Tag Archives: infoExpress

InfoExpress statewide courier service – December update

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NOW Courier has continued to move Indiana library materials out of their warehouses -both main and annex locations – and back in to Hoosier readers’ hands. In the past month, Indiana State Library administration and Library Development Office staff had a chance to visit NOW’s new location on the east side of Indianapolis and see their sorting operation in action. NOW has a team of four dedicated sorters who are moving quickly through old, often mislabeled items, as well as new shipments being picked up and returned to the warehouse. While NOW’s priority is to deliver these materials themselves, a few Indianapolis-area libraries were invited to pick up their materials in order to speed up the process and help make room in the warehouse and loading area. Several libraries reported receiving full pallets of materials in the first two weeks of December, which is promising. NOW is continuing to sort the 50 remaining gaylords – large pallet-sized cardboard shipping containers – of materials shipped earlier this year and getting those materials out.

Additional signs of recovery include NOW delivery drivers making over 600 stops the week of Dec. 4, which is drawing closer to our normal service model of over 800 weekly stops. As NOW continues to hire drivers with appropriately-sized vehicles, libraries should begin to see their driver more frequently, in addition to more of their materials in the coming weeks.

The Indiana State Library will update libraries about the claims process – particularly how to submit bulk claims – and the 2024-25 subscription rates as soon as those are known in the new year. Until then, please continue to report service issues to the InfoExpress coordinator.

This blog post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office.

InfoExpress statewide courier service – November update

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As we enter November, library courier service schedules have yet to return to normal. Indiana State Library staff continue to meet with NOW Courier, our current service provider, at least weekly to receive an update on progress since NOW assumed the contract in September.

To help alleviate some of the volume, Evergreen Indiana libraries underwent a second transit pause for two weeks in October to reduce volume in the system and allow the courier additional time to get caught up. This was helpful, and as of this week, NOW Courier staff tell us they have sorted through all parcels picked up from the previous courier. Even with this backlog resolved, many items shipped this summer are still in the system (either at the warehouse awaiting delivery, or at the shipping library awaiting pickup). Indiana State Library staff are asking libraries to refrain from submitting lost item claims until we have been notified by NOW Courier that only new items are in the warehouse.

NOW has been prioritizing locations with a large volume of items for delivery in order to clear space in their loading dock and annex locations. Most libraries have received at least one visit, and in some of the hub libraries schedules are drawing closer to normal. Unfortunately, we are aware that some library locations have yet to receive a visit, due to route staffing issues or volume prioritization. NOW reports they have hired four additional permanent drivers to the routes serviced by the central Indianapolis hub. This will helpfully improve service to Indianapolis libraries, the donut counties and even those further out serviced by this hub.

Indiana Humanities and the Indiana State Library have temporarily suspended their book club kit and other circulating kit services until service normalizes.

We are still far from normal service as subscribed. We encourage libraries that have not had any service since Sept. 1 to please contact InfoExpress. The Indiana State Library will continue to share updates with the library community at least weekly.

This blog post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office.

Statewide library courier service update

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A new statewide library courier contract began on June 26. Over these past two months, the Indiana State Library has received feedback on the new service from the entire library community, including everyone from library patrons to directors and deans of academic libraries. Unfortunately, the new company was unable to keep up with the volume and complexity of Indiana’s public library routes. While their administration was capable and communicative and some promising progress was made during the two months, the impact on libraries was felt widely. Many deliveries were made in error or not at all, mostly due to staffing and driver issues. For these combined reasons, the Indiana State Library will be pivoting back to the previous courier service to carry out the current contract. NOW Courier will assume ownership of all library materials currently in transit on Sept. 1. They will utilize the week of Sept. 4 to sort materials received, and then begin delivering to library locations the week of Sept. 11.

In an effort to help the new courier start smoothly, resource sharing in state – including Evergreen Indiana, SRCS and Indiana Share – will be paused temporarily. Evergreen patrons may still borrow in person from all member libraries and place holds, but interlibrary transits will not be occurring until Sept. 17. Evergreen users will also have full access to the Indiana Digital Library eBooks and audiobooks during that time.

While not all details are known at this time (e.g., how long it will take resource sharing to return to normal), Indiana State Library staff will communicate these to library staff when known. Libraries are encouraged to make sure their contact information in InfoExpress is up to date, as well as subscribe to the InPubLib or INLibraries listservs. Unfortunately, this new contract will result in added expenses for the state library and subscribers. The Indiana State Library will assume the additional costs for the remainder of the 2023-24 service year, and State Library staff will communicate next year’s rates as soon as they are known.

Please note that there will be no InfoExpress pickups and deliveries the week of Sept. 4. Please enjoy the Labor Day holiday and continue to communicate any known issues with State Library staff via email.

This blog post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office.

The Indiana statewide triad: InfoExpress, IN-SHARE and SRCS

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Part of the mission of the Indiana State Library (ISL) is to strengthen the services of all types of libraries by developing new services and consistently re-evaluating existing services. During the last six months, ISL has updated the rules governing two of its long standing state library services and introduced a new one, which promises to re-invent the way resource sharing is managed within the state.

