ILL Headaches

I've had better days. It's days like this that make me want to say "No More ILL!"

My day started out with a call from VWM asking about microfilm they had lent us. They stipulate that microfilm is only lent if it will be returned by UPS. We indicated that we returned it 11/25/04, but they hadn't received it yet. I promised to check into it.

After checking, I discovered that:
- The microfilm probably had been returned media rate.
- There was no indication on the official request of the UPS requirement.
- And there was a paperwork error in our system that could've caused the microfilm to be returned to PZI.

I e-mailed PZI to alert them to the possibly misdirected item, then e-mailed VWM to inform them of my findings and to apologize. A return e-mail from VWM informed me that the microfilm did arrive at their library through the mail today. I e-mailed PZI again, to let them know the microfilm had reached its proper home.

Soon after, another call from VEM brought worse news. They had just received a package that contained two books. One belonged to them. The second book belongs to CPT, is a book from 1857, and is now in three pieces. I found another copy of the book online for $125.

Through out the day, I was receiving overdue notices from students regarding ILL books that they claim they've returned. In at least 90% of the cases, they are right.

And from the packages of books that we've sent to the mailroom to be returned--I think we got five back today that weren't fit to ship. Three of them hadn't been addressed, one of them had a 3" hole in the packaging, and another had the address half ripped off. These are all packages that have barely made it down the hall; they haven't made it out of the building.

But to put the problems a bit in perspective--the mailroom shipped out over 130 packages for the library over the weekend; and we've packaged more than that already this week.

Still, I've called a meeting for my student workers on Thursday. I'm hoping that we'll be able to come up with some solutions for some of these problems; or at least some ways to be more consistent.