It was discovered this week that the Sort Assist/Smart Bin in the Central Library has been operating on Australian time since the latest update (several weeks). Australia is (currently) two hours behind so the effect has been that all books returned through the Central bin/sort assist within that time period have a checkin time two hours earlier than when the book was actually returned.

This will not have negatively affected students in terms of fines, since they have effectively been given a bonus ‘2 hour grace period’. But it is something to be aware of when looking at an item’s issue history, especially if you’re confronted with a book appearing to have been checked in before the library was open or, even, before the book was issued.

The time has since been fixed on the Central Sort Assist and solutions are being looked at to ensure the time is always in sync with NZ time (especially with day light’s saving approaching).