News from December, 2008

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

The election for several representative positions on the SELS Advisory Committee was recently completed and reported in a December 2, 2008 news item.  There has been a request for a reporting of the numbers each nominee for the public library representative.  Here is that information.

Nominee	Public Library	Vote Count
Stephanie Silvers	Harmony Public Library	10
Susan Hart	Rushford Public Library	10
Bonnie Adams	Kasson Public Library	6
Brian Lind	Rochester Public Library	4

Thanks to each nominee for their willingness to serve!

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

On November 7th, during a marathon day of visiting libraries, I had the privilege of visiting the Fillmore Central Elementary and Middle School media centers.  Both schools are located in a connected building in Preston, MN.  Jill Eerdmans, the media specialist for Fillmore Central Schools, gave me a tour of the two media centers (check out photos from my visit on SELCO's Flickr site).  Both media centers have fairly large spaces devoted to them as well as sizeable book collections.  There are computers (both Macs and PCs) available in each media center for students to use.  Though these two media centers are not on the SELCO ILS, they are both on an automated system (Follett) and this is available for students to search as well. 

With regard to staffing, Jill spends a large amount of her time in the elementary media center as she is without a support staff person.  However, in the middle school media center, Jill has a support staff person, Mary Hatfield.  Unfortunately, Mary wasn't in the media center that day but I did get to see some of her nice display of fossils.  Check out the photo of Mary's display of fossils on the SELCO Flickr site.  In addition, on the day that I visited, I saw a familiar face volunteering in the elementary media center:  Paula Michel, the former Harmony Public Library Director!  Paula is assisting Jill with a major weeding project in the elementary media center.  It was great to see Paula again as she was Harmony Public's Director when I worked at SELCO the first time (1997-1999.)

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Fillmore Central Elementary and Middle Schools and want to thank Jill Eerdmans for the opportunity.

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

I was catching up with my Post-Bulletin reading the other day when an article really caught my eye.  A new digital library called Europeana has been created that is set to rival Google, focusing on European art, history, and literature.  Thousands of items from over 1,000 museums, national libraries, galleries and archives (including the Rijksmuseum and the Louvre) have been collected.  The project was started over two years ago, and most of the information is free to download.  For more information, check out the article by clicking here.

An interesting fact?  The website was launched in November and was completely shut-down after receiving 10 million hits per hour!  The website will be up and running in mid-December, but you can see a preview by visiting www.europeana.eu.

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

On November 7, 2008, I had the opportunity to visit the Preston Public Library during my marathon day of library visits.  For those keeping score, this was the 3rd of 3 organizations and 4th of 5 libraries/media centers I visited that day.  I had a great visit with Beth Anderson, the Library Director for Preston Public Library.  The day I was visiting was a "counting" week where the library counts people visiting the library, questions asked, and so on in prepartion for the annual public library survey that Preston Public Library participates.  On the day I visited, the library was a busy place.  Nearly all of the public access computers were in use and people were coming in return books and/or check more out. 

School was out on November 7th so there were a number of kids coming into the library to check out materials from the library and use the computers earlier.  It certainly was great to see them in the library!  Speaking of kids, a grandmother in the community called and asked if the library could pull some "Thomas the Train" videos for her as her grandson was coming to visit that weekend.  Though maybe not a big deal to most, I was just so impressed that Beth quickly pulled together some videos for her and yes, the grandmother showed up soon after calling to pick them up  What a great example of customer service!

Check out photos from my visit on the SELCO Flickr site.  While you're there, you can check out photos from other visits to the library by SELCO staff, including pictures from the Library's recent centennial celebration!

Thanks to Beth for allowing me to visit the Preston Public Library!

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

It took a call to SirsiDynix and some intense troubleshooting, but the problem with the CKI view has now been fixed.  You will need to restart Horizon in order to see the new view.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

The issue discussed earlier with the CKI window is proving more difficult to fix than originally thought.  We'll send out an update as soon as the missing columns are restored.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

We've learned that the new version of Horizon handles In Transit receipts a bit differently from what we're used to.  As a result, Online Libraries using In Transit receipts will need to make a change in their Launcher settings.  This a change that is made user by user, so we cannot simply make it for you in Citrix.

