CCS News
MAY 30, 2014
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
We are working closely with SirsiDynix on implementing a proposed working solution to the SMS notifications. We hope to have some resolution after our conference call on June 19th, so we can start implementing this method of
notification.
EQUITABLE ACCESS TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS:
On May 28 the Governing Board approved the recommendations below related to consistency of practice. We will change thresholds accordingly for everyone on July 9 unless we hear otherwise from a library.
1. Processing fee terminology: “Processing fee” should be used for normal pre-collections charges. Referral should be used for items sent to collection; Collection should not be used.
(Notes: 1) Only two libraries now use “Collection.” 2) If a report run by CCS restricts a library to only certain terminology, that is an allowable exception to this recommendation.)
2. It is the prerogative of the owning library to charge the processing fee for an item. Other libraries should honor that prerogative when processing payments. The Processing fee (as defined in number 1 above) should be standardized at $5 per item if any is charged. [Added cautionary note: if you use Mark Item Lost to process your item which incurred loss or damage due to circulation at another library, the circulating library's processing fee will be added. This should not be a problem because the fee should be standardized per this recommendation, but unless/until a library has set its fee in compliance with the recommendation, discrepancies should be noted and corrected.]
(Notes: 1) Some libraries have stratified fees depending on the type of material. The Task Force feels that this difference is reflected in the price; the labor involved in replacement is relatively equivalent. 2) If this recommendation is adopted, it should only apply from this point forward; no library is expected to make retroactive adjustments.)
3. The processing fee should not be included in the cost of the item. It should be added separately so that there is no confusion about whether to add it at the time of payment or not.
4. At its option, a library may accept replacements for its own items. However, replacements for another library’s item should not be accepted unless there is mutual agreement between the libraries involved.
(Notes: 1) Libraries may wish to articulate their policy via wording on bills, a sign, bookmarks, etc., so patrons won’t be proactive and bring in a replacement without prior approval. 2) The next update of the Processing Fee chart will have an added column with the library’s practice regarding replacements.)
The following recommendations apply to the delinquency thresholds set by CCS libraries.
5. Bills: $10 minimum threshold. This should be revisited six months from implementation of these recommendations to consider if too many blocks are resulting because of the recommended increase in allowable overdues; if so, $20 should be considered.
(Notes: 1) There was some support for $20 because we are recommending a higher threshold for overdues (#6 below), but based on feedback from the Circ and ILL Technical Groups at their most recent meetings, support seems to be well short of Critical Mass at present. 2) Some libraries have an issue with increasing the amount of outstanding financial obligations from patrons on the books; $10 seems to be the workable compromise. 3) The four CCS libraries set at $5 are all amenable to $10; in fact, Des Plaines has already changed back. Two of those libraries indicated Board approval would be required.)
6. Overdues: a minimum of 40 allowed is recommended.
(Notes: 1) This increase recognizes the trend toward self-service. 2) Some libraries pointed out that families can be abusive by maxing out several cards, but those cards can be blocked and are exceptions.
7. Maximum charges at one time: 150 allowed for the standard public User Profile for CCS libraries’ resident patrons is recommended.
(Notes: 1) Teachers can be given a separate Profile and thresholds.) 2) We ran a report on April 18 to see what the consequences of going from 75 to 150 would be; that chart is also attached. Only 59 “civilians” had between 75 and 150 items charged. That’s less than 2½ per library, so the impact of this change should be minimal. 3) Raising the threshold allows for the “lag factor” if a patron returns items that have not been checked in before the patron checks out more. At least two libraries factor this in already.)
8. Hold limit: As has been true in the past, the Task Force did not find grounds for a consensus.
9. The thresholds for Profile PUBLIC (users from outside of CCS who do not purchase cards or reside in Chicago) should follow the above recommendations where applicable.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Thur., 6/5, 2:00, CCS: Enterprise Marketing Task Force
Fri., 6/6, 10-1 and 2-5, Niles: Enterprise Rooms Management Training (you must be registered)
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
CCS News May 23, 2014
CCS News
MAY 23, 2014
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
CCS Closed Monday, May 26:
We will be staffed as normal for Sat. & Sun., but CCS will be closed on Memorial Day.
