Annual Account Reconciliation: schedule revision proposal

From the Steering Team minutes Feb. 6, 2004:

We think that the complicated part (doing the problem-solving between involved libraries) should happen during the summer when it may be less busy, so we liked the near-ending date to be in early August. We also liked not stretching this recon project out so very long, so we thought we might start one month later, following the schedule set by the former Cascade libraries. We knew, however, that one of the reasons for the dragged out process experienced by the former Orbis libraries was due to some libraries not sending their lists to Alliance staff. We pondered how to entice and excite all libraries to honor their commitment so others can get on with their work, and other than promising some valuable prize which nobody can afford, decided to rely on the integrity and good faith of each participating library.

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Shirien will look at former Cascade AAR time schedule and at the former Orbis AAR time schedule and will combine the two, with the goal of shortening the overall time. She will submit that to the Steering Team for their approval.

Comparison of former Cascade and Orbis schedules, and
proposal prepared by Shirien Chappell, UO

Note: the Recommended start dates are meant as a guideline: the actual start date for each part of the process should be scheduled for the Monday nearest to the "recommended date", so it will vary by three to four days each year. Exception: the Annual Account Reconciliation year always begins at the first of April and ends at the end of the following March.

Task/who does it	Cascade Start	Orbis Start	Recommended Start	Notes
Annual Account Reconciliation (AAR) year:	April 1 through March 31	March 1 through Feb 28 or 29	April 1 through March 31
1. Announce beginning of AAR process by email.	May 13	May 1	May 15	Alliance staff send email to sites announcing the beginning of AAR, and asking for lists of items not returned during the AAR year to be sent to Alliance staff.
2. Members send lists to Alliance	June 28	June 1	June 1	Members send their lists to Alliance staff by date below, in format indicated by Alliance staff. (Correct format allows speedier consolidation of data and easier creation of the master list.)
3. Consolidated list posted on Web	July 5	June 15	June 15	Alliance staff post the consolidated list (sorted by call number, to facilitate searching in all libraries) on the web no later than …
4. Search for missing items	July 19	June 30	June 30	Local libraries search own stacks for all missing items no later than this date, and report items found on shelf to Alliance staff.
5. Master list updated	July 26	June 30	July 15	Alliance staff update the list as items are reported found, and finish no later than …
6. New lists posted to Web	Aug 9		not needed	Alliance staff post new lists sorted by call number, and by owning and borrowing site. (This is not needed because in the step above, Alliance staff have crossed off the items which were found. The titles which have not been crossed off become the basis for each site to solve problems between themselves and each other institution.)
7. Problem-solving between libraries	Aug 9	July 7	Aug 1	Individual libraries solve problems between themselves and agree that what the Alliance web page says matches each of their records, and notifies Alliance staff of this agreement no later than:
8. Master listed updated (final)	Aug 9	July 15	Aug 10	Alliance staff make the adjustments to the Alliance web list as libraries report items resolved (returned, found, etc.) and finish the final updates no later than
9. Prepare list of losses, and net difference.	Aug. 9			Alliance staff prepares a list, including net difference, for each member. For Orbis, after the initial start-up members did this on their own as part of the problem-solving task. Need to decide if we want to ask Alliance staff whether they can do this, or if we prefer to do it on our own
10. Clear the transactions	Aug 9	August 15	Aug 10 and onward.	Sites do patron and item record work. (Borrowing (patron's) site checks in the lost item from the patron record and then stops a credit for the replacement cost from occurring, and after that is done, Owning (item's) site can check in the item and set the status to missing. Total process done by:
11. Invoice and Payment:	Aug 9	August 15	Whenever each of the pairs (Owning and Borrowing sites) finish their item and patron work, they can agree that one will send a bill to the other.	Those sites which have a net amount due (items due to be reimbursed to them, minus items lost or irreparably damaged by their patrons) send bills to the appropriate sites. Process starts no later than: Here's an example of a duo worksheet from the UO, if it is helpful to anybody.