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!

_____

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!”