III Customer Account Data - Import FYI about making changes

From Fred 6/28/13

On 06/30/13 , at 4:00 pm, we will send account information for all existing borrower accounts to UMS to be scrubbed.  Thus, any changes that you make to name, address, telephone or alt ID fields on existing borrower accounts after the close of business on 06/29/13 will not carry over to the Symphony system.  This will ONLY AFFECT the fields indicated above, and will not prevent you from continuing to provide service (check out, check in, fine/fee payment, etc.) to customers.   You may continue to create new library cards, change/update email addresses and add notes to borrower records up until the III system goes down at the end of the day on 07/02/13.  If a change to any of the affected fields mentioned above is required during the period between 06/29/13 and 07/10/13, you may note the changes needed to the account on the account edit screen, print the account information and notes regarding the needed change, and put those into a folder for entry after we go live in the Symphony system.  Data for new library cards created between 06/30/13 at 4:00 pm and close of business on 07/02/13 will be sent in a separate file after the III system goes down.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Circulation Administration department at 832-393-2222 (choose option 3), or email us at circinfo@hpl.lib.tx.us.  We will be delighted to assist you.

Pedro

SirsiDynix Info From Managers Meeting 6/27/13

• To use Sirsi you must log in using the generic staff log-in.
• July 2nd is the last day we will use Millenium.
• July 3-10 we use the offline function in symphony.
• Loan periods will be 3 weeks with 1 renewal from the date which it is asked for.
• DVD's will not be able to be renewed.
• Check in all new materials until July 3rd and begin to circulate them. After July 3rd no new materials will be delivered.
• Cannot accept fines while offline July 3-10.
• SMM can be used for book sale, bags and other misc. items.
• Cannot create new computer cards. We will receive pre-made computer cards to give to patrons. The pre-made computer cards can be used to be filled out while offline on symphony.
• Delivery will keep coming around mostly to pick up.
• Patrons must have their library cards to check out while offline. We will not be able to look up their records. If they insist then you may create them a new account using the same process we currently use for patrons to receive a library card.
• Periodicals need to be done on the Google doc with the barcodes that where given to us. If you have any questions you may contact Gale Ibarra at ext. 31610.
• July 11th we will stop using offline and we will also start using Enterprise (the new catalog system).

From Syma Zerkow, 6/28:

I would like to start this week’s message with an apology. There have been some contradictory messages about how you should handle new materials plus we have made a few mistakes in LMS. We have been able to send out many more items than I anticipated originally. For most of these items, it is no problem to check them in and put into circulation. However, most new AV and many new bestsellers are ordered for a generic floating location (JFLT). Since we have stopped floating until we go live in Symphony, the III system is putting those items “in-transit” rather than changing them to your location. 

• Please store any items that are “in-transit to JFLT” and check them in again once we are live in Symphony after July 11. When they are checked in after July 11, the location will change to your library. If you checked some items in without noticing the “in-transit” message and placed them on your shelves, we will eventually clear that up once we are live in Sirsi. I appreciate the calls and emails we’ve received alerting us to this issue.

The Print Shop will be emailing a sign you can display on your service desk alerting customers that they MUST have their library card in order to check out items between July 3 – July 10.

From July 3 – July 10, the III catalog will still be available to search so you will know if we own a title and what the call number is. However, the information on whether a particular item is checked out or on the shelf will not be accurate since all of the circulation activity will happen offline in Sirsi. As a reminder, during this time, customers cannot place holds and we cannot pull and fill holds.

ILL will continue to send out items that come in from other libraries for our customers. As of tomorrow (June 29), customers will be unable to place any ILL requests. That function will resume once we are live on Sirsi.

A handout with screen shots illustrating procedures for offline circulation will be available shortly. 

