WHY Do an Inventory?

The importance of inventory is knowledge of the collection and accuracy of the Sirsi database.  As the librarian, knowing exactly what you have on the

shelf and what you do not have allows you more effectiveness pertaining to collection development and staff/curriculum/student support.

Also, inventory is the primary method and procedure for matching what the computer says is on the shelves.  The Sirsi database is the primary

instrument students use and rely on for selecting books and conducting research.  If "ghost" records (book record but no actual book on the shelf)

exist in the card catalog, students will quickly lose confidence in the card catalog accurately representing what is in the library.  Consequently,

student usage of the card catalog and respect for the library will diminish.

Inventory?  How Do I Do THAT?  

Inventory is time consuming, but not difficult. Start as soon as you have some time...even a little bit at a time is fine. You can inventory while circulation is running, just note the date when you start the inventory, so you can give Liz that date. You may wish to ask if it is possible for your SST to put the Workflows library program onto a laptop. That way you can bring the laptop easily to the books, instead of the books to the circulation desk.  If you must use the circulation computer, simply put the books shelf by shelf on a library cart and wheel them over.

Under the Inventory tab in Workflows, scan the books one by one, shelf by shelf. Starting with non-fiction seems to work well.  Mark where you leave off each day. If you are still circulating, when books are returned, inventory them each day before reshelving them. It doesn't matter if books are scanned twice for inventory, just don't forget any.

Be sure to check the books' call numbers as they pass through your hands, as well as the "books not found" while you do this. You can then correct these books and inventory them after they are corrected. It is also a good time to weed books. Any which are in poor repair can be discarded immediately. Books which are still "checked out" and yet accidentally back on the shelf will also show up now, and can be discharged, then inventoried.

Work slowly and carefully. Remember to scan all resources that have barcodes. (If it has a barcode it needs to be inventoried.) Some schools have barcoded their bookroom resources, professional resources (e.g. art kits), DPA CDs, etc.  Be sure to get all books back from classroom teachers to inventory before you let Liz Geier know you are finished the process.

Once you have inventoried all of your resources, send Liz a messsage that you are finished the inventory. She will create the report listing missing books. Run this report from Workflows as you would run regular reports (e.g. overdues).  Once you have it in your hand, go back to the shelves and look for those apparently-missing books. You may have simply missed the book when scanning. After you have inventoried any that have shown up in this search process, ask for an updated "missing books" list from Liz. Now discard all books which are missing. If they turn up later you will have to catalogue them back into the system at a later date. If inventory hasn't been done in some time, this stage may be a long process. Later only a few books will be missing. Books that are checked out will not show up as missing on the inventory. That means, if they turn out to be lost,  you will still need to discharge them, then discard them separately to give you an accurate picture of your collection.

It takes about a full week to do an inventory if you are working at it as a full day job. Do NOT have students do it.  You can scan faster than the scanner can read the barcodes. Read all screens every time.

How to Conduct an Inventory of Your Library Collection

Step 1: You must let Liz Geier know the date you start your inventory, so she can SET THE INVENTORY DATE for your school. This report will set the Inventory Date for all copies that have a Status of Checked Out. This will prevent these copies from being reported as missing in the inventory process, since you know their whereabouts. 

Step 2: Follow the instructions on page 37 of your WORKflows manual. You are no longer using the MARK ITEM USED wizard. Instead you will use the INVENTORY ITEM wizard (beside the Purple Truck on your toolbar)

Step 3: Call Liz when you are done and you will be led through the report generation.