Closure

It is hard to believe that today is the end date of the ILS Implementation project. We started searching for a new ILS in late July of 2006. Two years later, we've transitioned from Geac PLUS to Innovative Millennium. What a long, strange trip it has been.

• July 2006 - ILS Replacement Committee, led by Pam Skittino, meets for the first time
• August 2006 - First vendor visits
• September and October 2006 - ILS Committee visited libraries that use the ILSes we were considering
• December 2006 - June 2007 - RFP (Request for Proposal) is prepared, written and submitted to vendors
• June 19, 2007 - Board approves purchase of Innovative Millennium
• June 2007 - The Information Distribution Team is formed and the I Luv Snacks blog is born!
• July 10, 2007 - Brainstorming meeting to start planning staff education, communication and inspiration
• August 10, 2007 - Contract with Innovative is signed
• August 30, 2007 - First set of data sent to Innovative
• October 11, 2007 - Word of the Week begins to teach staff more about essential ILS terms.
• October 23, 2007 - Mr./Ms. Millennium contest begins!
• December 2007 - Staff training begins with the Introduction to Millennium taught by the IDT Trainers
• January 2008 - Things get serious. Training sessions and the important dates start filling up our calendars. We have a wake for the departing Geac PLUS system.
• January - February 2008 - Training, training, and more training!
• January 2008 - Go live with Serials and Cataloging
• February 11, 2008 - We stop using Geac PLUS and begin using the Innovative migration system
• February 12, 2008 - We go live with Millennium! What a week!
• March 2008 - Go live with Acquisitions
• March 11, 2008 - Deb Lindahl is crowned Ms. Millennium

During the entire project we also had a new Library Director, installed Express Checkout machines, reopened the Meeting Room, rearranged most of the library, and planned two new library buildings.

It's been a very busy two years and we're not even done yet! Here's what's still to come:

• eCommerce set up so patron's can pay fines online with a credit card
• Pathfinder Pro
• Load Table Training - Barb Jarvis will learn how to change the way records load from outside the system
• Modify statistics database to work with Millennium data
• Future Innovative purchases: AirPac, LinkInn, etc.
• Millennium Release 2007 - expected in April 2008 (think May, if we're lucky). This includes a lot of features we're waiting for like Syndetics (reviews, summaries in the catalog) and special printing abilities we don't have now.

We've progressed through this process pretty smoothly. Some bumps, bugs, and problems are to be expected. Hopefully you feel like you understood what was going on most of the time, felt prepared for the transition, and had a pretty good time along the way!

Your Information Distribution Team,

Katie Olsen
Mary Andrew
Heather Beverley
Deborah Gafka
Erin Maassen
and Andrea Johnson

PS Feel free to comment with suggestions or comments on how it can be done better next time!

Order, Order in the Catalog!

Alert searcher, Carol H., noticed that copies in the Encore part of the catalog aren't listed in any order, as in the example below.





We have set the web option for Web PAC Pro to display copies in order, with copies at the location you are searching at listed first.



Unfortunately, this setting does not extend to Encore. According to Innovative, copies are listed in Encore in alphabetical order by the location code, except in some situations like the one above, which makes me skeptical of this explanation.



Anyway, this is a feature that many customers have requested that Encore include so it is on the list of future enhancements, but a date this will happen is not available at this time.

On letting go...

We all knew this day would come. I know there's never enough time to say goodbye, but we must move on.

The SmarTerm shortcuts on your desktop will hopefully disappear on or around April 15th. These are the shortcuts are the ones you used to access the Geac "blue screen" programs. The Plus Circ Client will also be uninstalled.

Enjoy the time left. If you feel you need access to Geac longer, please contact me.

And the winner is...

Millennium has been alive and thriving for almost a full month now, and it has proven to be a huge success. The public has embraced our new system with open arms, delighting in its ease of use and access.

Yet, the success of Millennium is not due to just any one person or committee, but to the library as a whole. Each and every member of the library staff has made a significant contribution to Millennium’s success. From attending training sessions to assisting patrons, offering suggestions for improvement and reporting problems, from participating in parties and to showing overall enthusiasm, each and every thing has made a large impact on Millennium’s success.

Although it would be impossible to list each and every thing every single staff member has done, you will find below a list of all the library’s staff and highlights of their contribution to Millennium’s launch.

Congratulations everyone on a job well done!

Thank you so very much,

The IDT Committee.


