Kansas Tri-Conference 2007: Day 1 - Participating in a Dynix Consortium

Susan John-Smith, Pittsburg State University

Consortium - you must:

• play well with others
• have a sense of humor
• live for daily surprises

Much joking about SirsiDynix…

Policy:

• know your current policy
• get it on paper
• make sure you’re compliant with local and state governing boards
• what can you hand your patron?
• collection codes - think about naming schemes - ie., sun room instead of periodicals shelf
• other things - item codes and patron codes…

Patron Empowerment:

• check out their own material
• place their own holds
• change their PIN PIN/address
• save lists of material
• set email addresses
• receive rss feeds
• rate/comment on material
• (things patrons can do)

Does the policy play well with others?

• patrons
• other consortia members
• statewide resource sharing

Process:

• flexibility doesn’t mean chaos
• choose options that work for your institution
• analyze the steps involved
• analyze workflow
• document frequently
• if you don’t understand it, chances are the computer won’t understand it either
• communicate! patrons, staff, other consortium members, etc…

People:

• vendor representatives: sales, training, support staff
• directors/boards - policy makers, public relations, legal support
• peers - within, regionally and nationally
• who are your contacts?
• who can answer your questions?
• delineation of duties…
• more than one source of expertise

Product:

• (up until a month ago, she had 8.0 screenshots in this presentation… but she yanked them)
• talked instead on what features they want in an OPAC

Patience is also needed - especially with Sirsi/Dynix oddness