prepared by cathy colby · prepared by cathy colby 2 table of contents . support services ..... 3

Prepared by Cathy Colby 1


Table of Contents SUPPORT SERVICES ................................................................................................................ 3

PALS SUPPORT CENTER URGENCY LEVELS ..................................................................... 5 PALS SUPPORT CENTER KNOWLEDGE BASE .................................................................... 5

TRAINING SERVICES .............................................................................................................. 7 TRAINING SESSIONS .......................................................................................................... 7 TRAINING PLAN FOR 2008 ................................................................................................ 8 TASK FORCES AND GROUPS .............................................................................................. 9

ALEPH ......................................................................................................................................... 9 COMMUNICATIONS .............................................................................................................. 10

WIKIS AND FORUMS ........................................................................................................ 10 MNPALS CONSORTIUM MAILING LIST CHANGES .......................................................... 11

REPORTS .................................................................................................................................. 12 MNLINK GATEWAY .............................................................................................................. 13 PALS SUBSYSTEM REPORTS ............................................................................................... 13

ACQUISITIONS/SERIALS ................................................................................................... 13 Reports – Acquisitions/Serials ........................................................................... 14 SYS60 Prediction Pattern Templates ................................................................. 16

CATALOGING .................................................................................................................. 17 Work done by the PALS office ........................................................................... 17 Work in progress by the PALS office ................................................................ 20 Information ........................................................................................................ 21 Knowledge Base Answers ................................................................................. 22 Rep changes (fixes) to ver. 17 and ver. 18 ......................................................... 22

CIRCULATION .................................................................................................................. 23 INTERLIBRARY LOAN ...................................................................................................... 24 REFERENCE ..................................................................................................................... 27

Web OPAC Changes .......................................................................................... 27 Item Process Status Updates .............................................................................. 28 Reference User Group Page on MnPALS Wiki ................................................ 29

SYSTEMS ......................................................................................................................... 30


Support Services The table below details end-user activity for the PALS Support Center. Numbers are estimated to be under-reported by at least 10 percent. Thanks to all of the libraries for channeling their requests through the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com. This continues to help PALS manage and prioritize your requests to Support Specialists. PALS Support Center Service Summary – End User Pages Date Searches Answers Viewed *Sessions Questions 2007/01 1,366 1,359 2,714 552 2007/02 1,256 1,080 1,548 261 2007/03 975 855 1,218 211 2007/04 700 542 976 176 2007/05 913 711 1,215 257 2007/06 623 524 901 116 2007/07 794 629 959 113 2007/08 706 551 974 117 2007/09 753 729 1,154 171 2007/10 1,086 860 1,547 219 2007/11 937 745 1,211 156 2007/12 669 505 1,292 122 Total 10,778 9,090 15,709 2,471

*End-user session starts when an end-user visits any end-user page and ends when a log off or time out (1 hour) has occurred. Support Requests by Organization Type

Community Colleges

Consolidated Colleges

Private Colleges

*Special Libraries

State Gov't Libraries

State University

Technical Colleges

# of libraries in category 8 15 11 4 9 8 8 Interval 2007/01 77 86 99 94 58 157 38 2007/02 48 36 47 46 25 73 25 2007/03 28 41 42 38 22 59 15 2007/04 40 18 31 50 26 51 13 2007/05 31 20 46 27 25 59 9 2007/06 22 8 20 32 12 33 10 2007/07 18 6 18 33 15 49 6 2007/08 18 49 19 27 18 27 16 2007/09 23 41 29 42 9 43 8 2007/10 36 53 49 29 22 70 22 2007/11 19 37 30 31 9 61 13 2007/12 17 28 22 10 9 40 12 Subtotal 377 423 452 459 250 722 187Total 2,870

*K-12 usage was combined with Special Libraries

http://pals.custhelp.com/


Customer Feedback Survey Thanks to all of the library staff who have taken the time to complete the PALS Customer Feedback Survey when it arrives in your email. We do appreciate your comments. This survey is set to automatically send a request for library staff to fill out when a Support Request is closed. There is an additional parameter set so that the system will only send one survey every 30 days. PALS did not want to flood our active users of the PALS Support Center with requests to complete a survey.

Satisfaction Are you satisfied with the response you received from the PALS Support Center?

Answer Text Response Count Very Satisfied 62 Satisfied 20 Neutral 6 Not Satisfied 6 Very Dissatisfied 2 Total 96

Support Specialist Satisfaction How satisfied are you with the Support Specialist that assisted you in resolving your request?


Overall Satisfaction How satisfied overall are you with the PALS Support Center?


Comments: • As always, the response time and support provided was excellent!!! Thank you so much for all that you do

there! • Great service from Dan (and all the PALS staff) as always. We really appreciate your support. • I have always found that the PALS support team is excellent and truly appreciate all of their help on any issue I

may have in question. • You folks are the best - Thanks so much for all your help. • I've used the PALS Support Center frequently and have always received prompt and helpful service. Thank you

very much!


• Thank you for everything you do! • I received a very quick response and was given the exact information I needed. Great support! • I talked to three support staff this week and all three were VERY helpful. Thank you very much. • I always receive very good and timely service when I have a problem. • Support rarely seems to be supplied in a timely manner. • This issue came up a long time ago and I had pretty much forgotten about it. I was very happy and surprised

that it hadn't been forgotten by the PALS staff and that they had succeeded in fixing the problem. • Response time was very fast and my problem was completely resolved! Thanks! • Thanks for taking my question. • Thanks! In this particular incident it is a known problem reported to Ex Libris, for which there is not a fix. I

think the PALS staff does a wonderful job of facilitating our dealings with Ex Libris. All I can say is "Go open source"!!

