We have a Library of Things<https://libguides.uis.edu/lot> which includes tech. Items are available for 1-7 day checkouts with no renewals. When checking out the items we have a secondary form where our staff selects the item and the patron agrees to terms and conditions (you break it, you buy it). If the patron has any questions about the use of the item than someone from Systems can come up and show them (this rarely happens).



Upon return items aren’t immediately discharge but instead put on a shelf for a review by staff to make sure all items are there and the equipment is working. Attached is the check-in sheet for one of our digital cameras and lists all the items and how to check and clear data. If anything is missing or broken we contact the patron.



We’ve never had the request with help editing any videos/photos taken on the equipment, the understanding is that the patron is responsible for that.



Hope this helps!



Evan Barber
Information Technology Technical Associate
Brookens Library
University of Illinois Springfield
(217)206-7115
Pronouns: He/Him<https://pronoun.is/he>



-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kyle Banerjee
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 10:34 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [EXTERNAL] [CODE4LIB] Checking out and supporting equipment for patrons



If your library does this, how do you manage the myriad of batteries, remotes, cables, cards, mounts, instructions, etc. and what support to you provide for its use?



We will make GoPro equipment available to patrons soon. But simply handing this stuff over to people who are unfamiliar with it sounds like a recipe for lost/damaged components and I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect circ desk workers to recognize when something's not right.



Given how much trouble simple printers cause, it's hard to imagine people won't need help. But dealing with the massive files and producing videos are their own skills -- particularly with the 360 degree Fusion which really requires a superphone and computer with serious horsepower to process the files.



Thanks,



kyle