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Supervisor: Approvals/Gift Processing

Department: Library - Cataloguing Effective Date: November, 2013
Grade:

USG 6

35 hr/wk

Reports to: Supervisor:  Holdings Mntce & Inventory Contrc

General Accountability

The incumbent is accountable to the Head, Acquisitions, for supervising the staff and processes involved in handling library materials received through seven Approval Plans and gifts that are retained by the library.

Nature and Scope

This position reports to the Head, Acquisitions. Also reporting to the Head, Acquisitions are: Library Assistant: Serials Order Records and TUG-E-Journals; Library Assistant: Accounts Payable; Library Assistant: E-journals; Library Assistant: Book Order/Records; and two Library Clerks: Serials Order Receiving.

ACQUISITIONS FUNCTIONS

The incumbent is responsible for processing materials received through the Library’s seven Approval Plans, displaying them according to academic discipline/subject for perusal and subsequent decision and retention by the appropriate liaison librarian. In processing approval material, he/she is required to import bibliographic records into TRELLIS from a previously FTP’d file and to remove any unwanted/unused records from the FTP file.  The incumbent also searches remote databases such as AMICUS, Library of Congress and locates, verifies, edits and imports bibliographic records into TRELLIS for items for which a bibliographic record has not been provided by the vendor.  He/she is also responsible for creating invoices in the Acquisitions system for all of the approval orders he/she creates. In consultation with the Library Assistant: Acquisitions Accounts Payable, the incumbent participates in resolving problems and concerns relating to approval invoices and adjusting workflows in the Approvals Unit as appropriate.

 

He/she liaises with Librarians to ensure that approval plans are properly maintained. As well, they are required to assist librarians when new approval plans are established. Because each plan may be different, there is frequently a need for the incumbent to be in correspondence with the vendor during this period to establish workflows.

The incumbent ensures that policies and procedures relating to the acquisition of books through the Approval Plans are documented, understood and applied by both liaison librarians and vendors. In doing so, he/she evaluates changes in technology and the working environment and makes adjustments to procedures as deemed necessary or beneficial to the Unit’s workflow. The incumbent is the University of Waterloo administrator for Blackwell’s Book Services Collection Manager web site.  In this role, he/she is responsible, through contact with Blackwell’s Book Service, for providing access to Collection Manager as well as offering training to new liaison librarians and acquisitions staff when required. 

 

The incumbent processes all gifts that have been accepted for addition to the Library’s collection. On occasion, he/she may be required to assist and advise ISR Library Assistants/Librarians in the pre-order searching to verify if an item already exists in the library collection prior to accepting as a donation. After checking for duplication, he/she follows the same procedures as for approval books by importing bibliographic records from a remote source. In creating the purchase order, he/she may be required to create a donor vendor in the TRELLIS vendor file. When the need arises, the incumbent works with the Manager, Library Communications and Development to streamline processes pertaining to gift materials. As well, he/she is responsible for ensuring that all gift materials requiring tax receipts are prepared for review by an outside appraiser (in conjunction with Special Collections) and added to the Acquisitions module within that tax year. He/she notifies the Manager, Library Communications and Development, in writing, of the receipt and the appraised value (where applicable) of gifts-in-kind that the Library will retain.  This data is either forwarded to the University Development Office for further action (tax receipting), as required, or retained in the Library’s file of donor information.

 

The incumbent represents the Acquisitions on the UW Statistics & Reports Group. In doing so, he/she is required to stay abreast of changes to the Cognos software used in the Library.  As well, the incumbent serves as a resource person to LAU staff in matters relating to internal reports.

The incumbent is also responsible for documenting and describing, for staff of the Systems Department, systems-related problems encountered in working on Trellis.

 

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the incumbent is: one Library Clerk: Approvals Processing.

In directing the Clerk, the incumbent, in consultation with the Head, Acquisitions is responsible for recruiting and selecting staff, assigning responsibilities and evaluating performance. He /she ensures that the Clerk is fully trained in creating and updating TRELLIS records and assists the incumbent in resolving problems related to approval and gift materials. Assisting the Approvals/Gifts Processing Unit is one Library Clerk: Serials Order Records. The incumbent also ensures that this person is fully trained in approvals processing. Although not directly responsible for evaluating the performance of the Library Clerk: Serials Order Records, the incumbent contributes to the evaluation conducted by the Head, Acquisitions

Statistical Data

Specific Accountabilities

APPROVALS

  1. To hire, train, supervise and evaluate the performance of the Library Clerk: Approvals Processing. 
  2. To serve as a resource person to the Library Clerk: Serials Order Records in the processing of approval materials and to contribute to their annual performance evaluation.
  3. To process materials received through the Library’s seven Approval Plans.  
                   
  4. To upload bibliographic records as required (approximately 7000/yr) and toroutinely search, locate, edit, verify and import bibliographic records from remote databases when records have not been provided by the vendor
  5. To ensure that policies and procedures relating to the acquisition of Librarymaterial through the Approval Plans are documents, understood and applied by both liaison librarians and vendors.
  6. To create invoices for approval materials. As well, in consultation with the Library Assistant: Acquisitions Accounts Payable, the incumbent participates in resolving issues and concerns relating to approval invoices.
  7. To communicate, as required, with approval vendors.
  8. To serve as the University of Waterloo administrator for Blackwell’s Book Service Collection Manager web site.

 

 

GIFTS

  1. To process and forward to Cataloguing Department gifts that are to be added to the Library’s collection.
  2.  To routinely search, locate, edit, verify and import bibliographic records for gift material from remote databases.
  3.  To co-ordinate the annual visit with the appraiser for appraisal of donations requiring tax receipts.
  4.  To assist and advise ISR Library Assistants/Librarians with gift processing.
  5.  To provide the Manager, Library Communications and Development with information pertaining to he receipt of gifts to be added to the collection.

 

GENERAL

  1. To serve as a liaison with the Systems Department in documenting systems-                     related problems encountered in working on TRELLIS.
  2. Represent Acquisitions on the UW Statistics & Reports Group.

Working Conditions