• Thank you for your help Michele and adding the personal touch.

If you have any questions regarding any of these statistics please send a request to the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com, choose MnPALS as the Product and Information as the Subproduct. PALS Support Center Urgency Levels Posted to the PALS homepage is a chart and document detailing the urgency levels in the PALS Support Center at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/supportcenter_urgency.html. This document provides information regarding what each urgency level means, what libraries can expect and what the goals of the PALS Support Center are for each one. Contacting PALS Support Center http://pals.custhelp.com You can link to the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com. If you can’t find what you need or you experience problems using the PALS Support Center, please call PALS at 507-389-2000. If you have a question regarding the service you have received please contact Cathy Colby. Contact her by calling the PALS Support Center phone number (507-389-2000) or email her at [email protected]. In both cases, please include the reference number of the Support Center request that you would like to follow up on. For additional tips on using or information about the PALS Support Center refer to the PALS homepage at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Customer_Support.html. PALS Support Center Knowledge Base Support Specialists continue to add answers to the knowledge base regularly. Over 8,900 answers were viewed in the last year. Libraries help us make our knowledge base more robust by providing feedback when an answer does not quite address their need or should be updated. We also continue to try and improve the searching of the knowledge base and appreciate libraries letting us know the specifics of a search when they have had difficulty finding what they need. All answers for PALSTAC have been archived and are no longer available to the public. Please review the list below of Answer ID and Summaries that have been added or updated since last October in the PALS Support Center Knowledge Base. Remember that if you have answers


http://www.mnpals.org/sections/supportcenter_urgency.html



mailto:[email protected]

http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Customer_Support.html


that you refer to frequently you can subscribe to them so that if they are updated with new content you will receive an email notification. Answer

ID Summary Line Answer

ID Summary Line

3235 Searching for a title with not in the title 3199 Online Manual Inventory Management in Version 17 and 18

3234 NetLibrary/eBooks Usage Statistics 3197 All Titles - Barcode in a Collection (mnpals-38)

3233 All Searches for your Library (mnpals-42) 3196 Brief Bibliographic Records and default Book Format

3232 Most Popular Searches (mnpals-43) 3195 Issue Titles That Have Been Browsed (mnpals-36)

3231 Sorting of Brief Bibliographic Records 3194 Global Patron Not Found error

3230 Hold Request Reports 3190 Retrieve call numbers in format used by oracle (mnpals-37)

3229 Hold Request and Letter Status 3175 URL Checking Service (print-11)

3228 Loading Course Reserve Article with URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) 3167 Material type causing duplicate lines of loc/avail.

in WebOPAC

3227 Cataloging Module bases in the dropdown menu 3160 Titles in a collection (mnpals-27)

3226 Holdings template 3139 Canceling Orders

3225 Batch Inventory Management 3125 Remove Patron IDs cir-32 Service

3224 New Titles for All Libraries (mnpals-48) 3120 Subscription and Cost Information for RCLWeb

3223 Turn Off the Correct Feature 3115 Closing Serial or Standing Orders

3222 Sort Order in order list window 3098 Drag and Drop ADM records

3221 Adding a Material Type 3081 Not able to log on

3220 Summary of Expenditures by Budget and Object Code (mnpals-47) 3062 Aleph External Information Sources

3219 'x' call number cleanup on the SYS60 Holding Record 3043 Inventory documentation

3218 Use of quotes in XSL 2987 Aleph Indexes

3217 Tables editing, and lockouts 2984 Changing port number address through library.ini

3215 Title Browse Search bib record that displays in the WebOPAC 2979 Course Reserve Workflow

3214 Unable to Find Global Patron Information Error 2958 Record was last saved by a higher-level cataloger

3213 Usage statistics on electronic Government Documents 2506 Last Updated by Higher Level Cataloger from My

Library

3212 Z13 oracle table - short bibliographic record 2487 What Item Process Statuses are designated

3211 Services Available in Aleph 2356 Indexing tables

3210 Patron Pincode and Barcode Verification Defaults 2347 Changes to Tab 15 or Tab 16 Effective Immediately

3208 Bowker's Book Analysis System 2337 Duplicate lines of Location/Available in Web OPAC

3207 Defining New Currency 2321 XML/XSL parse errors

3206 Record Lock Time Period Settings 2304 ACQ Permissions - Remote Service Error (c0503 get 120)

3205 Summary Holdings set up requirements 2296 Correct Headings from GUI Client

3204 Deleting Strange Profiles in Circulation 2268 Call number change in HOL record

3203 Using the serial bar to search by title 2267 Add/Removal gridlines on printout of bib record in CAT module

3202 Item Record Buttons 2266 Aleph STATUS fields displayed in OPAC

3201 Cannot find login for Wiki or Forum 2264 User Does Not Exist error message during loan

3200 Clearing defaults in Order 2262 Item Statistics field in Items Form


Site Visits The PALS Support Specialists have begun to do site visits again. We have been waiting a long time to get back to this practice and are really pleased to do so. Support Specialists were able to make several visits during the fall of 2007. Support Staff will continue to do site visits as time allows. Our attention at the moment is on the version 18 upgrade. We plan to return to site visits over the summer and continue this as a regular practice. If you would like a site visit please send a request to the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com. Evaluations and Surveys Evaluations to follow-up on Fall User Groups will be sent out electronically to MnPALS library staff. Please watch for the announcement following User Group. Support Reports Available Monthly Support and Training Services Reports are published on almost a monthly basis. Please check the following link on the PALS homepage for these reports at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/News_Supprt_Reports.html. Training Services Training Sessions The table below details attendance at training offered by PALS staff. Numbers for the Web Session column count institutions rather than people. Some institutions had attendees at more than one session or had attendees from different sublibraries at different sessions, and so would be counted more than once. Date Title In-Person Web Session

