Goodbye date stamp: Keep track of due dates online

UW longtimers might remember the days when you signed your name to check out a book from a UW Library. The due date was stamped inside the cover as an inky reminder of your obligation, and you could see the names of previous readers, even years back.

Times change, though. Card catalogs and signatures gave way to bar codes and NET IDs, and the Internet made library searches as convenient as a mouse-click. But through it all, library staffers continued to ink-stamp those due dates inside the books, as ever.

But no longer. This summer, the date stamps are being retired for most all library items except items without bar codes, such as some unbound periodicals and government publications, said Thom Deardorff, UW Libraries coordinator for access services. The change-over started in June and will be complete campuswide by September.

Those who still want one may have a receipt -- which makes an acceptable bookmark -- but very few users are asking for receipts, Deardorff said.

And after all, it makes sense, especially since books can be renewed easily and often online, making the stamped due date incorrect anyway.

Plus, Deardorff said, the staffers had to choose from a variety of stamps depending on the type of item and loan, the elimination of which will make checkouts even faster.

From University Week 7/19/07: http://uwnews.org/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?visitsource=uwkmail&articleID=35314