CCS News
JULY 19, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Graduated Unfilled Holds – this is a reminder that the process to move old unfilled holds (over 90 days old) from a local hold to a system hold will commence on Tuesday July 23. The process will run weekly.
Stay tuned for announcements about staff access to a demo version of Enterprise and our texting testing.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 7/24, 10:00, Glenview: Governing Board
Thur., 7/25, 9:30, Fox River Valley: PAS
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
CCS News July 12, 2013
CCS News
JULY 12, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Graduated holds – We have been testing, testing, testing and refining. The scripts to promote unfilled holds that are 90 days old from GROUP to SYSTEM will begin to be run for all libraries on Tuesday July 23. Watch the listservs for more details about the process and status. We thank Joel Hahn for his efforts and thanks to Niles for testing the process for several weeks.
Texting – Texting will be rolled out at Wilmette beginning July 15. We will keep you posted for availability at other libraries.
Closed dates - have you checked your closed dates when items are not due? Be sure they are correct for the Labor Day holiday. Check them on the CCS Web site (or contact the computer room staff if you forgot how to do this.)
SIP – Many member libraries have seen great things at ALA that you may wish to implement in the future. Please CONTACT US FIRST if you are thinking of a new product requiring connection to the ILS. We strongly encourage that you deal with only certified vendors. We can assist uncertified vendors to be in touch with SirsiDynix about certification to test and see if they can safely connect to the system. For those of you who think of us first when implementing a new vendor, we appreciate these communications. It simplifies troubleshooting and general upkeep and minimizes the Blame Game between vendors.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 7/17, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
Wed., 7/17, 9:30, Northbrook: CCS Webmasters
Fri., 7/19, 9:30, Fox River Valley: Circulation
(Note: the PAS meeting is a week later than usual, on July 19, also at FRV.)
JULY 12, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Graduated holds – We have been testing, testing, testing and refining. The scripts to promote unfilled holds that are 90 days old from GROUP to SYSTEM will begin to be run for all libraries on Tuesday July 23. Watch the listservs for more details about the process and status. We thank Joel Hahn for his efforts and thanks to Niles for testing the process for several weeks.
Texting – Texting will be rolled out at Wilmette beginning July 15. We will keep you posted for availability at other libraries.
Closed dates - have you checked your closed dates when items are not due? Be sure they are correct for the Labor Day holiday. Check them on the CCS Web site (or contact the computer room staff if you forgot how to do this.)
SIP – Many member libraries have seen great things at ALA that you may wish to implement in the future. Please CONTACT US FIRST if you are thinking of a new product requiring connection to the ILS. We strongly encourage that you deal with only certified vendors. We can assist uncertified vendors to be in touch with SirsiDynix about certification to test and see if they can safely connect to the system. For those of you who think of us first when implementing a new vendor, we appreciate these communications. It simplifies troubleshooting and general upkeep and minimizes the Blame Game between vendors.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 7/17, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
Wed., 7/17, 9:30, Northbrook: CCS Webmasters
Fri., 7/19, 9:30, Fox River Valley: Circulation
(Note: the PAS meeting is a week later than usual, on July 19, also at FRV.)
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
CCS News July 5, 2013
CCS News
JULY 5, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Closed Dates – the next big holiday is Labor Day. Be sure that your closed dates when items should not become due are correct. Please open a Wonder Desk ticket if changes are needed.
Record Locking Problems – the problems that we experienced with Workflows on Tuesday were repaired by SirsiDynix by making adjustments to our configuration. The process we call ADUTEXT, which indexes records overnight, now runs faster.
Director’s Station – as of this writing Director’s Station seems to be working well again. Earlier today (July 3) it was giving a cryptic message “Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation”. A reboot of the system repaired the situation.
AUTHORITIES NEWS:
This week CCS loaded 2 files from Marcive. One file included 4720 updated authority records and the other included 349 new authority records that our database needed, but were not available before.
Virginia Seward
CCS Authorities Librarian
PLEASE SHARE YOUR ALA GLEANINGS: Did you see, hear or otherwise learn of any useful information or just juicy gossip at ALA? If you have something you’d like to share which could help others in CCS, we’d love to run it in next week’s CCS News. If so, please e-mail it to Richard Shurman before next Thursday, July 11. Thanks!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Mon., 7/8, 2:00, CCS: BiblioCommons/Enterprise Task Force
Wed., 7/10, 10:00, CCS: Executive Committee
JULY 5, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Closed Dates – the next big holiday is Labor Day. Be sure that your closed dates when items should not become due are correct. Please open a Wonder Desk ticket if changes are needed.
