GEORGE Comes to Hoya Computing
Check Software Availability Online
Nora Mexia
By mid-May, Georgetown University students, faculty, and staff will be able to search Hoya Computing's Software Lending Library through GEORGE, the University Library's online catalog. Adding Hoya Computing's catalog to GEORGE will allow users to check software availability online and will increase Hoya Computing's ability to verify a borrower's identity and to keep track of loaned software.
Check Software Availability Online
One of the greatest benefits of this move will be the ability to use GEORGE as an online catalog for software. You will no longer have to walk to the Hoya Computing office only to learn that all copies of the software you need have been checked out. Students, faculty, and staff can simply visit http://library.georgetown.edu/, click Title, type the name of the software, and then click the Search button. You will then see whether there is a copy on hand.
Verifying A Patron's Identity
Until Hoya Computing was added to GEORGE, our staff could not confirm a patron's University affiliation except by checking a patron's GOCard. Staff members who are both students and employees are often identified as students on their GOCards, and employees' departments are not specified on GOCards. This sometimes presented a problem because faculty and staff are eligible to borrow different software than students are and because some departments have the ability to borrow some exclusive software. GEORGE allows Hoya Computing staff to automatically verify a patron's University affiliation online.
Tracking Borrowed Software
When software is due back to Hoya Computing, GEORGE will automatically send the borrower an e-mail reminder that works much the same way as e-mail reminders for library materials. If software is not returned after three messages have been sent, the patron will be blocked from checking out materials from Hoya Computing or from any University library (including books). When the software is returned, GEORGE will automatically remove the block. Ultimately, GEORGE will reduce the large number of software CDs that are never returned to Hoya Computing, allowing more users access to the software and reducing the cost we incur from replacing those CDs.
Borrowing Software from Hoya Computing
To borrow software from Hoya Computing, users only need to have a valid GOCard and to be registered with the Library. Library registration is automatic for students. Faculty and staff can register by bringing their GOCards to the circulation desk at any University library (Lauinger, Blommer, and Dahlgren).
Before Hoya Computing's Software Lending Library was incorporated into GEORGE, student workers could borrow software on behalf of their employers by bringing a signed letter printed on official department letterhead to the Hoya Computing office. Student workers will no longer need a letter but must instead bring their supervisor's GOCard to the Hoya Computing office.
Nora Mexia is the Distribution Services Coordinator of Hoya Computing. |