To use In Transit receipts, click on the Tools menu in the client.  On this menu, click on Change Reciept Options.  The following window will come up:

Make sure that both In transit slip and In hold transit slip are checked.  This will cause all In Transit slips to print normally.  If you have questions about this procedure, please feel free to contact the SELCO Help Desk.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Oops!  We missed a view change.  As a result, several columns we previously added to the CKI window are now missing.  Jonya is putting them back in and they should be available shortly.  Once she is finished, you will have to restart Horizon.  I suggest giving us about 15 minutes (i.e. about 3:45) to fix this before restarting.  Apologies for the oversight. 

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

As Online Libraries start using Horizon again, a new wrinkle has emerged.  The new version of Horizon uses Windows to manage alert sounds like the beeps you hear when checking in an overdue item.  This has several advantages to the old method of using the built-in PC speaker.  Unfortunately, not every Horizon PC in the region has external speakers, which are required to hear Windows sounds.  Therefore, I've made a snap decision to roll this feature back and have Horizon resume using the PC speaker, just like before the upgrade.  Since we are running Horizon on a few Citrix servers, this was fairly easy to change.  Online Libraries using the client locally installed will be unaffected by this rollback.  If you are using Horizon locally and wish to go back to using the built-in PC speaker for alert sounds, please contact the SELCO Help Desk.  After the dust settles a bit, we'll survey the Online Libraries to determine if there are enough PCs without external speakers to justify leaving this new feature deactivated.

Michael Flores, User Technology Manager

As we have been receiving orders for the Winter 2009 PC Purchase, a lot of libraries are asking to be billed for their equipment in 2008.  Once we get an order form, we can send out an invoice for those libraries who still wish to be billed in 2008.  Otherwise all of the other orders will be billed in 2009 as deployments will happen after January.  So if you would like to use up the last of your 2008 budget, send in your PC Purchase Order Form and let us know that you would like the billing to happen in 2008.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

The upgrade is almost finished.  All Horizon subsystems have been upgraded save WebReporter, which is still in progress and expected to finish in the next couple of hours.  SELCO-created customizations and views have been restored.  A fairly recent view change to the Pull List for a handful of Online Libraries is not functioning properly; Jonya is contacting those libraries to discuss the situation.

Other than that, Horizon is functioning normally.  You may login and begin normal operations.  We'll continue posting updates as the WebReporter upgrade finishes and other information comes to light.  Please do not attempt to use WebReporter until we send out an "all finished" update.  If you have any questions or have PC Reliance files to be processed, please contact the SELCO Help Desk.

Michael Flores, User Technology Manager

On Wednesday, December 3rd I went out to Faribault Buckham Memorial Library to help Lisa Reuvers setup some of the new Dell computer equipment the library had purchased.  We had originally planned to only replace their Pharos SignUp server and re-image four of their existing public PCs.  However Lisa had given me a heads up a couple of weeks before hand, and we had an image all ready to go.  This is largely due to the fact that the new public computers were of the same model as the existing ones, so we were able to use our existing image.  Due to this and all of Lisa's hard work on site, we were able to setup five of their new public computers in addition to what was originally planned.  While there are still some staff, Pharos, and iPac systems needing to be setup, the Public PC part of the project went well thanks to some good computer planning from Lisa and the staff at Faribault Buckham Memorial Library.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

As of now, 1:05 PM, the production database upgrade is complete.  Jonya and Mick are creating new customized views.  The iPac upgrade is still in progress and the WebReporter upgrade has begun.

Things are going very well but, no, Horizon is not up yet.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Just thought you might be interested in knowing which Online Libraries have elected to try out Pre-Overdue Email Notices after today's upgrade:

• Crossroads College
• Harmony Public Library
• Wabasha Public Library
• Northfield Public Library
• LaCrescent Public Library
• Cannon Falls Public Library
• Austin Public Library
• Winona Public Library
• Spring Grove Public Library
• Lake City Public Library
• St. Charles Public Library
• Zumbrota Public Library

Please see this previous post for more information on Pre-Overdue Email Notices.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

As of now, 10:30 AM, the upgrade to the Horizon production database is nearly complete.  SirsiDynix still needs to run the upgrade for the comres (newspaper database maintained by some public libraries) and new_site (our sandbox for adding new libraries to Horizon).

The iPac upgrade is in progress.

With the production database upgrade nearly complete, Jonya and Mick have begun work on recreating customizations and SELCO-created views.

