Opening the Mail How-To Guide: Gumberg Library

When Gumberg Library lends (supplies) and requests (borrows) items though EZBorrow and ILLiad, these items are shipped out through UPS form Gumberg Library, and items are shipped back to Gumberg Library when other library's patrons are finished with our items. When  the mail arrives in the Circulation Office, these items are in unidentifiable packages, so we must open each package, and sort the items we recieve.

Opening the mail: When opening the mail, you can use scissors and box cutters. Scissors tend to be easiest for opening envelopes, and box cutters are best for opening boxes. 

**When using a box cutter, please push the box cutter AWAY from you, NOT TOWARD you when opening. If you are unable to open a package this way, please let a supervisor know that you need to be reassigned to a different task**

Be sure to save any envelopes and boxes that are in good condition. These can be sorted into their designated areas of the gray cabinets in the Circulation Office. If a box or envelope has a large tear in it, please recycle it! We can always purchase additional supplies if needed, we do not need to save everything. 

We also must recycle/dispose of any boxes or envelopes labeled "UPS," "FedEx", or "USPS" envelopes and boxes. We cannot reuse them. 

Sorting the mail:

1. Grab a book-cart that you can sort the mail onto. 

2. When opening the mail, we sort the items into 4 separate piles:

• Incoming EZBorrow (Blue bands, “To Duquesne”) 

  • These items will have the typical blue EZBorrow book-band. We want to look toward the bottom of the band to identify whether this item has been shipped "To Duquesne" or "From Duquesne"
  • These items are processed by part-time and full-time staff. Once they are sorted, notify a supervisor that sorting has been completed. 

    • 

• Returned EZBorrow (Blue bands, “From Duquesne”) 

  • These items will have the typical blue EZBorrow book-band. We want to look toward the bottom of the band to identify whether this item has been shipped "To Duquesne" or "From Duquesne"
  • These items are processed by part-time and full-time staff. Once they are sorted, notify a supervisor that sorting has been completed. 

    • 

• Incoming ILL Items (White bands or slips of paper typically, not DUQ books) 

  • ​​​​​​​These items will likely look different each time we receive them. They key to identifying them is:
    • 1. Realizing that they are not an EZBorrow item
    • 2. These items do not belong to Duquesne. All Duquesne owned items will have a "Duquesne University" barcode on the back of the item. An example of what an ILL item could look like is below:

      • 

    • Sorted ILL books can be taken upstairs to Resource Sharing office and placed on the cart next to Carole’s cubical. (middle cubical). Alternatively, they can be left on a cart in the Circulation Office.  There is usually a black cart labeled for ILLs in the Circulation Office for this purpose. 

• Returned ILL Items (White bands or slips of paper, DUQ books) 

  • ​​​​​​​These items may look similar to the example above, but the key to identifying them is that they are owned by Duquesne University. You can tell this by locating the "Duquesne University" barcode on the back of the item. 

    • 

  • Sorted ILL books can be taken upstairs to Resource Sharing office and placed on the cart next to Carole’s cubical. (middle cubical). Alternatively, they can be left on a cart in the Circulation Office.  There is usually a black cart labeled for ILLs in the Circulation Office for this purpose. 

Returned residential shipments are when we send items that our patron has requested to their home. When these items are returned, they can be difficult to identify since they will often appear as an incoming EZBorrow or returned ILL request.

When we email users their UPS return shipping label, the email reads as follows:

"Hello!

An electronic UPS return label should arrive in your Duquesne email inbox within 24 hours. If you get a chance, please confirm receipt by responding to this email.

**Please Print This Page and Include It With The Items You Are Returning to Gumberg Library**

Once you've securely packaged your library items, ship them from a UPS drop-off location.

If you have any questions, please let us know by replying to this message! 

Access Services Department of Gumberg Library

Borrowing from Gumberg During COVID-19"

When we see this message in the package, this is an indicator that this is a returned residential shipment. When processing these items, we must:

1. Check all items into Sierra, as if they are regular returns. Once this is done, the items can be sorted onto trucks for shelving, or placed in their designated locations in the Circulation Office for further processing in Reshare or ILLiad if they are EZBorrow or ILL items.