1/17/2007 Systems/Tables Q & A Aleph Ver.17 55 1/17/2007 Circulation Q & A Aleph Ver.17 61 1/17/2007 Acquisitions/Serials Q & A Aleph Ver.17 31 1/18/2007 Web OPAC Q & A Aleph Ver.17 62 1/30/2007 Cataloging/Items Q & A Aleph Ver.17 63 2/6/2007 Rescheduled Acquisitions/Serials Q & A Aleph Ver.17 5 4/3/2007 MnPALS Summary Holdings 20 4/3/2007 MnPALS Summary Holdings Session 2 18

9/19/2007 MnPALS Serials Module Aleph Ver.17 In-Person Training 3

9/26/2007 MnPALS Acquisitions Module Aleph Ver.17 In-Person Training 6

1/16/2008 Systems Aleph Ver.18 Upgrade Info. Sessions 79 1/16/2008 Acquisitions/Serials Aleph Ver.18 Upgrade Info. Sessions 55 1/16/2008 Circulation Aleph Ver.18 Upgrade Info. Sessions 84 1/16/2008 Cataloging Aleph Ver.18 Upgrade Info. Sessions 85 1/29/2008 Web OPAC Aleph Ver.18 Upgrade Info. Sessions 80

3/5/2008 Version 18 Cataloging Holdings/Items Functional In-Person Training 3

Totals 12 698


http://www.mnpals.org/sections/News_Supprt_Reports.html


Training Plan for 2008 PALS Support and Training Services plans to continue to offer opportunities for libraries to refresh or learn new Aleph skills. Watch for announcements regarding training opportunities. A full list of currently available sessions is available from the PALS homepage at http://www.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.asp?as=16&wp=112&aid=PALS Please see the list of sessions below that we have identified and the approximate time frame and format they will be offered in:

Target Date Range Session Format Thursday, April 17, 2008 ILL Ver. 18 Training In-Person Friday, April 18 ILL Ver. 18 Training In-Person Tuesday, April 22 ILL Ver. 18 Training Web Thursday April 24 ILL Ver. 18 Training Web Friday, May 2 ILL Ver. 18 Training Web May Budget Rollover Web June Inventory Web Summer '08 Booking Web June, August-September Version 18 Q & A Sessions Web June, August-September Systems In-Person August - September Acquisitions Functional Training 2 days in person August - September Serials Functional Training 2 days in person

September Version 18 Cataloging Holdings/Items Functional Training In-Person/Hands on

November Services/Reports in Acq/Serials In-Person? November - December - TBD Renewing Serial and Standing Orders Web

Interested in Receiving Training? To help PALS put the appropriate resources into training sessions it would be useful to know which libraries are interested in receiving training. If you are interested in receiving training on a particular module of Aleph; i.e. Acquisitions or Serials, please notify the PALS office by submitting a request to the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com. Training Fee Change The MnPALS Executive Committee approved a cost reduction for Group training, which includes workshops, retraining and refresher classes. There is a minimum of five attendees required. The new cost is $100 per person for one day and $150 per person for two days. Synchronous Learning Expert Training Several PALS Support Specialists have completed the Synchronous Learning Expert Certification in Facilitation and Design.

http://www.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.asp?as=16&wp=112&aid=PALS



Task Forces and Groups There are boards on the MnPALS Forum for the active MnPALS Task Forces. Please check them out from time to time to see what’s happening with each of these groups.

• Authorities Task Force – Mary Ann Greenwald http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=5.0

• MnLINK Gateway Operations – Susan Dueis • Indexing Task Force – Mary Ann Greenwald http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=6.0 • MINITEX/MnLINK ILL Committee – Susan Dueis • MnPALS Access Task Force – Perry Madden http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=4.0

The MnPALS Access Task Force has been defunct for most of the fall and spring, and there have been no nominations forthcoming to chair the Task Force. In the meantime and as time has allowed, the Reference User Group Steering Committee agreed to look at some of the high priority recommendations from the Task Force and to form small, focused task forces/work groups to address them. At the Spring, 2008 Reference User Group meeting, the Reference Steering Committee will call for a vote to disband the MnPALS Access Task Force and to archive MATF documents for future reference.

• Reports Group – Dan Honetschlager http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=31.0 • Consortium of MnPALS Libraries User Council Liaison – Susan Dueis ALEPH Version 17 • Inventory – Documentation for version 17 and 18 has been added to and updated in the

PALS Support Center knowledge base for: Batch Inventory Management – This service marks items that belong to a previously

defined inventory as found. Additionally, you can choose whether or not you want errors that are found to be reported in an error file. PALS Support Center answer #3225.