SP4 Upgrade Postponed:
The SP4 upgrade has been postponed due to reported bugs. While at the COSUGI Conference, we were advised by a library cohort and straight from the horses mouth, SirsiDynix, to NOT proceed with the upgrade and stand by for SP5, due out in June. As always, we will let SP5 run its course for a couple of weeks prior to proceeding with the upgrade and keep an eye out for any issues with it. We will plan (very tentatively) to do the upgrade in mid July dependent on the actual release date of SP5.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused your libraries. We are eager to implement some new features and products, and to get this out of the way. We felt this was an appropriate measure to save everyone from an ever bigger inconvenience. We appreciate your understanding.
CONDOLENCES to CCS staff member JoAnne Holmes, whose father passed away May 20, and to the family and friends of our Sirsi migration project manager Muriel Lynne Bartholomae, who died unexpectedly from a heart attack after knee surgery on May 16.
HAPPY HOLIDAY WEEKEND TO ALL FROM THE CCS STAFF, AND OUR APPRECIATION TO ALL WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES FOR OUR COUNTRY.
CCS MEETING NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 5/28, 10:00, Fox River Valley/Dundee: Governing Board
MAY 23, 2014
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
CCS Closed Monday, May 26:
We will be staffed as normal for Sat. & Sun., but CCS will be closed on Memorial Day.
SP4 Upgrade Postponed:
The SP4 upgrade has been postponed due to reported bugs. While at the COSUGI Conference, we were advised by a library cohort and straight from the horses mouth, SirsiDynix, to NOT proceed with the upgrade and stand by for SP5, due out in June. As always, we will let SP5 run its course for a couple of weeks prior to proceeding with the upgrade and keep an eye out for any issues with it. We will plan (very tentatively) to do the upgrade in mid July dependent on the actual release date of SP5.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused your libraries. We are eager to implement some new features and products, and to get this out of the way. We felt this was an appropriate measure to save everyone from an ever bigger inconvenience. We appreciate your understanding.
CONDOLENCES to CCS staff member JoAnne Holmes, whose father passed away May 20, and to the family and friends of our Sirsi migration project manager Muriel Lynne Bartholomae, who died unexpectedly from a heart attack after knee surgery on May 16.
HAPPY HOLIDAY WEEKEND TO ALL FROM THE CCS STAFF, AND OUR APPRECIATION TO ALL WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES FOR OUR COUNTRY.
CCS MEETING NEXT WEEK:
Wed., 5/28, 10:00, Fox River Valley/Dundee: Governing Board
Thursday, May 15, 2014
CCS News May 16, 2014
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
COSUGI Meeting - Richard, Jonathan, Bob and Joel are away at the SirsiDynix national users' meeting and will return on Monday, May 19.
Symphony Upgrade Postponed
Sirsi has advised us not to upgrade to SP4 but to wait for SP5 which will correct some problems. SP5 is due out in June; we'll watch the early feedback and look toward a possible July upgrade. More to come, of course, but for now just note that next week we'll maintain the status quo instead of breaking anything.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Mon., 5/19, 2:00, Ela: Enterprise PR/Marketing Task Force
Tues., 5/20, 10, CCS: Bylaws & Policy Committee
Wed., 5/21, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
Thurs., 5/22, 9:30, Glenview: PAS
Fri., 5/23, 10, Ela: Enterprise Implementation Task Force
COSUGI Meeting - Richard, Jonathan, Bob and Joel are away at the SirsiDynix national users' meeting and will return on Monday, May 19.
Symphony Upgrade Postponed
Sirsi has advised us not to upgrade to SP4 but to wait for SP5 which will correct some problems. SP5 is due out in June; we'll watch the early feedback and look toward a possible July upgrade. More to come, of course, but for now just note that next week we'll maintain the status quo instead of breaking anything.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Mon., 5/19, 2:00, Ela: Enterprise PR/Marketing Task Force
Tues., 5/20, 10, CCS: Bylaws & Policy Committee
Wed., 5/21, 9:30, CCS: SCRAP
Thurs., 5/22, 9:30, Glenview: PAS
Fri., 5/23, 10, Ela: Enterprise Implementation Task Force
Thursday, May 8, 2014
CCS News May 9, 2014
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Next week we will be short staffed due to some of the staff attending the COSUGI Conference. So as a reminder, if you are working with us on a ticket you may get a delayed response. The best way to avoid this is to enter a Help Desk ticket so that other CCS staff can review the issues and help to resolve them.
