This is pretty long, but there were so many excellent responses; I =
thought I should post them all.=20
Thanks to everyone who sent infomation about barcoding textbooks. We are =
currently in the discussion phase. I had several requests for a HIT, so =
I am going to give it a shot. Kenda
We use textbook (Follett) software for our course textbooks. The books =
are all barcoded and the job is not mine - but one of the house =
administrators. The problem with the system is that only one person =
issues and collects books - so when students withdraw or start after =
books have been issued, they must go to the house administrator's =
office. This is the same person who has to handle discipline referrals =
for half of the students in the school. Hopefully, we will be able to =
improve the system, so that when a student owes for a library book, a =
textbook, or a PE locker, it is all tracked on the same record. =
Currently we are running independently and must compile all of our =
records at the end of the year - to determine who owes and for what. =
One of the best things we've done is to have the computer that is used =
for textbook issues on a rolling cart. This way, during the first week =
of school - he can move from hall to hall (math, language arts, etc.). =
Also, this computer is not used for other business at all. Finally, we =
plan to be able to issue textbooks this year BEFORE school starts. We =
will hold an orientation the week before school, one day for sixth =
grade, one for seventh and another for eighth. Students will also be =
able to get their hall lockers then. This way, classes can actually =
begin classwork at the beginning of school. Hope these comments are of =
some help.=20
We put the main barcode on the inside front cover, the secondary barcode =
on the verso of the title page and we write the number in marker on the =
bottom page edges. Kids eventually realize that turning in someone =
else's book doesn't clear their record, but we get some with damaged =
barcodes, which we charge a damage fee for. We DO still get kids turning =
in someone else's book. We try to call out the name as books are =
returned so we'll catch it if the one turning in isn't the owner.
=20
We barcoded last year -- using Follett's Textlink. Pros: better
accountability, prints reports, gets rid of little slips of paper, takes
the teacher out of the loop (books are checked out to students, by
class), statistics at a glance, inventory easier with a hand held
scanner, prints bills. Cons: lots of work for the change-over, mainly
putting barcodes on the books and entering titles into computer. But it
is worth it!
Our school's story is a case study for Textlink. Go to
http://www.fes.follett.com/collateral.htm and click on Textlink Case =
Study
Ballard High School.
We're in our second year of using it now. We adopted policies and
procedures and had our students sign a textbook agreement. We put =
combined
library and textbook overdue notices in report cards this month. What a
difference!
Yes, even at the elem. school. It makes the student be accountable for =
the=20
materials. It probably takes more time than checking them out to the=20
teacher, but it is more accurate, easier to bill and do overdues, etc.
We started doing this two years ago and it is a success in every way.
I put a copy of our library software on a separate machine solely =
dedicated
to textbooks, so the textbook database is completely separate from the
library database. This was a good move (for us, at least) and I suggest =
you
think carefully about whether to integrate the textbooks into your =
regular
library database.
Of course, considerable prep work is required. For the 4000+ textbooks =
in
our school our tech worked two weeks in the summer to do the coding and
cataloging. That is, money must be spent.
A huge benefit is that teachers are relieved of the agony of textbook
collection at the end of the year. Students brought their books to the
library (stacked them on tables) and we checked them in as we had time.
(More hours for a library tech.) We were able to print lists (with =
prices)
of those students who had not returned books, saving the office staff =
many
hours of work.
Results? Last year we had about as many texts not returned as in =
previous
years and we collected about the same amount to cover the loses -- so we
did not make things worse! (The principal developed an unfortunate =
tendency
to forgive bills to anyone who whined, but we hope we've fixed that for
this year.)
Problems? Textbook distribution at the start of the year (or a semester) =
is
not pretty, but the nightmare only lasts a day or two. Our students have =
a
student card with a barcode that is their student number which is how we
set up our patron numbers. Ideally, students produce their student card
which we scan along with the textbook. Alas, most students do not carry
their card so we have to enter their numbers manually. In a small school
(500 students) in a small town I see no possibility of changing this
behaviour. Teachers will collect books and stuff them somewhere so they
don't get checked in! We've done much screaming and yelling about that.
As I said at the beginning, overall we are very happy with our decision =
to
code the texts. We are hopeful this year we will see real gains in book
return rate and collection for lost books.
Warning, you will need more tech time if you take on this =
responsibility.
If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Regards,
Robert
Robert Hiebert
Librarian, Golden Secondary School, BC, Canada
www.gsslibrary.net
Fax: 250 344 7116
library@gsslibrary.net
=
Pro:
^Makes individual students responsible for textbooks (not teacher, etc)
^Depending on your program, you can keep track of book condition
^allows staff to know what hasn't been returned when student is leaving =
school
Con:
^takes time and labor to barcode, enter into system
^requires help from staff to be sure that barcodes aren't valdalized
^yet another item to add to the potential fines list!
^needs teacher cooperation to get all books back AND CHECKED THROUGH
COMPUTER before being reshelved
Pros still outweigh Cons so I'd say go ahead. I used 5 boys for 5 days
after school was out in June and barcoded 10K books and only had about
70 errors. We were using Dynix (now Epixtech); if you're using Follett,
textbook circ is separate from the regular library circ.
--=20
Joyce Conklin
San Mateo Union HS District (librarian, ret.)
San Mateo, CA
bkwoman@pacbell.net
We have a special program called textlink from Follett for texbooks. =
Follett
also does our library automation. I would not advise putting your =
textbooks
into your library database. IT messes up your statistics and isn't =
really
suited to year round checkouts etc. There are some other textbook =
programs
out there if you don't use Follett.
Lorraine Smith
Librarian
St. Gabriel's Catholic School
Austin, TX
lorraine.smith@sgs-austin.org
an insane amount of work for you! most of our kids have atleast 4 books
Thanks for writing,
Sandy in Florida
Media Specialist, Mulberry Middle School
http://schools.polk.net/mms
afn11720@afn.org
Textbooks can be easily barcoded and with our system I can hide them in =
the
catalog so students don't have to wade through all the titles. I put a =
T in
front of the barcode number like T113029876. The T indicates it's a
textbook, the 113 means it belongs to my school, 02 is the year it was
added, and the 9876 is the barcode for the book. One thing I did which =
I
will not do again is a duplicate client file. Next year I will put
textbooks and library books together on a client file. It took a lot of
volunteers to get all the books barcoded but so far we like it. We gave =
up
on all the first grade stapled books and did not barcode those.
Mary Lou Hodges
Media Specialist
Rees Elementary
It is excellent. I can't imagine doing textbooks without it. We use
Follett's Textlink. =20
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