Greetings,
Thank you for being so valiant this week! It’s a bit
unsettling for all of us to suddenly let go of our beloved paper application
and use a form that doesn’t seem to understand the myriad permutations of
library card registration!
So I offer you some thoughts:
·
Since we haven’t provided proper training, you may use the online form
(beta testing) if you’d like but I am not pushing it at this time;
·
However, we have accumulated terrific feedback from staff in just 7
days;
·
While the catalog/database computers’ filter has been reconfigured, the
desktop’s configuration may prevent the form to display correctly in some
browsers (OK only in IE);
·
If the form is not able to verify someone’s address, please have them
fill out the paper form!
·
Online form is ONLY replacing the paper form; the policy remains the
same; whatever you were doing before to give folks library cards, is still
valid;
·
3 things I learned this week about our customers:
§ People don’t necessarily change their
address on the TDL/TID when they move;
§ People don’t snail mail as much as
they used to so there isn’t enough USPS data to make the name/address match;
§ 99% of the error messages that I heard
about were from women!
o Women change names
when they marry/divorce;
o USPS may still
retain the old name;
o Women might not have
their names attached to official documents like bills and leases.
I have been in touch with our vendor every day since the
launch last week to modify the form.
Please share the info in this email with your staff and
encourage them to send feedback to the Virtual Library account so we can
continue to tweak the form. Lauren and Thuy will work on training videos next
week so hopefully we will have something for our staff soon. In the meantime,
remind staff about the FAQ
that’s available on the training portal. This document will continue to change
as we make changes to the form and get feedback.
Sincerely,
Saima
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