Newsletter for Reference Student Assistants

Guide to New Books

These are the steps for dealing with the new books that accumulate behind the Reference Desk. Do not confuse these with the new reference books.

The goal is to organize them from most interesting to least interesting, roughly. Once they are organized, they are taken to the Dean for viewing, then eventually they will be put on display.

It is part of your responsibilities to organize these once you spot them behind the desk. We appreciate you taking the initiative to organize the books without being asked.

Here we go:

1) Identify a cart that consists of unorganized new books. Put the dust jackets back on the books. (The dust jackets are usually inserted into the middle of the book.)

**A note on notes:
If you see tags or notes sticking out of the new books, in most cases you can ignore what they say, but please take them out and throw them away! For example: notes that say "finese label," "Ed. (call number)," or "Cat. (call number)" can be thrown away. If a note says something like, "Faculty author," please leave it in the book and let Kelci or Vicki know, as we put a special band on faculty publications.



2) Put all oversize books—art books, coffee table books, etc.—to the far left top shelf of the truck.



3) Put all fiction, poetry, and literature on the top left side, next to the oversize books.



4) Put all non-fiction, from most interesting to least interesting, next to the literature. Obviously a book’s interesting factor is very subjective. If you can imagine someone at USF being interested in the book, then treat it as interesting. Think about the programs and majors here at the University, as well as books that might appeal to faculty and Fromm students, who are seniors. The book’s design and color are also factors to consider. For example, a bright orange book with a provocative photo of a woman catches more attention then a plain beige book with a leaf on it.



5) Put the least interesting books on the bottom right. “Least interesting books” are anything written in a foreign language, textbooks, USF dissertations and theses (the standard black-bound books), and really advanced science books, such as advanced chemistry, isomers, programming languages, etc.



Some examples:

A science book like this should be considered interesting because it has an engaging cover.


A science book like should be considered not interesting because it has a boring cover and it is about a somewhat advanced level of science.




6) Once this is all done, put a tag on the truck that says, “Ready for Dean.” For this purpose you can use a scratch card, write the message on it, and stick it in one of the far left books on the top shelf of the truck so that it sticks out and can be seen.

7) Check with Vicki or Kelci to see if it is a good time to take the book truck to the Dean for viewing. If it is a good time, call to see if Carmen, the Dean's assistant, is there (ext. 2035).

Now you're all done! Congratulations!

Supplies: Stamper, Statistic Sheet, New Reference Books

The stamp and stamp pad can be located in the cupboard above the printer at the back of the Reference desk.
The statistic sheet can be located in a paper holder on the ledge separating the front and the back of the Reference desk.

A familiar sight: a truck with new Reference books on it. Usually a book truck like this will be sitting in the area at the back of the Reference Desk.




(Click on photos to enlarge)

1. Stamp books

Change the date stamp to reflect the day's date. Stamp each book on the "For Reference" sticker inside the front cover.

2. Count Books

Use the statistic sheet to make a tally for statsitical purposes. A very used statistic sheet looks like this:





Added Volume vs. New Title

● If it has a volume number on the call number tag, you usually can assume it is an added volume
● If it has a "Discard..." or "20XX...to stacks" sticky note it is an added volume
● If you are unsure, look the book up in Ignacio. The Ignacio record will tell you if there is only one of it (new title) or if you are adding to a pre-existing set (added volume)

To Discard vs. To Stacks
● Count how many have a "...to stacks" sticky note -- that tally is the number you put in the "Send to Stacks" column
● Count how many have a "Discard..." sticky note-- that tally is the number you put in the "Discard" column





**Note: sometimes you may need to count these after you have shelved the new ones and have harvested the "... to discard" or "...to stacks" titles from the shelves. This is because if we receive an updated set of an encyclopedia that replaces the entire old set, there may be less (or more) volumes for discard then there were new volumes of this set.

Make sure to also record your name.

3. Shelve Books

● Take out/ignore sticky notes that say anything besides "...to stacks" or "...discard"
● Take out and recycle any dust jackets that may be in between the pages of the book
● Put the books in call number order.
● Shelve the new Reference Books. This may mean you need to do a shift to fit a whole new set on the shelf.
● For volumes that have a "Discard..." or "...to stacks" sticky note in it, replace the old volume (the year or number should be indicated on the sticky note) with the new volume on the shelf. Take the sticky note out of the new volume and put it in the old volume. This is to indicate later on how to make necessary changes to the catalog record of the book (if it is being moved to stacks, the location in Ignacio will be changed; if it's being discarded, the record will be taken out of Ignacio).
● Place all the books for discard on one shelf of the book truck
● Place all the books for stacks (or any other location) on the other shelf of the book truck

4. Take finished cart to Kelci

Once you have coordinated a "for stacks" and "discard" pile on separate shelves of the book truck, either leave it in the back of the Reference Desk and tell Kelci you are done or bring it back to her desk and let her know you are done.

She will then take it to Cataloging, where they will change the Ignacio record to reflect the changes, and if books are being moved to the stacks, Cataloging will then take the books to Circulation to be shelved.

Questions:

● How to determine where someone left off?

If you begin to work on the new Reference books, but only have time to stamp and count them, that is fine! We appreciate your initiative. Just make sure to to leave a note on the top of the cart that indicates what you have done. That way the next person will know where to pick up.

● How to determine equal division of labor?

By writing your name on the statistic sheet, we can assure everyone is doing their repsonsibilites equally. Not only is one person always doing the new Reference books unfair, it's also an unequal learning opportunity for the rest of the student workers.