We'll keep in touch.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian--As posted to the SELCO News page, our Horizon upgrade is underway.  There's nothing too interesting to report yet; SirsiDynix staff are performing a number of pre-upgrade tasks.  The Horizon staff client is unavailable, but iPac will continue to work for a short while yet (maybe 20 minutes).

I thought you might be interested in what is going on behind the scenes here at SELCO as we get underway.  Mick Reese, Systems Manager, is in communication with the SirsiDynix technicians performing the upgrade and is answering their questions as needed.  His main job is to generally keep an eye on things and be there for SirsiDynix.  Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager, is keeping an eye out for anything unusual at the Help Desk.  She probably won't have to do much there, as the Help Desk is being staffed today (at different times) by three very good team members:

• Mike Flores, User Technology Manager
• Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian 1
• Paul Conrad, Workstation Support Technician

Later on today, after SirsiDynix completes the upgrade, Jonya will be working hard with support from Mick to update all the customizations and views SELCO has created over the years.  These local changes are mostly lost when we do an upgrade and have to be recreated manually.  SirsiDynix does provide tools to help with this process, which helps a lot, but it's still a big job.

Dave Stenman, Network Manager, is standing by to lend assistance should we have any issues with Citrix or thin clients.  He is also helping out by providing support for the handful of Online Libraries still using Horizon locally (i.e. not through Citrix).  Those sites have to run an upgrade CD on their Horizon PCs to update the client software.  Online Libraries that have been migrated to Citrix don't have to worry about this step; their upgrade is performed by Dave here on our Citrix servers.

I am mostly serving to keep the communication lines open via email and the blog, so that the folks listed above can focus on their jobs.  Everyone else here at SELCO are providing great support for the upgrade team as we work through this busy day.

Stay tuned.  I'll post more as the day progresses.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

A quick update on where we are with things.  The WebReporter upgrade is complete but we have to make a few changes on the server before it is ready to use.  Please continue holding off on running reports until we complete this task; an update will go out just as soon as reports are ready.

We're addressing isolated issues as they come in.  It hasn't been too bad but there is a steady stream of issues keeping the Help Desk occupied.  I'll list them here.  if you are experiencing similar issues, please contact the Help Desk:

• Albert Lea PL has reported issues with customized text on their receipts.  This appears to be an isolated incident; other Online Libraries with similar customizations appear to functioning normally.
• St. Charles PL has reported item barcodes not showing up in some windows.  This appears to be a problem with views and we're working on resolving it.
• Owatonna PL is reporting the client crashes when they carry out a sequence of steps involving checking in a Lost or Missing item followed by editing the item record to make it Staff Only.  We are investigating this.
• Austin PL is having an issue with alert sounds on their self-check units.  Details are sketchy on this (it just came in via email) and we're looking into it.
• Northfield PL has reported issues with the view of items out to a patron.  We're working on resolving it.

There may be other issues that have come in as I write this.  We'll keep you updated via the blog and email to DIRPUB, DIRSCH, CONPUB, and CONSCH, just as we did yesterday.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

The WebReporter upgrade has been finished since yesterday but we have gotten a little bogged down making some required changes to the reports and software.  I am happy to report that all reports are now available for use with the exception of Pharos-related reports.  We plan to have those up sometime on Thursday; an update will be posted as soon as they are ready.

We apologize for the delay in getting reports up.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Our first batch of Pre-Overdue Notices went out today!  684 patrons in the SELCO region have been informed that they have items that are due in two days.  It'll be interesting to see what impact this has on overdue statistics for the Online Libraries involved.  Three notices were not sent because the email address in the patron record was invalid.  Corrine Welle, Data Entry Technician, is contacting the libraries of those three patrons to let them know of the error.  We simply print out other types of  notices for patrons with invalid email addresses; the short turnaround time for Pre-Overdues makes that process a non-starter.

Why did the first batch go out today and not yesterday, the day after the upgrade?  Good question!  Monday, the day we did the upgrade, was a very long day for Mick Reese, Systems Manager, and he ended up running the scripts that turned on Pre-Overdues after Day End had already started (11:59 PM, Monday).  Since all notices are created by the previous night's Day End process, that meant that no Pre-Overdues were created for Tuesday.

