SelfCheck service added to Library West

June 27, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Library West will initiate a pilot SelfCheck service beginning Monday. The SelfCheck service will enable students, faculty and staff to check out most library materials by themselves, making for a more efficient and streamlined service.

Library patrons will swipe their University of Florida ID cards at the SelfCheck machine and follow simple on-screen instructions to activate their library accounts for checking out books. This machine will allow self-service that is easier, faster and more versatile than traditional check out. SelfCheck is expected to result in fewer lines at the circulation desks at UF’s highest-volume libraries.

UF Libraries’ staff and the Florida Center for Library Automation (FCLA), a group that helps libraries purchase equipment and materials at discounted prices, has worked on the SelfCheck machines since early 2008. Actual testing of the technology took place in June.

Three SelfCheck machines will be installed at libraries on campus. The first will be installed this summer at Library West, the second machine will be added to Library West in the fall semester, and a third machine will be added to Marston Science Library in the fall.

The machines will allow library patrons to check out most books and older, bound periodical volumes. Limited circulation and specialized materials such as Reserves, DVDs, videos and laptops will continue to be checked out traditionally.

The SelfCheck service has been coordinated for all state university libraries by FCLA to initiate new, online services such as the library’s online catalog, database services and the SelfCheck option. After the UF Libraries’ pilot project this summer, other state university libraries will install SelfCheck machines for their patrons.

The SelfCheck project at UF Libraries was funded by Provost Janie Fouke as a service to the entire university community.