CCS News
AUGUST 27, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
New Projects – Are you considering a new project, exploring RFID or sorting solutions, looking at authentication needs? Please be sure to discuss these needs with Richard or Linda. This is important to get everyone started on the right foot, to share information, to schedule and to ensure a successful project . Many new technologies involve a significant learning curve and fact finding so the earlier we start to explore these solutions with you the better.
Rack Project – we are anticipating moving racks and some cables in the Computer Room late this Autumn. We will keep you posted on progress.
AUTHORITIES NEWS:
Earlier this week, CCS loaded 2 files that were obtained from Marcive. One file contained 1801 updated authority records and the other file contained 87 authority records that were needed, but not available until now. What does this all mean to the CCS database? An up to date database that includes all available individual death dates, current references, and subject headings.
Virginia R. Seward
CCS Authorities Librarian
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
None! (Reminder: The Sept. 1 Catalogers workshop has been canceled!!!!!)
Thursday, August 19, 2010
CCS News
AUGUST 20, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
SIP connections - We have had what seems like an unprecedented number of requests for SIP licenses in the last few months. Many vendor devices are now equipped to communicate and authenticate with SIP. In addition, some e-resources are authenticating via SIP. To ensure success and ability to support applications, all devices and resources connected to our Symphony should be CERTIFIED by SirsiDynix. Sales reps might sometimes claim to be certified or partners but do be wary. We will check certification for you. WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THE ABILITY TO SUPPORT NON-CERTIFIED PRODUCTS. We strongly advise you to consider vendors that have installed equipment in CCS or at other Symphony installations on our release. Please be sure to work though details with us before committing to a new vendor or offering. We are happy to meet with a vendor you are considering before you make a commitment. It takes time to get some of the newer applications tested and running, so please be sure to schedule these projects with Linda (847-666-3213 ) and we will allocate sufficient time for SIP licensing, installation, software configuration, network configuration and testing.
RevD testing – we are still in the evaluation period for RevD iBistro testing. Please let us know your comments via the Wonderdesk before August 27.
Director’s Station Yells Cut!! - Director’s Station has put Windows 7 workstations on the cutting room floor. We just found a bug with Windows 7 and trying to connect to Director’s Station, it seems to just time out, and we cannot connect to the server with FireFox or IE. Our XP machines connect with no problems, and nothing has changed on the server. Here is Sirsi’s response:
Unfortunately Windows 7 is uses IE8 and IE8 is currently not supported by any version of DS below 4.9. I can only suggest to use Firefox 3.0 or IE7. Those are the supported browsers. As for the OS of Windows 7 DS has also not been certified on this OS so there may be problems linked to this OS.
Unofficially I do know that for similar issues with other pieces of software people have found success by using Windows XP mode on Windows 7. You can read about it here http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/.
Please note that we plan to upgrade DS to Version 4.9 but have been advised by Sirsi to wait till the upgrade is smoother.
Staff vacation - Frank will be away from the office August 24 and returning August 31.
HOLDS SUSPENDED AT GLENVIEW:
For the transition to their new building, Glenview will suspend the filling of holds starting Tuesday, August 24, till October 19 (subject to review).
ANOTHER STAFF ABSENCE:
This is a reminder that Roger Anderson will be gone starting Wed., August 25, till probably the beginning of October. Please clear up any loose ends with him ASAP!
SYMPHONY RELEASE 3.3.1 DOCUMENTATION:
We have e-mailed synopses of the Release 3.3.1 documentation to Circ, ILL and PAS contacts. Catalogers will soon have their own document. The first three are also being posted with other Sirsi documentation on the CCS web site. We should have a schedule for testing fairly soon; meanwhile, here’s your late summer reading!
