University of Rhode Island Libraries
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Subject selectors
Subject Selectors are responsible for selecting
materials for the University Library. Each subject selector is assigned to specific
subject areas or disciplines. They also act
as liaisons with the academic departments, working with faculty to request materials
important and relevant to the various departments, programs and research projects. Information regarding subject selectors and their
specific responsibilities can be found at http://www.uri.edu/library/selectors.html.
Requests
All requests for monographs (books, videos,
DVDs, CDs) should be initiated by the appropriate Subject Selector to ensure
acquisition. Requests should include
all the information necessary to obtain the correct material (author, title, publisher,
edition, year of publication, ISBN). If the
requestor wishes to be notified when the material is received, the Subject Selector can
indicate the name and contact information on the request.
Subject Selectors submit requests for monographic materials to the
Collection Management Officer for approval. All requests
must be approved by the Collection Management Officer prior to purchase. Requests are
coded with the appropriate fund code, approved and submitted to the Monographic
Acquisitions/Copy Cataloging (MACC) Unit for purchase. The MACC Unit purchases monographic materials for the main library
collections.
Format
Requests for materials can be
submitted in various ways. Book Request Forms
(BRF), a preprinted form (available from MACC or subject selectors), or printouts from an
online resource, such as Amazon, are the most common formats used in requesting materials. These formats help ensure that pertinent
information is included in the request. Additional
materials such as reviews or blurbs from catalogs may be submitted to further clarify what
material being requested.
The Order
When the order is received by the MACC Unit, pre-order searching is done by the staff. The Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) is searched to verify that the
material is not already in the collection. This
is done to avoid duplication. If an item is
already part of the Kingston collection, the request is returned to the Subject Selector
with that information. If the item is not owned by the Library but is owned by another
institution within the HELIN Consortium, the request is returned to the Subject Selector
to ask if another copy is needed on the Kingston campus. If the material is unavailable through the HELIN Consortium, the search
continues to other sources to verify the information provided in the request.
When the
information has been verified and price confirmed, the material is ordered. If the information is not complete or specific
enough to identify the item being requested, it will be returned to the Subject Selector
for clarification.
Status
Once an item is ordered the status of
that order is viewable online. When the item
is searched the message displayed is “One copy ordered for URI.” When the item has been received, the status will
be updated to “One copy in process for URI.”
When the item has been cataloged and is available to circulate the item will
appear with a call number and the status will be “Available.” If there is any question as to the status of an
ordered item, the Subject Selector should be contacted
(http://www.uri.edu/library/selectors.html).
Karen Ramsay April 2004 |
