For school libraries, its almost (or perhaps already) that time of year again - stocktaking time.
I am going through the process of stocktaking for the first time and I've been quite amazed at the simplicity of the process. I thought doing something like was daunting with alot of steps involved. This was the case until I was delegated with a good challenge - create a set of procedures based on the system used by the school and how to do with the diverse collections available.
It might appear to be a little time consuming at times because of the checks that have to be made with error reports and the like, but at the end of the day, we as librarians have to account for every single item that forms the collections within the library.
A big plus, is that it gives one the chance to correct the errors that may have arisen in cataloguing an item/s. We are human at the end of the day.
I am aware school libraries where collections have been in a state of disrepair. This blog is not about naming them and shaming them at all. In fact stocktakes have not been done or if done not properly. It raises issues in terms of managing the broader library. The consequences can be massive with items simply "disappearing" (or missing in more technical sense) when they are on the shelves. I have discovered that for myself with one school.
I also was reading a post this week on the NSWTL message board (Available to those with NSW DET email accounts) and one question came forward. For those outside of NSW, OLIVER is being introduced to all NSW Public Schools as the main circulation system for school libraries. The Teacher Librarian had asked whether or not a stocktake should be done following the transfer of data from OASIS.
It comes down to when the last stocktake was done. If it was done right before the transfer, I would say "No". If the Stocktake is yet to be done for this year and would normally proceed this term, I would suggest "yes", provided you have the Softlink Manual. It is not really that complex after all from what I found and applying it to the school library. I'll admit I've made a few small modifications to my procedures as I have gone along, which has been good for eyeing out any problems.
For those out there especially in the NSW DET Schools who are struggling, please feel free to get in touch with me.