Record Locking Problems – the problems that we experienced with Workflows on Tuesday were repaired by SirsiDynix by making adjustments to our configuration. The process we call ADUTEXT, which indexes records overnight, now runs faster.
Director’s Station – as of this writing Director’s Station seems to be working well again. Earlier today (July 3) it was giving a cryptic message “Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation”. A reboot of the system repaired the situation.
AUTHORITIES NEWS:
This week CCS loaded 2 files from Marcive. One file included 4720 updated authority records and the other included 349 new authority records that our database needed, but were not available before.
Virginia Seward
CCS Authorities Librarian
PLEASE SHARE YOUR ALA GLEANINGS: Did you see, hear or otherwise learn of any useful information or just juicy gossip at ALA? If you have something you’d like to share which could help others in CCS, we’d love to run it in next week’s CCS News. If so, please e-mail it to Richard Shurman before next Thursday, July 11. Thanks!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Mon., 7/8, 2:00, CCS: BiblioCommons/Enterprise Task Force
Wed., 7/10, 10:00, CCS: Executive Committee
Friday, June 28, 2013
CCS News June 28, 2013
CCS News
JUNE 28, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Texting trial with Wilmette:
As some of you have noticed, we are starting our SMS Text for Holds. We have loaded the product on the Production server, and some of you may have seen the Short Message Service-SMS tab under some of the User menu selections. It is a 3 day process, and hope by the time you read this, it will be cleared up, and ready to begin using SMS. For now Wilmette will be the first to go live. First they will do the hold notifications with staff (starting July 16 due to vacations), then eventually open it up to their patrons. The two other libraries that where part of the test Text team will follow if they like, once Wilmette completes their test and all looks good.
SMS texting will allow library staff to notify patrons of their Holds, Overdues, Fines, library announcement (like early closing), and individual messages to a patron. We are going to use the same template for most of these notices. It was agreed by the test team, and there is only a 160 character limit for each text message. If your library is interested in starting Texting, once we open this up. please open up a Help Desk ticket, and give yourself 6 weeks once the ticket is open. (Please don’t do this yet!!)
For now we are looking to offer Texting to the rest of the libraries beginning in October or later. The first 3 test libraries will be the leaders for this new service, and hopefully an asset to other libraries to assist with any questions you may have. For now the SMS product is "out of the box," meaning there is no customizing of reports or special messages other than what is offered as standard. The 3 message templates we are currently using contain the library name, and let the patron know they have a # of holds, an overdue, or the fine and amount. No title information, or other identifying information in regards to book/item title, or patron id.
People will not be able to reply to Text Messages, it is just a one way service. Please make sure patrons are aware of this. Text message will also count as a Hold Notice sent. Patrons will have to chose the method they want to use to be contacted for their Notice(s). The current ways to contact patrons are through mail, library staff calling, SVA, email and now Text. As for the templates, we realize libraries have different lengths they will hold a trapped hold for a patron on their hold shelves. That is why opening up a Help Desk incident for Texting is important to track and finalize your library’s text configuration. – Frank Correa
We hope all the ALA attendees from CCS have a great conference, and look forward to seeing at least some of you there!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 7/2 and Wed., 7/3, 9:30-4:30, Glenview: RDA Training (you must be registered!)
JUNE 28, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Texting trial with Wilmette:
As some of you have noticed, we are starting our SMS Text for Holds. We have loaded the product on the Production server, and some of you may have seen the Short Message Service-SMS tab under some of the User menu selections. It is a 3 day process, and hope by the time you read this, it will be cleared up, and ready to begin using SMS. For now Wilmette will be the first to go live. First they will do the hold notifications with staff (starting July 16 due to vacations), then eventually open it up to their patrons. The two other libraries that where part of the test Text team will follow if they like, once Wilmette completes their test and all looks good.
SMS texting will allow library staff to notify patrons of their Holds, Overdues, Fines, library announcement (like early closing), and individual messages to a patron. We are going to use the same template for most of these notices. It was agreed by the test team, and there is only a 160 character limit for each text message. If your library is interested in starting Texting, once we open this up. please open up a Help Desk ticket, and give yourself 6 weeks once the ticket is open. (Please don’t do this yet!!)
