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Benchmark for the Delaware Library Catalog

Written on: August 4th, 2009 in News

I think that we should give this one to ourselves anyway, but if not for the closure of Bridgeville for part of the month, July circulation for the DLC would have exceeded 200,000 transactions- it was actually 199,343 including renewals etc., which is a continuing upward trend for the year as would be expected during the summer.

However, this is despite the longer circulation term, which everything in July was subject to for the first time- and renewals are about 50% lower than they have averaged prior to June- which I think is a substantial savings to staff time as well as a huge patron convenience.

The reduced number of renewals caused the total circulation number for July 09 to be about 14,000 items fewer than July 08, but the actual checkout items number is almost 3,000 higher, which suggests that patrons are checking out more items AND having the time to enjoy them! The Checkout Items figure of 173,000 items looks to be the highest monthly total of items checked out since the consortium came together!

We’re always keen to get your feedback on our performance and standards- you can leave a comment here at the blog or email us at the Division of Libraries’ feedback email address

Return with honor

Written on: August 4th, 2009 in News

Earlier this week, the remains of Navy Caption Michael Scott Speicher were recovered in Iraq and returned to the United States, Speicher was the first casualty of the 1991 Gulf War, a Navy pilot who was shot down on a combat mission and whose remains were concealed by the Iraqi desert until locals informed U.S. troops of the possible site of the crash. Positive identification was made by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Rockville, MD.

One of the untold stories behind the headlines is the role of the Army’s Mortuary Affairs Specialists. NPR featured an interesting story on the training regime, based in Fort Lee, VA, for these specialists, who are charged with the dignified recovery and return of U.S. war dead- past and present:

“They do their job so that never again will white markers rise from green fields of honor with the inscription “Here rests in honored glory, a comrade known but to God.” Not or for themselves, but for their country.”

A 2002 story in Soldiers goes into more detail about the role of the mortuary affairs specialists- you can read it with your Delaware Library Catalog library account. While all of the branches of the U.S. military have staff who serve in some form of mortuary affairs, the army has authority over all aspects of this vital role through the Joint Mortuary Affairs Center (JMAC) of the Quartermaster Corps, and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC).

There are a number of novels, mostly thrillers, that use the search and recovery of MIA troops as a plot point:
Tripwire, a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, features a number of scenes at the JPAC operation at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. (National Geographic published a fascinating and moving story on the work done by the troops there- a combination of cutting-edge science and incredible grit under gruelling conditions in some of the world’s most inhospitable environments.)
Other works include K.I.A. by Thomas Holland, and One Drop of Blood, where the protagonist is the head of the Central Identification Laboratory.
The New Castle Library catalog also includes Earl Swift’s Where They Lay, a non-fiction account of the hunt for the remains of servicemen and women in Vietnam.