Traverse des Sioux Library System

SIRSI back up

2011-12-20T10:12:00.000-06:00

Looks like SIRSI is back up,

Dani

System is down

2011-12-20T08:02:00.000-06:00

SirsiDynix is down, and they are working on the problem. At this point, we have no idea what the exact nature of the problem is nor how long it will be until we are up again. When we know more, we'll let you know.

Jeanne

Don't delete reports from REPT login

2011-12-01T12:13:00.001-06:00

It looks like someone may have inadvertently been removing the Daily Stats report from the REPT login. There are instances of it in the finished reports list since Nov. 25th, even though the report records that it has been running daily. Today's run on the Daily Reports stat will be rerun at 12:15, and hopefully will come to you via email, or login to WorkFlows under the REPT to find it. Remember: NEVER DELETE REPORTS FROM THE REPT LOGIN! Logoff WorkFlows and re-login under your normal circ or tech logins after printing the report.
Jeanne

Reports delayed 4 hours

2011-11-29T13:49:00.000-06:00

In an effort to find a permanent fix to the problem with Web Reporter, SirsiDynix needed to run an "Extract " report. That takes about 4 hours to run. It is running right now, which means no other reports can run until about 6:15 p.m. As a result, our bib database loads (including newly cataloged bestsellers) won't be able to be uploaded until tomorrow. Also the 4:30 run of the Onshelf Holds report won't happen until about 6:30 or later--so rely on the Onshelf Wizard to pull holds.
Jeanne

12:30 run of onshelf Hold report

2011-11-07T14:37:00.001-06:00

The 12:30 run of the report errored off (it's always that 12:30 run). I re-ran it at 1:45, but unfortunately, it ran under the ADMIN login instead of REPT. Since the report will run again at 4:30, I don't plan to rerun the 12:30 again. In the meantime, you can use the "Onshelf Items" wizard on the circ toolbar (under "Hold info and maintenance" group) to identify items that you need to pull for holds (or wait for the 4:30 run of the report).
Jeanne

System very slow this morning

2011-09-22T09:26:00.001-05:00

A number of you have reported that the connection to our Symphony system is very slow this morning. Often it is a local telecomm problem, but this time it seems to be everyone and is just WorkFlows (not the internet as a whole). I just called Sirsi's Client Care team and they are looking into the problem. It may be an equipment or telecomm issue out of the Atlanta area. I'll let you know when I have more information.
Jeanne

SIP2 restored for Overdrive

2011-09-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

Your patrons should again be able to login and download titles from Overdrive. Sirsi has restored the SIP2 connection.
Jeanne

SIP2 connection with Overdrive is down

2011-09-21T10:31:00.003-05:00

The SIP2 connection between our Symphony system and Overdrive is down. SirsiDynix is working on restoring it. This means that patrons will not be able to checkout any ebooks, etc. from our Overdrive website. This should be resolved within the hour or so. This problem is likely related to being down yesterday, but apparently it has only affected one of our SIP2 ports.

Jeanne

Symphony back up again

2011-09-20T19:08:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,
looks like we are up again. I was able to log on to Symphony just a couple minutes ago. I have not heard from SAAS but as long as you can circ, I say go ahead, just watch the screens carefully to make sure that the transactions go through.

Dani

Symphony down

2011-09-20T17:33:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,

our Server in Atlanta had a failure. The SAAS team is working on fixing the problem but the bad news is that it will take another 3 to 4 hours. I am sorry for the disruption, hopefully we will be back to normal tomorrow morning. I will update you if I hear anything new,

Dani

Symphony Down

2011-09-20T16:00:00.002-05:00

Yes, Symphony is down and SIRSI is working on the problem. I'll update you once I know more,

Dani

Label Printing Problem

2011-09-09T08:12:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,

As many of may have notice that there was not On-Shelf Hold report yesterday at 4:30, or any other reports after 3:45 pm for that matter. A label report was kicked off yesterday around 3:30 or so with no selection in it. Which means that the report runs for a very long time, to be exact until 3 am. If you notice that you are not getting any labels to print and the report just won’t finish in ten minutes or so, please call TdS and we will call SIRSI to stop the report.