Online Manual Inventory Management – It provides the procedure for doing online manual inventory. In this situation, the file of barcodes for the range you are working on is loaded to your PC. You can take the PC into the stacks, read the barcode from the item, and it can provide a popup message about the error for an item as it reads that area of the shelf. PALS Support Center answer #3199.

• Z39.50 Gate – This is now configured correctly for use in the Aleph GUI Client. Z39.50 access has always been available from the WebOPAC. Now it is accessible in both WebOPAC and GUI Client. The University of Minnesota Libraries are currently available as access points in the client. We are working on making Library of Congress accessible. To search these libraries from the client they do need to be in your Libraries Manager/Bases for Search.

• Emailing and Printing Notices – New instructions have been developed to assist configuring the Aleph program to email certain notices with email addresses and print notices that do not have an email address in the record in version 17. Please see answer number 2991 from the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com for details.

http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=5.0






• List of Services Document – The PALS Support Specialists have assembled a document of all the Aleph Services that are currently available to you on our production server. You can access this spreadsheet from the PALS homepage at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Aleph_Docs.html and from the PALS Support Center knowledge base as answer number 3211.

Version 18 Upgrade • Version 18 Client was distributed to libraries. • Version 18 Upgrade Information Sessions have been completed. • Documentation for each module has been posted to the PALS homepage at

http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Aleph_Docs.html. • Recorded sessions of each of the Version 18 Upgrade Information Sessions are available

from the PALS homepage at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/recordedsessions.html. There are links to the documents associated with each recorded session here and on the documentation page of the PALS homepage as well at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Aleph_Docs.html.

• Sessions for Integrated ILL training have been rescheduled and announced, April 17- May 2. Find registration information at http://www.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.asp?as=16&wp=112&aid=PALS

• For the most recent edition of the Version 18 and Integrated ILL project plan check out the following link at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/18projectplan.html.

• Version 18 Q & A sessions will occur during the MnPALS User Group meetings in April and again following the upgrade; possibly during late June/early July and again in the fall.

Communications Wikis and Forums Many staff members from MnPALS libraries have registered for the MnPALS Wiki and Forum. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to do this yet please see the following link for instructions and information about both at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/wikiforum.html. Both the MnPALS Forum and Wiki provide excellent opportunities for collaborative work between libraries and the PALS office. There are links to the Wiki and Forum from the PALS homepage from the MnPALS Support page and also from the MnPALS Consortium page. PALS has created some very basic help documents for using both the Wiki and the Forum. These are available in the opening pages of the Wiki and Forum. New boards have been created on the MnPALS Forum for the Functional Areas/Modules. Check out the board for your module of interest at http://forums.mnpals.org. These boards are places to discuss module specific issues. Before you can read or post to the Forum or Wiki you will need to register on the Forum. The user name and password that you create will then also work on the Wiki

http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Aleph_Docs.html


http://www.mnpals.org/sections/recordedsessions.html


http://www.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.asp?as=16&wp=112&aid=PALS

http://www.mnpals.org/sections/18projectplan.html

http://www.mnpals.org/sections/wikiforum.html

http://forums.mnpals.org/


MnPALS Consortium Mailing List Changes Last fall the MnPALS User Council and the MnPALS Executive Committee recommended reorganization of the MnPALS mailing lists. PALS Created Two New Mailing Lists: • MnPALS-Discuss – this is a discussion list for topics of general interest to MnPALS

libraries. This list may be posted to by any list member. When posting to this list, enter in the subject line the functional area or module to which your message pertains, followed by the subject content (e.g. "SYS Mailing Lists", "CIRC Offline Circulation"). If you want to continue to receive general information from the PALS office you should be subscribed to this list. The MnPALS Discuss list has replaced all the PALS module mailing lists, the MnSCU-PALS General Discussion List, and the Aleph-Migration List.

• MnPALS-Announce – this list will primarily be used for maintenance notifications and system alerts. It can only be posted to by the PALS staff.

To Sign Up for the New Lists: • If you have not already signed up for the two new mailing lists, information on how to do so

can be found on the PALS homepage at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/MnPALSMailingLists.html

• If you have problems subscribing to either list, send a question to the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com

Subsystem Lists Replaced by Forum Boards: We have stopped using: • Aleph-migration – Aleph Migration Discussion List • Libproxy – Libproxy Rewriting Proxy Server • MnPALS-Aleph-ILL – MnPALS Aleph ILL • MnSCU-PALS – Discussion list for topics of general interest • PALS-ACQ – MnSCU/PALS Acquisitions list • PALS-CAT – MnSCU/PALS Cataloging list • PALS-CIRC – MnSCU/PALS Circulation list • PALS-ILL – MnSCU/PALS Inter-Library Loan list • PALS-REF – MnSCU/PALS Reference list • PALS-SER – MnSCU/PALS Serials list • PALS-SYS – MnSCU/PALS Systems Librarians list These lists have been replaced by Boards on the MnPALS Forum. However, if you want to send a message to the MnPALS-Discuss list and it pertains to a specific subsystem, the User Council recommends that you add the appropriate abbreviation (ex: SYS for Systems, CAT for Cataloging) to the beginning of the subject line to denote which area the message pertains to. Archives: Archived messages from the old lists will be available. The exact format of the archives is yet to be determined but none of that information will be lost.

http://www.mnpals.org/sections/MnPALSMailingLists.html



Reports The Reports Group is now associated with the Systems User Group.

