Some problems are NOT here to stay!

This semester, we've seen more patrons loaded into Aleph, patron barcodes being loaded into Aleph, and single sign-on for ILL accounts. These three things may seem small, especially to our users, but for us, they've had a big impact.

Here in ILL, we used to get maybe 20 users a day who needed to have accounts created, updated, or corrected. In the few weeks since Sydney and I sat down with Barnaby Alter (Web Developer), David Perry (Database Administrator), and Scot Dalton (Systems), our routine patrons login problems have disappeared. Another great thing to come out of this was David's load of Medical, Dental, or Law status into a specific field in Aleph, allowing the ILL staff to determine whether the patron has ILL with us or with another library.

It was amazing to work with this group of people toward a common goal: to get things to work correctly. The work was collaborative, we all brought our own skills to the table, and relayed each others' concerns in a way that was exemplary teamwork.

This experience has encouraged me to reach out to others outside of Access Services more often, to look for opportunities to work with others, even if it's just a 2 minute phone call. I've noticed, also, that when I reach out to them, it opens a door for them to reach out to me. They've been calling me with questions, questions that were not asked before probably because they didn't know I existed or what I did, or if I was the correct person to ask.

For all those who are looking to build bridges between Access Services and other departments of the library, I encourage you to start building by actively seeking opportunities to communicate. Communicating is the only way to put our names and jobs and skills on the map for other people, the only way for them to know that we are the right people to ask and that we have the answer they are looking for.