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 COLLECTION MANAGEMENT DEPT

Replacement Order Form

The following procedure, developed by the Acquisitions, Cataloging, Circulation, and Collection Management Departments, is instituted to mitigate the ongoing problem of lost or missing items in the collection.

When an item in the collection seems to be missing, any library staff member or user should initiate the process by completing a trace request at a circulation service point. Following notification, circulation staff will indicate the current status in the catalog- i.e. lost or missing. After searching unsuccessfully for the item, circulation alerts the appropriate collection manager to consider replacement of the item in the following three situations:

 

  1. Item is definitely known to be lost.

    1. An item charged out of the library is reported lost or stolen.
    2. An item charged out of the library is reported damaged beyond repair.
    3. An item is discovered in the library to be damaged beyond repair.

    Notification Schedule: Circulation units will immediately forward a Replacement Decision/Order Form to the appropriate collection manager. The Catalog Department will be notified by circulation staff from the appropriate location to withdraw the item from the catalog.

  2. Item is charged out and significantly overdue but may still be returned

     

    Notification Schedule: If an item remains unaccounted for after six months of attempts to recover it, circulation units will forward a Replacement Decision/Order Form to the appropriate collection manager. The Catalog Department will be notified by circulation staff from the appropriate location to withdraw the item from the catalog.

  3. Item is reported missing from the shelf and cannot be promptly located.

    When the catalog indicates an item should be on the shelf and it is not, it may be temporarily in use in the library, misshelved and eventually found during shelfreading or may, in fact, have been removed from the library illegally. Circulation staff conduct repeated searches for these items once they are reported.

    Notification Schedule: After two unsuccessful searches (approximately 10 days after reported missing), a Replacement Decision/Order Form is prepared and sent to the appropriate primary collection manager in the owning location by circulation staff where a decision to replace or not will be made. The form is retained by CM until a final decision is made. If a decision is made to not replace an item, the form should be forwarded to secondary collection manager(s) for review. If all collection managers decide not to replace the title, the form may be discarded. After forwarding the Replacement Decision/Order Form to CM, circulation staff will continue to search for the missing item. Approximately one year after the item is reported missing, the Catalog Department will be notified by circulation staff from the appropriate location to withdraw the item from the catalog.

Replacement Decision/Order Form Procedure

  1. Following the second unsuccessful search for a missing item (approximately 10 days after the item was reported missing), circulation staff in the appropriate library location will attach the circulation system's Search List entry and complete the information on the Replacement Decision/Order Form.

  2. Circulation staff sends the form to the primary collection coordinator in the owning location and, if necessary, by assigned classification. CM is responsible for keeping the classification list up to date.

  3. If the primary collection manager chooses not to reorder, the form should be forwarded to the secondary collection managers designated in the CM LC/DDC links list (see CM Bulletin 6.7). For example, an item classed in LC as HB3771 and missing from the Science Library would be sent first to A. Battiste and if she chooses not to replace it she would forward the form to Peter McKay in Library West. If a book in the same classification is missing from Main, the form would first go to Peter McKay. If Peter McKay decides not to replace it, then it would go to Anita Batiste. In this manner, the decision not to replace will represent all collection managers of materials classed in the same classification but housed in different locations.

  4. If any collection manager chooses to replace the item, s/he completes the decision section of the form and forwards it to the Acquisitions Department. If CM decides to replace the item with a known other edition, a standard order form should be prepared and submitted instead of the Replacement Decision/Order Form.

  5. Acquisitions will attempt to replace the item. Since many of these items may no longer be in print, special, more time-consuming, steps will be taken to locate a source for replacement. A new Copy Holdings Statement will be created when an order is placed. Orders will be coded as replacements for statistical purposes. If an order cannot be placed or if a placed order cannot be filled by the vendor, Acquisitions will return the form to the collection manager who submitted the order.

  6. Notification to Withdraw a Record for an Item from the Catalog: Approximately one year after an item has been reported missing, an entry appears on the circulation system search list at the appropriate library indicating that this will be the final search for the item. Following a final unsuccessful search for the item, circulation staff in the owning library will notify the Catalog Department to officially withdraw the item from the catalog by sending them the final search list entry.

  7. Procedure if Collection Management Reorders an item Before Normal Search Procedures have been Performed by Circulation: Occasionally, CM staff may receive a report that an item appears to be missing and may wish to initiate an order immediately rather than waiting for additional searches to be performed by circulation staff. In this circumstance, a standard order form will be prepared and submitted to Acquisitions. Replacement will be indicated on the form so that Acquisitions records can be coded for statistical purposes. Concurrently, CM staff will also report the missing item to a Circulation Desk where the item will be checked out to missing. This will insure an accurate availability status is indicated in LUIS, and that the normal search process will begin. When completing a trace request, CM staff should request to be notified if the item is found so their name will appear on the Replacement Decision/Order Form in the "Requested By" section when it is received. This will prevent erroneously placing a second replacement order.

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