Aquinas College :: Grace Hauenstein Library

Technical Services

The mission of the Technical Services Department is to support the public service areas of the library in meeting the intellectual and personal enrichment needs of the faculty and students at Aquinas College.

The department strives to acquire and make library materials available to users in the most timely and effective manner possible following good quality control practices.

The Technical Services Department is responsible for the acquisition, cataloging, and processing of materials added to the various collections maintained by the Grace Hauenstein Library.

Contact:

Susan Ponischil
Technical Services Librarian

Phone: (616) 632-2134
E-mail: ponissus@aquinas.edu

Technical Services FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Technical Services Functions in a Nutshell

Materials are added to the library's collections from these sources:

Suggestions made by faculty and librarians
Gifts and donations

Materials are obtained and maintained for the library collections through these important functions:

Verifying suggested materials and identifying sources
Ordering materials
Receiving all materials, including gifts, and processing invoices
Claiming items ordered, but not received
Maintaining accounts and standing orders
Creating an order record in the TomCat
Creating a permanent record for materials added to the collection
Assigning subject headings and call numbers to materials
Providing physical processing and labeling of materials

Creating item records for materials showing number of copies available, physical location, and circulation status
Reviewing the TomCat for accuracy and up-to-date terminology (quality control)
Distributing newly added materials
Mending and preserving library materials
Removing items no longer needed in the collections
Providing statistical reports and other report

How Do I Order Materials?

To request materials to be added to the library, you may fill out this online form, or e-mail your request to the liaison for your department. Click here for a list of liaisons.

Gift Policy

The Library Staff accepts gifts of library materials with the understanding that they will not necessarily be added to the library collection. The same criteria used for selection of new materials will apply to gift materials. Material that is heavily worn, in need of extensive repair, marked or underlined will not be accepted for addition to the collection. The library staff accepts gifts with the understanding that if these materials do not meet collection development criteria, they can be disposed of in the manner most acceptable to the needs of the library.

The library accepts monetary gifts for the purchase of materials with the understanding that the same criteria of selection used for the purchase of new materials will be used.

Memorial gift plates will be placed in donated items if requested. The library will not keep any donations on a special shelf or a special collection within the library. Gifts will be interfiled with the rest of the collection according to standards for best public service.

Substantial gifts are acknowledged in writing by the Library Director or the Technical Services Librarian. All donations, when the donor is known, will be reported to the Development Office.

Any appraisals are the sole responsibility of the donor. The library staff does not accept any responsibility regarding value of donated materials.

Reporting Errors in the TomCat Catalog

If you are using the TomCat Catalog and find an error, please contact Shellie Jeffries at shellie.jeffries@aquinas.edu.

Examples of things we would like to know about so we can respond:

Subject heading problems (dead ends, no cross references, new ones)
Location problems (if you know or find it somewhere else)
Blind cross references (links that take you nowhere)
Misspellings or typos

What does "In Repair" Mean?

"In Repair" means that the material is being repaired or has been sent to the bindery.


1607 Robinson Road S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49506-1799 - (616) 632-8900