At the Fall, 2007 meeting, the Systems User Group was informed that the Reports Group needed a convener. A decision was made that the Reports Group would meet at the end of the Systems User Group meeting and choose a convener. Also, the Group should provide a list of the new reports developed, describe what each report does and what the parameters are.

The membership of the Reports Group is as follows: • Randi Madisen (Century College) – Convener • Rosie Bunge (Normandale Community College) • Carrie Curie (MSCTC, Moorhead Campus) • Jean Kramer (Minnesota State University Moorhead) • Adam Marsnik (Normandale Community College) • Rosie Mock (Minnesota State University, Mankato) • Linda Swanson (Concordia College) • Sonja Timmerman (Gustavus Adolphus College) • Dave Wuolu (St. John’s/St. Ben’s) • Dan Honetschlager (PALS Staff) • Luda Lindahl (PALS Staff)

A Reports and Services process will be presented by the Reports Group Convener to the Systems User Group. This document will describe the procedures for handling requests for new/modified reports or services within the Consortium of MnPALS Libraries. Watch for a formal announcement of this process on the PALS Discussion List.

Anyone can request a report. To request a report please submit it to the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com. Your request will be assigned to a Support Specialist to identify if a report exists on the system that will generate the information you need. If further action is necessary you will be notified.

A list of all the current services/reports available can be accessed from the PALS homepage at http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Aleph_Docs.html. Scroll down to the bottom of the Aleph Documentation page and click on the link to “List of Aleph Services and Reports”.

PALS has created a forum at http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=31.0 for libraries to discuss report topics. This forum can be used to discuss reports and services, not as a form of submitting requests.




MnLink Gateway – Susan Dueis In the past year, the vendor of the MnLINK Gateway software, OCLC PICA, was merged into OCLC. The MnLINK Gateway servers that are hosted in Kansas City will be moved to Dublin, Ohio in mid-March, 2008. The current version of the MnLINK Gateway is VDX/ZPORTAL 3.2.2, which was implemented in mid-January, 2008. Because of the merger of OCLC PICA into OCLC, there will be changes in the future of the VDX and ZPORTAL products. The VDX product, which is the software used to manage ILL for most of the Gateway server sites, will be upgraded with anticipated future releases. The ZPORTAL product, which is the searching software of the MnLINK Gateway, will likely be replaced by a new product that will probably be based on the WorldCat.org platform. The server site payments are continuing in FY 2008, with the MnPALS server site seeing a slight decrease in the payment received. Working on information shared at the MnLINK Gateway Operations Committee meetings, the MnPALS Indexing Task Force is exploring indexing changes to better accommodate the Item Format filter and the UPC code for audiovisual material in ZPORTAL searching.

PALS Subsystem Reports Acquisitions/Serials – Dee Nolan EDI Ordering Processes We have four EDI vendors set up on ALEPH in version 17 for book ordering. The four vendors are Baker and Taylor (DCT, MSU, MTR, NHC, SCC), Midwest Library Service (MSU, IHC), Blackwell Book Services (MSU), and Yankee Book Peddler Library Services (MTR, SBJ). Through EDI ordering, libraries are able to create their BIB and order record in ALEPH and then FTP the file to the vendor to place the order. This process allows the library to save time in sending the order to the vendor. In addition to the regular EDI ordering, we also have set up Collection Manager for Blackwell’s Book Services. MSU Mankato is using this. Also, in addition to the regular EDI ordering, we recently completed the set up for St. John’s/St. Ben’s to use the Yankee Book Peddler GOBI product. GOBI and Collection Manager are similar products that enable the library to go directly to the vendor site and place orders. We are then able to get that file and download it into ALEPH. That file will create a BIB record and an order record in ALEPH and save the library staff the steps needed to do that in ALEPH. If any libraries are interested in using any of these vendors, please contact MnPALS Support.



Reports – Acquisitions/Serials Titles per Budget Spent Report (mnpals-28) This report prints a list of all orders for which the selected budget has been paid. At the last User Group meeting in the fall of 2007, it was reported that this report was not always correct. It was not reporting credits correctly and sometimes it was pulling the incorrect title. The PALS office has made some enhancements to this report and as far as we know it is correct now. Please let us know if you see any problems. New Titles mnpals-14 Report Moved from Cataloging to Acquisitions Previously in Cataloging there was a report under Services and then Items called New Titles (you must have Acquisitions to run this report) mnpals-14. This report ended up under the Cataloging module because it was requested by a group from Cataloging. Since this report was created, a new report that better meets the needs of cataloging has been created called Titles Created on Specified Dates (mnpals-48). The mnpals-48 data is pulled from the BIB record, whereas the mnpals-14 data is pulled from the order information in Acquisitions. The mnpals-14 report has been moved to the Acquisitions/Serials module. You will find it under Services/Retrieve and Print Acq Records/New Monograph Titles – mnpals-14. The mnpals-14 is a list of monograph order titles purchased for a given date range. The dates used in the mnpals-14 request form are matched against the order date in the acquisitions order record. The title is listed on the report if there is a match on the order date and the arrival status of the order is C for complete. The report print lists doc number, author, title, call number, location, collection, and ISBN number. The report is sorted by collection and then alphabetically by Title within that collection. Summary of Expenditures by Budget and Object Code (mnpals-47) This report can be found under Services/Budget Management/Summary of Expenditures by Budget and Object Code. This report provides a summary of all budgets and object codes for a selected year. This report lists the budget, object code and the amount spent. The report is sorted by budget code. There is a grand total at the end of the report for all budgets of the selected year. Current Serial Orders (mnpals-49) New Report This report can be found under Services/Retrieve and Print Acq Records/Current Serial Orders. This report is pulled from the Z68-orders. It pulls any order with a type of S for serial and an order status of SV or NEW. When the report is run a budget year is entered in the work form. So the output report is a list of all serial order titles that have an order type of S and an order status of SV or NEW and that have the budget year used in the work form of the report in the order. The report is sorted alphabetically by title and lists order number, material type, vendor code, local price, order status, acquisition method, renewal date, budget, and title. Current Serial Subscriptions (mnpals-50) New Report This report can be found under Services/Serials/Current Serial Subscriptions. This report is pulled from the Z16-Subscription Information. It pulls any subscription with a TO DATE after today’s date or the date you are running the report. The output lists all serial subscriptions that have a TO DATE past today’s date. The report is sorted alphabetically by title. It lists title, BIB number, Collection, and TO DATE.