For now we are looking to offer Texting to the rest of the libraries beginning in October or later. The first 3 test libraries will be the leaders for this new service, and hopefully an asset to other libraries to assist with any questions you may have. For now the SMS product is "out of the box," meaning there is no customizing of reports or special messages other than what is offered as standard. The 3 message templates we are currently using contain the library name, and let the patron know they have a # of holds, an overdue, or the fine and amount. No title information, or other identifying information in regards to book/item title, or patron id.
People will not be able to reply to Text Messages, it is just a one way service. Please make sure patrons are aware of this. Text message will also count as a Hold Notice sent. Patrons will have to chose the method they want to use to be contacted for their Notice(s). The current ways to contact patrons are through mail, library staff calling, SVA, email and now Text. As for the templates, we realize libraries have different lengths they will hold a trapped hold for a patron on their hold shelves. That is why opening up a Help Desk incident for Texting is important to track and finalize your library’s text configuration. – Frank Correa
We hope all the ALA attendees from CCS have a great conference, and look forward to seeing at least some of you there!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 7/2 and Wed., 7/3, 9:30-4:30, Glenview: RDA Training (you must be registered!)
Friday, June 21, 2013
CCS News June 21, 2013
CCS News
JUNE 21, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
FACEBOOK trial – only two libraries report using this product and there seems to be little consortium-wide interest in the SirsiDynix Facebook integration.
BOOKMyne – this free mobile application has been working – and has had little feedback from the libraries. It is available on older devices but does not work on iTablets or the jellybean operating system.
BOOKMYNE PLUS (+) - this mobile application for catalog inquiry has been implemented by a number of libraries on a trial basis. It works on newer Apple devices (level 5) and iTablets but does not work for older Apple phones nor Android.
Enterprise Trial – SirsiDynix has created a trial of Enterprise for us. The committee has been testing and asking SirsiDynix to make needed adjustments to the interface, the configuration and to the index retrieval and relevancy algorithms. Within the next week or two it will be ready for the CCS community to test.
Staff absences – Jim will be away June 29 through July 9. Linda will be away for ALA and related meetings, June 26-July 2.
A HAPPY SOLSTICE TO ALL!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
None! But we look forward to seeing some of you at ALA.
JUNE 21, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
FACEBOOK trial – only two libraries report using this product and there seems to be little consortium-wide interest in the SirsiDynix Facebook integration.
BOOKMyne – this free mobile application has been working – and has had little feedback from the libraries. It is available on older devices but does not work on iTablets or the jellybean operating system.
BOOKMYNE PLUS (+) - this mobile application for catalog inquiry has been implemented by a number of libraries on a trial basis. It works on newer Apple devices (level 5) and iTablets but does not work for older Apple phones nor Android.
Enterprise Trial – SirsiDynix has created a trial of Enterprise for us. The committee has been testing and asking SirsiDynix to make needed adjustments to the interface, the configuration and to the index retrieval and relevancy algorithms. Within the next week or two it will be ready for the CCS community to test.
Staff absences – Jim will be away June 29 through July 9. Linda will be away for ALA and related meetings, June 26-July 2.
A HAPPY SOLSTICE TO ALL!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
None! But we look forward to seeing some of you at ALA.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
CCS News June 14, 2013
CCS News
JUNE 14, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Gmail – Are you switching to Google Mail at your library? If so, we have found that there are challenges. Our technicians report, “we have discovered that reports going to multiple libraries on Google Mail have an issue: when Google gets the mailing it sees that LibraryA is on Google server1 and that LibraryB is on Google server2 – it will process LibraryA, but it considers Google server2 to be cross domain & will not process LibraryB’s mail. This is a rule imposed in May that is causing much uproar in the community, but is not likely to be changed. We are investigating possible solutions, but do not foresee any easy/quick fix. Please keep this in mind when making future decisions to move to Google Mail.”
We suspect there could be a similar problem with Office 365 mail – so please contact us or discuss this finding with your email provider.
Staff can access reports through the Web reports or through Workflows – so these would be alternate ways to get such reports.
Absences – Frank is on vacation next week. Jim is on vacation the week following. Linda will be away at the end of June for ALA.