CCS MEETING NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 8/25, 9:30, CCS: Acquisitions
AUGUST 20, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
SIP connections - We have had what seems like an unprecedented number of requests for SIP licenses in the last few months. Many vendor devices are now equipped to communicate and authenticate with SIP. In addition, some e-resources are authenticating via SIP. To ensure success and ability to support applications, all devices and resources connected to our Symphony should be CERTIFIED by SirsiDynix. Sales reps might sometimes claim to be certified or partners but do be wary. We will check certification for you. WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THE ABILITY TO SUPPORT NON-CERTIFIED PRODUCTS. We strongly advise you to consider vendors that have installed equipment in CCS or at other Symphony installations on our release. Please be sure to work though details with us before committing to a new vendor or offering. We are happy to meet with a vendor you are considering before you make a commitment. It takes time to get some of the newer applications tested and running, so please be sure to schedule these projects with Linda (847-666-3213 ) and we will allocate sufficient time for SIP licensing, installation, software configuration, network configuration and testing.
RevD testing – we are still in the evaluation period for RevD iBistro testing. Please let us know your comments via the Wonderdesk before August 27.
Director’s Station Yells Cut!! - Director’s Station has put Windows 7 workstations on the cutting room floor. We just found a bug with Windows 7 and trying to connect to Director’s Station, it seems to just time out, and we cannot connect to the server with FireFox or IE. Our XP machines connect with no problems, and nothing has changed on the server. Here is Sirsi’s response:
Unfortunately Windows 7 is uses IE8 and IE8 is currently not supported by any version of DS below 4.9. I can only suggest to use Firefox 3.0 or IE7. Those are the supported browsers. As for the OS of Windows 7 DS has also not been certified on this OS so there may be problems linked to this OS.
Unofficially I do know that for similar issues with other pieces of software people have found success by using Windows XP mode on Windows 7. You can read about it here http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/.
Please note that we plan to upgrade DS to Version 4.9 but have been advised by Sirsi to wait till the upgrade is smoother.
Staff vacation - Frank will be away from the office August 24 and returning August 31.
HOLDS SUSPENDED AT GLENVIEW:
For the transition to their new building, Glenview will suspend the filling of holds starting Tuesday, August 24, till October 19 (subject to review).
ANOTHER STAFF ABSENCE:
This is a reminder that Roger Anderson will be gone starting Wed., August 25, till probably the beginning of October. Please clear up any loose ends with him ASAP!
SYMPHONY RELEASE 3.3.1 DOCUMENTATION:
We have e-mailed synopses of the Release 3.3.1 documentation to Circ, ILL and PAS contacts. Catalogers will soon have their own document. The first three are also being posted with other Sirsi documentation on the CCS web site. We should have a schedule for testing fairly soon; meanwhile, here’s your late summer reading!
CCS MEETING NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 8/25, 9:30, CCS: Acquisitions
Thursday, August 12, 2010
CCS News
AUGUST 13, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Testing RevD:
iBistro RevD is available for testing at http://64.107.155.153 .
Please send all correspondence concerning RevD through the WonderDesk.
Please be sure to test the Epay functionality, if applicable.
We are currently working on the following:
1. Novelist Select content.
2. Spell check/suggestions.
3. Enabling edit suspension dates in my account.
4. Enabling Renew Materials functionality in Review Account
AUTHORITIES NEWS:
Last week, CCS sent a file of 5447 bibliographic records to Marcive for authorities processing. 1655 updated records were returned as well as a file of 3063 new authority records. All records have been reloaded into our system.
Virginia R. Seward
CCS Authorities Librarian
CCS MEETING NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 8/19, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
AUGUST 13, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Testing RevD:
iBistro RevD is available for testing at http://64.107.155.153 .
Please send all correspondence concerning RevD through the WonderDesk.
Please be sure to test the Epay functionality, if applicable.
We are currently working on the following:
1. Novelist Select content.
2. Spell check/suggestions.
3. Enabling edit suspension dates in my account.
4. Enabling Renew Materials functionality in Review Account
AUTHORITIES NEWS:
Last week, CCS sent a file of 5447 bibliographic records to Marcive for authorities processing. 1655 updated records were returned as well as a file of 3063 new authority records. All records have been reloaded into our system.
