LINC Update

MyMediaMall and Harper Collins

The MyMediaMall collection development committee has discussed the new Harper Collins licensing for ebook content and has made this decision:  

"MyMediaMall will continue to purchase titles as in the past but will purchase Harper Collins ebooks only when they are specifically requested by patrons.  This is a middle ground position that may be modified after the MyMediaMall annual meeting on June 8."

Please email questions or comments to Pat Boze, pboze@lincolntrail.info, and they will be passed on to the MyMediaMall collection development group. 

REMINDER: Horizon and LINCPac upgrade scheduled for April 7 & 8

SirsiDynix has scheduled LTLS for a Horizon upgrade beginning at 8:00 a.m. CDST, Thursday, April 7, and continuing until sometime Friday afternoon, April 8. If staff is logged into Horizon before the upgrade starts, they will be disconnected by SirsiDynix support and any data that was being accessed when disconnected, may be lost. New versions that will be installed during this upgrade include:

• Horizon (version 7.5a)
• LINCPac (version 3.2)

The Horizon software will be upgraded first, followed by LINCPac. The Horizon server and products will be unavailable during the entire upgrade process so libraries may wish to use PC Reliance during the downtime. LTLS will post a message to the LINC Status Blog when the upgrade is completed.

Your library director should have received a CD/DVD with the new client version for Horizon 7.5a.  This version must be installed before the upgrade, or library staff will not be able to connect to Horizon after the upgrade is completed.

Besides hundreds of ‘bug fixes’, new functionality available as a result of the upgrades include:

• Support for Microsoft Windows 7, both 32 bit or 64 bit versions
• Sticky limits are easier for users to apply. Selected limits are added to a list and can be            removed individually by clicking the X next to the limit.
• Debt Collect administration has been integrated with the Horizon launcher.
• Multiple enhancements to Search Limiting Results when using LINCPac

During the downtime, library staff and patrons can continue to search for library materials using the OCLC WorldCat catalog. Unfortunately, item status information (call number, status, library location) won't display but titles and location ownership information can be identified.

For questions about the upgrade, please email Rita Johnson, rjohns@lincolntrail.info.

 

PC Reliance during downtime 4/7 and 4/8

If your library plans on using PC Reliance (PCR) during the scheduled downtime of 4/7 and 4/8, you should test the PCR software so that you know it will work properly before the actual “go live” date. Also, any staff member at your library that may be on duty and expected to upload/process/view and print exceptions on 4/7, 4/8 and/or 4/9 should be familiar with the PCR procedures.

• If your library does not have the PC Reliance software installation CD, and you want one, please contact the Automation Department at LTLS (217-352-0047 x 1).
• The PCR Installation and User’s Manuals are posted in both Word and PDF format here: http://is.gd/MxgSDP
• Ensure you use the correct Circulation Point Number assigned to your library. The Circulation Point Numbers are posted on the LTLS website here.  Circulation Point numbers are not the same thing as a location code.
• If you use your library’s three letter agency code or a Circulation Point Number of a library other than your own, the transactions will either not get processed at all, or will be processed as transactions belonging to a library other than your own.
• Be sure and delete any existing PCR transactions that might be stored on your Horizon workstation’s hard drive from a previous downtime.
• There are three main components to successfully using PCR:

A:  Uploading the transactions

B:  Processing the transactions

C:  Viewing and printing the exceptions

If you do not complete all three steps, then the transactions will never be completely processed. Stopping after uploading the transactions means the transactions will not ever get processed by the Horizon server.

• Each PCR transaction has a time/date stamp stored with it, so please be sure the date/time of the Horizon workstation using PCR is accurate.
• After being notified that Horizon is back up and online, the first step you should do is input any new patron records that you manually recorded during the downtime, so there are fewer PCR exceptions with which to deal.
• Since all PCR transactions have a time/date stamp you should not  feel “rushed” to get your transactions uploaded, as once the Horizon server is back up online, it will compare the time/date stamp of the incoming transactions with the transactions already stored in real time on the server; if the data on the server is more recent that the incoming data, it will assume that the more recent data is correct and should ignore the incoming data.
• You can upload your library’s data any time you feel ready, however, you should not process the data until you call the Automation Department at LTLS (217-352-0047 x 1). Since all uploaded data from all the libraries goes into one large “bucket”, if you process the data without contacting LT, you may be processing data for several libraries and not just yours.

Once you have completed all three steps of the PCR procedures and feel certain that the data has been successfully updated in the Horizon server, be sure and delete the transactions from the hard drive so they are not inadvertently uploaded again at a later dat

 

School Library Dates

As the school year winds to a close, remember to notify us about important dates so we can change your settings in Horizon.

Please send an email to Helen Neal, hneal@lincolntrail.info, with the following information:

-Select one date - either April 29, May 13, or June 3 - for 'turning off' holds

-Date you want to use as a 'fixed due date' (last day of school, etc.)

-Date you want the above 'fixed due date' implemented.

Also remember to update your school calendar (Calendar Exceptions) in Horizon to reflect the summer days the library will be closed.