Cook Memorial Public Library District’s Dedicated Staff
Julie Abbott – ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee; Parameter Team; Cleaned up patron records.Leonor Abreu – Attended training. Mary Andrew – Queen of Communication; ILS Committee member; IDT Committee member; Head of the Millennium Ambassador program; Kept staff entertained when informing staff about migration (the popular mother having-a-baby analogy!); Word of the Week contributor. David Archer – Research Pro King; Location Code King; ILS Implementation Team member; ILS Committee member; ILS Selection Committee member; Parameter Team; Mr. Millennium contestant. Dan Armstrong – Provided valuable advise for the ILS migration based on prior experience; Assisted with the creation of Millennium tips and tricks sheets; signed Millie award certificates. Jane Aten – Trainer; Staff Day Training Organizer. Ellen Bassett – Catalog Reviewer; Millennium Cheerleader. Heather Beverley – Queen of the Catalog; IDT committee member (joined mid-project); Core Implementation team member; Member of the Web Pac Customization team; Set up staff usernames and initials; Millennium Cheerleader; Trainer; Word of the Week contributor. Nicole Bosak – Backup Queen; Trainer. Vanessa Boss- Attended training. Lori Carnes –ILS Selection committee; ILS Committee; Trainer; Millennium Ambassador; Word of the Week contributor. Lauren Cerniglia – ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee member; Trainer; Parameter Team. Sandy Cisneros – Attended training. Marian Clark – Trainer; Assisted her department in becoming more familiar with the new system. Stephanie Clavey – Millennium Cheerleader; Volunteered and trained to be a patron catalog assistant. Janet Claussen- Attended training. Winnie Collins – Trainer; Learned new ILL system without assistance. Debbie Colodny - Organized fantastic staff Millennium celebration parties; Millennium Cheerleader. Mary Ann Constantine – Learned new ILL system without assistance. Mike Cotini – Helped set up for all Millennium training sessions: Attended training. Maureen Czerwinski – Attended training. Patricia Danch – Attended training; Provided helpful suggestions for easing patron use of the catalog. Fran David- Karen Decker – Attended training. Ann Eckmann- Attended training. Robert Eckmann – Attended training. Cindy Evans- Attended all training sessions. Gail Finegan– ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee member; Trainer. Kathy Fabbri- Attended training. Erick Fortmann – Attended training. Deborah Gafka – IDT member; Trainer; I Luv Snacks blog participant. Glenn Gotrik – Attended training. Diana Guzman – Attended training. Laura Hadjimitsos – Arranged lunch for training. Jo Hansen – Attended training Nancy Hart – Millennium Cheerleader. Amy Heatherman – Assisted Circulation in learning how the new ILS system works in a one on one basis; Great Problem Support submitter. Libby Heumann – Trained Evergreen Circulation staff; Input helped refine the new system; Millennium Ambassador. Jan Hastings – Trainer; Millennium Ambassador; Catalog proof reader. Carol Hubert – ILS Committee Member; ILS Selection Committee member; Millennium Ambassador. Michele Hussli – Staff Day Training Organizer Barb Jarvis – Loan Rule Queen; Trainer; WOW contributor; Ellen Jennings – Staff Day Training Organizer; Trainer; Created sample patrons for training purposes. Andrea Johnson – Queen of Inspiration; ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee; Core Implementation Team; IDT Committee; Parameter Team; Member of the Web Pac Customization committee; Word of the Week contributor; Snacker of the Month coordinator. Terry Johnson– Attended training. Jayne Kent - Learned new ILL system without assistance. Sandra Kline – Helped with periodicals; Millennium Ambassador. Colleen Koebel – Trainer; Collected Millennium tricks, tips and cheats for staff use. Donna Krause - Arranged a vendor training lunch. Jeanne Lamz – Backup Queen; Created backup procedure; Millennium Ambassador; I Luv Snacks frequent blog poster; Susan Lucci of Snacker of the month. Arlene Lane- Attended training. Karen Langridge – Attended training. Deb Lindahl – Ms. Millennium contestant. Bungy Lowry – Millennium Cheerleader. Alanna Little- Attended training. Erin Maassen – Member of the Web Pac Customization team; IDT member; Fantastic I Luv Snacks blog poster. Evan Mather – Created snack-themed CD for unveiling party; Created death-themed CD for wake. Mary Mellang – Trainer. Justin Metz – Helped set up for all Millennium training sessions. Gary Murphy – Helped set up for all Millennium training sessions. Lisa Newell– Attended training. Katie Oakes – Ms. Millennium Contestant; Millennium Cheerleader. Katie Olsen – The People’s Princess; ILS Selection committee; ILS Committee; Core Implementation Team; Head of the IDT Committee; Head of the Web Pac Customization committee; Word of the Week contributor; Parameter Team; Trained the trainers; Trainer. Carol Opsal – Attended training. Nancy Osborne – Attended training. Gaby Pantle – Accommodated the Meeting Room schedule around Millennium Training sessions. Susie Pasini – Trainer; Staff Day Training Organizer. Blake Peacock– Attended training. Bill Penne – Millennium Cheerleader. Chris Popoli – Headed the Staff Day Training Committee; Coordinated catalog assistance volunteers. Rose Prouty – learned ILL system without extra training; didn’t leave us in frustration; Cheerleader. Connie Regan – Millennium Ambassador. Caroline Roberts – Gave good training suggestions. Marcy Rodriguez – ILS Committee member; Parameter Team; Provided valuable advise for the ILS migration based on prior experience; Assisted with the creation of Millennium tips and tricks sheets. Amany Rostom– Attended training. Lisa Rusch – Assisted in cleaning up GEAC patron records; Oversaw Word of the Week contributions; Millennium Cheerleader. Haley Samuelson– Attended training. Chris Scherman – Handled all IT responsibilities during the ILS process. Sonia Schoenfield – Millennium Trainer; Staff Day Training Organizer. Jane Seidman– Attended training. Nancy Shepherd – Attended training. Seethalakshmi Sivaram – Attended training. Pam Skittino – Empress of All. Head ILS Selection Committee; Head ILS Committee; Head of Core Implementation team; Parameter Team. Mary Ellen Stembal – ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee; Provided M&Ms for conference calls; negotiated contract with III. Karen Sterly – Donated boxes for training supplies Pam Strain – Attended vendor training. Eileen Sullivan – Provided headphones for training laptops. Gail Tanimura – Trainer; Millennium Ambassador. Mary Tompson- Attended training. Matilda To- Attended training. Andy Traynor – The King of Pretty; Member of the Web Pac Customization committee; Designed all the icons and buttons in the new catalog. Jane Trump – Member of the Web Pac Customization team; Research Pro set up; Millennium Trainer; Word of the Week Contributor. Elaine Quinn – Attended training. Danielle Quist- Attended ILS meetings; Trainer. Cindy Ugaste – Trainer; Millennium Ambassador. Joseph Ugaste- Volunteered and trained to be a patron catalog assistant. Virginia Walker – Learned Serials application; Entered a huge amount of magazine subscription cards. Linda Weagley– Attended training. Debbie Willgress- Trainer. Carol Zwolski – Attended vendor training.