For those of you that use Web Reporter, this also means that the Extract never ran, it should run tonight again. It also means that some of our overnight processes did not run and or error out. We should be good to go for night and indexing should be able to fix itself. However, if you get and error while searching about a “locked record” please give us a call.

As always if you have any questions please let us know,

Dani

12:30 Onshelf Item Holds report broke again

2011-08-22T13:55:00.000-05:00

Once again, the 12:30 run of the Onshelf Item Hold report didn't run correctly. This time it didn't find ANY holds to report. Very bizzare. Fortunately, you can use the Holds wizard on the circ toolbar to identify holds that need to be trapped and transited. If it's like last week's glitch, the 4:30 run will be fine. In fact all runs of the report were fine since last Tuesday's problem with the 12:30 run. SirsiDynix Client Care staff are scratching their heads over this one, and are trying to figure out what's happening to intermittently interrupt the report results.

Jeanne

Onshelf Hold Report OK again

2011-08-17T09:10:00.001-05:00

Don't know what happened to yesterday's 12:30 run of the Onshelf Hold report, but all was well for the 4:30 run and this morning's 8:00 a.m. run. We've had this happen occasionally in the past, and no reason has been found as to why it occurs.
Jeanne

Problem with Onshelf Holds 12:30 run

2011-08-16T14:20:00.001-05:00

Half-way through the 12:30 run on today's List Onshelf Items with Holds report, the report "broke". Any library (alphabetically by symbol) after TLR-TLW gets a "File Empty" error message when trying to open or view the report. This happens occasionally and it usually corrects itself with the next run of the report. I've opened a case with Sirsi about today's problem.

In the meantime, you can always use the "Onshelf Items" wizard on the circ toolbar (under the Holds information group of wizards) to find out what items should be trapped for holds.

Jeanne

System up again

2011-07-31T18:36:00.002-05:00

Oh, these computers are so unpredictable. We are up and running again, half an hour after I panicked just a little :). For Monday morning we are having the perfect report storm coming, it is the first of the month and Jeanne and myelf will have to re-run your daily stats reports for Saturday/Sunday.
As always please let us know if the system is not behaving in a normal matter. Thanks all for your understanding,

Dani

System scheduled downtime

2011-07-30T16:10:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,

The consultant from Sirsi who is working with me this weekend on the re-built is going to start the first report at about 4:30 this afternoon on Saturday. This will have no impact on circulation or searching and the system will remain up and running until 5:30. With the earlier start of the report it means that the last On-Shelf Hold Report will not run this afternoon.

Dani

System reminder

2011-07-28T08:37:00.001-05:00

Good morning everyone,

Just a friendly reminder that the OPAC and Symphony will not be available, due to the re-build of the database, starting on Saturday, July 30^th, at 5:30 pm. I hope to be up and running again late afternoon, early evening on Sunday July 31^st.

I am also asking everyone on Saturday not to run any extra reports on Saturday. I am running several large load reports which will take up a lot of time. The regular scheduled reports, like on the on-shelf hold report will “pop” up in-between the load reports.

Thank you everyone for your cooperation, I am so glad that we only do this once a year.

Any questions please let me know,

Dani

final system update

2011-07-22T14:50:00.001-05:00

Yeah, the report finished running successfully, it was worth the wait. Looks like searching is back to normal and we should be good to go again. You can add, delete items now and run labels. The on shelf hold reports also ran and the reports are all caught up. Thank you everyone for your patience and understanding. Please let me know if you see any strangeness in the system.

Have a nice weekend,

Dani

system update 6

2011-07-22T13:58:00.001-05:00

Just a quick update to let you where the Update database report is at. I just checked with SIRSI and it is still running strong and doing its thing. It is working on updating 33,000 records, which is amazing to me on how much work you all do out at the libraries, catching up on three days worth of indexing. For right now I made the decision to keep it going since it is working and is getting further than it has before. I know that this is disruptive to your workflow but I was afraid waiting over the weekend would have made the problem only larger. This most likely will mean that today you will not be able to add any items to bibs or make item changes. All report scheduled to run will run after the update is complete. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Dani

system update 5

2011-07-22T12:15:00.000-05:00

It is 12:10 right now and the update Database report is still running, which I see as a good sign (the last couple of nights it failed after a couple of minutes). I will let it do it thing for a while yet and I will let you all know when it is completed. Again, thanks for your patience I know it is a pain when a record gets locked error. If you do get the record locked error try again in a couple of minutes. All regular scheduled reports will start after the update database is complete.

