Sierra | Information Technology

Category: Sierra (page 5 of 5)

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

Use your keyboard to quickly find a review file

June 28, 2013 / Michelle Gerry / Comments Off

We have a LOT of review files in ~~Millennium~~ Sierra. And sure, we try to empty a review file as soon as we’re done using them, right? RIGHT? Sure we do. But that still means there are many review files, as many as 320, being run and in use each day.

And this can be a problem when selecting a review file from some Sierra functions, such as Data Exchange and Global Update. The review file number isn’t listed in the drop down list, making it difficult to quickly scan to the review file you wish to select and possibly causing eyestrain.

So, here’s a quick tip for finding your review file a little easier:

Type the first letter of the name of your review file.

In the example below, my review file is called “IT Test of order records no ODATE 130628”. In order to access it from the long list of review files, I tapped the “I” key on my keyboard repeatedly until my review file was selected. This bypasses all the other review files that don’t start with I, so in the example below, it bypassed “SSCAT april stats,” CAT Charvat March sig 3-25-13,” and “mec ottoman microfilms.”

This tip should help save you time and possibly save your eyesight!

Sierra Informational Session – check out our slides!

May 3, 2013 / Michelle Gerry / Comments Off

Thank you to everyone who attended our Sierra Informational Sessions on April 30 and May 1. We were really pleased with the interest and thoughtful questions. We hope you found the sessions informative.

If you are interested, you may save a copy of the presentation for yourself (or share with others) by clicking the image below. You will be directed to download the presentation file from BuckeyeBox.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact Michelle Gerry or Sue Rahnema and we will be happy to assist you.

Library Catalog Server Maintenance on Monday, April 15

April 12, 2013 / Michelle Gerry / Comments Off

The Library IT department needs to perform server maintenance to the library catalog server on Monday, April 15 from midnight to 2 am. As a result, the library catalog, and staff access to the catalog via Millennium or telnet will be unavailable during that time.

Please log off and close any applications connecting to the catalog before April 15 at midnight.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Preparations for Migration of Millenium to Sierra June 3

March 18, 2013 / Michelle Gerry / Comments Off

The Libraries’ Information Technology Division is preparing for the upcoming migration of Millennium to Sierra on June 3. Here are the details:

Sierra

Functional Experts

We have identified a group of colleagues who will serve as liaisons to the Applications Development & Support team. They will help us plan for the migration, test during the preview period, report/assist with all issues post conversion, and continue to perform system checks with each monthly update after migration
Functional Experts will also help identify functions still performed in the character-based system and assist in preparing documentation and training to replicate the functions in Millennium

Informational Sessions and Training

We are planning for informational and training sessions beginning in late April to be held at both Thompson Library and Library Tech Center
We are in the process of developing Sierra Central which will serve as a hub of information concerning Sierra, including FAQ, training materials, known issues, and testing plans
We are creating a Sierra Migration blog for timely updates

Timeline

February 27

Michelle Gerry and Sue Rahnema visit Wright State University for overview of Sierra Systems workflow

March 12

Rocki Strader, Sherab Chen and Jian Lee visit University of Akron for overview of Sierra Cataloging workflow

March 13

Functional Experts meet to rank identified Known Issues and review Sierra Central

April 2

Functional Experts meet to customize Post-Migration Checklist

April 11

Circulation staff visit Wright State University for overview of Circulation workflow in Sierra

April 15

Early morning (midnight – 2 a.m.) catalog downtime for server maintenance

April 30 – May 1

Informational sessions
4/30 2:00 – 3:30 at Thompson; 5/1 10:30 – noon at Tech Center

April 22 – May 6

IT Staff begin installing Sierra Desktop Application for local staff

May 6 – Preview Period

Beginning of Preview period, where staff can open the Sierra Desktop Application but not make any changes
Sue and Michelle will visit staff to verify that they are authorized for all necessary functions

May 14 – 16

Training in Thompson Room 149; Times and Syllabus TBA

June 3 – Conversion Day!

Millennium and the character-based system cannot be used
Library catalog down for everyone
No requesting in WCL or OhioLink
No access to online resources from off-campus

June 4 – ???

IT Staff and the Functional Experts perform post-migration checking
Problems can be reported in the IT Service Request Form
Check Sierra Central for updates about ongoing issues and resolutions
Millennium and the character-based system will be removed from staff computers

If you have any specific training needs or conversion concerns, please create an issue. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Contacts

Michelle Gerry and Sue Rahnema, Applications Development & Support.

Sierra Videos – Get a sneak peak into how Sierra functions

Sierra Desktop Application Training Videos from MARINet

Dan McMahon from the MARINet Library Consortium has graciously allowed us to share these videos he made to explain some of Sierra’s features.

Another set of videos is available from III at CS Direct (a password is required):

If you need any assistance viewing them, please contact libcatsupp@lists.osu.edu.

Sierra Migration Forthcoming

February 4, 2013 / Sue Rahnema / Comments Off

We are planning our migration to Sierra for Monday, June 3^rd, 2013. There will be a one day downtime to accomplish this migration. Thank you for your patience!

Sierra gives libraries that want to delve more deeply into the data structures of their systems the means to accomplish their goals. Sierra’s technical backbone has been modernized and is very different from Millennium. In Sierra, a user can execute SQL queries on the database directly, rather than looking at records only in the desktop application. In short, the library can search and refine sets of data from the database in ways they could not do before. The foundation of the Sierra Services Platform is a PostgreSQL relational database which captures all of the material, circulation, patron, financial, and other operational data of the library. This standard means a knowledge of the SQL query language is enough to get started.

Data in the library’s system are now available for querying, such as patron transaction information, financial information, and content of various kinds. This opens up a new world for sophisticated searching. For example, in addition to “asking” for basic hold information, the user can find out who placed the hold, when it was placed, if the hold was frozen. Another example is fines: users can immediately tell, for example, which patrons have fines over a given amount.

Ohio State nav bar

Information Technology