Four-letter login for Staff WebOPAC is fixed!

According to Ruth:  “We believe the ability for staff to login with four letter codes is completely restored.”  That includes our sachjuv, sachteen and sachadult logins – even though they are more than four letters.

If you still encounter any problems, please let Renee or myself know so we can pass on the information to system.  Thanx!

-D.

Catalog update

From Ruth at SCLS:

I jumped the gun announcing a fix would be loaded yesterday for logging into the staff webPAC with four-letter codes.  The fix was ready to test yesterday, and Innovative hasn’t given it a green light yet.  They anticipate it will be ready to install this week sometime.  In the meantime, you can use the staff webPAC by going to directly to
http://alpha1.suffolk.lib.ny.us:2081  and not logging in.  Sorry to confuse everyone.

We will be sure to update you immediately when it works.   — Ruth Westfall

PALS Update

As received from Ruth yesterday:

*        The duplicate holds are cleaned up.  If we missed a few and they
show up when you check in items, just cancel them.
*        The problem with MyLists was fixed yesterday.
*        The problem with staff four-letter logins has a fix to be installed
this coming Monday.
*        The problem that the page doesn’t refresh to remove cancelled holds
is in Engineering and they hope to have it fixed soon.
*        Research Pro is being upgraded later tonight.  This is the box of
databases that are searched in Encore as well as the federated search page
for all of our electronic resources.

If anyone encounters any problems, please let me know so I can contact system ASAP.  Thanx!

-D.

Patron Self-Cancellation of Holds

I checked with PALS about the status on fixing the problem of patrons cancelling their own holds. Innovative is still working on the problem, and as soon as it is fixed we will be informed. Feel free to tell any patron who asks that the problem is being worked on. Any further questions, please see me. -Denise

Status Updates on the Staff WebOPAC

Beginning on Thursday, June 25th, 2009, the PALS Staff will begin using Twitter to disseminate information to the libraries. The updates will display at the bottom of the screen in the PAC1 (Staff) County Catalog as well as on the PALS Wiki.  Details are available on the PALS Wiki, including:

A detailed Explanation of the service, a grid outlining times when Twitter communications might be expected and a Frequently Asked Questions page.

OPAC Password too Trivial?

Secrets Revealed!

Have you been one of the lucky ones who has encountered this problem? A patron wishes to create or change their OPAC password and every time they attempt a different password, the system tells them that the password they chose was, “Too trivial”? Now we know why…

From the Pals Wiki

The following is taken directly from the Pals Wiki in regard to problems patrons might encounter when trying to create a password.  (I personally feel that checking for “complexity” is totally useless, but…)

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Creating a Password

First time online library account users will need to create a Password before they are able to use the features of My Millennium.

1. From the View My Patron Record screen accessed from the PAC2 catalog, patrons should put in their barcode and press Enter or click Submit.
2. The patron will be prompted to enter a Password twice.
3. Once the Password has been accepted, the patron will immediately be logged into their account.

Passwords can be up to 30 characters long and can consist of any characters the patron chooses (letters and numbers). However, in order to be valid, the password must not contain common “trivial” patterns. For example:

• A character that is repeated three or more times(for example, aaaa, ababa, bbbb).
• A set of up to four characters is that is repeated two or more times (for example, abab, abcabc, abcdabcd).

If the user enters a “trivial” Password, the system displays the following error message: “Your Password is not complex enough to be secure. Please Select another one.” Also note:

• If there are more than five failed attempts to log in with the same barcode within one minute, the system will block access to the patron account for one minute.

• If the patron fails to validate, the system returns a generic error message and does not specify if the validation failed on name, barcode, or Password.

• Patrons who have forgotten their Password must contact the library. Library staff may delete the encrypted Password from the patron’s record in Millennium Circulation. The Patron should then be directed to create a new Password.

 

OPAC Browse Display change

On Wednesday, April 8, 2009, PALS will be working with Innovative to conduct a test of the PAC2 (Public) OPAC browse display. During the testing, which will take place from approximately 9:30am until 3:30pm, the browse screen will not display the “Holdings Message,” which normally displays below the summary of items on this screen. This is the message that generally reads something like: “22 copies available at BP-J Picture Books, CK-Picture Books, Connetquot and 16 other locations.”

This temporary display change will occur on the PAC2 (Public) display only, and will not affect the PAC1 (Staff) interface.

Keyword Search change

In order to fix our problem with keyword searching promptly, PALS suggested we change our Keyword Search to the Advanced Keyword Search instead.  This means when you choose to do a Keyword Search, in addition to the search box you will have choices below the box to pre-limit your search by library, material type, etc.  If you just want to do a basic keyword search, enter your search terms in the box and click ‘Go.’  You can ignore the pre-limiters, you do not need to use them.  However, they will be available if you choose to make use of them.  If anyone has any questions, please see me.  -D.

New Catalog Problem

We are  currently experiencing problems with Keyword searching in the Staff WebOPAC.  When you attempt to do a keyword search in the Staff WebOPAC, and you are scoped to Sachem – you get tons of hits that all say ‘No Copies Available.’  These hits are all items at other libraries.  The Staff WebOPAC does not appear to be scoping properly during Keyword searches.  Only items with copy information showing are owned by Sachem.  I have informed PALS about this problem and they have passed it on to Innovative.  Until a fix is found, I am afraid we will have to work through it.  Any questions, please feel free to ask me.  -D.

Holds for items at Scan libraries

A ”Scan” library is a library that is not a member of PALS.  In other words, their catalog system is not connected to the one shared by most of the other libraries in Suffolk County.  The Scan libraries are:

Amagansett
Baiting Hollow
Bay Shore-Brightwaters
Connetquot
Copiague
Emma S. Clark
Fisher’s Island
Middle Country
Shelter Island

These libraries will, on occasion, upload records to the PALS catalog system to help the PALS libraries place holds.  However, in order to request an item from a Scan library we have to place an item-level hold on it.  Usually, this can only be done through Millennium not through the WebOPAC.  This is why you do not see a “Request” button on a record that only a Scan library owns.  This does not mean we cannot request the item, it means that you must fill out a request card for the patron (include the bib record number on the bottom of the card) and either bring it up to Circulation or give it to me.  If you bring it up to Circ, make sure you give the card to a full-time Circulation staff member and explain that the hold is for a Scan item and an item-level hold has to be placed for it.      –Denise