Support & Training Services Report: May 2007

Aleph Version 17 Upgrade

• Summary Holdings and exporting local holding records to OCLC – 4 test libraries are being used: 2 libraries (Alexandria Technical College and Northland Community & Technical College/East Grand Forks campus) not using the Serials Module, but manually maintaining the seriality on the item record and 2 libraries (Inver Hills Community College and Minnesota State University/Mankato) using the Serials module.

PALS is working with Alexandria Technical and East Grand Forks first. Their collections are smaller and we hope to get a test file sent to OCLC in the next couple of months.

PALS is currently in the process of identifying the titles that the libraries want to have sent to OCLC. After the titles have been identified PALS will make sure that the holding records of those titles all have the correct field information. Once that has been completed PALS will create the file to send to OCLC. At some point it will be necessary to do a global change to each libraries item records.

After PALS has successfully sent a file to OCLC we will establish a documented procedure for libraries wanting to send their LHR’s to OCLC. As soon as PALS has tested and documented this part of the Summary Holdings process, we will let libraries know so they can begin work on this.

• Importing bib records into Aleph and then exporting the library holding/ownership to OCLC – St. Cloud State University is testing the import of bib records directly from GPO vs. going through OCLC. The records are already in OCLC’s WorldCat, so now we need to load SCS holding code for these records into OCLC.
• EDI – PALS has contacted Yankee Book regarding testing EDI ordering. We will be working with Metro State as the test library.
• New Reports - Two new reports have been added to HARP for Acquisitions and Serials. The first report is the mnpals-28 report Titles Spent per Budget. The second report is the mnpals-30 report Serial Titles with Claims. More information can be found in the PALS Support Center ‘Answers’ or in the HELP under the ALEPH services.
• Inventory Services – Testing with St. John’s/St. Ben’s University the new inventory marking feature and 4 new services; e.g. item-01 is to determine a range upon which to perform the inventory,. item-08 is used for a batch process, item-09 is used to set a process status on “missing” items, and item-10 produces a summary report upon completion.

MnPALS Task Forces and Working Groups:

• Authorities Task Force – Reported at the April ’07 Cataloging UG meeting that they will not meet until ver. 18 is loaded. They will then examine the new Authority features.
• Marketing Task Force – This group met last in early May and will take a break until late July, early August.
• MnPALS Access Task Force – ?
• MnPALS Indexing Task Force – There will be no meetings over the summer months. The next meeting is scheduled for September 17, 2007.
• MARC Records Task Force – At the April 2007 Cataloging User Group meeting, presented the new “Guidelines for the Import of non-OCLC MARC Records into the MnPALS Catalog”. It was approved by the Cataloging User Group. It needs to go the User Council and Deans/Directors/Executive Council for approval. Since the work of this task force is done, their convener, Robin Horowitz (MSL), will write a letter to the Fall 2007 Cataloging User Group asking that they be formally disbanded.
• Validation Work Group - The work of this group was completed. They were disbanded at the April 2007 Cataloging User Group meeting. Further changes, additions, corrections, deletions to the check_doc tables (validation tables) in Aleph will be presented by catalogers to the PALS Office Support Center.

Aleph Training

• Currently there are no training sessions posted.
• Check out the following link from the PALS homepage for a full listing of training offerings and links to registration forms http://www.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.asp?as=16&wp=112&aid=PALS.
• Individual invitations will be sent out each time we add a new session to our offerings.
• Customized Training or Training for adding a new module of Aleph to your library is available upon request. Please contact the PALS Support Center http://pals.custhep.com.

Consortium of MnPALS Libraries User Groups

• Mark your calendars MnPALS Fall User Groups will be held October 11 & 12, 2007 at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
• MnPALS User Group Conveners will be contacted in late Summer to begin planning for Fall User Groups.

PALS Support Center

• Version 8 Upgrade – The upgrade to version 8 of RightNow has been completed with little disruption of the end user pages. Only a few bugs have appeared as people have become accustomed to using the new staff client. The upgrade went smoothly for the most part and it seems as though everybody likes the new version better than the previous one. If you notice problems or have questions regarding version 8 of RightNow please let Cathy know.
• New Answers added to the PALS Support Center Knowledge Base:
  • Browse Call Number Displays only Class Number and Title #3151
  • Shelf List Report (item-05) missing items #3147
  • Canceling Orders #3139
  • Titles per Budget Spent (mnpals-28) Report #3141
  • Titles with Claims (mnpals-30) Report #3142
  • Change screen color in windows of Circulation module #3140
  • Remove Patron IDs cir-32 Service #3125
  • Authority record shows up in OPAC #3138
  • Predicting Issues on a Seasonal Quarterly Title Beginning with the Winter Issue #3127
• Changed Waiting Status -The status of Waiting has now been changed based on the recommendation made in the last Support Staff meeting. When an incident status changes to Waiting it will now stay in the Waiting Status for 10 day before moving to Closed Status. Incidents remain in Closed Status for 90 business days, which is what it was previously. During this 90 day period our libraries can still update an incident, after that it’s closed forever. After this point a new request would need to be created is the problem needed to be readdressed.
• PALS Support Center Tip – What do Statuses mean?

Below is a list of the statuses that you might see displayed on a request that you have sent to the PALS Support Center and what each means. When viewing a request you have sent to the Support Center through the web you will see the status displayed on the lower left side of the screen.

• New – Your request has just been sent and no response has been sent to you from the PALS staff. Requests will stay in this status until action is taken by the PALS staff.
• Updated – You have updated a request with additional information for the PALS staff to take action on. Requests will stay in this status until action is taken by the PALS Staff or by the person sending the request.
• Waiting – PALS staff have sent you a response and either need further information from you or if you are satisfied with the response you have received you can close the request. Requests will stay in this status for 10 days.
• Completed – Your request has been resolved in one of the following ways; 1)You have marked it completed, 2)PALS staff have marked it completed, 3)It has passed the 10 day waiting for a response period and is automatically marked closed. Requests in the status can be reopened for 90 business days.
• Sent to Vendor – PALS staff has contacted a vendor regarding your problem and is waiting for a response.
• Enhancement Request – Your request has been identified as something that needs an enhancement to the software for resolution.
• Technical Review – A Support Specialist has sent your request over to technical services for either further review or action.

MnLINK Gateway – Susan Dueis

Support Staff Participation

Conferences Attended:

• Electronic Serials Cataloging Workshop, 4/25/07 – Mary Ann
• MnSCU Librarian Day, 5/1/07 – Mary Ann & Cathy
• MINITEX ILL Conference “Resource Sharing: Making a Difference” – Mary Ann, Sonja & Susan
• Branch Out, 5/23-24/07 – Michele & Trudy

Training participating in:

• Synchronous Learning Expert - ‘Learn how to Learn Online’ – Synchronous Facilitation Certificate, In process – Becky, Cathy, Dee, Dan, Frank, Kyle, Mary Ann, Perry, Sonja, Susan

Upcoming Conferences:

• ELUNA Technical Seminar and Aleph User Group, 6/3-8/07 – Dee, Mary Ann, Sonja, Susan & Perry
  • Poster session presentation “Fixed field indexing: A Cataloger’s Dream Come True” – Mary Ann
  • Cataloging/Authorities Interest Group Secretary –Mary Ann
  • Patron Scrubbing and Privacy Issues Panel – Susan
  • Ask the Experts Panel - Sonja
• ALA, 6/22-26/07 – Mary Ann

Questions?