Virginia R. Seward
CCS Authorities Librarian
CCS MEETING NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 8/19, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
Thursday, August 5, 2010
CCS News
AUGUST 6, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Good News –Bad News:
The good news is that the power outage that was scheduled by Com Ed last week never occurred. Bob, Rory and Frank took the servers down on Friday night in preparation for the power outage overnight. The next morning things were brought back on line, only to discover the work scheduled by Com Ed never took place. The bad news: as of this writing, the work has not been rescheduled by Com Ed, and no word yet on a future date or time. We will keep you posted, if and when this happens, but this is not under our control…
IMPENDING ABSENCE FOR ROGER ANDERSON:
CCS Database Manager Roger Anderson sent out the following email on August 4:
Dear Catalogers,
Just to keep you informed, and in case there might be some global change projects in your near future, I will be on a medical leave of absence starting August 25 and returning approximately six weeks later (October 6, the date of our next catalogers’ meeting). If it’s possible for you to anticipate that far in advance, please submit such global change requests soon so I can work on them. But rest assured that if you need something done during my absence that you could not plan ahead, we will make every possible effort to accommodate you.
Other than the false alarm about the power outage (thanks, ComEd), we’ve been testing BiblioCommons, rolling out a prototype of the nextGen version of iBistro (e-Library RevD), poring over the Unicorn Release 3.3.1 Release Notes to prepare for testing and presentations to the Technical Groups, keeping the office humming in Bonnie’s continued absence as she recovers on schedule (knock on wood) and working with other vacations, and preparing for Roger Anderson’s upcoming leave. We’ll keep this short this week and wish everyone a good what’s left of summer!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 8/10, 11:30, Jameson’s: Technical Group Chairs lunch
Wed., 8/11, 9:30, CCS: OPAC Review Task Force
Thur., 8/12, 9:30, Dundee: ILL
(Note: the 8/11 Executive Committee meeting is canceled per August tradition!)
AUGUST 6, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Good News –Bad News:
The good news is that the power outage that was scheduled by Com Ed last week never occurred. Bob, Rory and Frank took the servers down on Friday night in preparation for the power outage overnight. The next morning things were brought back on line, only to discover the work scheduled by Com Ed never took place. The bad news: as of this writing, the work has not been rescheduled by Com Ed, and no word yet on a future date or time. We will keep you posted, if and when this happens, but this is not under our control…
IMPENDING ABSENCE FOR ROGER ANDERSON:
CCS Database Manager Roger Anderson sent out the following email on August 4:
Dear Catalogers,
Just to keep you informed, and in case there might be some global change projects in your near future, I will be on a medical leave of absence starting August 25 and returning approximately six weeks later (October 6, the date of our next catalogers’ meeting). If it’s possible for you to anticipate that far in advance, please submit such global change requests soon so I can work on them. But rest assured that if you need something done during my absence that you could not plan ahead, we will make every possible effort to accommodate you.
Other than the false alarm about the power outage (thanks, ComEd), we’ve been testing BiblioCommons, rolling out a prototype of the nextGen version of iBistro (e-Library RevD), poring over the Unicorn Release 3.3.1 Release Notes to prepare for testing and presentations to the Technical Groups, keeping the office humming in Bonnie’s continued absence as she recovers on schedule (knock on wood) and working with other vacations, and preparing for Roger Anderson’s upcoming leave. We’ll keep this short this week and wish everyone a good what’s left of summer!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 8/10, 11:30, Jameson’s: Technical Group Chairs lunch
Wed., 8/11, 9:30, CCS: OPAC Review Task Force
Thur., 8/12, 9:30, Dundee: ILL
(Note: the 8/11 Executive Committee meeting is canceled per August tradition!)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
CCS News
JULY 30, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Use Wonderdesk – It is always important to post your questions to the Wonderdesk – but it is REALLY important to do so during vacation season. That is so that others on the staff can see your request and respond. We don’t want an email to go unanswered because someone is on vacation.