Other offline circulation information:

• By Monday afternoon, each location should receive a supply of Computer Use Only cards to use only while we are offline. Do not create computer use only cards in the Offline system.
• Alert new users who register while we are offline that their PIN will not be issued until we are live in Symphony. Please ask them to return to the Library after July 11 to get this important information. Note: we will have a “forget your PIN?” link from the Enterprise online catalog but we do not know if it will be available by the time we go live.

Pedro

Sirsi Updates

From Syma Zerkow, 6/14 on June 15th

This coming week we will have some major changes.  On June 21, we will begin exporting our catalog records from the current III system so that they can be imported into the new Sirsi system.  Any changes we make to catalog records after that date will not be carried over to the new catalog.  Therefore,

June 20

• Last day to delete items from III.
• Last day to check-in periodicals in III.
• Last day to check-in NEW books and materials received in Delivery.  New materials will not start to reappear until mid-July.

June 21

• Any item on the fly must be linked to the new bibliographic record "Item on the Fly" rather than the actual title.
• Any periodical checked-in must be done using the Google Docs spreadsheet and barcode method.
• Floating is stopped. Items should go back in-transit to the location indicated by the system when they are checked in.

This past week, the catalog records for periodicals, microfilm, e-books and e-audiobooks were updated so that they will function properly in Enterprise.  The information on how to search for them is posted on the main catalog page but we know that many customers use the search box from the main website so please be prepared to assist our customers when they are looking for these materials.

• To find magazines, go to Journals & Periodicals. 
• To find microfilm, add “microform” to your keyword search terms. 
• To find E-books and E-audiobooks, limit to the location HPL Electronic Resources.

Circulation training is now in full swing.  And the good news is that the Symphony Circulation Manual is now available on the Staff Training Portal: https://sites.google.com/site/hplstafftraining/.

NOTE: Here's the link to the FAQs page on the Intranet: https://hplnet.hpl.lib.tx.us/images/ils-faq.pdf. 

Pedro

SirsiDynix Updates

From Syma Zerkow, 6:07PM on June 21st

As you know from Dr. Lawson’s message, we are changing our circulation period to 3-weeks with one renewal for most items.  DVDs cannot be renewed. 

In addition, you need to know that items are renewed from the renewal date, not from the due date.

We have already had one customer complain about this change and we anticipate that you will be dealing with this concern from a number of other customers.  Please review this response so that you will have a ready explanation to offer:

We share your concerns and we have requested that the vendor develop the capability of renewing material based on the due date. This is a major programming change since most library circulation software renews materials from the renewal date (our current system is the exception). We anticipate it will be at least a year before this could become a reality. In the meantime, we hope that the 3-week check-out period with e-mail reminders when it is time to renew will mitigate the inconvenience for most of our customers.

I hope you have seen the FAQ’s and timeline on the Staff Intranet page.  In addition, the link from the banner on the Library Homepage goes to the Library Blog where you can see what has been posted about the change for our customers to read and their questions with our answers.  You may wish to print the FAQ’s out so you have quick responses to other questions customers may pose.

When you or a customer logs in to your library account, a new message will be appearing in the next few days.  This has also been posted to the Library Blog.

If you had previously opted in to the Reading History, that information will transfer to the new customer accounts system. However, some other information will not carry-over.  We recommend that you print out or email to yourself anything you have saved in “My Lists” as well as any “Preferred Searches.” You can then re-create them in Enterprise, our new catalog.  Also, our new catalog does not feature Customer Reviews, Ratings, or Tags.  You may wish to save your reviews and add them to a social reading network such asGoodreads or LibraryThing.  The current catalog will be available through July 2. 

We are planning a one-hour training session to be held at multiple locations during the first two weeks of July to review the features of the online catalog.  Look for an announcement from HPL Training. 

This week starts our real transition to the new system.  You should now be following the new procedure for items on the fly and for checking in new periodicals.  Some new items are still coming to you in Delivery.  Please check them in as usual.  If you have questions or problems with either of these procedures, please contact me and I will have someone get back to you.

Lastly, it has been pointed out to me that I have not addressed one of your most serious questions:  Why on earth are we doing this in the middle of the Summer Reading Club?

