NMRT (New Members Round Table)

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The mission of the New Members Round Table (NMRT) is to help those who have been association members less than ten years become actively involved in the association and the profession.

Learn more about NMRT on the ALA website.

  • 1.  **Cross-Posted** Technology Checkout at Your Libraries

    Posted Oct 26, 2022 01:23 PM
    **Please forgive cross-posting**

    Fellow academic library people!

    I am looking into how my institution manages our technology checkouts, specifically our laptops and DSLR cameras, and I was curious if anyone would be willing to share their experiences. Specifically, I'm wondering about how you manage your checkouts, whether you do maintenance in-house or through your campus IT department, and whether you allow reservations and/or renewals. We have briefly looked at using Springshare to move to reserving equipment, but I don't have much experience with that side of it, so if anyone has any tips they can share, that would be great!

    [Right now, I'm just in the research gathering phase,  but I really appreciate any help anyone can give me!].

    Thank you!

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    Kelli Anne Gecawich, MLIS
    Media & Circulation Associate
    Georgia Southern University
    kgecawich@georgiasouthern.edu
    She/Her/Hers,They/Them/Theirs
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: **Cross-Posted** Technology Checkout at Your Libraries

    Posted Oct 27, 2022 08:42 AM
    Hi Kelli Anne,
    We have started using Springshare LibCal for almost all equipment checkouts and they all require reservations - with the exception of items like laptop chargers, which are more "on the fly" requests as needed, so those are checked out through our ILS like a reserve item.
    We work closely with our IT department to manage equipment bookings. The laptops require more mitigation, but most things can be reserved relatively quickly. Renewals are generally accepted unless there is a need for the item. Maintenance is currently being handled by one of our instructional technologists, but we are hoping to hire someone for that kind of work.
    LibCal has been a bit fussy to deal with for this. It is nice to have a separate system for advance reservations on these items and for easier collaboration with our IT department. However, there aren't as many configuration options like there are with our ILS and we are noticing difficulty with keeping track of inventory as the metadata for each item is a bit buried.
    We're still messing with it to fit our needs, so there are definitely pros and cons! I'm not sure of any other options that might work better, however.
    Jane Campbell, MLIS | she/her/hers
    Resource Sharing Librarian
    campbe25@stolaf.edu 
    507-786-3713


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    Jane Campbell
    Resource Sharing Librarian
    St. Olaf College
    She/Her/Hers
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    Original Message