Written by Kelsy Heffley
When libraries commit to material recovery, we commit to maintaining transparency throughout the process. At Unique, we want library staff to be confident and knowledgeable about the Gentle Nudge® Material Recovery process, which is why we created InfoLink.
InfoLink is an online portal that allows library staff to view previously submitted accounts, monthly management reports, monthly invoices, and more. Here’s an overview of how to best use InfoLink and stay up-to-date.
Account Lookup
Library staff should know what is happening with their patron’s accounts once they are referred to Unique for Material Recovery. The Account Lookup feature gives library staff the opportunity to look up (any) previously submitted accounts. Library staff can search for accounts by using any of the following parameters: patron name, account number, phone number, start list date, end list date, start transaction date, end transaction date, or balance amount.
Account Lookup Screen
Search by name, account number, and other information. Filter by dates, too.
Patron Record
You can navigate to all of the patron information and contacts from the ‘Options’ drop-down box on the patron record screen.
Library staff can search, filter, and download account records and see when Unique communicated with patrons, what was sent, see transactions, and their account status.
After Unique helps a patron bring their account balance down to zero, library staff can also print a paid-in-full letter for the patron from InfoLink.
Here’s a tip: Many library staff find it helpful to use the ‘start list date’ and ‘end list date’ parameters to check the monthly submissions against the monthly invoice.
Monthly Management Reports
There are six different monthly reports available to our material recovery clients. The recovery reports include Collection Statement, Account Status Report, and the Progress Report.
These reports offer insight on different parts of the Material Recovery Process, let’s take a look at some of the most important reports The Collection Statement offers an account-by-account look at patron accounts. It includes waived amounts, material amounts, and both paid and unpaid balances.
The Account Status Report offers an overview of everything Unique did on behalf of the library over the last month. It offers quick numbers on accounts submitted, in process, and dollar figures among other information. It’s a great place to start when looking over your recovery reports.
The Change of Address (COA) Report is an important one for library staff to review each month, as it lets staff know which patrons have moved from the library area. There are skip tracing efforts throughout our contact process, and sometimes we will find new addresses and/or phone numbers for patrons. We share this new information via the COA Report, to allow library staff to update patron records within the ILS.
Next is the Bankruptcy Report, which will list all the accounts in bankruptcy status, as well as the bankruptcy cases that have been closed. We have a whole CS Pro Tip article dedicated to managing bankruptcy reports here.
The last report shows all of the patron accounts put into Suspend Status with Unique. We archive all the monthly management reports for up to 4 years.
I encourage you to reach out to your Unique representative if you need access to these reports or have any questions.