While we're talking about numbers, you may be interested to know that Pre-Overdue Email Notices have been turned on for a total of 31,939 patrons registered at thirteen Online Libraries.  In addition to the twelve Online Libraries listed in my previous post, Who is Planning to Use Pre-Overdue Email Notices? , Owatonna PL has been added.  Two more Online Libraries, Chatfield PL and Red Wing PL, have also expressed interest and we'll add them later this week.

In our initial reading of the SirsiDynix release notes, we got the impression that the Day Setting for Pre-Overdues (i.e. how many days before the due date a notice is generated) could be set by Location.  That was incorrect.  I can't blame the documentation; we just got it wrong.  The Day Setting can be customized by BTYPE but is global for all Locations.  Right now, it is set for the default: two days.  At next week's ILS Operations and Technology Policy joint meeting, we are asking for a recommendation on whether to change the setting and, if so, to what.  I would like to encourage the Online Libraries using Pre-Overdues to provide input to their committee representatives on this question.

Carla Johnson, Cataloging Services Librarian

The other night, I turned on the NBC 6 o'clock news and caught a story on how libraries are gaining in popularity due to the poor economy.  Just when people are flocking to libraries, not only are budgets being cut, but  libraries are being closed.  This is nothing new or surprising in the library world, but I thought it was interesting  that this story was shown on national news.  Perhaps it will trigger some input from library users with their local governments.  (link to news video below)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28165432#28165432

Mick Reese, Systems Manager 

On Tuesday, Donovan pointed out a few of the problems that we have been working on since the upgrade.  I want to give a status update on one particular problem, originally reported by Owatonna Public Library. 

The issue has to do with marking an item as "staff only" after checkin.  This also has been reported by Red Wing Public Library, and has been reproduced by by myself.

SirsiDynix has been contacted regarding this issue, and it appears to be an actual programming bug.  At this time, their programmers are looking into the issue, and we await a solution from them.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

We are hearing from Online Libraries that did not initially sign up for Pre-Overdue Email Notices but are interested in proceeding.  Therefore, we are adding new libraries on Friday, 12-12-2008.  So far, we have heard from:

• Caledonia PL
• Preston PL
• Chatfield PL
• Red Wing PL

If you wish to add your Online Library to this list, please send email to preoverdues@selco.info no later than 12:00 Noon on Friday, 12-12-2008.  We will run the scripts on Friday afternoon and the first notices will come out for you on Monday, 12-15-2008.  Please do not send email to individual SELCO staff to make your request.  The preoverdues email address helps us coordinate this task between the various people involved so that no one falls through the cracks.

If you have any questions on Pre-Overdue Email Notices, please contact the SELCO Help Desk.

Mick Reese, Systems Manager

We've become aware of an issue in Horizon where some blocks were duplicated,  caused by an error in Day End.  This issue is not related to the upgrade.

When trying to check in an item with a block, Horizon will give an error, and not allow the checkin.  Because there is a duplicate block on the item, Horizon is not able to resolve both blocks.

All checkouts are working fine, and most checkin will work as well, it only affects certain items in which a duplicate block was generated.  We are working with SirsiDynix to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible.

Rachel Gray - Information Services Librarian

I had the opportunity to attend the second MLA Institute for Leadership Excellence (MILE) in Spring 2007. This bi-annual conference brings together people in Minnesota libraries who are interested in becoming leaders in our state library community. I learned a lot about myself as a leader through a variety of speakers and also with a mentorship with a more experienced librarian. Since MILE 2007, I have learned a lot about opportunities I have in the MLA with helping plan this year's conference and in helping out with other behind-the-scenes jobs.

I am pleased to announce that the MILE Institute is being offered for the third time next spring from April 28-May 1, 2009. I am on the planning committee for MILE 2009, and would like to extend a personal invitation to all members of MLA interested in becoming a leader and work in a library to join us - no matter your current position in the library world, or the years of experience you may have. More information can be found on the MLA website, including the application form. Applications are due on January 15, 2009 - the deadline has been extended from the December 15 date on the brochure.

Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager

Michael Flores, User Technology Manager

On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 Microsoft announced that there was a necessary security update for Internet Explorer.  According to Microsoft this security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer.

I have done some research on this update with the standard staff and public library setup in mind.  While this is an update that we do recommend doing, it is not as critical of an emergency as originally believed.  This vulnerability will have less of an impact on library systems as the staff and patron user ids are users, not administrators.

