Quality Management System

Hello,

As we discussed in the staff meeting on Monday, staff at every level in the organization is needed to assist with the development and refinement of the Quality Management System (QMS).

The QMS is a collaborative effort and is geared toward ensuring that that all staff know and have access to information outlining the standards and procedures for completing daily tasks and duties that are performed at our locations.

Here is a link to the document. As you can see, there are some processes already being worked on. While this QMS is not yet comprehensive, the document is a solid foundation for the creation of a strong QMS.

What is needed from staff are authors, editors, testers, fact checkers, and subject experts. If you feel that you have the skills and knowledge to fulfill any of these roles, please let me or Jose know and then email Laurie Covington. (You do need a Gmail account in order to access the document and work on it since at this moment all the files are stored on Google Drive.)

This link has been added to the group blog under “Staff Resources.” It will remain there since this is an ongoing process.

(I'm also posting the FAQ that was handed out during the staff meeting.)

If you have any questions at all, please let your supervisors know.

Thank you,

MR

REMINDER: Password Manager

Hello,

In August 2014, HITS launched a new tool, Password Manager, that enables end-users to reset forgotten passwords and unlock their accounts. As of now, the site allows you to reset your Windows password (which in turn would reset other passwords such as Kronos and TMS since we are moving to One Password).

The link for Password Manager is included in this post as well as on the main page of the group blog under "Staff Resources."

You can also reset your Windows password (in those events in which it has expired) by logging into your desktop profile.

Finally, in those cases in which a password has expired, the system sends notice of such an event several days prior to the password expiring. See below for an example of what you should see in Outlook:

If you see this message, you should make some time during the day to change your password.

If you have any questions or are ever in need of assistance regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to ask me or Jose.

Thank you,

MR

Float From Blue Ridge

From Sally Bates:

Hello,

As you know, BLU is going to be renovated to include a WIC center, such that a large part of their collection must go. CD and BLU staff have been working extremely hard to clear out items so that we are prepared for the reduction in shelving. Rather than floating materials through LMS-FLOAT (an additional step) we are floating many items directly from BLU. This is why some locations will receive items directly from them.

Note that if the item is marked as a replacement, your copy has circulated so many times per Collection HQ that you almost certainly need a copy with fewer circulations.

If you have any questions, please contact me or other CD staff.

As mentioned previously, as you do your collection HQ rebalancing, please choose the BLU copy. If you have particular needs for items, especially in adult, you may ask for items to be floated directly from BLU in those categories. Please contact John Merullo or Craig Bertuglia directly with those requests.

Thanks for helping us with this major project!

- Sally

MR

DOOR COUNT: October 25, 2015 - October 31, 2015

Hello,

Please be advised that the second Door Count week of FY16 will take place next week and will run from Sunday, October 25th through Saturday, October 31st. The information gathered from Door Count helps the organization understand what the busiest times are at each HPL location during a week and how much our in-house materials are used. Please assist in the following ways:

1. Provide an hourly count of visitors during the hours the library is open by recording the P-count hourly.

2. Manually count all in-house materials used.

Thank you,

MR

COH Policy: Email Business Lifecycle & Severe Weather and Other Emergency Conditions Policies

Hello,

Please review the following COH policies:

1. AP 8-10, Email Business Lifecycle Policy: http://www.houstontx.gov/adminpolicies/8-10.pdf

2. AP 2-3, Severe Weather and Other Emergency Conditions: http://www.houstontx.gov/adminpolicies/2-3.pdf

Thanks,

MR

UPDATE: Learning Link Cards for NCAA Read to the Final Four

From Fred Schumacher:

Hello everyone.

