HIT: Patron Barcodes, Part 2

[Marcia Jacques <mjacques@BVSD.K12.CO.US>]

From: ? I deleted by mistake.(MJ)

I know of two arrangements from two librarians.  One
keeps them in pockets on a large foldout arrangement for each classroom.
Another color codes the tops and keeps them in boxes on the circ desk
behind each teacher's name.  Depending on how your teachers use the
library you can devise a method that will work for your school.  I highly
recommend asking your teachers to give you ideas, a short meeting to
discuss this can give them ownership and insure their cooperation with
whatever you do.

From: Erica Peto <epeto@halcyon.com>
We keep our barcodes on small square pieces of colored tagboard in
transparent pages that are meant to hold slides.  The faculty,the primary,
and the intermediate grades are all on separate colors of tagboard.  Our
barcodes were purchased and we just stuck them to the tagboard.  Then, we
bought small removeable labels that stick on the outside of the plastic.
Therefore the names can be changed all the time but the barcodes stay in
good shape.  After two years, we bought new transparent pages and
transferred the barcodes over, due to wear and tear from continually
removing the name labels.  It is all kept in a large binder near the
computer and we just flip open to the pages for the classes that are coming
in at that time.  However, this year we are going to a new circulation
system and might need to change the system.  I've seen it done where you
can print out a whole sheet of barcodes and names for each class.  Then,
if something changes, you just print out a new sheet.  These also could
be kept in a binder, maybe under the full sheet transparent pages?  Good
luck.

From: Jane Dodson <jdodson@gilligan.esu7.k12.ne.us>
I work at two schools.  Each one has about 280 students K-5.  I also use
Winn.  I bought a round Roladex and I put a barcode on each card just
with the students/teachers/patron's name and barcode at the top of the
card. Then I put a plastic barcode protector over the barcode and the top
of the card.  I seperate the students by grade (example: Ben in Mrs Hopps
2nd grade would be under 2H).  When students come in to check out
materials they are taught to say their last name, and class they're in
(Dodson, 2H). When I create a barcode for a student, on their
information screen I like to include their address, phone # and
parent/gardians name so if I need to write a letter or call someone about
damaged/lost materials the information is right at my fingertips.  We use
the student's social securtiy number for their barcode number, if they
don't have one the computer assigns one to them.  Their barcode stays
with them through elementary.  The junior high here makes them carry a
library card with them, there's too many kids to keep all those barcodes
in the media center, so they get a new card in sixth grade.

From: Jan Guthrie <jguthrie@eagle.ibc.edu>
We are a K-5 elementary school automated on Winnebago Circ/Cat.  We
generate our own bar codes and started our new school three years away
using Follett's library cards.  We have since discovered that a company
in DesPlaines, IL sells blank credit cards and a variety of colors that
work beautifully with the best part they are only $55/1000. We purchased
ours in our school color bright blue and are very pleased with them.  Out
kindergarten and 1st grade students keep their cards in pockets in the
classroom and have a yard string on their card so they can wear them
around their necks when they come to the LMC. After 1st grade the yarn
comes off and the teacher decides how they are stored in the classroom.
Some are kept in baskets and others in pockets.  We have had very few
problems with damage or loss.  We are slowly phasing out the old Follett
cards and will soon all be on the new blue cards with our Winnbago bar codes.

From: "R. Sue Mayo" <wat004@lion.connect.more.net>
One suggestion that I thought would work well for elementary was to put
the barcodes on something that could have holes punches in it and attach
a cord or yarn to make a necklace.  The necklaces could be stored by
classes on a pegboard either in the library or in the individual
classroom and passed out when the students come to the library.

From: Susan Weiss <sweiss@cks.ssd.k12.wa.us>
There are situations in which barcodes are helpful and necessary.  I'm at
a high school and for the past 5 years have not been using patron
barcodes. The patrons have been entered into the system with their
student id numbers. We simply do a patron search on their last name.
Usually 3-4 keystrokes is all that is necessary.  This year we will be
coordinating barcodes with student picture ID.  I remember one librarian
saying that they required the Student ID with barcodes so that a slip of
the keyboard  didn't result in an accidental checkout.  I used to ask for
SOMETHING with their name on it:  letterman's jacket, textbook with name
in it, notebook of classwork, lunch card, social security card, etc.  I
know that my principal does not want the lack of a specific ID to prevent
students from checking out books.

On one or two occasions I have had students from other schools try to
check out books from our school, just to see if they could get away with
it.  If you suspect that is the case, ask the students to name some
teachers they have.

It will be interesting to see how the barcodes on their student ID goes over.


From: Gerry Clare <gclare@cln.etc.bc.ca>
Unless there is some really compelling reason to physically barcode each
patron, I wouldn't bother -- at least for students old enough to remember
a 5 digit number.  If the number stays the same while they are in your
school, you will soon find that circulation goes very quickly and without
problem.  My experience has been with a small secondary school (650) and
the only ones who couldn't seem to remember even a 3 digit patron number
were staff members <VBG>

From: Guusje Zimmerman Moore <guusje@tenet.edu>
There are lots of ways to keep student barcodes...this works for me. I
recyceled all those catalog cards I no longer needed (YEA!) and turned
them into student library cards. The student's name, grade and teacher
are hand written (faster than typing..I have 800+ kids) on the back and
the bar code is appiled.  I store the cards by the circ. desk in plastic
strawberry baskets (more recycling)..one basket per teacher. The kids
know to find their teachers basket and then find their card. I keep the
cards in the libray at all times.
Each Sept. I put out the cards and tell the kids to get their card from
their last years teachers basket and put a sticker on it with their this
years teacher/grade (we stick that on top of last years teacher's name).
After they do that they get a special sticker to put on the card to
indicate it's an up to date card. After school has been in session for
about a month we go through and remove all the cards that don't have new
stickers on them...those are the students who didn't return (we have a
high mobility rate).
I don't keep a back up set of cards...if a student loses their card it
only takes a few. min. to make them another one and I don't have to do it
all that often anyway.

From: Joyce Conklin <jconkli@smcoe-ns.ed.co.sanmateo.ca.us>
Check the back of MacWorld or MacUser or MacWeek for various barcode
software packages. I don't know what topology Winnebago uses, but I've
used BarCode Pro for our codabar mod10 barcodes for Dynix Scholar.

I have (at present) only the demo version, which produces a barcode with
a big "sample" in the middle, but I scanned the little bit that was not
overwritten and it worked like a charm.

You do need a page layout program (Quark, PageMaker, etc.) which will
accept .eps files, since that's the format that BarCode Pro produces.
Then print them out on the laser printer.
Synex produces Bar Code Pro
1-800-619-0299 tel.
1-718-768-3997 fax
PS Others in my July MacUser include Bear Roch technologies
(1-800-232-7625) and Computalabel (1-800-289-0993), with neither of
which`do I have personal experience.

From: Winnie W Ngan <winnie@tenet.edu>
I keep all patron barcodes on a Roladex, adults by last name and the
students by last name with grade levels.  I also spend some time at the
beginning of school making a one page of a xerox copy of a class'
barcodes.  Thus, when a class comes to visit, we pull the sheet and have
all the barcodes, including the teacher's, at hand.  Since our middle
schoolers *drop in*, I usually just copy theirs alphabetically and have 3
pages for the 60 students.  No fuss, no muss, and considerably less stress.