Dani

System update 4

2011-07-22T10:43:00.001-05:00

I will have to run the update database report during the day today, in order to get the strange searching resolved. The report “should’ not run very long but while it runs it searching maybe a bit stranger yet, you won’t be able to add items to the newest catalog bibs (bibs created in the last three days). I am planning to run the report at 11:30 am this Friday morning, hopefully not taking more than 30 min. During that time please don’t make and changes/adding items. I will let you know if the report is successful and hopefully we will have the problem solved before the weekend.

Thank you for your patience,

Dani

System update 3

2011-07-22T07:47:00.001-05:00

Good morning everyone,

We are on update three by now. The Database update report failed again last night, sigh. This means you will continue to see double and searching for newly catalog bibs is a bit strange. Hopefully during the day today it will get figured out.

Dani

system problem take 2

2011-07-21T12:03:00.001-05:00

I am running a smaller re-built report right now to fix our database indexing problem. The report should be running for about one hour, all regular scheduled reports will run afterwards. This means that the 12:30 on –shelf hold report will run a little bit later today.

Dani

System Problems

2011-07-21T09:25:00.000-05:00

We have the report that runs every early morning that indexes/updates our databases error out. Sirsi is aware of the problem and is working on a solution. Until we can run the report again it means that newly cataloged bibs will not be searchable via title/author or subject. It means the items coming to you from cataloging use the OCLC number (the number we write on the workslip, type a small letter o and change your search index to title control number in order to retrieve the record) to add your item. Once I have solution I will let you know.

On what may become a related note. We are working on scheduling our annual re-index and re-build for Saturday July 30^th and Sunday July 31^st. You should normal operations on Saturday, the only thing that I ask that you do not run any extra reports on Saturday July 30^th. I will be running the larger load reports that day and the regular schedule reports will come out in between those. I am still waiting to hear from the person at Sirsi assigned to the case to finalize times but I am anticipating to have the system unavailable starting Saturday (July 30^th) evening 5:30 pm until Sunday (July 31^st) 5 pm. Again I will let you know once this is all finalized.

If you have any questions or notice any additional problems please let me know as Jeanne is on vacation until next Wednesday,

Dani

Family card option

2011-06-15T14:24:00.000-05:00

At the last circ user group meeting, there was interest in having the "family card" option. The "family card" option allows you to link family members together into a group. Group members share delinquencies and access to other group member's charges, holds, and bills, depending upon how the group policy is configured. Overdue notices and bills can also be designated to be sent to one member of the group.

The "family card" option requires SirsiDynix to make a global configuration change to our system, which will go into effect tomorrow. You'll see this change reflected in many of the circulation wizards. Once these changes appear, I'll have to do some additional setup before we are ready to use this feature. I just wanted you to be aware that you'll be seeing some additional fields and choices starting tomorrow. Again, the family card feature is not quite ready to go. I'll send out instructions when it's all set. This is an OPTIONAL feature that some families will want to use, but it certainly is not a requirement.

Jeanne

User Not Activiated message on Nook

2011-05-25T12:10:00.000-05:00

NOOK: "User not activated" appears when trying to open Overdrive ebooks on a Nook.

If a patron receives the message "User Not Activated" on their nook after dragging the title to their nook and trying to open the title; follow these steps (found a a library web site). We had our patron follow up to step 8 and it worked.
Eva

The problem is likely that your Nook came preloaded with an Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) folder and because of this your ADE program won't recognize your device.
1. Go to "My Computer" (or the equivalent on your PC or MAC).
2. Click on the Nook drive.
3. Find and copy the file ".adobe-digital-editions" to your desktop. Delete the file on your Nook drive.
4. Safely eject and unplug the Nook from the computer.
5. Close Adobe Digital Editions.
6. Restart Adobe Digital Editions.
7. Plug the Nook to the computer.
8. Adobe Digital Editions should display the Nook icon and prompt you to authorize the device.
9. If not, go back to the Nook drive in "My Computer".
10. Find and delete the "Digital Editions" file.
11. Close Adobe Digital Editions.
12. Restart Adobe Digital Editions.
13. Adobe Digital Editions should display the Nook icon and prompt you to authorize the device.
14. Authorize the device.
15. You can transfer books now!

