CCS News
JUNE 6, 2008
This week’s bulletin is appearing early thanks to a short impending absence by Your Beloved Editor...
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Local Notice Printing – Local notice printing started today, and as of this writing we have had no phone calls or emails. This means that 7 libraries are successfully printing their own notices.
iBistro Misbehavior – for the second time on two weeks we experienced momentary problems with iBistro between 8:45 and 9:00am on a weekday morning at just the time when the world was waking up and bringing iBistro online. We have reported this strange occurrence to Sirsi and are looking for answers.
Computer room vacation time – ‘tis the season. Please be sure to schedule any special projects or requests with us with sufficient lead time so that we can have the right expertise for your solution. Remember to send request to the Help Desk – because if you send them individually it might not be seen by vacationing staff. As a guideline, Linda will be off the end of this week and beginning of next and again in early August, Bob will be away the middle of June and in the middle of July, Frank will be away the end of June and again in mid August.
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know that you can set the parameters for “binoculars” searches (AKA Advanced Searches) in Java so that all seven of the possible search indexes are available, instead of just the two that display by default? In Java the binoculars search is not on the main toolbar as it is in the C client. It’s a Helper button at the top of the Item Search and Display window with an icon that looks like a pair of binoculars with a yellow + (plus sign) on top. In both Java and the C client, this Helper allows you to refine item searches using seven different indexes in conjunction with the Boolean operators AND, NOT, OR and XOR. In Java, the default for Advanced Search only includes the General and Title indexes. Adding the other five indexes (Author, Subject, Series, etc.) is done in Properties for the Item Search and Display wizard. But because it’s a Helper button, not everyone will be able to do this with their daily login. If you right-click on the Item Search wizard to display the Properties window, and do not see a tab labeled Helpers next to the Defaults tab, you’ll have to ask your department head (or another really nice person with a SUP or ADMIN login) to revise the defaults for you.
Whoever makes the Properties changes will find a field called Advanced Search under the Helpers tab and a button labeled “Configure…” on the right side of the window. Click on Configure to change the binoculars defaults for your machine to allow Boolean searches linking Title, Author, General, Form/Genre, Periodical Title, Series, and Subject. For more details about this procedure, there’s a document on the CCS web page called How to Add Indexes to the Binoculars Search in Java. It provides an illustrated guide to help you make these Properties changes and can be found on the Sirsi Resource Page, under the Documented Procedures column. – Ken Victorson
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 6/11, 10:00, CCS: Executive Committee (plus lunch)
Thur., 6/12, 9:30, NSLS: ILL
