Support and Training Report: February 2011

Aleph


Acq/Serials

  • An answer has been created for the new Bulk Arrival feature in version 20. See Answer #3423. NOTE: On page 3 of the document be sure to read the Important Notes section.

Cataloging

  • It is not necessary to update headings in SYS10 (authority library) based on the quarterly Cataloging Service Bulletin from Library of Congress (LOC). Replacement headings come through on the weekly load of the authority file. The weekly files may be a few weeks behind LOC's implementation, but they will appear.
  • Mary Ann runs the 'List Headings having Multiple Document Records (auth-04)' against the SYS10 (authority library) about every 3 months. This service creates a report that lists authority headings present in more than one authority record. Since Aleph requires only one authority record be linked to a heading, this report is useful in finding those multiple records and then manually turning one of them to UPD=N. Eventually, a record from LOC will cancel or delete the additional record.
  • If you use the [I]MPORT feature from the Cataloging module, there is a ConvertIn file where your file of incoming bib records is stored. In ver. 20, libraries reported they weren't seeing the ConvertIn file. What happens is that the first time you need to use ConvertIn and open the Cataloging module for it, the system automatically builds the ConvertIn folder. After that the ConvertIn file is always there.

Circulation

  • In the Cir-05 Patron List service, we added a provision to check for inappropriate parameters (either All or Global Patron chosen in Sublibrary field) and if found, report error, stop service and suggest correct parameters. The suggested way to set up the Cir-05 Patron List service is described in Answer #3282 in the Support Center.

ILL

  • Just a reminder that the new functionality in version 20 is reviewed in the "New Features Aleph Version 20" PowerPoint.
  • A new report Priv-24 "Titles Frequently Requested Through ILL" is available for staff to use. This service reports titles of closed and unfilled borrowing interlibrary loan requests during a specified date range. The report will list Title, Author, Publication Year, ISBN, Supplied Media, Request Date, Status and Patron ID for closed and unfilled borrowing requests. This service is in ILL module under Services then under Custom Services.

OPAC

In the information about new functionality in v.20, we described the following new feature in the Web OPAC:

Web OPAC –Your Borrowing Record

Pop up box displays a notice to patrons when they log on to the Web OPAC if they are delinquent, have unpaid cash transactions, or overdue loans.

 

 We have found that the notice for pending cash transactions is problematic with the way that most of our libraries handle credits for returned items that were billed. Most libraries have an offsetting credit applied when a billed item is returned. While the effective balance is then zero, the original replacement charge and the offsetting credit are still “open cash”. This new patron notice feature in v.20 just looks for “open cash” and so a notice appears to patrons that effectively have zero balances, but have remaining original replacement charges and offsetting credits that are still “open cash”.

We are waiting to hear from Ex Libris to see if there is a fix for this. In the meantime, we are going to turn off this notice for now. In a table we maintain in the PALS office, there are three new variables to control whether or not to display these new patron notices when the patron logs into the Aleph OPAC. We will leave the other two variables turned on (delinquencies/blocks and overdues), so patrons will see notices for those.

Workdays

  • The Circulation and Interlibrary loan steering committees are looking for volunteers to present at the Circulation and Interlibrary Loan workday.
  • The members of the Circulation Steering Committee are listed here.The members of the ILL Steering Committee are listed here.

Evergreen


ECRL implementation

  • ECRL was upgraded to 1.6.1.4 on 1/19/11. No new functionality is being introduced with this upgrade, but it solves some outstanding issues.

Evergreen Version 2.0

  • Evergreen Version 2.0 has been released to the general community. Current stable release is 2.0.1.
  • EGPlay is on v. 2.0.0.
  • Testing is ongoing.

Documentation

  • Jenny Turner attended the most recent Documentation Interest Group meeting on IRC.
  • Efforts are being made to coordinate documentation on v. 1.6 and 2.0 throughout the community to limit duplication.
  • GPLS has promised documentation for 2.0.

Other Products/Services


EZproxy

MnPALS Plus

  • For more information on this product, check out the MnPALS Forum: http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=35.0
  • Recent Fixes:
    • Added ILL Request check for patron delinquencies. If patron has delinquencies, ILL request will not be processed.
    • A problem was reported in processing requests for libraries that have multiple ILL units. Fixed.

PALSconnect ERM

  • An ERM Task Force has been formed by the PALSconnect ERM Team. Members are Theresa Borchert, Concordia College; John Daniels, Minneapolis Community and Technical College; Shelly Grace, Southwest Minnesota State University; Miranda Novak, College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University; and Bill Vann, Hennepin Technical College. The first meeting is February 8, 2011.
  • The PALSconnect ERM has been updated with the following new features
    • New Subject Linking in the CRDB. If you have added subjects to your ERM records you will be able to find a record in the CRDB and click on a particular subject which will link you to a list of all the ERM records with that same subject listing. NOTE: If in your CRDB template you locally edited the display_field.tt, this will prevent the system from using the new global template which controls this new functionality. If you want to use this new functionality you would need to delete your locally edited version of the display_field.tt template file.
    • New Costs Fields. Three new costs fields have been added to the Advanced Costs. They are order number, number, and reference. The order number field is labeled ‘Order’. Because the number field appears after the order number field, it appears like ‘Order number’ is two fields, but in fact, the three fields are labeled as Order, Number, and Reference.

PALSconnect Linker

  • We have renamed the Link Manager forum to Open URL Link Managers, and invite you to post all your Open URL questions and tips, no matter which Open URL Link Resolver you are using: http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=68.0
  • Trained our newest library, North Hennepin Community College on February 7, 2011.

Task Forces


Authorities

Indexing

MnPALS Plus Working Group

  • For more information on this task force, check out the MnPALS Forum: http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=78.0
  • Working Group met in January and prioritized enhancement requests.
  • Working Group plans to meet again in February.

Reports Task Force

Office Teams


Communications Team

  • Target date for rolling out the new website: February 17, 2011.

Marketing Team

  • We continue to seek customers for our open source products.