New Onshelf Holds wizard

2011-04-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

On the circ toolbar, under "Holds Information" group of wizards, you'll see a new wizard called "Onshelf Holds". This wizard duplicates the titles that appear on your Onshelf Hold Report. I would encourage you to look at it and compare the list of titles to what appears on your Onshelf Hold Report, but please continue to use the Onshelf Hold Report rather than wizard until all the configuration issues with the wizard are completed.

One of the configuration options is to have the wizard update itself dynamically, and we have to make sure that piece is working. For dynamic updating, I also need to configure which locations it should NOT select when creating a dynamic list of hold items. There are also "behavior" properties associated with the wizard, including printing of transit receipts, that have not yet been set up.

I'll let you know when it's OK to start relying on the wizard instead of the report, but in the meantime, stick with the Onshelf Hold Report.

Jeanne

E-library display problem

2011-03-30T07:40:00.000-06:00

On the home page of e-library, there is a display problem on the lower half of the screen. We've had this happen before and it doesn't affect the patron's ability to search--it just looks ugly. I've opened a case with Sirsi and hopefully they will have it fixed soon.

Jeanne

OK to update WorkFlows

2011-03-13T08:09:00.002-06:00

The upgrade has been completed. It is OK to update Workflows when prompted.

However, our custom pages in e-library have been blown away and I'll need to contact Sirsi on Monday to have them fixed again. So, until that happens, e-library is going to look VERY ugly.

Jeanne

e-book demo

2011-02-14T10:00:00.001-06:00

Assisting patrons with ereaders

2010-12-14T13:53:00.000-06:00

Are any of you already getting questions about how to download ebooks--like how to download free ebooks from Project Gutenberg or NetLibrary? (TdS just got a question from a patron about how to do that--he'd bought a Nook for his dad.)

If so, do you have written instructions? Do you point them to a website? Do you say, "Sorry, you're on your own"?

I'm thinking that ebook readers are going to be a hot Christmas gift for many book lovers, and we may need to be prepared to help them. If necessary or appropriate, I can try to put together something useful.

Appreciate your input on this!

Jeanne

Change to e-library quicksearch

2010-11-17T12:36:00.000-06:00

The change to e-library's basic "quicksearch" has been done and is immediately in effect.

Here's an example. The bib record for the title Strawberry shortcake happily ever after would not be retrieved prior to this change. Why? Because the words "Strawberry Shortcake" are in the 246 field ("other title info"), while the words "Happily Ever After" are in the 245 (main title field). The default operator was SAME (meaning all the words had to be in the same MARC field).

Now the words are joined by the default operator of AND, so when I search for the title Strawberry shortcake happily ever after, I can pull it up.

Another example is Better homes and Gardens Kitchen Ideas. Before, I couldn't pull this title up in e-library because "Better Homes and Gardens" was in a 246 "other title info" field, and "Kitchen Ideas" was in the 245 main title field. Now I can pull it up.

Be aware that this change applies only to the quicksearch box in e-library. It does NOT change the default operator in WorkFlows. To search for Strawberry shortcake happily ever after in WorkFlows, you'd have to do a title keyword as follows: Strawberry shortcake AND happily ever after.

Jeanne

Rebuild Successful

2010-08-09T08:32:00.001-05:00

Other than running an unexpectedly long time (nearly 25 hours), our annual rebuild is complete. One big change is that headings that were formerly "cookery" have been flipped to the word "cooking". So, instead of Italian Cookery, you'll use the words Italian Cooking; instead of Quick and Easy Cookery, you'll use Quick and Easy Cooking.

Of course, if you run across anything strange when searching the database, please let me (or Dani) know the details and we'll take a look at the problem.

Also, daily "notice" type reports such as overdue notices, pickup notices, etc. did not run on Sunday. Today's run of those reports should include any items that would have been selected yesterday. (Because the rebuild took so long, there was only time to run the daily stats reports and the essential daily system maintenance reports.)

Jeanne

E-mail Glitch

2010-07-22T08:36:00.002-05:00

Just in the last couple of days I have been receiving an error when sending e-mail to a particular address. I get a 5.7.1. relay error.

I was able to fix it but now have to enter my password when sending e-mail. This is what I did.

Many servers that do not permit relaying will still accept a message if you can prove to them that you have an account there and thus are an authorized user. This is called authentication and is accomplished in Mozilla ThunderBird by checking the "Use name and password" box in your Outgoing SMTP server settings. To find your SMTP settings, go to Tools | Server Settings | Outgoing Server (SMTP), highlight the SMTP server name (if you have more than one) and click the Edit button. [Note: in TBird versions prior to 1.5, you found the server settings via Tools | Server Settings | Outgoing Server (SMTP), where the default server settings were shown. To access the settings for any other SMTP servers you had configured, click the Advanced button.]

If anyone know a better way to fix this glitch please let me know..It's a pain to have to type in my password everytime. But at least it works now.

thanks
Eva

A bug with Holds

2010-07-07T09:14:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago I notified you of a problem that occurs when you trap a hold twice. The hold immediately becomes available to the patron, and it looks like it is available at their intended pickup location (and a pickup notice is generated at the intended pickup location).

This also occurs if the hold is trapped and then erroneously "received" at the sending library. It will look like the hold is available at the intended pickup location rather than intransit (and a pickup notice is generated at the intended pickup location).

While it's true that this is a bug that was introduced with our patch upgrade, it can easily be avoided because the system prompts you with an override. If you erroneously try to do a second trap, an override box will pop up. If the item was already trapped and you (the sending library) erronously try to "receive" it, you'll again get an override box. That is your clue to STOP, cancel out, and investigate.

Let's say staff went ahead and did the override anyway (in error). Hopefully you'll catch it right away so a patron won't go to their pickup library expecting to find the item and then get mad because it isn't there. To put the item back in transit, do another trap. That should put it back intransit to its intended pickup location, but be sure to verify that.

Sigh... Always something to keep us on our toes.

Jeanne

Receive Holds warning

2010-06-17T11:33:00.001-05:00

There may be another bug related to holds. Please watch the screen when you do your "Receives". At TFL, they had two copies (from other libraries) where the system reverted the status to ON-SHELF rather than identifying the two patrons at TFL that had holds for the items. And of course, the two items weren't even AT their home library. So, a double-whammy! So, please watch the screen as you do your "Receives" and if you see this happening, get a screen shot and send it to me. I have already opened an incident with Sirsi, but it would be good to know if it is an isolated event or a pattern (oh, I SO hope that isn't the case).

Jeanne

"Trap Hold" bug

2010-06-10T10:49:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Renee at TVR, a bug was uncovered. The bug was introduced with the latest patch upgrade.

The problem occurs in only under the particular circumstances below, and can easily be avoided.

1. You discharge an item and it goes intransit to fulfill a hold at another library, but then a staff person also does a "trap" on the item. When the staff person does the "trap" they will get a "release item" button with an override (since the discharge had already trapped the hold and put it intransit). If you do the "release item" override, the item will still be in transit, but to the patron it will look like the item is available for pickup. They will not be happy to come to the library to pick up their hold only to find out that it is still intransit.

2. The same thing occurs if you trap the item, and then try to trap it a second time. You'll get the "release item" button with override, and if you do that, the item will look like it's available for pickup even though it is still intransit). (By the way, if you do the trap a 3rd time, it again makes the item unavailable until it arrives at its pickup location and is received.)

To avoid a problem, just don't do the "release item" override if the item is supposed to be intransit to another library for pickup, unless you want to immediately check out the item to a different patron who is standing at your circ desk. But what if you were doing it in order to get a transit slip because you lost the first one? Get out the scratch paper and write the transit TO library on the slip and put it in the item.

In theory, if you've lost the transit slip and you need to generate a new one, the "Check Item Status" should do that for you. I've also reported that this isn't working, and hasn't worked for a couple of years. Sirsi Client Care is documenting that problem (even though I complained about it a couple years ago and nothing was fixed--guess it doesn't hurt to complain again).

If you have any questions or concerns about this, please let me know.

Jeanne

Libraries on Facebook

2010-04-26T10:32:00.003-05:00

I know that a few libraries in TdS have Facebook pages. We recently started one for the Sibley County Libraries (http://facebook.com/sibleycountylibraries).

If your library has a Facebook page, would you mind sharing the link? I'd like to add libraries in the region as "favorites" of our libraries' page.

Also, if you have any insight for increasing fans, (or now, I guess, "like-ers") of your page, please share your ideas. While I think that Facebook can be a good tool for reaching out to our library users, it's frustrating to put forth the effort for a small number of followers.

What do you think? Is Facebook worthwhile for libraries, or just another time-eater?

Linda Kramer
President, Sibley County Library Board

New field in user record

2010-03-19T07:10:00.001-06:00

There is now a new field in the user record. On the "basic" tab at the bottom of the screen, you'll see a field called "Charge History Rule". It is automatically set to CIRCRULE when you create or modify a user record. Please do NOT change that field. To gather circulation stats in Web Reporter, we need to have this set to CIRCRULE. If it isn't, then the circulation stat will not be recorded for use in Web Reporter.

We'll talk more about this at the circ user group meeting on April 8.

Jeanne

ILL price restriction removed

2010-03-12T11:35:00.000-06:00

At yesterday's Directors' meeting, the group voted to remove the restriction that limited ILL based on cost. Items that cost less than $10.00 can again be obtained via ILL. MnLink staff removed the restriction yesterday afternoon. Whether you share this change with your patrons or not is up to each library to decide.

The restriction of 5 active ILL requests in MnLink still applies, and the patron receives instant feedback when they try to exceed that limit. The max number of 10 holds in Symphony (our online catalog) also still applies. The goal of the limits is to reduce the overall volume of delivery. The Directors will re-evaluate these limits after we have tried it out for a couple of months.

Jeanne

Don't tape transit slips to item

2009-06-18T13:05:00.000-05:00

At a circ user group meeting, we talked about not using tape to attach transit slips to items. Use of tape is damaging to materials, and takes time and care to scrape off. Everyone is really busy, and it slows down the unpacking of tubs at a library if rubber bands or transit slips are taped to the item.

I realize the reason for this is to prevent the loss of the transit slip, but if a transit slip gets lost it really isn't a big deal to scan the barcode in WorkFlows to find out where the item should be headed and generate a new slip.

Jeanne

Proper procedures for renewing user privileges

2009-06-16T11:46:00.002-05:00

It's been brought to my attention that some libraries must be manually entering a privilege expiration date for patrons, as we have nearly 3,000 people whose privileges extend beyond our normal 3 year period. I have a report that has identified these patrons, and will run another report that will change their expiration date to three years from today (June 16 2012, rather than 2015 or 2016). Please instruct your circ desk staff to follow the procedures below when renewing privileges for a user.

Click the Renew Privilege icon on the circ toolbar, under the user information group of wizards. Wand in the user barcode. Make sure the "normal" button is selected under the "extend user privilege" field, and then just click the "Extend Privilege" button. The user's privilege will automatically be extended for the period of time specified in their user profile. Most of our user profiles have a 3 year extension period. There is no need to enter an expiration date.

If staff are using the Modify User, for example, because they need to change the patron's address as well as extend their privileges, then they should select a date that is no longer than 3 years from the current date.

When registering a new user, the expiration date is automatically supplied based on the user profile.

Jeanne

Invitation to Post

2007-02-19T11:34:00.000-06:00

Those of you who are on the TdS-ALL email list will receive an email invitation to post to the TdS Blog. While anyone can "comment" on existing post, only those who are added to an authorized list can initiate a "post". Try it out!

Welcome to the TdS Web Log!

2006-12-18T14:52:00.000-06:00

One of the goals of our new strategic plan was to establish a Blog. So, here it is--despite the fact that I despise the ugly sound of the word. Notice that I choose to call it a Web Log. When I use the terminology of "Web Log", I can pretend it's more like the "Captain's Log" on Star Trek. I feel very futuristic. My desktop becomes the bridge of the Enterprise.

Supposedly any of you can respond to this post. So, give it a try. If we like the Web Log format, it may replace the many emails that go out to you and will allow you to share your experiences with the system (frustrations, problems, work arounds, procedures, etc.) with everyone in the region.

So, be bold. Explore new worlds. Let us go where TdS has never gone before!

Jeanne