[CALIBK12] Textbook Automation - barcoding teacher's materials

[Megan Fuller]

Hi Lori,
Unfortunately, wishing that textbooks would go away doesn't work.  They just keep arriving year, after year, after year.  Although my district no longer has a union cataloger, I can see advantages to assigning barcode ranges.  Just as with assigning ranges to vendors,  barcode ranges make it easy to track quantities by school.  The downside is for the LMT or Teacher Librarian dealing with the DO, when there is a lot of loss, sometimes it's, "You got a lot of 'splainin' to do, Lucy!"
 
After years of hating the way I tracked teacher materials, this last year I finally came up with a simple system, that seems to work.
 
1. I buy Banker's Boxes for each teacher set.  
2. I catalog the box, calling it something like "TE Science Materials Box" and write the barcode number on the exterior of the box.
3. I run multiple copies of the same barcode, to be attached to each of the items within the box.
4. (This is the new part) I create an excel sheet that numbers the titles of the items of the teacher set, i.e. 1. Teacher Edition; 2. Transparencies; 3. Assessment etc,. Print the excel list out.
5. I attach the barcodes to each item and write the corresponding excel number on the barcode.  If you have parents helping you process textbooks, make sure they understand the importance of matching the excel number to the title.  
6. As the teacher materials continue to arrive in dribs and drabs throughout the year, all you have to do is go to the excel list, and add the title. Slap a barcode on it, and give it to the teacher to whom the box is checked out.  
7. When the teacher leaves it is easy to hand them a numbered list of all the items they are to find and bring back in the Bankers Box.
 
An accession list, who would have thought? 
 
 
 
 
Megan Fuller Aptos Junior High http://www.aptosjr.pvusd.net/library/ Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing. -- Wernher von Braun 


Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:34:14 -0700From: llim at eesd.orgTo: calibk12 at lists.sjsu.eduSubject: [CALIBK12] Textbook Automation - barcoding teacher's materials
Happy Spring all!I need to gather some information about textbook automation. Next year, my district will be implementing Destiny Textbook Manager. For those of you who use textbook automation, can you please give advice on the following questions so I can advise my director:1.  I noticed some districts assign a barcode range for each school. Why would this be a good practice? Why did you choose this rather than just ordering sequential barcodes and dolling them out to the various schools?2.  What teacher materials did you barcode? I can see why TE’s need to be barcoded, but what about the thousands of little books, assessment materials, BLM’s, CD’s, etc that come in the teacher’s resource materials? (you know, the few they lose and want replaced as well as the ones they never touch...or even realize they have)Thank you for any advice you can give me!LoriLori LimLibrary Media TeacherEvergreen School DistrictSan Jose, CA
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