textbook inventory and tracking

[Michele Missner <missnerm@ATHENET.NET>]

I am really in need of some input from lm_net.  Our superintendent has
very strong opinions about our media services department.  My requests for
information will be in two postings.  The first having to do with textbook
inventory and tracking.

Two years ago in an attempt to keep better inventory of textbooks, all of
the districts secondary textbooks were bar coded and entered on a database
on the our library circulation system which is DRA.  We do not have the
report writer than goes with the software at this time, but if we keep DRA
we will get it.

My request for information is how other school districts circulate,
inventory and track textooks.

1.  Are  your textbooks purchased and checked in centrally?

2.  Do you have records on some kind of electronic system?  Is it the same
as your library circulation system?

3.  How do you check them out to students?

4.  Do teachers have a list of students and a record of the textbooks
checked out to them?

5.  Do your texts include movies, science kits, cd-roms, supplementary
novels, etc.?

6.  If centralized how many people are involved in checking in,
cataloging, barcoding, etc. of textbooks?  (Meaning staff to do just
this?)

7.  One of the biggest obstacles seem to be staff.  They hoard books, and
hide them so they will not be on the inventory list.  How do you deal with
that?

If you have any information that can help us in addition to the answers to
these questions, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks so much.  Michele



Michele W. Missner,
Program Leader for Media Services       Library Media Specialist
Appleton Area School District           Appleton West High School
Office phone: (414) 832-4899            610 N. Badger Ave
Einstein Middle School                  Appleton Wi. 54914
email:  missnerm@athenet.net            phone: (920) 832-4162-work
(920)   730-0768 -home                   (920) 832-6239-fax
(920)   832-4899 (media center)
http://www.athenet.net/~westfive

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