We are happy to announce that there is movement in the AT&T ASE Fiber install. There is still much ground work to be done but we are optimistic that it will move in a timely manner. We look forward to this installation as it will give us the opportunity to evaluate our network topology and make improvements to the integrity and security of our infrastructure.
AUTHORITIES NEWS:
Two files from Marcive were loaded into our system this week. One contained 3,058 updated authority records and the other contained 332 new authority records that were needed in our database, but were not available before this time.
Virginia Seward
Authorities Librarian
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 5/13, 10:00 A.M., CCS: Executive Committee
Wed., 5/14, 9:30 A.M., Niles: Catalogers (RDA Workshop, you must be registered)
Next week we will be short staffed due to some of the staff attending the COSUGI Conference. So as a reminder, if you are working with us on a ticket you may get a delayed response. The best way to avoid this is to enter a Help Desk ticket so that other CCS staff can review the issues and help to resolve them.
We are happy to announce that there is movement in the AT&T ASE Fiber install. There is still much ground work to be done but we are optimistic that it will move in a timely manner. We look forward to this installation as it will give us the opportunity to evaluate our network topology and make improvements to the integrity and security of our infrastructure.
AUTHORITIES NEWS:
Two files from Marcive were loaded into our system this week. One contained 3,058 updated authority records and the other contained 332 new authority records that were needed in our database, but were not available before this time.
Virginia Seward
Authorities Librarian
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 5/13, 10:00 A.M., CCS: Executive Committee
Wed., 5/14, 9:30 A.M., Niles: Catalogers (RDA Workshop, you must be registered)
Thursday, May 1, 2014
CCS News May 2, 2014
CCS News
MAY 2, 2014
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
April 26 Down Time:
On the afternoon of Saturday, April 26th libraries lost connections to the Workflows Server. We have been thoroughly investigating the cause of the lost connectivity. Our findings have concluded that the Workflows Server did not lose power, just connectivity. The error logs have pointed us to the initial source of the problem which was power loss to our network equipment, caused by the electrician, which caused improper disconnection between the Workflows Server and the libraries. After power to our network equipment was reestablished, many of you could reconnect to the Workflows server. We are still investigating this aspect of the issue.
Symphony Upgrade:
We are still looking at overnight Monday, May 19-Tuesday, May 20 to install Symphony Release 3.4.1 SP3-4 on the Production Server. We will confirm next week, and are polishing documents covering the client upgrade and features and settings for the new release which we will also distribute next week.
Hardware Upgrade:
And while you’re marking your calendars, we are pointing toward the week of July 14 to install our new Production Server. Down time during open hours for libraries should be zero or minimal, but we will have more information before the big event.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
None! (Don’t worry, we’ll make up for the void soon.)
MAY 2, 2014
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
April 26 Down Time:
On the afternoon of Saturday, April 26th libraries lost connections to the Workflows Server. We have been thoroughly investigating the cause of the lost connectivity. Our findings have concluded that the Workflows Server did not lose power, just connectivity. The error logs have pointed us to the initial source of the problem which was power loss to our network equipment, caused by the electrician, which caused improper disconnection between the Workflows Server and the libraries. After power to our network equipment was reestablished, many of you could reconnect to the Workflows server. We are still investigating this aspect of the issue.
Symphony Upgrade:
We are still looking at overnight Monday, May 19-Tuesday, May 20 to install Symphony Release 3.4.1 SP3-4 on the Production Server. We will confirm next week, and are polishing documents covering the client upgrade and features and settings for the new release which we will also distribute next week.
Hardware Upgrade:
And while you’re marking your calendars, we are pointing toward the week of July 14 to install our new Production Server. Down time during open hours for libraries should be zero or minimal, but we will have more information before the big event.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
None! (Don’t worry, we’ll make up for the void soon.)
Thursday, April 24, 2014
CCS News April 25, 2014
CCS News
APRIL 25, 2014
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Not so BREAKING NEWS, "MISSING TITLES IN BC SEARCH:"
Early this week, many of you started noticing and getting reports of missing titles while doing a search in BiblioCommons. The root of the cause was an update done by BiblioCommons on April 15th. This update contained a bug that resulted in records being marked as deleted and removed from the index. As a result, you may have found that items you own, especially print, were not searchable. The bug was discovered shortly thereafter and another update/patch was deployed the same day to fix the issue. A reindex of all libraries was issued and expected to be completed by 5 pm Thursday, April 23rd.
