CCS News
JULY 25, 2008
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
New iBistro Server delayed - As of this writing, Sun has not yet shipped the machine to Sirsi’s offices. We will not be installing this machine at the end of July as originally thought. We are now looking at installing the machine the week of August 18. We are still working out the plan for going live on this new server and will let you know as plans unfold with Sirsi.
Planning ahead for the iBistro switch – please be sure we have any special iBistro environment (gateway) change requests before August 11. We will push to have these done by August 18 when we will freeze iBistro for transferring to the new machine if our schedule holds. iBistro environments will not be able to change until we go live on the new machine (hopefully no later than the beginning of September).
Computer room back to normal - Last week (with Bob on vacation) we were plagued by an overnight server room air conditioning failure, followed by small but very annoying problems with the Workflows server that affected printing of notices, file transfers and the like. This required the operating system to be rebooted early on Friday morning and most of the problems cleared up. Our all night vigils took a lot of our energy from other tasks - so we apologize if the Wonderdesk is taking a little while longer than usual. We are catching up now!
Vacations – in case you are working on special projects with us, it is nice to know our schedules! Bob has returned from vacation, Linda will be on vacation August 1-12, Frank will be on vacation August 11,12 and the week of August 18. Continue to post items in the Wonderdesk and for urgent items a phone call is always a good approach (847-342-5303).
AUTHORITIES UPDATE:
We just sent 2527 bibliographic records to Marcive.
Roger and I will reload the bibliographic and authority records once they are returned. In previous batches, we received emails from Marcive the morning after the data was sent that alerted us the data was ready.
I’ll keep you informed and let you know as soon as full cataloging on all records can resume.
Thank you. – Virginia R. Seward, CCS Authorities Librarian
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know there’s a Properties setting available in both WorkFlows clients to help libraries that want to allow “proxy” patrons (i.e. family members or friends) to check out an item that’s on the hold shelf for another patron? The setting is found in Java under Properties/Behaviors for the Checkout wizard and is called, “Proxy checkout with cancel hold”. As the label implies, it permits a patron’s hold to be automatically canceled when an item is picked-up for them by a family member or friend. When the next copy of this item becomes available to fill the hold, the original patron (who now has the item) will not be on the hold list to get another copy of the same title. This is usually what the patron wants and the library will not have to unnecessarily process a second hold.
If the proxy option has NOT been selected, circulation staff is offered only two alternatives when someone tries to check out an item being held for somebody else. The “Item has holds” window displays and staff can choose to “Override & Checkout Item” (after entering the Hold block override code), or “Do Not Checkout item”. If the Override & Checkout Item button is clicked, the item is checked out to the patron that’s at the desk, but the hold for the original patron is NOT removed – so the next available copy of the item will also be sent to the library and the hold will have to be processed a second time. But if “Proxy checkout with cancel hold” has been activated, a third option will be available on the “Item has holds” window. A button labeled “Override Checkout Item & Cancel Hold” will now appear on the screen. If this option is used, and an item on the hold shelf is checked out to a patron’s family or friend, the item will be checked out to the proxy’s card, the original hold will be canceled, and the library will have one less hold to deal with later.
Unfortunately there’s no validation procedure in WorkFlows to verify that the proxy is legitimate, so it’s up to each library to define a local policy regarding who will be allowed to act as a stand-in for a patron. Staff could search the proxy’s record by address or phone number to verify that they’re a family member or, if not a family member, call the person with the hold to ensure that the proxy has permission to pickup the item for them. If a patron (such as a shut-in) often has the same proxy pickup their items for them, a note in the comment field could be used to save repeated phone calls to the patron that placed the hold. – Ken Victorson
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
None! (Hey, remember the “summer lull?”)