Forget-Me-NOT!!!

Yes, the old catalog had it's limits, but it did have at least one nice feature, the "Remember me until I quit" checkbox. It put a cookie on the patron's computer that remembered their barcode and password whenever they used a My Account-related feature. This info was deleted when the user clicked the Quit button.

The new catalog does not have this exact feature. Instead, it has a "reverify" option, which we have turned on, which remembers the patron's barcode and password for requests (holds) placed in succession. It is not remembered when the patron clicks the My Account link, however. It also causes an interesting problem on the catalog stations in the library.

I'd like to share a work-around that you can share with patrons and use yourself and also important details about the interesting problem I mentioned above.

A work-around
Patrons can use a common web browser feature to remember their barcode number and password. These features are usually called something like "auto complete" or "auto form fill". They save the usernames and passwords you enter in the web browser so you can select and use them quickly in the future. You can often delete individual entries or indicate that you do not want some entries saved. These are the instructions Jane Trump wrote for the Help pages of the catalog.

Here's how you turn AutoComplete on in Internet Explorer. And here are links for instructions for Firefox users and Safari users.

• How can I avoid typing my entire barcode number and password every time I access my account from my home computer?
  You can set your browser to remember logins and passwords in all the sites you use, including Cook’s catalog. You will only have to do this once. In Internet Explorer:
  1. Choose Tools from the browser toolbar at the top of the page.
  2. From the dropdown menu choose Internet Options.
  3. Click the Content tab in the box that appears.
  4. Click the Settings button to the right of the AutoComplete description.
  5. Click the box for “User names and passwords on forms.”

An interesting problem.
As I mentioned above, the Reverify option we turned on automatically remembers the patron barcode and password for successive holds. A problem occurs when a patron using the catalog to place a hold leaves and someone else walks up and uses the catalog to place another hold before the timeout at 10 minutes occurs. The second patron can accidentally place a hold for the previous patron without realizing what has happened.

Here's the solution for this problem. After a patron places their last hold, they should click the Log Out link to log out of their account, then close the New Search window that appears. This clears their account information from the catalog so another request can be made. The Web PAC Pro Customization Committee will try to find a way to make this more obvious for patrons.


Keep those patron comments and questions coming! You can use the new #Millennium Comments and #Millennium Problems email accounts to report patron raves and rants (#Millennium Comments) or system problems (#Millennium Problems) you're experiencing.

Who Will Be Crowned The Winner?

The contestants have spoken...they've showed us their baby pictures, waxed poetically about Millennium, showed us a secret talent, and attended a few training classes!

Now it's your turn. Cast your vote below for who you think should be crowned Mr. or Ms. Millennium. The coronation will take place on Tuesday, March 11 at the "Thank God It's Over" Party.