Communications – Acquisitions/Serials New Mailing Lists The old PALS Acquisitions discussion list and the old PALS Serials discussion list have been replaced. No longer will there be individual lists for each functional area or module. Instead there will only be two mailing lists. One is the MnPALS Announce list. This list will primarily be used for maintenance notifications and system alerts. It can only be posted to by the PALS staff. The second list and the list that you will mainly be using is the MnPALS Discuss list. This is the list that will be used for all email communication. This list will be used for all functional areas and modules. Therefore, it is important that when using this list you enter in the subject line the group or module that you are addressing; e.g. [ACQUISITIONS] or [SERIALS]. Please make sure that you are subscribed to these lists. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you may do so by going to http://lists.mnpals.org. Forum and Wiki New boards have been created on the MnPALS Forum for the Functional Areas/Modules. Check out the Acquisitions/Serial board at http://forums.mnpals.org. This is a place to discuss Acquisitions and/or Serial issues. Before you can read or post to the Forum or Wiki you will need to register on the Forum. The user name and password that you create will then also work on the Wiki. EBSCO EDI Invoices You may have received an email or seen a posting that a new service is available for libraries using ALEPH and EBSCO. This new service allows libraries to download their EBSCO invoice from EBSCONET. Because of our ALEPH set up, our libraries should continue to download their invoice files from the EBSCO FTP address as you have been doing it. Summary Holdings Summary holdings are working correctly in version 17. If they are not displaying correctly for your library or for a particular title it is because something is not set up correctly on the record. In order for Summary Holdings to work correctly, you need to have an 853 field with a subfield $8 in your Holding Record. Additionally, the items associated with that title need to have that 85X Type and Linking Number from the subfield $8 in TAB2 of the Item Record. For older serial issue item records that migrated to ALEPH from PALS, the type and linking number would be missing. Libraries that are using the serials module in ALEPH and have been creating new issues using the prediction pattern in the Holding Record would have the type and linking number in their items since they started using ALEPH. In order to have your older issue item records reflected correctly in your summary holdings, PALS will do a global change to your item records at no charge to you. Several libraries have already had that global change done for them. If you wish to have this done for your library, send a request to the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com with Serials as your Subject. The PALS staff will work with you to make sure that the global change is correct for your library.

http://lists.mnpals.org/




SYS60 Prediction Pattern Templates Upon the request and approval of the Cataloging User Group, PALS has moved the Aleph system-provided SYS60 Holding record templates from the SYS60 (Holding Record database) catalog templates directory (http://tables.dev18.mnpals.net/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/) and repacked the SYS60 cataloging tables package. They no longer show up when you click on the open template function in the Aleph Cataloging client. If you used some of the Holding record templates for prediction patterns, you will need to save them locally on your PC. This way you will only see the templates you want, not the long list of all the system-provided templates along with your local templates at the end of the list. The version 18 and version 17 templates are the same. The templates can be retrieved and then saved to your PC. You can use your browser and save the template to your pc. 1. Go to:

• ver. 18 Harp Production server: http://tables.aleph.mnpals.net/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

• ver. 18 Jazz Development server: http://tables.dev18.mnpals.net/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

• ver. 17 Harp Production server: http://tables.harp.msus.edu/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

• ver. 17 Lute Development server: http://tables.lute.msus.edu/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

2. Select the template you would like by '''Right Clicking''' on the link. 3. Select 'Save link as...' 4. Select the <Aleph Install Dir>/Catalog/template directory. 5. Save the file as <name>.mrc The template will now exist in your list when you select 'Open Template' or <CTRL-A> in your Aleph Cataloging client. To save or create a template on your pc you can follow the instructions at: http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Holdings_Templates or go to Knowledge Base #3226. Outstanding Acquisition/Serial Problems with Ex Libris SI 8192-37450 Collection Manager Vendor Discount SI 8192-49054 Encumbrances for file-96 Both of these SI’s are related to using Collection Manager from Blackwell’s. If no vendor discount is used, the order encumbers correctly. If a vendor discount is used, the order does not encumber. PALS believes that the error routine is checking the wrong field when comparing prices: It should be checking the estimated list price in the z601 table instead of the estimated price because the estimated price has the discount calculated and therefore the original sum in the

http://tables.dev18.mnpals.net/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

http://tables.aleph.mnpals.net/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/


http://tables.harp.msus.edu/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

