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Two Sierra Updates

If you look closely at you print checkout receipts, you will notice that the time stamp says 12:00AM. This is a known issue in the current Sierra software and will be fixed in the next Sierra update. We have no date yet for when the next update will be releases.

Most of the Sierra update involved bug fixes and some internal structural changes. There are a few small updates that may be of more general interest to us. OWLS staff are currently researching these. If applicable, we will report back, most likely at the next AAC meeting. One change that we think went into affect is this:

It will be possible in WebPAC to renew items when there are outstanding holds on the item, as long as there are also still enough copies available for those holds to be filled

I tested this in Encore, and I was allowed to renew a title that had a hold but plenty of available copies. That is a small sample size, so if you have a chance to test this, go ahead and give it a try and let me know if it works. Thanks,

Evan

 

 

Notices

Notices ran successfully this morning. Notices for 12/16/2015 are posted at https://owlsnet.org/owlsnet/notices

In general, the software update went very well yesterday. Other than the notices not running and some lost printer settings, we had very few reports of problems. I don't believe the issue with Encore last night was related to the software update, but we will follow up with Innovative. As usual, if you run into any issues, please email owlsnethelp@mail.owls.lib.wi.us. Thanks,

Evan

Sierra Software Upgrade - December 14/15

Just a last reminder that we are scheduled for a Sierra software update, beginning at 11:55 PM on Monday,December 14th. The update should be completed before any libraries open on Tuesday morning. On Tuesday morning (December 15th) we ask that libraries start one Sierra computer at a time and let it update before turning on another Sierra computer. If you have any problems with Sierra, please email owlsnethelp@mail.owls.lib.wi.us. OWLS staff will post updates if problems are reported. This software release has been out for a while and most of the bugs, supposedly, have been fixed. It has, however, been a pretty long time since our last Sierra upgrade so we should not be surprised if there are some issues.Be hopeful, but be prepared. Thanks,
Evan

Sierra Software Upgrade Reminder

Just a reminder that we are scheduled for a Sierra software update, beginning at 11:55 PM on Monday,December 14th. The update should be completed before any libraries open on Tuesday morning. On Tuesday morning (December 15th) we ask that libraries start one Sierra computer at a time and let it update before turning on another Sierra computer. If you have any problems with Sierra, please email owlsnethelp@mail.owls.lib.wi.us. OWLS staff will post updates if problems are reported. I will send out another reminder on Monday. Thanks and good luck!

Evan

Email Notices: Update

We have been working with innovative to fix two minor issues with email notices. One, was "iiiguy" showing up in the from address, and the other was in overdue notices where the last part of the text was being cut off. Innovative says they have removed "iiiguy" from the notices and yesterday we made a small adjustment in the format of the overdue notices that we hope will fix that problem. Unfortunately, it is hard to generate a test notice, so if anyone received an overdue notice this morning, could you please let me know if the second paragraph printed completely, including the url to InfoSoup. It should say:

Items may be returned at any OWLSnet library. For a list, see the
Library Directory under the My Library menu at http://www.infosoup.org

Thanks,
Evan

InfoSoup Reading Blogs

In discussion with many of the librarians most active in posting reviews to the InfoSoup blogs, we reached the conclusion that now was the right time to bring the review blogs to a quiet and peaceful end. I have posted a note on each of the blogs informing users of this decision.

The plan is to keep the current pages up until the end of the year. In 2016 we will replace each of the blogs with a corresponding page highlighting book lists, award lists, and other age appropriate reading resources, such as Read On Wisconsin, TeachingBooks, NoveList, local book festivals and community reads etc. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for resources you would like to see presented.

Many thanks to all who participated over the years!

Evan

Sierra Software Upgrade - December 14/15

One server migration down, one software upgrade to go! As discussed at AAC, we will be upgrading our Sierra Software from 1.2 SP2 to Sierra 2.0 SP3. We have schedule with Innovative to run the upgrade overnight, starting around 11:55 pm on Monday, December 14th. The upgrade should be completed sometime very early the following morning. If all goes well, there will be no down time during any open hours. In general, most libraries who have upgraded recently have reported few problems. This is a pretty big software jump for us, however, so we can assume there will be some issues. We will hope for the best, but be ready for an exciting Tuesday, just in case. As the date approaches we will provide additional information on what to look for after the upgrade.

Evan

Email Courtesy Notices

Since the server migration, there has been an issue with email courtesy notices where the library name does not display in the email From address. The library name has been replaced with "iii guy." From addresses look like this:

"iii guy" is just the generic user name that Innovative gives to email sent from the Sierra server. We have a ticket open and Innovative is looking into this. If patrons are confused or concerned that this is spam, please let them know that this is OK, but that we are working to fix it. Thanks,

Evan

Paging Lists Not Printing

Printing paging lists continues to be a problem. We have a call open with Innovative and are working with them to resolve this issue. We will post a note when we believe the problem is fixed. Please continue to report to OWLSnet help owlsnethelp@mail.owls.lib.wi.us any other issues. 

Evan

Sierra Application Server Migration

I just confirmed with Innovative that we are all set to go tomorrow (November 17) beginning at 8:00 am. We will send out a net support notify message when the server is back up. I put a note on InfoSoup indicating that we will be down for a short time tomorrow morning. Of course, once we are down, no one will see the message :)

Evan

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