As I’m sure you all know, NLS will be transitioning the distribution of the MoC (Magazine on Cartridge) serials to the network libraries. As the schedule for this transition is being filled in and we get the final testing done on the release necessary for MoC service, I wanted to let you all know how things are looking, what you should be thinking about, and what you should expect for the coming month or two.
Current Status
We have two pilot libraries up and running: Virginia Beach (VA1I) on Scribe, and Kansas State Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired (KS1A) on Gutenberg. They have provided us with valuable early feedback, informing how we have built the set-up programs and allowing us to do another round of fine-tuning on the eDoc and Service Serials programs.
These programs will be included in KLAS v7.8.13, which will be going out to Early Release customers soon. This release (or later) will be necessary for MoC serial distribution.
While KLAS has had Serials support for a very long time, the volume of MoC serials distribution demands a more automated process, with plenty of updates and improvements for duplication in place of physical production. Once this release is out, we will continue to prioritize Serials improvements and fixes as the needs are identified.
I’ll also note that, at least for now, only the non-TBT audio magazines are being passed to the libraries--not TBT3, and not any of the braille magazines. Those will continue to be distributed Direct from NLS.
How it will work
When your switchover date arrives, we will run the setup programs to take care of everything on the KLAS side. The key program is an updated version of the eDoc Sync, which will check for new Serial Issue files on books.klas.com or your Gutenberg device. When a new file is found, it will create an Issue to match, along with the eDoc.
The creation of that Issue will generate Serial Reserves for all the Active Subscribers, which will also be pushed to their Service Queues. From there, things work very much like they do for regular DBs: when a patron needs service, the titles will be pulled into a Duplication Order.
If you choose to treat the serials as a separate Medium (which will keep them on a separate queue and in separate orders from the DB books, and count them towards a separate cutoff), we will also:
- Generate a local-distribution copy of the Serial title record with the new medium (the old record will be kept for BARD downloads only).
- Copy all the active subscribers to the new Serial title.
- Generate a Medium Profile and Service Queue for all active subscribers.
Decisions to make
We know that you all have your own workflows, preferences, and patron trends--and you know we do our best to make sure that KLAS can adjust to fit. That means you have some options about how we’ll set you up.
Please think about the following options, and let us know how you want things set at your library. We’ll be in touch as your transition date approaches.
Medium:
As I mentioned above, you have the option of using a dedicated Serial medium (generally DS / Digital Serials).
If you do not use a separate medium, the Serials will mingle in with the books in the same Service Queues and potentially the same cartridges. The plus side is that you will not need to manage separate profiles and queues, and patrons can all have the same hard limit cutoff for the total number of cartridges.
If you douse a separate medium, that will neatly separate your books and magazines, making it easier to ensure that both go steadily out to your patrons. It also means that you can get separate statistics on DB-Carts and DS-Carts, and if you chose, provide distinct labeling to differentiate book cartridges and serial cartridges for your patrons.
Cartridges:
I emphasized in the recent Braille Duplication webinar that cartridge inventory must be kept separate--that once a cartridge was used for a DB order, it should never be used for a DS order, and visa-versa. We have now identified the issue that was preventing KLAS from successfully passing inventory back and forth between media, so I am now (mostly) retracting that imperative.
Keeping your cartridge inventory separate by Medium is now considered optional except for multi-branch systems.
If you have multiple branches in your KLAS database, you still must keep your cartridge inventory labelled and the DB-Carts and DS-Carts (and BR-Carts for braille) separate until we are able to fix the underlying issue.
We do still recommendthat cartridges are labelled according to their contents for the best patron experience. For now, doing so will also allow for more accurate statistics, especially AVL cartridge counts. We will continue work in the future to ensure that cartridges previously used for one medium but currently used for a different medium do not get double-counted.
Retention:
With physical issues of a serial, you only have room to hang onto so many back-issues. However, since these are digital, you will have all of the recorded back-issues for each magazine available by patron request.
However, when you subscribe a new patron to a serial, you probably do not want to send them twelve years of back issues, and they probably don’t want to get twelve years of back issues.
So how many do you want to send? Just the most recent issue? The past two or three to get them started? This setting can be manually adjusted per serial title if there is a magazine patrons tend to want more back-issues of, but please let us know what you want this setting to be for all the direct serials to start with.
Medium Defaults:
If you leave the serials as DB, they will hang out with the DB books and count towards all the same Medium settings. However, if you chose to make the serials DS, we will need to know what default settings you want in place for the subscribers’ medium profiles.
For the Serve Type: how often do you want magazine cartridges to go out? Do you want to send patrons their next cartridge as soon as an issue is available, or let issues collect and only send a cartridge once per week? Every other week? Do you want to designate a specific day (perhaps a day when your regular circulation tends to be light) and handle all serials on that day, or do you want to set your patrons for Nightly serials service, but with a 7-day or 14-day Circ Delay setting to ensure that each patron is served ASAP when they return cartridges, but that they never get cartridges too close together?
All of the other profile settings will need to be set as well: NS Cutoff, Shipment Size, and Max Titles per Cartridge being the important ones. The Queue Size and Queue Refill Point are less relevant to serials service, but we need to put a number there, so tell us which one you want.
Branch Service:
If you are in a multi-branch system, do you want each branch to serve their own patrons, or do you want all Serials duplication to be done at the main branch?
Training & Networking
I’m sure you will all still have questions, and more questions will come up as you get started. You are always welcome to contact us with those questions, but to help people get started on the right foot, I do plan to host a training webinar later this month or in early May.
Our Pilot libraries have also agreed to share their experiences so far, so you can expect a guest blog post from them in the next week or two.
As libraries get up and running, we’ll be posting status updates including any new feature or bug fixes, and listing which libraries have made the transition (and whether they are Scribe or Gutenberg), so you will all know who in the network you can reach out to with questions.
If there is any other info you need to make this a successful transition, please let us know! We’ll be on your side and here to help for the whole journey.