Notification of this update was not relayed to CCS prior to its deployment. This is an issue about which we have struggled with BC on numerous occasions. We know other customers share our concern and BC has acknowledged its validity multiple times, but nothing changes. We also know from online chatter that customers are perplexed that no warning was posted until a number of days after the problem was identified internally at BC.
We have not yet received confirmation that the reindex has in fact been fully completed. We are tentatively waiting on an update and will relay this information to the proper email lists when received. Meanwhile, if BC had wanted to collaborate with us on a plot to make Enterprise look good, they could hardly have executed it better. We regret the problems and the lack of information
received.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Mon., 4/28, 2:00, CCS: Database Management Task Force
Wed., 4/30, 9:30, Northbrook: Webmasters
Thur., 5/1, 4:30-7, Zion-Benton: Retirement Open House for Nann Blaine Hilyard
Fri., 5/2, 9:30, Fox River Valley/Dundee: Circulation
APRIL 25, 2014
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
Not so BREAKING NEWS, "MISSING TITLES IN BC SEARCH:"
Early this week, many of you started noticing and getting reports of missing titles while doing a search in BiblioCommons. The root of the cause was an update done by BiblioCommons on April 15th. This update contained a bug that resulted in records being marked as deleted and removed from the index. As a result, you may have found that items you own, especially print, were not searchable. The bug was discovered shortly thereafter and another update/patch was deployed the same day to fix the issue. A reindex of all libraries was issued and expected to be completed by 5 pm Thursday, April 23rd.
Notification of this update was not relayed to CCS prior to its deployment. This is an issue about which we have struggled with BC on numerous occasions. We know other customers share our concern and BC has acknowledged its validity multiple times, but nothing changes. We also know from online chatter that customers are perplexed that no warning was posted until a number of days after the problem was identified internally at BC.
We have not yet received confirmation that the reindex has in fact been fully completed. We are tentatively waiting on an update and will relay this information to the proper email lists when received. Meanwhile, if BC had wanted to collaborate with us on a plot to make Enterprise look good, they could hardly have executed it better. We regret the problems and the lack of information
received.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Mon., 4/28, 2:00, CCS: Database Management Task Force
Wed., 4/30, 9:30, Northbrook: Webmasters
Thur., 5/1, 4:30-7, Zion-Benton: Retirement Open House for Nann Blaine Hilyard
Fri., 5/2, 9:30, Fox River Valley/Dundee: Circulation
Thursday, April 17, 2014
CCS News April 18, 2014
CCS News
APRIL 18, 2014
SYMPHONY UPGRADE:
Barring the unforeseen, we have tentatively targeted the night of Monday, May 19 to load Symphony Release 3.4.1 SP4 into production. We will confirm this and send out more information, but you may want to mark your calendar.
ERESOURCE CENTRAL COMES INTO FOCUS:
The CCS staff had our training on eResource Central, the digital resources add-on to Enterprise, and we should soon begin seeing manifestations. Again, much more info will follow.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL FROM THE CCS STAFF! And a reminder: the Computer Room will not be staffed on Easter Sunday.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 4/22, 10:00, CCS: Enterprise Implementation Task Force
Wed., 4/23, 2:00, CCS: Enterprise Marketing/PR Task Force
Thur., 4/24, 9:30, Bloomingdale: SLUI (Statewide SirsiDynix users group; you must be registered)
APRIL 18, 2014
SYMPHONY UPGRADE:
Barring the unforeseen, we have tentatively targeted the night of Monday, May 19 to load Symphony Release 3.4.1 SP4 into production. We will confirm this and send out more information, but you may want to mark your calendar.
ERESOURCE CENTRAL COMES INTO FOCUS:
The CCS staff had our training on eResource Central, the digital resources add-on to Enterprise, and we should soon begin seeing manifestations. Again, much more info will follow.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL FROM THE CCS STAFF! And a reminder: the Computer Room will not be staffed on Easter Sunday.
CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:
Tues., 4/22, 10:00, CCS: Enterprise Implementation Task Force
Wed., 4/23, 2:00, CCS: Enterprise Marketing/PR Task Force
Thur., 4/24, 9:30, Bloomingdale: SLUI (Statewide SirsiDynix users group; you must be registered)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)