Power Outage Planned – ComEd has told us that they plan a complete power outage in our area on Friday July 30 at 11pm through Saturday morning at 7am. We will shut down all production servers gracefully before the planned outage beginning at 9:15 pm. We will shut down test servers during the day late Friday afternoon.
Vacations – Linda will be away through August 12 and Bob will be away August 13-23.
SUBJECT HEADING CHANGES AND AUTHORITIES NEWS ON THE ROCKS:
For those who are interested in different kinds of rocks, LC has switched a group of subject headings so that they are now in direct order. What were subject headings such as “ Rocks, Igneous”, “Rocks, Sedimentary”, and “Rocks, Metamorphic” are now “Igneous rocks”, “Sedimentary rocks”, and “Metamorphic rocks”. All affected bibliographic records have been changed and there are references to point the catalog user to the appropriate term.
Also, CCS loaded 2 files from Marcive this week . One included 2280 updated authority records, and another with 528 new authority records that were needed, but were not available before.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 8/3, noon, Jameson’s: Continuing Education Steering Committee
Wed., 8/4, 9:30, Niles: Catalogers
JULY 30, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Use Wonderdesk – It is always important to post your questions to the Wonderdesk – but it is REALLY important to do so during vacation season. That is so that others on the staff can see your request and respond. We don’t want an email to go unanswered because someone is on vacation.
Power Outage Planned – ComEd has told us that they plan a complete power outage in our area on Friday July 30 at 11pm through Saturday morning at 7am. We will shut down all production servers gracefully before the planned outage beginning at 9:15 pm. We will shut down test servers during the day late Friday afternoon.
Vacations – Linda will be away through August 12 and Bob will be away August 13-23.
SUBJECT HEADING CHANGES AND AUTHORITIES NEWS ON THE ROCKS:
For those who are interested in different kinds of rocks, LC has switched a group of subject headings so that they are now in direct order. What were subject headings such as “ Rocks, Igneous”, “Rocks, Sedimentary”, and “Rocks, Metamorphic” are now “Igneous rocks”, “Sedimentary rocks”, and “Metamorphic rocks”. All affected bibliographic records have been changed and there are references to point the catalog user to the appropriate term.
Also, CCS loaded 2 files from Marcive this week . One included 2280 updated authority records, and another with 528 new authority records that were needed, but were not available before.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 8/3, noon, Jameson’s: Continuing Education Steering Committee
Wed., 8/4, 9:30, Niles: Catalogers
Thursday, July 22, 2010
CCS News
JULY 23, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
RBP Report –If you need the statistics that we post to NSLS monthly, the report that we send to them is available to each library at the first of each month. You will find it in your web reports under the link NSLS RBP.
Vacations – Linda will be away from the office July 30 through August 11. Bob will be away from the office August 13 through August 22.
NEW CCS WEB SITE GETS MAKEOVER:
If you have not checked by now, the CCSLIB.ORG website went through a makeover. The old template provided by our web hosting company had to be changed (due to image copyright infringement), and all our information has now been transferred over to the new template. Frank Correa believes most of the things from the previous version were carried over. During his absence some changes may have been made which carried over to the new site. There was also a lapse when the site could not be updated due to “End of Life” for the old template while Frank was away. Some agendas could not be posted because the site could not be updated. If something is not right, missing, or you have other suggestions, please send an email to Frank (fcorrea@ccs.nsls.lib.il.us). The new template also has some new features which we will be using in the future to meet our customer needs, including a feedback mechanism and a couple of more toys and whistles. Enjoy,….
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 7/28, 10:00. Lake Villa: Governing Board
Thur., 7/30, 9:30, Zion-Benton: Circulation
JULY 23, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
RBP Report –If you need the statistics that we post to NSLS monthly, the report that we send to them is available to each library at the first of each month. You will find it in your web reports under the link NSLS RBP.