InfoExpress

Since 1997, ISL has provided a heavily subsidized courier service, InfoExpress, to a wide variety of libraries around the state. Each courier stop costs the state $625 per year, but we subsidize that service so most libraries pay only $100 a year for one-day-a-week service.

A typical year will have an average of a half million parcels moving around the state. Each of those parcels contains somewhere between one and 20 items, so the total number of books, videos, etc. that are circulating around the state each year easily exceeds five million items. One of the high points of this service is that our cost per item is a fraction of the cost of similar systems in other states.

On Jan. 1, 2017, new public library standards went into place. These standards changed the way that the minimum number of service days is computed. This means that in July, when you renew your subscription to InfoExpress, all libraries will be required to subscribe to one-day-a-week of service for every 2,000 parcels shipped out.

IN-SHARE

Thirty years ago one of my first library jobs was processing interlibrary loan requests for libraries that couldn’t afford to subscribe to the new OCLC ILL system. This state-library funded service still exists today under the name of IN-SHARE. In the years since that service was launched, very little has changed about the way we manage that system. It currently costs the state library approximately $25 for each and every request submitted. Since we had no limits on the membership or the number of requests they could place, this amounted to basically asking the state library for a blank check each year to provide a very expensive service to a small number of libraries.

At the recommendation of the Resource Sharing Committee, IN-SHARE is adopting some new rules and guidelines starting this July. These guidelines will offer most libraries a set number of free requests each year, with a preference for the service going to the smaller libraries who normally would not be able to offer interlibrary loan service to their patrons. Any IN-SHARE requests that exceed that threshold will be billed at $5 for each additional request, far below what it costs the state library to process. These bills will be sent out quarterly and only apply to IN-SHARE requests that exceed each library’s threshold.

SRCS

The third part of this resource sharing triad is Indiana’s new Statewide Remote Circulation System (SRCS). This is a new way for streamlining interlibrary lending requests between Indiana libraries. Instead of having to pay a staff member to search for, and request, each title, authorized patrons can place their own requests. Patrons search a statewide union catalog combining the holdings of nearly 200 Indiana libraries and identify the item that they want. If one of these libraries has a copy of that item currently available, and it is in a loan-able location and format, then the patron sees a Request This Item button. A SRCS request is still an interlibrary loan, but it cuts across the differences between the many different ILS in use by Indiana libraries and streamlines the requesting and processing steps.

One of the drivers for the IN-SHARE changes has been the advent of SRCS. It has been estimated that approximately 75 percent of the items currently being requested through IN-SHARE could be filled faster and cheaper using SRCS. By combining SRCS and IN-SHARE, most libraries will be able to expand service to their patrons, while reducing their dependence on IN-SHARE. People often ask, “Does this mean IN-SHARE is going away?” The answer is “no.”  By reducing the demand, and the cost, for IN-SHARE, the ISL plans to use the savings to underwrite the setup any annual connection fees for participating in SRCS. IN-SHARE will, of course, continue to provide the items that SRCS can’t provide, such as photocopies and out-of-state materials.

This blog post is by Steven J. Schmidt, Library Development Office supervisor. For more information, contact Steven at (317) 232-3715 or send an email to StatewideService@library.in.gov.

Top Ten Things to know about Interlibrary Loan

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  1. It’s accessible! You do not have to have an Indiana State Library card or be a member of an Evergreen library to request items from the Indiana State Library.  Interlibrary loan allows sharing of resources among libraries.
  2. It’s easy! You simply make the request through your local public, academic, or special library. Your library will send us the request for you!
  3. It’s convenient! Once interlibrary loan requests are approved, the items are sent directly to your local public, academic, or special library for you!
  4. It’s affordable! If your library is in Indiana and uses InfoExpress, delivery is free!  If your library does not use InfoExpress or is located out of state, the cost of postage is all you will be charged.
  5. It’s flexible! Up to two renewals may be requested for interlibrary loan materials not on microfilm. As long as the item is not on hold, we’ll extend your loan period.
  6. It’s unique! The Indiana State Library has the largest collection of Indiana newspapers on microfilm and they are accessible through interlibrary loan. Our materials focus on Indiana history and may not be found many other places.
  7. It’s fast! Interlibrary loan requests are processed every weekday the library is open. Indiana State Library staff work hard to respond to requests in a timely manner in order to get materials to you quickly.
  8. It’s LARGE! Print, that is. Items from our vast large print collection may be requested through interlibrary loan by Indiana libraries.
  9. It’s adaptable! If an item cannot be loaned out, the material, or a portion of the material, may be copied for a fee in order to fill the request.
  10. It’s for work! Indiana state employees may request work-related items from other libraries through the Indiana State Library. Contact the Reference division for more information.

This blog post was written by Christy Franzman, Circulation & Support Supervisor, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at (317) 232-3675  or “Ask-A-Librarian” at http://www.in.gov/library/ask.htm.