CCS News
DECEMBER 5, 2008
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
System slowdowns – we were able to catch the slowdowns “LIVE” on Wednesday with a Sirsi technician. Although our diagnosis is still ongoing with Sirsi, we are sure that this time it was not the network. We have also ruled out our hardware capacity from the evidence gathered on the system statistics. However, there is a definite bottleneck where transactions slow and we could see this on the systems statistics coincident to when you were experiencing the problems at the libraries. The Pick List was suspended temporarily to see if that helped matters and we continue to monitor diligently.
List of Checkouts – we have heard from Sirsi that a list of checkouts from the "Print User" user helper in the Display User wizard must be printed on standard paper (not receipt paper). However, the Checkout wizard has the option of automatically printing out a list of a patron's current checkouts. This allows the information to be given to the patron at the point of checkout every time they check out items. This is recommended by Sirsi when the receipt printer must be used.
FAREWELL AND GOOD WISHES to departing CCS Library Directors Elisa Topper, who leaves Dundee at year’s end, and Elizabeth Crane Novak, who resigned from Round Lake effective December 1. We wish both Elisa and Elizabeth the best, although Life After CCS obviously includes an unfillable void.
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know that only six of the 23 CCS libraries have selected staff to help with testing Symphony 3.2.1? And only two of those six libraries have identified testers for more than one module. The areas to be tested are: Acquisitions, Cataloging & Serials, Circulation, ILL, and PAS and we need to have knowledgeable people review the fixes and enhancements in the modules associated with each of these areas. The installation of Symphony 3.2.1 on the test server will be happening soon (currently planned for later this month) and because this is a major upgrade to the software we need to have more volunteers available for this project – at least one if not more from each library. The best way to avoid unpleasant surprises when we ultimately upgrade the production server with the new release is to have as many people as possible examine it thoroughly while it’s on the test server.
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, you’ll be hearing more about Symphony 3.2.1 testing as the date for the new installation approaches, but feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions or concerns about test procedures. I would really like to receive the names and email addresses of experienced staff members who’ll be helping with testing as soon as they're known, so I can add them to my testing spread sheet and start sending project information, test scripts, instructions, etc. to participants. – Ken Victorson
CCS MEETING NEXT WEEK:
Thur., 12/11, 9:30, Lake Villa: ILL