In case you've missed it, here's what our candidates have done.

Dave Archer
On record saying"If elected Mr. Millennium, I will favor the incentive-laden approach such as: ‘Return a book on time, get a hug.’" Also told us of an authority-records obsession, a love of Junior Mints, and how excited he was by the staff's Millennium enthusiasm.

Deb Lindahl
She transformed to a goddess of the silver screen, developed a Clem Kadiddlehopper affection for Millennium, and revealed a crush on Mr. Rogers. She once said, "Millennium is like the little words shown on the screen at a Stars Wars movie. You know? You have to see dimensional letters fading to small in the background and large in the foreground. Or like Star Trek, 'Beam me up, Scotty!' Yipes!"

Katie Oakes
We were entranced with her extraordinary talent of falling asleep instantaneously. When she told us her nickname was Crash, we believed it...especially when she told us she would like to "be an Oscar Mayer Wiener, because everyone will be in love with me." Her catchphrase, "It's better than chocolate, and fat free: Millennium!" is sure to be caught on throughout the library.


Vote below!

Frozen Catalog is Melting

Have you noticed that the catalog doesn't freeze anymore when you do many searches in quick succession? That's because Innovative installed a patch to fix this problem with Internet Explorer.

Our searches should now be smooth, quick, and hopefully successful.

Keep filling out those problem reports!

Hold Expiration Dates Extended

The default expiration dates for all holds has been extended from 365 days to 540 days.

If patrons or staff do not choose a specific expiration date for a hold, the date used will be 540 days from the date the hold was placed.

Word of the Week

WOW: Serials

Yes, the word might make you think of Corn Flakes or Lucky Charms, but the serials we get here at Cook Memorial Public Library District aren’t that crunchy (though some are that sweet).

Simply defined, “serials” is a general term describing repeating publications such as magazines, newspapers, and journals. Other familiar terms used to refer to them are “periodicals” or “continuing resources.” Annual travel books such as Fodor’s are examples of serials, too.

Our new Millennium ILS has a very powerful Serials application and some slick ways of handling the many new issues we receive on a daily basis. Since we don’t subscribe to the Journal of Cereal Science, maybe it’s easier to think about the weekly People magazine. The Millennium Serials application is used to add the new issues about Brad & Angie, Britney, etc. to the catalog when they arrive each week. It also lets us know if an issue is late or a copy is missing, and it reminds us when our People subscription is about to expire.

A cataloger creates a single catalog record (using that MARC coding we talked about last week) to handle all of the People magazines that the library might get. Each copy of each issue is a Millennium item associated with that record. If we get five copies of People magazine this week, we add five items to the catalog. The cataloger is involved in a major way only when a subscription is new; the Periodicals department does the work each time we receive an issue.

Hopefully, Millennium will make it easier to handle the workload of dealing with our many serials. After things get settled down, you might want to see if Virginia has time to give you a quick tour of Millennium’s “Serials in action” – snap, crackle, pop!

Thanks to Barb Jarvis for starting our day out right while explaining 'serials' to us.

Locked Records in Millennium

Remember how you would sometimes see "Record is locked." in Geac PLUS? You may have thought the days of locked records were behind us, but they exist in every ILS, even Millennium. The phrase in Millennium, is the more gentle, "Record in use".

What do we do when we see this message?

1. Make note of the record number involved. You'll see it in the message that appears. Include the letter and the number (for example, i51493002).
2. Consider the possibilities: could someone else be legitimately using the number right now? If so, wait a while and try again. You can write down a transaction if the situation is time critical.
3. Contact Barb Jarvis (x159) or Pam Skittino (x157), and tell them the record number and problem.
4. They will release the record for you.

What does "Record in use" mean?

To preserve data integrity, an item, patron, bibliographic, or order record can only be changed by one user at a time. Records are changed for many reasons, such as when items are checked in, when a patron is checking out, a cataloger is making changes to an item record, or Millennium is recording a transaction. When a record is being changed by a staff member or patron and someone else tries to do something else to it, you'll see the message, "Record in use".

Occasionally, records get hung up in the system and must be released.

Improved Patron Searching

Thanks to Innovative and Pam Skittino, we have more ways to search for patrons with Millennium.

You can now search for a patron by phone number and address!

It is pretty easy to do and you can do it anywhere you search for a patron in the Millennium staff applications. Here's how you do it:

In Circulation Desk mode:

1. In the Scan or type patron barcode box, type the code letter of they type of search you will be doing. At a patron search screen, select the desired search index from the drop-down menu.
   n - name
   h - address
   j - phone number
2. Type the search terms immediately after the code. For example,
   nolsen, kat
   h34451
   j847-362-2330
3. Press the Enter key or click the Search button.

Notes:

• Remember that Millennium automatically truncates a search, so typing nolsen, kat will find all the patrons with a name field that begins with olsen, kat and ends with anything else. So this search would find Olsen, Katie; Olsen, Kathleen, or Olsen, Katherine.
• When searching for an address, Millennium is simply searching alphabetically for exactly what you type. So if an address is entered 413 N. Milwaukee Ave. and you search for 413 North Milwaukee Ave. you won't find the address, so you may have to try a few alternatives with address searching to find what you want.
• Always verify a patron's address to make sure you have the right person when you search by anything other than patron barcode number.

Word of the Week : MARC

WOW: MARC

Here’s a term that is neither new nor Millennium-specific! MARC is an acronym for “MAchine-Readable Cataloging” and is a term known by librarians around the world. It refers to the format of the data stored in most library catalogs including ours.

“Machine-readable” is a relatively old-fashioned term meaning “encoded in a form that can be interpreted by a computer’s hardware or software.”

Everything in our computer catalog – whether it’s a book, a DVD, or an art print bag – is represented by a computer record referred to as a “MARC record.” Your friendly catalogers in Technical Services use the precise, standardized MARC coding to create records so that an ILS (such as GEAC or Millennium) and its associated OPAC (such as GeoWeb, WebPac Pro, or Encore) can read and display information about library items consistently and quickly.

As you know, the title of an item appears many places in Millennium (such as in the patron record (checked out items), in the catalog, when checking in or renewing items in the Circulation mode, etc.). Because of the standardization, each part of the ILS that needs the title knows where to find it.

Speaking of titles, here’s a Millennium hint: To increase access in the catalog, titles are drawn from several MARC fields representing the title page, cover and spine (if different), alternate spellings (e.g. “2” and “two”), titles of songs, television programs. These various titles sometimes cause unusual search results in Millennium’s staff side. If you don’t find your title, expand the multi-entry selection at the top of the results list – it may be there!

The MARC records in our catalog originate in a variety of places. Some are delivered with newly purchased items, some are copied from a shared catalog (OCLC/WorldCat), and some are created here (“original cataloging”).

By using the MARC standard when creating records, library systems are built using a common, nonproprietary record format (making records transportable) and catalogers share records (saving cataloging time). “Hurrah!” say the catalogers, and the people awaiting new items say, “Amen!”

"Amen" to Barb Jarvis for telling us about 'MARC'.

Word of the Week: Status Bar

WOW : Status Bar

The Status Bar is an information area typically found at the bottom of a window. It is often divided into sections, each of which shows different information. In Millennium, the Status Bar is the last line of the window, and it contains supplementary information about the data displayed in the window. The Millennium Status Bar is divided into three zones.

Zone 1 (the left section of the Status Bar)
Contains information such as the record number of the displayed record, or whether a limit is applied to searches.

Zone 2 (the middle section of the Status Bar)
Contains informational messages about the displayed record such as Not checked out.

Zone 3 (the right section of the Status Bar)
Contains information such as the number of records attached to the displayed record or the number of titles and entries retrieved in a search. In some windows, Zone 3 specifies whether you are in edit or view-only mode.

If the content of a zone has multiple lines of text, or if a zone is not wide enough to display its entire contents, an arrow will appear at the right end of the zone. Click anywhere within the zone containing the arrow to display its entire contents.

Thank you to Lori Carnes for putting us in the right 'zone'.

Millie will be arriving Wednesday!

Don't faint! Millie has arrived early!

After a lengthy selection process (we started looking in July 2006), we signed the contract for Millennium in July 2007. So we were "pregnant" for about 8 months. Millie was expected February 14, but she's arriving early on Wednesday, February 13th! And with less than 2.5% errors so she has all her fingers and toes.

Various ILS committee members will be working hard today to prepare for tomorrow. Don't use Millennium until Wednesday, February 13. We'll be going live with the following applications:

• catalog
• Circulation
• ILL
• Research Pro

Make an extra effort to help patrons at the catalogs over the next few weeks. Many departments have plans already in place to have staff manning the catalog stations during busy times to help introduce patrons to the new catalog.

Each department will receive sheets for reporting problems that may crop up.

Put on the"Discover the power of Library Search" buttons and welcome our wonderful Millie!

Word of the Week - License

Licenses

Millennium is a lot like a fair. First, you pay an admission fee to get into the fair (your username), and then you buy tickets to ride the rides (your initials). Just like a ride at a fair, though, the rides on Millennium have a passenger limit, only a certain amount of people are allowed on the ride at one time. These limits are called licenses. Millennium is currently set up with 50 licenses, meaning that 50 Millennium applications can be open at any given time.

There are a lot of things to do in Millennium, so what uses a license and what doesn’t use one?

