Hackuisitions: enhancing collection services workflows with a little code
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Presentation given by Joe Nankivell, Senior Library Assistant in Collection Services at University College Dublin Library, at the Annual CONUL Conference, held on May 30-31, 2018 in Galway, Ireland.
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Hackuisitions: enhancing collection services workflows with a little code
- 1. Leabharlann UCD An Coláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath, Belfield, Baile Átha Cliath 4, Eire UCD Library University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland Hackuisitions Enhancing Collection Services Workflows With a Little Code Joe Nankivell, UCD
Editor's Notes
- Coding no longer has to be the preserve of IT specialists only. At the basic level it involves applying formal logic to routine procedures, a mode of thinking that comes quite naturally to many people who work in technical services roles. Creative thinking in this area offers lots of potential for small improvements to workflows: the kind of minor tweaks that may not be critical, but that make work smoother and more pleasurable. Recent examples from our own practice include the following: Macros in library management system to handle repetitive work. Simple screen-scraping browser plugin to extract relevant title data from vendor websites. Google Scripts: a cloud-based tool that can bring Gmail together with spreadsheets and docs to powerful effect. We’ve applied this in a number of scenarios: a routine to check delivery times of ebooks against vendor claims; performing invoice certification calculations; and a procedure to effortlessly generate printable slips on receipt of material. These are obviously not elaborate standalone apps; instead they augment our current software. They give us functionality that is absent from the LMS (e.g. the printed slips), automate laborious data wrangling (vendor review), or simply save us from boring work. In my 5-minute presentation, rather than giving technical details of these projects, I will set out what can be gained by approaching problems this way and how it has changed acquisitions routines in our library, freeing us from certain tedious and repetitive tasks. (It has also been fun and given us increased agency in our work.)