The University of California Libraries: A Plan for Development (1977)

VI. Delivery and Use 83
which they are presumably intended--the return of books on time. In
fact, one writer has pointed out that the amount of income taken in
by the library in the form of fines is itself an index of the failure
of the system, because it measures the extent to which users have
paid the fines rather than returning the books. 4 Another disadvant-
age of the fine system is that it operates unfairly, causing hardships
for students who are both forgetful and poor, but acting as no deterrent
at all for students who can afford to keep the books as long as
they wish, regardless of the needs of other borrowers. Until now,
however, there has been no other method available to encourage prompt
return.
The advent of on-line circulation systems makes other sanctions
possible. The systems can be set so that when a borrower becomes
"delinquent"--usually when a certain number of books are overdue for
a certain period of time in excess of the normal allowance--the computer
will not complete any further charging transactions for that person.
Instead, when the delinquent borrower attempts to charge out more
materials, he is told that he must return the ones already on loan
before others can be borrowed. The University of Manitoba, the University
of Houston, and others have made this change successfully, to
the satisfaction of students and library staff alike. The former
perceive the new system as much fairer, the library staff notes that
it is more effective at achieving the return of books, and the library
is spared an odious and time-consuming chore which has always had a
negative effect on its public relations. As the new systems are implemented,
UC campuses should also consider such a change.
The first of UC's new automated circulation systems was installed
at UCLA during the summer of 1976, and the second at Davis in October.
Santa Barbara and Riverside will install the systems during 1977. The
plan recommends that installation on other campuses continue at a rate
which will insure that all campuses are equipped with the systems by
1980.
4 Dorothy McKibbin, "On-Line Circulation Control: Three Years'
Experience," Canadian Library Journal, v. 31 (June 1974), pp. 214-
230.