by Philip Sites
Quick Summary
Returning all the paperwork included when interlibrary loan items are received makes everyone's job easier when the item is returned.
Staff and students in the Referral Processing Area (RPA) of Minitex always appreciate a good paper trail. Returning all the paperwork included when the borrowed item was received makes for an efficient turnaround and mitigates errors as items make their way back to the original lending institution.
This summer, the RPA staff is pleased to report that missing referral slips (or returns missing all paperwork entirely) were mostly a non-issue. A typically busy day would have about 8-10 items arriving back here without the original referral paperwork. That’s pretty good!
Students processing returned materials in RPA are instructed to put items that are missing paperwork in a separate pile for staff to attend to at a convenient time. Staff will then re-print the original referral (with the exception of Alma) and return it with the item. For Alma returns, a slip will be inserted with the item showing the abbreviated Alma request ID.
On occasion, some items arrive with no paperwork at all, which can make it a bit trickier to track down the request (especially for popular material). If we can’t locate the request on our end, we’ll send the item back to the owning library as a courtesy return.
RPA staff is indebted to all of you who help make our process as smooth and efficient as can be. Keep up the great work!