http://tables.lute.msus.edu/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Holdings_Templates

order record does not equal. Therefore, the budget is not in the order record either since an encumbrance is not created. Ex Libris has reported that this fix will be in the next service pack. SI 16384-11106 Ordinal Numbering Ordinal numbering is not working in the 853 of the holding record. This worked in version 15 but is not working in version 17 or 18. For instance in the 853 $a +. SI 8192-36883 Filtering Vendor List We are unable to filter the vendor list based on a tier vendor record. The only way to sort the vendor list is by using the TAB4 of the vendor form. SI 8192-47957 EDI for Order Only Checkbox We are using a tiered vendor record system and want to be able to prevent EDI claiming when doing EDI ordering in the tiered vendor records. We have tried to check the new "EDI for Order Only" box in the tiered vendor record, but it does not stay checked unless the box is also checked in the Global Vendor record. Answer Book Several new answers have been added to the answer book. The following are some of the ones related to acquisitions and serials: Answer #3139 – Cancelling Orders Answer #3203 – Using the Serial Bar to Search by Title Answer #3205 – Summary Holdings Set Up Requirements Answer #3207 – Defining New Currency Answer #3208 – Bowker’s Book Analysis System Answer #3211 – Services Available in ALEPH Answer #3226 – Holdings Templates Answer #3231 – Sorting of Brief Bibliographic Records Cataloging – Mary Ann Greenwald 1. Work done by the PALS office (asterisk (*) denotes from the PALS Office Work Plan).

a. * Re-index the Aleph database (ver. 17) – 11/21/07 b. * Identify ‘x’ in 852 subfield h in Holding Records. An SQL pull was done to identify all these MnPALS Holding Records. An e-mail was sent to all MnPALS libraries notifying them where they could find the report. Libraries identified on the report are to manually delete the ‘x’. The report is located on the PALS homepage/MnPALS Support Center/Documentation/Cataloging/Cleaning up Records/Cataloging: X Call numbers (January 2008). This is the website: http://www.mnpals.org/aleph/syslibs/cat.html


c. * Create Z106 populated with CAT fields that are removed from BIB records – 5 CAT fields will be retained on the BIB record. When a cataloging record (BIB record) is updated, a CAT field is built into the record. This field identifies the Cataloger who created or updated the record, and the time of the update. The CAT fields continue to grow in the BIB record and eventually may exceed more information than the record can hold. The Z106 table can be used to store CAT fields, which can be retrieved as needed. This was explained at the Fall, 2007 Cataloging User Group Meeting and the group consensually agreed to retain 5 CAT

http://www.mnpals.org/aleph/syslibs/cat.html


fields in the BIB record and that the other CAT fields be stored in the Z106 table. PALS has run the procedure “Create/Update Z106 Table for CAT Field” which is storing the CAT Fields in Z106 records. PALS will run this procedure on an annual basis. d. * Remove SYS60 prediction pattern templates and place on website. (Knowledge Base #3226) Upon the request and approval of the Cataloging User Group, PALS has moved the Aleph system-provided SYS60 Holding record templates from the SYS60 (Holding Record database) catalog templates directory (http://tables.dev18.mnpals.net/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/) and repacked the SYS60 cataloging tables package. They no longer show up when you click on the open template function in the Aleph Cataloging client. If you used some of the Holding record templates for prediction patterns, you will need to save them locally on your PC. This way you will only see the templates you want, not the long list of all the system-provided templates along with your local templates at the end of the list. The version 18 and version 17 templates are the same. The templates can be retrieved and then saved to your PC. You can use your browser and save the template to your pc. 1. Go to:

• ver. 18 Harp Production server: http://tables.aleph.mnpals.net/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

• ver. 18 Jazz Development server: http://tables.dev18.mnpals.net/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

• ver. 17 Harp Production server: http://tables.harp.msus.edu/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

• ver. 17 Lute Development server: http://tables.lute.msus.edu/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

2. Select the template you would like by '''Right Clicking''' on the link. 3. Select 'Save link as...' 4. Select the <Aleph Install Dir>/Catalog/template directory. 5. Save the file as <name>.mrc The template will now exist in your list when you select 'Open Template' or <CTRL-A> in your Aleph Cataloging client. To save or create a template on your pc you can follow the instructions at: http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Holdings_Templates or go to Knowledge Base #3226. e. * PALS identified and cleaned up bib records that had another library password and the cataloger level. PALS identified 18,000+ records in SYS01 that had another library password. PALS has cleaned up these records by removing the errant library password and cataloger level. Now the owning library’s cataloger is the last one on the record. WARNING: The problem will occur again if anyone has CORRECT turned on in the Staff Privileges. As a result, each library’s system administrator is responsible to be sure the CORRECT feature is turned off. Because of the extensive amount of PALS resources it requires to identify and fix these records, any library that turns on the CORRECT feature and causes this


http://tables.aleph.mnpals.net/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/


http://tables.harp.msus.edu/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

http://tables.lute.msus.edu/u18_1/sys60/pc_tab/catalog/templates/

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Holdings_Templates


problem in the future will be charged a fee based on PALS time and resources needed to clean up the problem. f. Reports from the GUI Client Cataloging Module that have had modification or further discussion on the Reports Forum http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=31.0

• Non-deleted ADM docs that don’t have links (mnpals-24) – this needs further discussion on the Forum.

• Titles in a Collection (mnpals-27) – Forum discussion was very good. There is now a workflow document attached to the HELP of the report workform.

