PROXY CARDS
Suzanne McAnna
>What types of transactions are the proxy card holders allowed to make?
>Check-out books, do photocopying, pick up interlibrary loans, what else?
Proxies can do all the kinds of transactions that faculty can do, except
that I believe proxy cards per se do not allow access to certain database
and online services which are restricted by contract to students and
faculty. If the proxy is a student s/he may have this access under her/his
own ID.
>What information is on the proxy card, i.e. proxy photo, expiration date,
>professor's ID number, etc.? I assume that it is the professor's record
>that transactions are attached to. Do any professors have more than one
>student assistant? If so, how do you know which student actually made
>the transaction, or do you care? How is use of the card stopped when the
>proxy quits or graduates?
No photo: proxy's name, faculty member's name, faculty member's ID number,
expiration date of the proxy authorization. The card is a special stock
which identifies it as a proxy card. We allow up to three concurrent
proxies per faculty member. Transactions by the proxy are
indistinguishable from those by the faculty member, and from those of other
proxies. We don't know who actually did the transaction, but we wish we
did--this is one significant drawback to our system. It would take a major
analysis and reprogramming effort to change the system to distinguish
between faculty and proxies. This is on our "to do" list but hasn't risen
to the top yet.
Stopping use of the card is also an issue for us, again because the proxy
and faculty record is the same. The card shows expiration date and
circulation desk staff are supposed to check the date, but if they fail to
do so, the faculty member is (most likely) still valid and the card can
still be used.
>Approximately what percentage of your faculty makes use of a proxy card?
We have not tried to calculate this.
>If you are automated, which system are you on?
Our system was developed at UT/Austin--it is not a turnkey system.
>What are the pitfalls and do the pros outweigh the cons?
The greatest problem we face is that although some faculty use the proxy
privilege as it was intended--to allow them to have student assistants to
help with their library work--many use it as a way to grant faculty-level
privileges to their students, family, etc. The faculty member authorizes
the proxy and then thinks no more of it. But since the faculty member is
responsible for all the proxy's transactions, and all communications go to
the faculty member, when the recall notices or statements of fines and
charges go out, the faculty member becomes concerned--the proxy happens to
be in Patagonia for the semester, WITH the book, etc. (or the faculty
member has NO idea where the proxy is). I don't mean to be TOO
facetious--this really is a problem. It also partly accounts for why our
inability to distinguish between faculty and proxy and between proxies is
also a concern. If faculty only used the service as intended, it would be
less of a problem that we cannot tell who did what.
The service certainly presents some problems--and we hear more about the
problems that the cases that work well, of course--but I don't necessarily
think that the cons outweigh the pros. In any event I do not think that it
would be feasible for us to cease offering the proxy service.
>I would really like to get away from all the little scraps of paper and
>phone calls authorizing transactions on a professor's behalf. Any advice
>will be most welcome.
Good luck, Beth!
Suzanne K. McAnna (mca...@mail.utexas.edu)
Head Librarian, Circulation Services Department
The General Libraries
The University of Texas at Austin
PO Box P
Austin, TX 78713-8916
Lucia Maclean
> I would appreciate hearing from anyone in an academic library who makes
> use of proxy cards to allow student assistants to conduct library
> transactions for professors.
>
> What types of transactions are the proxy card holders allowed to make?
> Check-out books, do photocopying, pick up interlibrary loans, what else?
All library transactions -- including those above, plus placing holds and
recalls, requesting ILL items, etc.
>
> What information is on the proxy card, i.e. proxy photo, expiration date,
> professor's ID number, etc.? I assume that it is the professor's record
> that transactions are attached to. Do any professors have more than one
> student assistant? If so, how do you know which student actually made
> the transaction, or do you care? How is use of the card stopped when the
> proxy quits or graduates?
Each faculty is allowed up to 4 proxies at a time. They are all separate
records in the database and each has her/his own card, but using the faculty
SSN so that bills are sent to her/him. The faculty person is responsible
for maintenance of the cards -- most just let them expire at the end of
the year.
>
> Approximately what percentage of your faculty makes use of a proxy card?
>
Probably about 5-10%.
> If you are automated, which system are you on?
>
DRA.
> What are the pitfalls and do the pros outweigh the cons?
>
Since faculty must assume full responsibility, we have very few problems
(the application where they must sign makes this very clear).
Lucia MacLean
UC Davis
Jo-Ann Irace
I have answered your questions below. Please let me know if I
can provide further information on our procedure for Proxy Cards:
On Thu, 9 Feb 1995, Elizabeth Perkins wrote:
> I would appreciate hearing from anyone in an academic library who makes
> use of proxy cards to allow student assistants to conduct library
> transactions for professors.
>
> What types of transactions are the proxy card holders allowed to make?
> Check-out books, do photocopying, pick up interlibrary loans, what else?
Proxy card holders are allowed to make all transactions.
>
> What information is on the proxy card, i.e. proxy photo, expiration date,
> professor's ID number, etc.?
The proxy card looks something like this:
John Smith
proxy for:
Jean Doe
exp. 5/30/95
I assume that it is the professor's record
> that transactions are attached to.
Our proxy cards are not attached to the faculty record. We create a new
patron record which includes the name of the faculty member and the name
of the proxy as the patron. Example:
Faculty name: Jean Doe Name of proxy: John Smith
Patron name in record: Doe/Smith (Proxy)
Do any professors have more than one
> student assistant? If so, how do you know which student actually made
> the transaction, or do you care?
Yes, some professors have more than one proxy. Each student assistant
has his/her own proxy card.
How is use of the card stopped when the
> proxy quits or graduates?
>
> Approximately what percentage of your faculty makes use of a proxy card?
Not sure, but we have about 10-20 each semester.
> If you are automated, which system are you on?
III (Innovative)
>
> What are the pitfalls and do the pros outweigh the cons?
The only problem with this system is dealing with holds. If a faculty
member places a hold, the system does not acknowledge the proxy as the
same person. (We explain this to the proxy when we issue the card). Our
faculty prefer to know what transactions are taking place by specific
assistants. This system provides this information.
> I would really like to get away from all the little scraps of paper and
> phone calls authorizing transactions on a professor's behalf.
We require a written letter from faculty giving the student assistant
permission to borrow on his/her behalf. We also require an expiration
date. We save these letters until the proxy patron record is deleted
from our system.
Hope this helps:
Jo-Ann Irace
Williams College
jo-ann...@williams.edu
(413) 597-2920