Vacations – Linda will be away from the office July 30 through August 11. Bob will be away from the office August 13 through August 22.
NEW CCS WEB SITE GETS MAKEOVER:
If you have not checked by now, the CCSLIB.ORG website went through a makeover. The old template provided by our web hosting company had to be changed (due to image copyright infringement), and all our information has now been transferred over to the new template. Frank Correa believes most of the things from the previous version were carried over. During his absence some changes may have been made which carried over to the new site. There was also a lapse when the site could not be updated due to “End of Life” for the old template while Frank was away. Some agendas could not be posted because the site could not be updated. If something is not right, missing, or you have other suggestions, please send an email to Frank (fcorrea@ccs.nsls.lib.il.us). The new template also has some new features which we will be using in the future to meet our customer needs, including a feedback mechanism and a couple of more toys and whistles. Enjoy,….
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 7/28, 10:00. Lake Villa: Governing Board
Thur., 7/30, 9:30, Zion-Benton: Circulation
Thursday, July 15, 2010
CCS News
JULY 16, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Offline mode – we have had a few instances of down time requiring Offline lately. It is important if you are using the Symphony Offline mode that the following steps are checked. You want to be sure that transactions are going to be written to the correct file so that they will be downloaded to the main server when you come back up online.
Start Java Workflows in offline mode.
Click the ‘Offline’ wizards group in the toolbar.
Click the Offline Session under the Common Tasks group.
The last element displayed is the ‘Log:” file value.
This directory and file must be read/writable by the user that logs in to the PC. If it is not, the offline session will discard the transactions as they occur. It does *NOT* inform the user that transactions are *NOT* being spooled to the log file.
COOKING CHANGES AND OTHER AUTHORITIES NEWS:
All of the major changes concerning the subject heading change of “Cookery” to “Cooking” are finished. So from “Cookery, American” to “Cookery (Zucchini)” in our database, is now “Cooking, American” to “Cooking (Zucchini)”. There are many references to guide you to the correct form of the heading.
The main heading of “Cookery” is still in the progress of being split manually from “Cookery” to either “Cooking” or “Cookbooks”. Use “Cooking” for “works about all types of food preparation, including preparation of those foods that do not necessarily need to be heated. Works about collections of recipes are entered under Cookbooks”.
CCS also loaded a file into the system this week from Marcive with 1888 updated authority records in it. Previously, a file of 470 new authority records was loaded. Those were needed, but were not available before.
CCS MEETING NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 7/21, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
JULY 16, 2010
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Offline mode – we have had a few instances of down time requiring Offline lately. It is important if you are using the Symphony Offline mode that the following steps are checked. You want to be sure that transactions are going to be written to the correct file so that they will be downloaded to the main server when you come back up online.
Start Java Workflows in offline mode.
Click the ‘Offline’ wizards group in the toolbar.
Click the Offline Session under the Common Tasks group.
The last element displayed is the ‘Log:” file value.
This directory and file must be read/writable by the user that logs in to the PC. If it is not, the offline session will discard the transactions as they occur. It does *NOT* inform the user that transactions are *NOT* being spooled to the log file.
COOKING CHANGES AND OTHER AUTHORITIES NEWS:
All of the major changes concerning the subject heading change of “Cookery” to “Cooking” are finished. So from “Cookery, American” to “Cookery (Zucchini)” in our database, is now “Cooking, American” to “Cooking (Zucchini)”. There are many references to guide you to the correct form of the heading.
The main heading of “Cookery” is still in the progress of being split manually from “Cookery” to either “Cooking” or “Cookbooks”. Use “Cooking” for “works about all types of food preparation, including preparation of those foods that do not necessarily need to be heated. Works about collections of recipes are entered under Cookbooks”.
CCS also loaded a file into the system this week from Marcive with 1888 updated authority records in it. Previously, a file of 470 new authority records was loaded. Those were needed, but were not available before.
CCS MEETING NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 7/21, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
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