for items that normally circulate for more than 11 days-see loan periods on this page).

Access Services has a growing pile of books in the Sort Room waiting to be processed when the new system is turned on.

The effect will be:  "available/unavailable" messages in the new catalog will be WRONG for some items that normally circulate for three weeks or more (not for DVDs or other items that normally go in and out of the library very quickly).

Cathy G's advice to us:

During the first three weeks or so of June, if you encounter a patron scratching his/her head and saying "The catalog says the book is upstairs/in the reading room, but the book just wasn't there."

Please FIRST walk the patron over to the check out desk. The book could be in the sort room and ASD staff will quickly check it in in the new system then check it out to the patron who is wanting it.

IF the book is not in the sort room, help the patron as you normally would for a hard to find book. (I'd ask that you help the patron yourself or find someone in Ref to help, because Access Services will be adjusting to the new back end of the catalog and trying to get many catch up tasks done).

Thanks,
Lea