SUBJECT:

Email Now Default Method for Distribution of Library Notices

Beginning July 27, 2005, the UCSD Libraries will be implementing a process to use the campus directory tables to update automatically and daily UCSD faculty and staff contact information, such as campus and email addresses, in our patron database. One result of this process is that the UCSD Libraries will always have the same contact information as found in the Campus Directory. Faculty and staff will no longer need to update their library contact information separately from updating their campus contact information. It also means that a library patron record will automatically be generated for each new UCSD faculty and staff member saving them time the first time they check-out library materials.

A second result of this change is that it will allow the UCSD Libraries to expedite communication with faculty and staff. Effective July 27, the Libraries will begin using the email address found in a faculty or staff members' Campus Directory listing as the official address to which we send library notices and other system-generated communications. These communications are mostly related to items that a user may currently have checked out or to items they may wish to check out. Using email for library communications, such as sending an overdue notice or a notice that a book is being held for pick-up, is the most effective and timely way for faculty and staff to receive, read and respond to notices.

Although the Libraries already use email in our communication with most faculty and staff, with this change in policy, email will now be the method for communicating with all faculty and staff. Only if a faculty or staff member does not have an email address listed in her or his current Campus Directory Listing will the Libraries send notices by campus mail.

UCSD faculty and staff can use the Campus Directory at http://rohan.ucsd.edu/campusdirectory/index.jsp to view their current directory information. The directory includes the email address we will be using for communication purposes. From this page or from within Blink, faculty and staff can link to the Update Directory Listing page where changes to the directory information, including changing email addresses, can be made.

With this change to email as our method for distributing library notices to faculty and staff, the UCSD Libraries remind library users to please pay attention to email messages that are sent by the Libraries.

We hope that this change does not inconvenience or prove problematic to any library users. For the UCSD Libraries, using electronic mail has proven to be a cost-effective, timely, and productive medium for us to send messages to our user community.

If you have any questions or comments about this new policy, please contact Jason Schulz, Circulation Services Manager, at jtschulz@ucsd.edu, or 858-822-0206 or Catherine Friedman, Associate University Librarian, at crf@ucsd.edu or 858-534-1278.

Brian E. C. Schottlaender University Librarian