We are all very aware that the timing of this change is not good.  Unfortunately, HALAN’s contract with III expires at the end of June.  We have made arrangements to start paying them on a month-to-month basis but it is costing tens of thousands of dollars to do this.  We had to bite the bullet and make the change as quickly as possible.  We (Administration and HALAN staff) are deeply grateful for your willingness to do “one more thing” when you are already doing so much.  

Pedro

Changes to the catalog system FAQ

From Laurie Covington, 6/27:
HPL Blog has an FAQ about the upcoming changes to the catalog/circulation system.  Check back to it regularly because customers are asking questions and getting answers.  It would be good to bookmark the site and visit it periodically: http://blogs.houstonlibrary.org/?p=2659

Pedro

SirsiDynix Symphony and Customer PINs

From Fred Schumacher, 4:19PM:

We continue to hear concerns about customer PINs in Symphony.  As you know, when we complete our migration to the Symphony system, customers will need their PINS to access their accounts online and to use selfchecks.  The PINs for customers whose records are migrated from III will be set to the last four digits of the ‘p’ phone number field in the III customer record.  Thus, if the customer’s ‘p’ phone number in III is 713-874-1234, then the customers PIN in Symphony will be 1234.  If a customer asks what his/her PIN is, you may advise him/her that it is set to the last four digits of the phone number in the user record.  You should not give more PIN information than that without the customer providing a photo ID that confirms his/her ownership of the account, nor should you change the PIN for the customer unless he/she can provide the needed verification that the account belongs to him/her.

For customers whose accounts are created in Symphony, the system will automatically generate a five digit PIN at the time that the account is created.  You will need to convey that PIN to the customer at the time of registration in a manner that does not put the security of the PIN at risk.  This may be done by quietly telling the customer the PIN, or by writing it down for the customer and advising him/her that the number should be kept secure.  You may assist a customer with changing his/her PIN in person at any time if the customer provides a photo ID that confirms his/her ownership of the account.  Customers may also change their own PINs online at any time that they choose.  PIN changes will not be done by phone.

Please keep in mind that you are the person who is available and able to help the customer with his/her PIN related issues.  If you find that you are unable to figure out how you can assist the customer, you should contact the Circulation Administration Department or the Helpdesk for assistance.  As always, we will be delighted to assist you with serving your customers.

NOTE: Check your staff account in III to confirm your PIN, then practice changing it when we go live in the new system. 

Pedro

Laptop and Gaming Device Circulation During Offline

From Fred Schumacher, 6/24:

Shortly, we will migrate from Millennium to the new Symphony ILS.  During the actual migration of customer records, we will be operating offline for all circulation transactions.  The Symphony Offline client does not accommodate hourly circulation of laptops, so we have developed a manual circulation procedure for you to use during the offline period – 07/03/13 through 07/10/13. 

The HPL Print Shop is printing special Laptop, Tablet and Gaming Device Circulation Agreement forms that will be sent to each location.  The forms are printed with the same agreement as  currently appears on the regular forms, but the bottom of the agreement has been altered in include a space to record the barcode of the item being borrowed and a time returned for the item.  Additionally, a cut-off customer receipt with spaces for item barcode, date, time out and time due has been added to the bottom.  During the time we are offline for the migration, you will need to use these forms to manually circulate laptops, tablet computer and gaming devices to customers.  The receipt portion of the form will need to be filled out for each circulation and issued to the customer.  At the time the item is returned, you will need to fill in and initial the time returned and inform the customer of any overdue charge owed, if the item is returned late.  Forms for items returned late are to be retained for further handling once we are online in the Symphony system.  Forms for items returned on-time may be disposed of in the normal manner.

Again, you will receive the forms from offline circulation of laptops shortly.  Put those forms aside for use during the offline circulation period – 07/03/13 through 07/10/13.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us in the Circulation Administration Department.  We will be happy to assist you in any way that we are able.

Pedro