The following applications use a license:
- Circulation
- Serials
- Acquisitions
- Cataloging
- ILL
- Reports
- Administration
- Telnet
- Millennium Toolbar, when opened alone

The following programs do not use a license:
- Web Pac Pro (My Account and Advance Search)
- Encore
- CS Direct
- Express Checkout
- Millennium Toolbar, when opened inside a running application (like Circulation)

In order to help conserve license groups, Millennium has several features in place. One such feature is the time out- at the Circulation Desks, after 30 minutes of inactivity, the Millennium sessions time out, freeing up a license. On the Public Service Desks, the Millennium sessions time out after 15 minutes. There are also Contention groups in place. Contention groups limit the amount of licenses Usernames can have opened at one time. For example, TS has 13 licenses allotted to it, so if someone wants to open a 14th license in TS, they couldn’t. A Contention group does not, however, give priority to a Username; licenses are still used on a first come, first served basis. You can help conserve licenses, too, by logging out of Millennium whenever it is not in use.

Thank you to Heather Beverley for explaining this so well!

Goodbye Geac, Hello Migration!

8:45 am today (Monday, Feb. 11) marked the end of Geac. We are using the Millennium Migration System from Feb. 11 to 13 while Geac takes all our transaction data out of their system and we give it to Innovative to put into Millennium. Here are some things you should know:

• You cannot do any transactions on any Geac PLUS program or on Millennium. No Checkouts, Checkins, Holds, Cancelling Holds, NOTHING.
• The Millennium Migration System can only do checkouts. All materials returned over the next three days will be stored until we go live with Millennium.
• Checkout items at the Circulation Desk. They have the Migration system up and running and they know how to use it.
• You can search the Geac PLUS catalogs (CL-CAT or Geo Web). Just be aware that shelf status is unreliable.
• Items that are checked out ARE definitely unavailable.
• Items that are ON SHELF may or may not be on the shelf.
• You may or may not be able to use the new catalog, http://cmpl.cooklib.org/. Just be aware that the shelf status is unreliable.
• Items that are checked out may or may not be available.
• Items that are ON SHELF may or may not available.

If you have questions, ask! Our migration will take only 3 days and we have the promise of Millennium in sight!

Word of the Week: My Account!

Word of the Week: My Account is new and improved in Millennium!

As with our current system, My Account is a convenient way to check, well, your Account! Like we are already familiar with, in My Account patrons can see what items they have checked out and what they have on hold and ILL, but with Millennium, patrons can do so much more!

Patrons can:

-View all items checked out, and clearly see when they are due
-Easily renew items and receive clear messages regarding if the renew was successful
-See all ILL requests
-See all holds
-Freeze holds
-See where their place is in the hold queue
-Update their phone number and email information
-Choose to keep track of their Reading History
-Save a favorite search, and have updates to that search emailed to them
-Save favorite databases for customized research
-Coming Soon! The ability to pay fines online!

Want to test it out? Just click on this link: http://cmpl.cooklib.org/patroninfo , enter a training barcode number, the password “patron,” and have fun exploring!

Thank you to Heather Beverley for this weeks WOW!

Special Alert! Important Holds Dates

Holds are very time sensitive as we move our data to Millennium. We want to reduce the number of holds and ILLs and prepare the existing holds and ILLs for the migration. In order for the migration to go as smoothly as possible, the following events will take place on the indicated days.

So patrons are aware of these dates, information will be added to online catalog pages, the web site, and given to patrons on bookmarks at checkout beginning on January 20.

Sunday
2/3
last day to place holds, interlibrary loan requests, and purchase requests

Monday
2/4
last day for a pick list

Wednesday
2/6
last day to run hold notices and emails and call holds.

Sunday
2/10
last day to check out holds to patrons or staff.

Monday
2/11
MIGRATION BEGINS.

NO TRANSACTIONS ON GEAC PLUS AFTER 8:45 am. (checkouts, checkins, new patrons, holds checked out, express checkout, fines paid—NOTHING!!!)

We'll start using Millennium's special Migration program to do checkouts only. No other transactions can be done during this time.

Thursday
2/14
Go Live with regular Millennium. Circ will begin checking in some of the returned items. Regular checkout of holds and all other items begins. We go back to "normal".

Word of the Week

Applications

As we’ve already used Applications in some earlier Word of the Week definitions, it’s time we defined this term. Applications are computer programs or software designed for a specific use. In Millennium, each application is a piece of software that forms part of the overall system. The Millennium system is comprised of eleven applications, as follows:

Circulation – Performs Circulation-related functions such as check out, check in, placing holds, creating and updating patron records.

Serials – Maintains serials, including periodicals, journals, newspapers, government documents, monographic series.

Acquisitions – Manages orders, processes invoices, maintains accounting and vendor information.

