How often do we all wonder what it would be like to step into someone else’s job for a few hours, or even a few days? Our own Jon Penn had just that chance last week when he spent a week in SUNY Geneseo’s ILL department at the Milne Library.

Jon was able to participate in and observe the day-to-day activities, from processing ILL requests through ILLiad to watching how the LAND delivery service is integrated into the ILL workflow. He admitted it’s been a few years since he’s worked in an ILL department, revealing that in his time paper forms were the norm. While the workflow is essentially the same, he said, automation has “streamlined the ILL process and eliminated some labor intensive tasks.” And SUNY Geneseo’s efficient station design allows workers (student or otherwise) to know exactly what needs to be done whenever they walk into the ILL office, e.g. whether the items in the LAND bags need to be unpacked, shelved or sent out to other LAND libraries. Jon noted that Geneseo’s well organized office “helped solve the attention to detail concerns” inherent in any ILL operation.

Next, Jon is off to attend the IDS (Information Delivery Services) Conference in early August with Donna and Dave.

Learn more about LAND, Nylink’s delivery service, and OCLC’s ILLiad.

Learn more about SUNY Geneseo’s Milne Library and their leadership in the IDS Project.

Also on the horizon is the New York Resource Sharing Summit 2008 in October.