Available

In my local library last week, I found myself within a whisker of saying rather peevishly, “Well, it says on the catalogue that it’s available!” I caught myself in time, remembering that there are very many reasons why something which says that it is “available” may well not be.

It may have been stolen, recently or many years ago, depending on when the last stock check was done (and heaven knows, most libraries don’t have the resources to do stock checks at all nowadays).

 

It may never have been in stock at all, appearing on the catalogue only because of a mis-match between item and ISBN, whether that happened during so-called (forgive my cynicism) “shelf-ready supply” or during a retrospective conversion exercise decades ago.

Or it may have been withdrawn, but no record made to update the catalogue.

 

It may have been mis-shelved accidentally - or deliberately, by someone who wanted to be sure that they were the only person who could find it again. Libraries without time to do shelf-checks often don't have time to do shelf-tidying either.

 

It may have had its spine label changed by someone unaware or uncaring of any connection between the spine-label and the shelfmark given on the catalogue. Don’t tell me this doesn’t happen because I know it does.

Or it may be in a pile in a workroom, waiting to be re-shelved, or re-processed, or for any one of a multitude of reasons.

Or, and this is my pet hate, it may have been taken for display or to be put on quick-choice shelves, making it impossible for anyone to find who is actually looking for it. 

So, all that we mean when we say on the catalogue that something is available, is that we don’t know for sure that it is unavailable – and this isn’t the same thing at all. "Available" actually translates as, "It may or may not be in stock and even if it is in stock neither you nor we may be able to find it".

Why do we go on using the word “available”? Perhaps we should put pressure on our OPAC suppliers to come up with something better. If we feel we have to say anything at all, it would be more accurate to say, “maybe”. Or, does anyone know if there is an emoticon for a Gallic shrug? That is pretty much what library staff do when someone says, “But it says on the catalogue that it’s available!”