Cataloging – Creates, updates, and deletes bibliographic, item, authority, and other records in the Catalog database.

ILL – Requests, receives, and maintains Inter-Library Loans.

Web OPAC – Provides the online catalog used to access materials in the collection and in online databases through Advanced Search options, as well as access to “My Account” for patrons managing their accounts. It is the face behind Encore’s mask.

Reports – Provides graphical management reports analyzing transaction-based information from the system.

Administration – Offers centralized access to Millennium programs used for system administration, reports, and statistics.

Telnet – Allows access to the text-based programs (mostly for administrative functions) on the Millennium server.

User Manual – Provides information on and instructions for all aspects of Millennium.

CS Direct – Acts as the customer service site for Millennium, providing news, manuals, and answers to frequently asked questions.

The eleven Millennium applications are accessed from the Millennium Control Bar, which allows staff – depending on the username entered – to move from application to application. When you are in any Millennium application, the name of the application is displayed at the top of the screen in the Title Bar.

Thank you to Lori Carnes for this weeks WOW!

How and What Will Patrons Know?

We'll be using a variety of methods to let patrons know about the upcoming switch to Millennium and the impact it will have on them. The first trick is to let them know at the right time--not to early so they forget and not so late that they'll be surprised. The second trick is not to overlaod them with information and just give them what they need to know. Here's what the IDT has planned:

December 2007 - article in the December Ins & Outs
January 20th on – 3 weeks to Nothing Due Days

• Billboard at Cook, Evergreen and Bookmobile
• Bookmark with every checkout.


• One side about Nothing Due Days
• One side about Migration – Pardon our dust, during the migration, you will not be able to...


• All PCs visible to public will have “Coming soon” signs and info card
• Graphic in rotating graphics on home page
• Graphic in screen savers
• Graphic added to Start page of catalog
• Reminder signs about “Nothing Due Days” on drop boxes, at Circ desk
• eNewsletter announcement

February 14, 2008 and beyond

• Floaters near catalog stations to help patrons try new system
• Talking points for staff
• Catalog classes for patrons in February
• Online tutorials and highlights
• Buttons for staff to wear to initiate discussion
• “I’m learning too” flags for staff buttons

Word of the Week

Toolbar

In Millennium, the Toolbar is located on the upper right hand of your screen. It displays various icons that represent different actions you can perform in the current mode or record that you are in. For example, if you were in Circulation Desk Mode, you would have icons showing for New, View, Edit, Browse, Print, and Close. These icons mean that you could create a new record (New), view more details of the current record (View), edit the current record (Edit), browse other records (Browse), print the current record (Print), or close the current record (Close). If you were to switch to a different mode or record, different icons would appear. Sometimes, icons will appear on your toolbar grayed out. This means that you cannot currently perform the action the icon represents.

Special Alert! No More New Materials Until We Go Live

Beginning Monday, January 21 no new materials (books, magazines, DVDs, CDs etc) will be cataloged or added to the collection.*

New items will be available after our migration to the new Millennium system is complete, on or after February 14th. This means that if a patron asks for the new, [insert new title here], it won't be available until after we go live with Millennium.

Why? Because on Monday, January 21 our bibliographic and item data is being exported to be moved to the new Millennium system. Cataloging is the first application that will go live in Millennium so it is the first department to stop working in Geac PLUS.

Also, no more withdrawals can be done until further notice (they stopped on 1/15). Please don't bring any items to TS to be withdrawn.

You'll be seeing a lot of important dates and timelines appearing here on the I Luv Snacks blog. Visit and read it often!

* There are a few exceptions. The items on the lists below have been precataloged and will be released on time.

DVDs
Saw IV
Sydney White
Hunting Party
Game plan
Invasion
Canvas
Comebacks
Feel the Noise
Desert bayou
King of Kong
Daddy day camp
rocket science
Nines
King of California
Bordertown
Comebacks
Moolaade
Across the universe
Elizabeth the golden age
brave one
Feast of love
Assassination of Jesse James
Jane Austen Book Club
Aristocats
2 days in Paris

Books


AUTHOR ISBN TITLE RELEASE
Woods 9780399154690 Beverly Hills Dead 1/15/2008
Delinsky 9780385518680 The Secret Between Us 1/22/2008
King 9781416552512 Duma Key 1/22/2008
Rice 9780553805116 Light of the Moon 1/29/2008
Grisham 9780385515047 The Appeal 1/29/2008
Krentz 9780399154454 Sizzle and Burn 1/29/2008
Patterson 9780316017701 7th Heaven 2/4/2008
Parker 9780399154607 Stranger in Paradise 2/5/2008
Higgins 9780399153808 The Killing Ground 2/12/2008
Scottoline 9780060833206 Lady Killer 2/19/2008
Robb 9780399154706 Strangers in Death 2/19/2008
Palmer 9780312343538 The First Patient 2/19/2008
Steel 9780385340243 Honor Thyself 2/26/2008
Kinsella 9780385338721 Remember Me 2/26/2008