However we do recommend updating your computers.  Public computers running the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit or Microsoft Steady State will download this update automatically as part of its weekly update.  Staff systems are not normally setup to automatic windows updates, and will require this update be done manually.  This can be done by simply running Windows Updates, this update will be downloaded and installed.  We have chosen not to do automatic updates on staff systems due to the problems that can be caused with the local software.

If you have any questions or concerns about this update, or would like help in running windows update please call the SELCO Help Desk for assistance.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Yesterday, Christmas Day, the SELCO email server was deluged with a new wave of spam.  Like the one that we had a couple of weeks ago, the messages consisted of a graphic with very little text.  This is one of the harder forms of spam to filter, both because there is little text to check for stop words and because many legitimate business use the same kind of email for holiday sale emails.  This group of messages was more sexually explicit than the last.  The timing of this group of messages was almost certainly not an accident.  By sending them out on Christmas day, the spammers ensure that most organizations will not be monitoring their email servers.  Many organizations will have systems staff taking time off to travel with family for a few days after the holiday.  All this adds up to more time going by before corrective measures can be taken.

So,  enough excuses.  What are we doing about it?  Mick Reese, SELCO Systems Manager, and I had a phone meeting today to go over our options (Mick is one of those System Admins who is taking time off to be with family this week).  We decided to:

• Increase the sensitivity of our spam filter to block these messages.  Our current settings have proven inadequate; going much further will likely block some email from legitimate businesses sending this kind of email.  I believe that the explicit nature of the spam justifies this step.  Mick will carry out this task by the end of the weekend.
• Contact our spam filtering company to find out why messages with explicit subject headings are not being blocked.  The body of the messages has little text but the subject headings seem dirty enough that the filter should be blocking them anyway.  It's possible that we have something misconfigured in the filter.
• Re-evaluate the way SELCO uses email distribution lists.  Since Exchange distribution lists are just email addresses that bounce messages to list members, they will accept a message from any address.  The alternative is to set up a server running the free LISTSERV software.  Listservs, as you probably already know, can be configured to only accept email from list members.  We haven't taken this step before because it's not perfect and will require considerable effort from both SELCO staff and users.  Spam that has been faked to appear to come from a list member (aka "spoofed") is very common and will get past the listserv.  Setting up the listservs will require a complete reworking of our email distribution lists with all users having to re-subscribe to their lists.  Measuring the benefits against the costs, we have not chosen to take this step.  Recent events with spam have convinced me that we should revisit the issue after New Years when everyone is back from holiday travels and the ILS Operations Committee has their next meeting.

That's it.  Please accept my apologies for this offensive batch of unwanted email.  Spam fighting is a never ending struggle and we will continue to tackle the problem.

Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian

During a lull on the Help Desk this afternoon I caught up on a couple blogs I've not had time to read lately.  I ran across both inspiring and funny bits I want to share with all of you.

• Librarian.net- On 12/18/08 a video of "Staff from the National Library of Australia performing Thriller at the 2008 staff Christmas party" was featured.  Very fun if you have a few minutes to see what librarians from Down Under do for entertainment.
• LISNews: Library and Information Science News - On 12/24/08 there was a post called "More readers are picking up electronic books" that quotes a New York Times article that looks at purchasing trends of a variety of ebook readers.  I was surprised to learn that the Kindle reader from Amazon is most popular among 55- to 64-year-olds.  I associate ebook readers with a younger demographic for some reason.
• Stephen's Lighthouse - On 12/22/08 Stephen blogged that the VHS format is officially dead since Distribution Video Audio, the last major distributor of VHS tapes, sent out their  last truckload of tapes in October.  While this isn't too surprising, it does mark the end of an era.  What will this do to library collections?  We'll have to wait and see. 
• Tame the Web - On the 12/15/08 post,  Michael (the blog's author) shared the news that Google's Book Search now include some magazines.  A commenter to the blog shared the list of titles that are searchable.  I think this kind of expanded search from Google will help patrons find more up-to-date information. 

These are just a few blogs out there on librarianship.  I'd be very interested to hear what blogs others are reading and what tidbits they find interesting.  Please comment on this post and share what peaks your interest.

Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian

I found an interesting article involving Philadelphia libraries and budget cuts while reading the Rochester Post Bulletin.....check it out!

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=49&a=377631

Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager