Category: Sierra (page 4 of 5)

Up to date information about the migration of our ILS from Millenium to Sierra.

New feature of Sierra helps remind you about Sierra Password Best Practices

A new feature has been enabled for all Sierra users. Now that Sierra users are being asked to change their password every 180 days, Applications Development and Support has enabled a feature that will remind users when they log into Sierra 10 days prior to their password expiration date to change their password.

After logging in to Sierra, a window will display that looks similar to this:

 

SierraPWExpireWarning_180

When users click the ‘Update Now’ button, they will be able to change their password, and will be guided to use appropriate password complexity:

  • No less than 8 characters in length
  • Contain at least one character from each of the following character sets:
    • Uppercase letters:  A-Z
    • Lowercase letters:  a-z
    • Numerals:  0-9
    • Special characters (all keyboard characters including spaces, not defined as letters or numerals): `~!@#$%^*()_-+={}[]\|:;”‘ <>,.?/
  • You may not use an ampersand (&)

Please read Sierra Password Best Practices for more information. If you have any issues with your Sierra password, you can submit a ticket to Hub.

 

New update to Sierra

An update to Sierra–Release 1.2.1– is scheduled for July 23. The update is expected to add some new features and resolve several known issues. The issues marked with a star have been reported locally and should be especially appreciated by our Sierra users.

Release 1.2.1

New features and enhancements

•             Arabic language support for Sierra Desktop Application.star

•             For ERM customers, COUNTER 4.0 for JR1 reports is now available. This release still supports COUNTER 3 reports.
Issues Resolved

Acquisitions

•             Cannot open or expand order record entries in Compact Browse

Description: When searching in an order record phrase index, the compact browse does not allow the entries to be Open or expanded.

•             Cannot set a review file in Import Invoices

Description: When using the Import tab in Import Invoices, users cannot set a review file before loading. When clicking “none” to set the review file, the client is supposed to present a list of review files to choose from.

•             Incorrect multi-fund flags appear in invoices, preventing orders from being paid

Description: Occasionally, payments on different orders result in the one order record getting a combined payment.

•             The Import Invoices and Data Exchange functions freeze the client.

Description: The Import Invoices and Data Exchange functions in Sierra freeze the client.

•             Foreign currency conversions taking an unusually long time to finish

Description: Foreign currency conversions take over an hour to complete.

•             In the Acquisitions function, vendor codes show incorrectly as vendor names.

Description: In the Vendor Hierarchies function, some vendor codes display as vendor names.

•             The Always Prompt for Template setting generates an error in the Receive function.

Description: Receive function users cannot select a record template to create their new item with while receiving an order.

•             The Acquisitions function is missing activity. star

Description: When looking at the fund activity for some funds, Sierra does not display the activity. The fund activity is also omitted from Fund Activity Reports.

•             The Receive tab is missing an “Always prompt for template” option in Settings.

Description: In the Settings menu of the Sierra Desktop Application, the Receive tab does not offer an “Always prompt for template” option.

•             The Pay an Invoice option in the Acquisitions function is missing a “Show amount in local currency” button. star

Description: The system does not offer a local currency option when users access the Pay an Invoice function and choose the “Use Currency” box.

•             Related orders do not show in resource records.

Description: When related orders are created and linked they do not show on the resource record. Related resources do show in the order record.

Cataloging

•             When performing a Global Update with the “Use displayed fields” checkbox checked, some changes are not detected.

Description: Performing a Global Update with the “Use displayed fields” option does not perform changes on all MARC fields.

•             LC call number searches including a period character do not work.

Description: In SDA, searches for call numbers that include a period fail. The system displays a “your entry would be here message.”

•             When users toggle to CAT DATE in Global Update, Sierra does not display the CAT DATE field.

Description: Sierra does not display the CAT DATE fixed-length field in Global Update.

•             LC call number searches produce unexpected results.

Description: LC Call Number searches (c index) produce different results depending on how users enter the call number for the search.

•             Heading entry counts do not match

Description: Counts for heading entries retrieved in a phrase index search do not match the number of heading entries that display in the index browse table.

•             A local Z39.50 search crashes the Sierra client.

Description: When performing a Z39.50 local Catalog search followed by a Remote search, the Sierra client crashes.

•             Phrase search indexes show incorrect counts in Sierra facets.

Description: Sierra facet counts do not reflect the true number of records in results.

•             Search strings are not normalized in Verify Headings

Description: Search strings for a Chinese author name are not normalizing in Verify Headings.

•             Catalog Database Status not reporting the correct entries for “heading changes”

Description: The system does not display correct entries for “heading changes” in Catalog Database Status.

•             When verifying headings for 490 and 830 fields, the system fails to find entries containing subfield v

Description: The Verify Headings function does not find entries containing subfield v for 490 and 830 fields.

•             The Z39.50 server does not export the coverage database 856 field

Description: Users viewing records via remote Z39.50 searches both in Sierra and in WebPAC do not see the 856 field. The URL is not being exported to the record as part of a Z39.50 search.

•             The Link Maintenance queue is getting corrupted

Description: If site has Overnight Daily Link Maintenance program set up, bibliographic records are written to this file for processing and if the file becomes corrupted, the overnight job does not run.

•             Data Exchange gives a “bibtemp = 11” error when loading records

Description: When users load patron records in Data Exchange, the program generates a “Bibtemp result =11” error message and the load is stopped.

•             The Scope Authority Records function incorrectly loads records causing incorrect headings reports.

Description: Running the Scope Authority Records process incorrectly loading records and causing the AACP process to hang while also generating incorrect headings reports.

•             An author search in the compact browse does not result in correctly-sorted entries

Description: When performing an author search in the Compact Browse, Sierra does not sort entries in alphabetical order by title. Entries found by the same author should sort alphabetically by title.

•             The right-click mouse function to access the Global Update “change” command does not work

Description: When users attempt a “change” command in Global Update, Sierra displays an unintelligible field and fails to find the change.

•             The system does not save item records if the MARC 090 field is missing certain subfields

Description: When users create or edit a single item record, Sierra does not save the record if the 090 field lacks at least one subfield h, k or m.

•             The Verify Headings brief bibliographic information box in the browse is not selectable

Description: Users cannot select the brief bibliographic information box when using the Verify Headings Browse. This problem exists in both compact and expanded browse displays.

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Invitation: Global Update Basics for Sierra

A two hour online live training from Innovative Interfaces will be offered to all interested staff who need more training (or a refresher) for the basics of Global Updates in Sierra.

When:  Thursday, July 24, 11:45 – 1:45 pm
Where: Library Tech Center, Room 122

This session is designed for the novice Global Update user. It will cover problems common to new users and suggest tips for the effective use of Global Update.

Because we have limited seating, please contact libcatsupp@lists.osu.edu to reserve a spot for what is sure to be a very good training session.

Invitation: Advanced Create Lists Training Session

A two hour online live training from Innovative Interfaces will be offered to all interested staff who need more training (or a refresher) for the Create Lists function in Sierra.

When:  Tuesday, July 22, 8:30 – 10:30 am
Where: Thompson Room 150

This session will cover more advanced Boolean conditions and more complex functions that can be done with a review file. Topics covered are:

  • Advanced Boolean Conditions
  • Does not have
  • Matches (regular expression)
  • Searching special fields (MARC leader, 006, 007, 008)
  • Nesting Boolean conditions
  • Finding bibliographic records with no attached records
  • Searching indexes instead of ranges of records
  • Searching the Advanced keyword index
  • Searching an existing review file
  • Searching without specifying any Boolean condition (retrieve all records in range)
  • Working with multiple record types
  • Appending records to an existing file
  • Using Global Update to view additional fields from the records in the file
  • Saving and using saved search strategies
  • Using Create Lists “Templates”
  • Copying files (including system-created files)

Because we have limited seating, please contact libcatsupp@lists.osu.edu to reserve a spot for what is sure to be a very good training session.

New fields available in Sierra summary display

Based on feedback from various staff who work with a high volume of multi-item records, ILMS has added the status and barcode fields to the summary of item records.  See the example below:
statusinitem

Also based on staff feedback, we have added RDATE to the summary view for order records, as illustrated below:

rdateinorder

We appreciate your feedback and as always, strive to improve the way Sierra functions.

Innovative Users Group Conference 2014 – Detroit

PrintI attended the Innovative Users Group Conference in Detroit, MI along with my OSUL colleagues Morag Boyd, Ousmane Kebe, Sue Rahnema and Beth Snapp. Sue and I presented detailing our experiences preparing for the Sierra migration last June.

Beth, Sue, Ousmane and I also presented on how we have improved systems processes since the migration. Sierra gives us access to much more granular data vs. Millennium. By combining Postgres SQL queries with more user-friendly web applications, Ousmane has helped make several improvements to some of our more labor-intensive tasks. Both presentations were very well received. We hope to present again at the IUG conference in Minneaopolis, MN in 2015.

In addition to presenting, we also attended several interesting presentations, including but not limited to:

  • Sierra Direct SQ Access 101
  • Overview of Decision Center Product
  • Extending Sierra with REST APIs and SierraDNA
  • Sierra Roadmap for 2014 and Beyond
  • Preparing to Join HathiTrust: One Library’s Experience

Slides for each of these presentations are available; if anyone is interested in viewing them, please let me know and I will be more than happy to share them.

DELAYED: Sierra update to Release 1.2

NOTE: This update has been delayed due to issues that have been discovered with this release. On Monday, April 7, an update bundle was installed to the Sierra integrated library system that should resolve the following issues:

Reports: Running monthly field statistics report become stuck at “in progress”
Circulation: Patrons exceeding $75 max able to request when should be blocked
Circulation: in Search/Holds, browse results show that title has 1 available item,  but when one selects the item it is actually checked out.
Create Lists: Export of patron record number field from item record does not export correctly
Create Lists: Getting “Error processing Query” for certain complex searches
Acquisitions: In “Pay an Invoice” function, cannot toggle between foreign currency amount and local currency amount
Sierra Desktop Application:The non-Roman Languages are not searchable;  a known items with Chinese title returns no results
Sierra Desktop Application: System freezing when unlinking multiple bibs from an item record
WebPAC: Title search indicated ‘Titles (1-5 of 5)’ but only one title displayed
WebPAC: Volumes sorting by location code instead of as arranged in Sierra

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

 

HathiTrust and the OSU Libraries Partnership

As a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, Ohio State University has partnered with HathiTrust as part of a collaboration that establishes a repository to archive and share digitized collections. HathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.

At the time of this post, OSUL has shared many volumes  for scanning by Google to be added to the HathiTrust digital library . While all are available to be searched and previewed, over half of these items are soon to be available to our users as full-text.

Our library catalog currently offers Google previews and some full views to a small number of books:

Full text availability from the library catalog

OSUL continues to add titles to the HathiTrust collection. Applications Development and Support‘s goal is to make digitized books more easily discoverable for our OSU users.  We will offer more access to scanned books, similar to other  Hathitrust partner institutions such as the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, Indiana University, and Boston College.

As an example, here is the search result for Alice’s adventures in wonderland, and Through the looking-glass by Lewis Carroll in Lens, the online library catalog of the University of Chicago:

University of Chicago Library Catalog

In addition to a preview of the title via Google,  users may access  (read, search and download) full text of the book from the HathiTrust Digital Library:

Full Text of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

As HathiTrust partners, Ohio State University can provide our users full-text access to not only our own digitized collection, but also to the millions of online books that are added to the repository.  Applications Development & Support will be bringing you this exciting enhancement in early 2014.

Known issues resolved by latest Sierra update

On Thursday, August 29, an update bundle was installed to the Sierra integrated library system that should resolve the following issue reported by various libraries:

  • A library reports that in Create Lists, the “Use Existing Search” function takes from 1 minute to 4 minutes to load for most users. Sometimes the search never appears, causing the SDA to freeze and require a relaunch. Additionally, accessing functions that use Create Lists is very slow once the user has logged into SDA.
  • Attempts to copy a review file result in an erroneous error message that “max size of destination file is too small for total size of original file.”
  • Cross reference entries selected from a WebPAC search results browse screen are very slow to load and can redirect the user to another results browse screen.
  • By default WebPAC displays a maximum of 32000 results for phrase and keyword searches. This number may be adjusted for phrase searches using the IBROWSE_MAX web option. WebPAC currently ignores both the hard-coded limit and the optional IBROWSE_MAX limit.
  • The Verify Headings compact browse displays only one heading rather than all appropriate headings.
  • Automatic Authority Control Processing operates very slowly.
  • Automatic Authority Control Processing is not updating all headings when it runs overnight.
  • Library staff report that they cannot use Global Update toggle to view MARC 006, 007, or 008.

Please let us know if you have any problems or concerns.

Thank you,

Michelle Gerry & Sue Rahnema

 

Customize Your Sierra Display Settings

Did you know that you can customize the way Sierra displays? One of the benefits of migrating to Sierra is that because you have your own login, you can also customize the way Sierra looks and feels. But how?

First, open the Sierra Desktop Application.

CHOOSE YOUR SKIN

From the top menu, click Admin (or press Alt+A on your keyboard) then select Settings:

AdminSettings

In the new window, click the tab labeled Display.

Click the Skin drop-down menu in the Look and Feel section:

LookFeelSkin

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