AUTHORITIES NEWS:
On Thursday, June 13th, CCS sent 8495 bibliographic records to Marcive for authorities processing. 2306 bibliographic records were updated and sent back to us. They were reloaded into our system, along with 3289 new authority records.
Virginia Seward
CCS Authorities Librarian
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 6/18, 9:30, Wilmette: Maintenance Coordinators
Wed., 6/19, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
Wed., 6/19, noon, Jameson’s: Technical Group Secretaries Appreciation Lunch
JUNE 14, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Gmail – Are you switching to Google Mail at your library? If so, we have found that there are challenges. Our technicians report, “we have discovered that reports going to multiple libraries on Google Mail have an issue: when Google gets the mailing it sees that LibraryA is on Google server1 and that LibraryB is on Google server2 – it will process LibraryA, but it considers Google server2 to be cross domain & will not process LibraryB’s mail. This is a rule imposed in May that is causing much uproar in the community, but is not likely to be changed. We are investigating possible solutions, but do not foresee any easy/quick fix. Please keep this in mind when making future decisions to move to Google Mail.”
We suspect there could be a similar problem with Office 365 mail – so please contact us or discuss this finding with your email provider.
Staff can access reports through the Web reports or through Workflows – so these would be alternate ways to get such reports.
Absences – Frank is on vacation next week. Jim is on vacation the week following. Linda will be away at the end of June for ALA.
AUTHORITIES NEWS:
On Thursday, June 13th, CCS sent 8495 bibliographic records to Marcive for authorities processing. 2306 bibliographic records were updated and sent back to us. They were reloaded into our system, along with 3289 new authority records.
Virginia Seward
CCS Authorities Librarian
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 6/18, 9:30, Wilmette: Maintenance Coordinators
Wed., 6/19, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
Wed., 6/19, noon, Jameson’s: Technical Group Secretaries Appreciation Lunch
Thursday, June 6, 2013
CCS News June 7, 2013
CCS News
JUNE 7, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Staff absences – Bob will be away June 7 through 16. Frank will be away June 17 through 23. Jim will be away June 29 through July 8. Linda will out of the office for ALA June 27-July 2. Please be sure you use the Wonderdesk for important issues or call the Computer Room directly at 847-342-5303. Your usual “go-to” technical support person may be away, but others on the team can always help you.
Quick progress reports – the Computer Room team recently finished their annual security analysis. We are making progress on the ability to Text notices. Stay tuned for news of this the last week of June. We are also making progress on the graduated holds project with continued testing. Stay tuned for more on this project in the coming weeks.
ENTERPRISE DEMO PORTALS COMING SOON: We’re doing a little tuning of a couple of examples of Enterprise to make available, so our constituency can see what we’re evaluating. We’ll let everyone know the URLs when we’re ready. Please keep in mind that these will be nowhere near polished, just rudimentary!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Monday, 6/10, 2 PM, CCS: BiblioCommons/Enterprise Task Force
Wed., 6/12, 9:30, McHenry: Catalogers
Wed., 6/12, 10:00, CCS: Executive Committee
Thur., 6/13, 9:30, Lake Villa: ILL
JUNE 7, 2013
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Staff absences – Bob will be away June 7 through 16. Frank will be away June 17 through 23. Jim will be away June 29 through July 8. Linda will out of the office for ALA June 27-July 2. Please be sure you use the Wonderdesk for important issues or call the Computer Room directly at 847-342-5303. Your usual “go-to” technical support person may be away, but others on the team can always help you.
Quick progress reports – the Computer Room team recently finished their annual security analysis. We are making progress on the ability to Text notices. Stay tuned for news of this the last week of June. We are also making progress on the graduated holds project with continued testing. Stay tuned for more on this project in the coming weeks.
ENTERPRISE DEMO PORTALS COMING SOON: We’re doing a little tuning of a couple of examples of Enterprise to make available, so our constituency can see what we’re evaluating. We’ll let everyone know the URLs when we’re ready. Please keep in mind that these will be nowhere near polished, just rudimentary!
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Monday, 6/10, 2 PM, CCS: BiblioCommons/Enterprise Task Force
Wed., 6/12, 9:30, McHenry: Catalogers
Wed., 6/12, 10:00, CCS: Executive Committee
Thur., 6/13, 9:30, Lake Villa: ILL
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