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Lost Book Reference
Departmental Libraries - The Departmental Locate Clerk will printout the item record as outlined in the Circulation and Departmental Libraries' procedures under the section labeled Items NOT Located in the Stacks. After the item records are printed or received from the Circulation Daytime Supervisor, the stacks are searched once more. After the stacks are searched, proceed with the steps outlined here in the Reference Services and Collections procedures.
Reference Services -The Circulation Daytime Supervisor and/or Circulation Locate Clerk routes an item record printout for each lost item to the Lost Book Coordinator, who will then proceed to the following steps:
- Search for the item in all resources (such as publishers website, Blackwell Collection Manager online, Books-in-Print, amazon.com, etc.)
- Locate the same or more current edition of item with the same bibliographic information. If the item is not found in one or more of the resources, indicate this on the item record printout (Example: Not in BIP, Not in Blackwell, with the date and initials)
- Once located, print out a copy of the bibliographic information
- Staple the printout to the item record
- Input the item information into the Lost Book Database
(Departmental Locate Clerk's will need to maintain a manual record (or create a database) of lost items using the attached spreadsheet. Record the following information:
- Title, barcode, call number
- Initials of subject bibliographer (not necessary on spreadsheet)
- Date sent to subject bibliographer
- Initial and date the Lost/Missing Action Form.
- Route paperwork to appropriate subject bibliographer for a replacement decision * (See Subject Bibliographer's Role located below).
- When the subject bibliographer returns the paperwork, which should be before or on the due date (approximately 14 days), record the decision and the date in the database or on the spreadsheet (check the database or the spreadsheet periodically to be sure items are not stalled in the process without a decision).
- Input the decision on the item record note field in the Circulation module of Voyager
The note should state: Decision to (replace, withdraw, or to do out-of-print search) <(mm/dd/yy)> <initials>
- Initial and date the Lost/Missing Action Form
- Route item all paperwork to Cataloging. If there is a decision to replace, Cataloging will route to Monographs/Acquisitions
Subject Bibliographer's role:
**Subject Bibliographers, please notify your appropriate, Lost Book Coordinator/Departmental Locate Clerk if you will be out of the office for an extended period of time (longer than a week).**
The decision process will begin when the Lost Book Coordinator/Departmental Locate Clerk routes the lost item information to a subject bibliographer. The subject bibliographer then has until the due date (approximately 14 days) to return the information to the Lost Book Coordinator/Departmental Locate Clerk. If the paperwork is not returned by the due date, the Lost Book Coordinator/Departmental Locate Clerk will route all information regarding the lost item to Cataloging for withdrawal. Plesae Note: The Subject Bibliographer still has the option to make a decision about a lost item after it has been withdrawn from the catalog.
- Check the local catalog and/or circulation module in Voyager to see how many copies of the item the library currently owns. If the library owns more than one copy:
- a. Check the shelf to be sure all copies are accounted for and in a decent condition.
- b. Check the Circulation history to see how often the item has circulated.
- c. If the library has more than one copy, please use the decision to withdraw the lost copy, if necessary.
- After the number of copies is verified, decide whether to withdraw, replace, or do an out-of-print search for the lost item.
- a. If replacing with the same title, be sure to state if you want to replace the item with the same or more current edition of the item.
- b. If replacing with a different title, before submitting a replacement order check the local catalog and/or circulation module in Voyager to assure that the library does not own the new title. If the library does not own the new title, attach all the bibliographic information to the paperwork.
- c. If doing an out-of-print search, remember these searches are often extremely slow, many times unsuccessful, usually expensive, and should be considered as a last resort. If the item is unusually expensive, the Monographs Acquisitions department will notify the subject bibliographer of the cost.
- After a decision is made, clearly indicate it on the paperwork using the following format:
- <decision> <mm/dd/yy> <initials>
- Example: Replace 5/20/02 JAC
- Initial and date the Lost/Missing Action Form and route all paperwork back to the Lost Book Coordinator/Departmental Locate Clerk.