Word of the Week

Mode

A Mode is a specific state that allows us to perform certain functions. In Millennium, each application (Circulation, Cataloging, Acquisitions, etc.) offers its own selection of modes providing these functions. For instance, in the Circulation application, the available modes include Circulation Desk, Check-In (No Patron), Renew (No Patron), Fines Paid, Search Holds by Title, Notices, and more. Some of the modes will allow several functions; in Circulation Desk Mode, for example, staff can check out, renew, place holds, and pay fines for a patron account. In other modes, the functions are more limited; Check-In (No Patron) Mode only permits a check-in function, and Fines Paid Mode only allows viewing of fines paid within a specified period.

Other Millennium applications have different modes. In Cataloging, for example, some of the modes include Catalog, Global Update, Delete Items, Create Lists, etc. Each of these modes has its own functions. The type of record accessed is also determined by the mode selected.

In each application, Millennium displays a handy list of the available modes in the Navigation Bar along the left side of the screen. This allows the user to easily move from one mode to another by clicking on the icon to select a mode. The Current Mode (the one in operation at the time) is always displayed above the Navigation Bar.


Thanks so much to Lori Carnes for her very well described definition!

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A Wake for the Departed GEAC

Please join us at 10 a.m. on Friday, January 18th to mourn the passing of longtime acquaintance Geac PLUS.

Obituary Notice

Cook Library resident Geac PLUS passed away in early 2008, a drawn out death at the age of thirty-four. He was the modern day version of a 'renaissance man', being able to locate materials across the district at sometimes quick speeds. The eldest son of the fondly remembered Gaylord “ker-chunk” machines and the card catalog, Geac was proud to assist library patrons and staff in locating materials.

Born Geac CLSI, he lived most of his life in libraries across Lake County. In 1999, changing his name to Geac PLUS, he began a new era in library searching.

A lover of literature, even more than music and movies, he had always dreamed of being a categorizer. His favorite classic titles were “Error” and “Title Not Found”. Known in his youth for what was affectionately called “Geaction,” in his later days he converted to what might be called “Ge-inaction.”

In lieu of flowers, please bring cemetery-themed food to Geac’s wake, which will be held in the Staff Lounge on Friday, January 18. Visiting hours will be held between 10 a.m. and Noon. In honor of the deceased, an award will be given to the most morbid contribution.
Geac’s organizational responsibilities will be assumed by his next of kin, Innovative Millennium, who will officially take office on February 14, 2008.

Word of the Week

Navigation Bar

A navigation bar provides an easy way to move around among a web site's main sections. It usually extends along the top or side of a web page and contains buttons that link to various pages in the site. The navigation bar provides a quick reference for the contents of the site and a way to navigate through various levels.
In Millennium the navigation bar runs down the left side of the page. It’s headed by the Millennium logo. Click on that to open the Millennium Control Bar if you want to switch to a different Application (Circulation, Cataloging, Serials, etc). Below the logo is a button indicating the mode (function or task) currently displayed, followed by buttons identifying all the various other modes available in the active application.

This weeks WOW is courtesy of Jane Trump.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's the Snacker of the Month

It is my great pleasure to inform you that Sonia has been selected as January's Snacker of the Month.

Thanks to all for your terrific comments -- the competition was fierce this month. 19 comments were submitted, and Sonia was the lucky winner whose comment was chosen at random from all those submitted.

What will she choose? Salty, sweet, healthy? The choice is hers, folks. Congratulations, Sonia!

Word of the Week

Usernames and Initials

Have you ever visited a fair? First you have to pay an admission fee to get into the fair and then you have to buy tickets to ride the rides.

Well, Millennium is just like the county fair except the admission fee is called a username and the tickets are called initials!

In Millennium, the username identifies who you are to the system. Are you with Circulation? Reference? Technical Services? That’s what your username tells the system, and helps link you up to the appropriate applications.

Initials are what Millennium uses to determine what you have permission to do within a given application. They grant you access to view information appropriate to your profile (like viewing patron records within the Circulation application); make changes within a given application (like adding new patrons in the Circulation application); and limit access to certain features, such as re-ordering the hold queue or deleting records, that not everyone should be able to do.

Now, are you eager to ride the rides at the fair? Why don’t you test out this username and initials and have some fun!

Username: Training
Password: Training

Initials: Train
Password: Train

Guest WOW-er Heather Beverley brought you this week’s WOW. Thanks, Heather! Heather says: “Thanks to the great Katie Olsen for the awesome fair analogy!”