HPL recently delivered 7,214 Learning Link Cards to HISD for distribution to 3^rd graders at the 63 elementary schools participating in the NCAA Read to the Final Four program over the next year.  The list of participating HISD schools (includes school name and number) is attached.  We are excited to participate in this program by providing each of the participating 3^rd graders with a free Learning Link Card with the following privileges:

• Full access to HPL’s collection of electronic resources.
• Check out of up to 10 physical juvenile items at one time.
• No fines, no fees
• No parent signature required for card replacement

There are a few limitations on the Learning Link Card that are different from other cards:

• Laptops and gaming equipment cannot be checked out on the Learning Link Card.
• Adult and Teen physical items cannot be checked out on the Learning Link Card.
• No more than 10 physical items can be checked out on the Learning Link Card at one time.
• The cards will each expire on August 31,2016.

So here’s some information and a few guidelines  you need to know and follow when assisting one of our new Learning Link customers:

• This is a pilot. We are tracking data this year so that we can make a case for expanding the program next year to all HISD pre-K-3^rd grade students. This is one of the many reasons we need staff to adhere to the guidelines of the pilot and be careful about who gets replacement cards. Also, we want to make sure the cards are not being abused by parents or siblings so it’s incredibly important not to override anything (item limits, JUV materials only, laptop or gaming checkout availability) because that will negatively impact the data and potentially impact the future of this program for all students.
• Learning Link Card accounts all have the HOU-HISD as a user profile name.  This profile is only assigned to 3^rd graders at the 66 HISD schools participating in the NCAA Read to the Final Four program this year (the list of schools is attached).  The HOU-HISD profile is not and should not be assigned to other users.  HISD will update our user files regularly for students transferring into the participating schools.  Cards will be created for those students as we receive the files.
• Replacing a lost Learning Link Card does not require the completion of a registration form or the signature of a parent or guardian.  If a third grade child from one of the participating HISD schools requests a replacement card, you need his/her name and student ID number in order to look up the existing record in the Symphony system.  If there is a Learning Link account in the system for him/her, you may simply issue a new card to the child by overwriting the User ID with the new card number and saving the change.  You will not need to attach a Learning Link label to the replacement card.  Remember, this is only acceptable for Learning Link accounts already in the system.  Cards with other user profile types still require the completion of a registration form and the signature of a parent or guardian for customers under the age of 18.  Do not change the user profile in an existing account in order to issue a replacement Learning Link card.
• The Alt ID for each Learning Link Card is the student’s seven digit school ID number, preceded by the letter ‘S.’  So the Alt ID for a Learning Link Card will be S#######.  This format is consistent for all Learning Link Card accounts and should not be changed.  To find a student account using the Alt ID, go to the User Search widget in either Display User or Modify User, do a Keyword Search on the Alt ID index in the Search Index field and input S plus the seven digit student number in the search box.
• The default PIN for each account was set to the last four digits of the student’s HISD Student ID number. 
• The Group ID for each Learning Link card will be the three digit school number + a dash (-) + the three digit homeroom number provided by HISD.  000 is assigned as a homeroom number on accounts for which no homeroom was provided in the data set.  Additionally, each account includes a note field in which the school number and school name is recorded.  Please do not alter the Group ID or the note fields with school number and name in any way.
• You should not override the block to check out a laptop, electronic device or any non-juvenile materials to the card. 
• You should not override the block to check out more than 10 physical items to the account.
• No fines assess to the account when overdue items are returned.
• The accounts will not be sent to collection for unreturned material.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Learning Link cards, please do not hesitate to contact Circulation Administration at 832-393-2222 (option 3), Fred Schumacher at 832-393-1567 or fred.schumacher@houstontx.gov, or Kallie Benes at 832-393-1428 or Kallie.Benes@houstontx.gov . Any of us will be glad to help in any way we are able.

Thanks.

MR

Scream-In: Paperwork

From Kallie Benes:

Hi everyone,

Customers may be coming into branches to turn in their paperwork for the Scream-In. If a customer turns in paperwork at your branch, please send their paperwork via in-house delivery to:

CEN Teen Space
Subject: Scream-In
Attn: Rebecca Denham - Teen Services Coordinator

If customers have questions about Scream-In registration please refer them to Rebecca Denham at Rebecca.Denham@houstontx.gov or 832-393-1691.

MR