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Overview
Lost and found items are very common throughout the semester. Please follow the steps below when you find something valuable.
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Where this stuff comes from?
You will often find lost items that other users have left in the labs. You may find them on your rounds of the lab, or other users may find them and turn them into you. Not all lost items are returned to the lab assistant, some users have a finders keepers policy. Keep an eye out for lost items, particularly USB drives. We like to find stuff for our users, especially if it's something important (like a thesis or a big paper).
What do you do with it once you have it?
Once you have found a USB drive, or someone has turned it into you at the desk, take a look at what it is and what is on it. Does it have a name, username or phone number? If so, call or email the user and tell them they left something in the lab and they can pick it up in the lab anytime during normal lab hours (specify which lab). Then send out a brief message to the lab alias saying that will be picking up from the lab and you left it in. If a user can not be contacted when you find it, put it in the lost and found for the lab.
If there is no name or identifier
If you find something (clothing, glasses, etc.) that has no identifier simply put the item in the lost and found for the lab.
Retrieval of lost items
Retrieving lost items is a fairly straightforward procedure. Users will come in, ask about a USB or something they left behind and describe it to you (color, label, etc). You then look for the item that fits the description. Find it, and give it to the user. If you can't find it, suggest that they check the station they were working on, it may still be there. If a user asks for a valuable and you do not have it, direct them to University Police in Pathfinder Hall. If a user becomes upset with you because you do not have the item they have come to retrieve, let Kris Smith know what happened. If they demand to speak with someone else about the issue, direct them to Kris Smith at the Help Desk in Lanigan Hall. It is not in your job description to take verbal abuse from users, but handle the situation delicately, don’t yell back at them.’ You could also suggest that a user comes back and speaks to the assistant that was working when they lost the item; maybe the assistant put it in a place different than where you were looking for it.
Items of value
Every now and again, people will leave really important things in the lab (such as keys, wallets, cell phones, you name it). In an event like this, you should contact University Police and request that an officer come down to the lab to pick up the item, and then email the lab alias saying you found this item and that University Police has it. This way, after your shift is over and the user shows up looking for lost keys, the next lab assistant knows to send the user to UP.