Pull List Workflow


Every workday, we create a pull list of items that have been requested by patrons. Sometimes, the list is over 200 items. Lately, it's been hovering around 100 items, except for Mondays, which have been around 150 to 200 items. For the past six months or so, we've been using FileMaker Pro to simplify our pull lists, and let us archive the title and agency data for further analysis.

Once the pull list is generated within Horizon, we save it to the desktop, where FileMaker grabs it and sorts it for us. We sort into three printouts: main floor, lower level, and the children's room. The sorting is based not only on call number but also publication date, since we shelve new adult books in a special area. Each department is responsible for pulling the items and delivering them to the circulation desk for check in and routing.

After the printouts are made, we export the day's data into an archival database, which also cranks off an email to the director and the inter-library loan staff, with the total number and the in-house requests in the subject line.

For our branch library, we log into Horizon as them, generate the pull list, import it into FileMaker, then using PDF Creator, we make a pdf of the printout, send the pdf to them via email, then send off an email to me so that my Mail rules will run an AppleScript that sends an instant message to the staff of the branch library alerting them that the printout is ready for them.

If your library has problems getting its pull lists done every day, a solution like ours might help enormously. Except for my AppleScript special sauce at the end, the process can be run completely on Windows. We use FileMaker a lot, and I recommend it highly to database neophytes. It's cross-platform, and it's easy to learn.

Posted: Wed - December 13, 2006 at 09:48 AM      

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