by Agnes Lee
Quick Summary
With all we are hearing about "fake news" these days. Agnes Lee clears up some rumors that she has heard about Minitex service in this article.
Many of our Resource Sharing staff have years of experience, but there are still times when we have to check to make sure the source of some information is factual. In our office, we are constantly changing procedures in the name of efficiency. We do our best to communicate those changes to you, but sometimes the information still doesn't reach your front-line ILL staff. With all we are hearing about "fake news" these days, it got me thinking that I should try to clear up rumors that I have heard about Minitex service.
Fact, or not so much?
1. Resource Sharing staff at Minitex are very busy, I don't want to bother them. This is no big deal.
The truth is we welcome your calls and messages anytime. If you encounter an issue we want to know. If it happens to your library, you can bet it is happening elsewhere. But if no one is letting us know, we remain in the dark and cannot make any changes or try to understand what is going on. Please keep us in the loop.
2. When you get a message written in UPPER CASE, it means they must be FURIOUS at me!!!
I sometimes do this when I'm in a hurry. SORRY! Please do not read too much into this. It is a genuine mistake.
3. If I enter a long need-by date, Resource Sharing staff will sit on my request until the last possible moment to fill it for my patron. What kind of customer service is that!?
Our internal software, Mira, orders our work for us, so we are always working on the oldest requests first. Sometimes a request will take longer to fill because there are citation problems or the item is in use. Having a longer need by date means we have the time to check other lenders or solve a citation problem. Rest assured that it does not mean your request will go to "the end of the pile."
I hope this information is helpful. I will include a few "fake ILL news" items every so often. Remember, we want your communication and collaboration ANYTIME! ( I do mean to use all caps here).