• BIBS without Titles (mnpals-39) – PALS office noticed many BIB records in the document record oracle table that have no titles. Libraries are encouraged to run this report for BIB record cleanup purposes.

• New Titles (mnpals-48) – Title has been changed to “Titles Created on Specified Dates” and the HELP has an added statement … ‘The open date relates to the date the BIB record was created’. The title field has been included to accommodate all allowed 200 characters from the 245 $a $n $p $b. When the report was imported into an Excel spreadsheet, the title wrap caused the title to split into rows which then couldn’t be sorted by column. The title wrap was removed, which solved this problem. The report is very wide now, but it works well when importing into Excel. This discussion has been occurring on the Forum. No other libraries have commented that they don’t like the 200 character title length; therefore, it remains.

• REMOVED: Retrieve Call No. Keys from entering Barcodes (mnpals-37). The inventory management functionality required this service to pull call no. keys required in item-01 (inventory definition). It is no longer needed since item-01 can now accept call numbers formatted in the regular manner from the item record.

g. Loaded netLibrary records for a variety of MnPALS libraries. Refer to the PALS Technical Services Report. h. Added 031 (Musical Incipits Information) MARC tag and subfields to Tag Information and Validation tables. i. Added 905 tag to the validation tables. 905 is being used as a local technical service note. j. MnPALS Indexing Task Force (MITF). PALS has worked with the MITF on a variety of issues. See their report attached to the Cataloging Agenda, 8. Task Force Reports, b. Indexing Task Force. In summary some of the additions or corrections have been: a) clickable URL links in the OPAC display; b) 2 new keyword indexes: WUN = URLs in the note tags, WNU = contents of the 845 #3, $z, $x; c) additions to current keyword indexes: WRD & WSU with 662; d) WRD has added subfields for 752; e) change WDT to WYR since Aleph requires the date field to be WYR for specific functionality; f) WPL will be place of publication 260## $a, WHP will be hierarchical place 752## $abcd; g) new addition to WTI and WRE 533##$f; h) new addition to WSN form/genre for 6xx $v; i) new WTS (technical service) index for 905## $a. NOTE: Once the Cataloging User Group has approved these additions or corrections to indexing, the Indexing Document will be updated by the PALS office and made public to the consortium. k. NACO training. Attended NACO (Name Authority Cooperative Training) training from March 17 to 20 along with a few MnPALS librarians. The intent of the PALS liaison attendance at this training was to become familiar with the NACO and authorities concept as we begin to do Authority testing of the Aleph ver. 18 functionality.



2. Work in progress by the PALS office – (asterisk (*) denotes from the PALS Office Work Plan). a. * STAtus field in Course Reserve bib records. In Course Reserve Bib Record, add STAtus field choices. STA $a SUPPRESSED functionality should work in the WebOPAC. Before adding STA, PALS will test the NA (inactive) functionality in Course Reserves. b. * Investigate bib loaders for multi-ADM environment. The MARCIVE bib loader continues to be problematic for Ex Libris. c. * version 18: test authority file processing – Along with the Authorities Task Force, PALS staff assigned to this project will begin this work after we migrate to ver. 18. d. * version 19: Course Reserve modifications and need for ADAM – The course reserve modifications will be tested when we upgrade to ver. 19. The ADAM (Aleph Digital Asset Management) functionality of Aleph will not be used by the MnPALS consortium. Our Aleph license does not include this feature. e. * Help on Field Tag information for OCLC fields. Steering Committee of the Cataloging User Group is working on identifying these fields. f. Course Reserve Dropdown Format Choice. Libraries have commented that the Format/Type on materials in the Course Reserves OPAC is wrong. For example, if Cataloging a record in the web-based Course Reserve module that is a CD-ROM, the type will list <Print Book>. This is because the hard-coded HTML allows one static type to be entered … it is <Print Book>. What can be done?

• PALS could remove the hard-coded HTML so that nothing would appear as Type next to the title in the OPAC.

• Enhancement would be needed to correct the Type. o On Lute (development server), we are testing this in the Course

Reserves web-based module. The ‘Create catalog record in the Course Reading Database’ workform has a new parameter ‘Record Format’. The choices of format are listed in a dropdown. The choices are created from the LDR and 008 combination. PALS is creating this combination in the hard-coded HTML so that the various FORMAT choices can be accomplished. This would mean that libraries would have to edit in the Cataloging Module the LDR and 008 of an XXX30 (Course Reserve) created BIB record.

o PALS could create a tab-type-config table for XXX30 (Course Reserve) library like the one that has been created for SYS01 (BIB catalog). With this option, libraries would have to edit in the Cataloging Module the LDR and 008 of an XXX30 (Course Reserve) created BIB record.

LIBRARIES TO DO: PALS need a decision from libraries on this issue. g. Label Printing from Aleph. St. Cloud State University, Tina Gross and Staff, and the PALS office will begin testing Label Printing functionality within Aleph. h. Validation for 082, 310, and 76X-78X when a 580 note is needed to express a complex relationship between the described materials and other items.

i. MnPALS Indexing Task Force (MITF). a) MARC21 2005 Updates additions for the Aleph Validation Tables; b) Fixed Field indexing when cross-library searching, e.g. combining SYS01 and SYS60 CCL searches; c) Investigation of the holding receipt status displayed in the OPAC (Holding Record 008/06 position indicates receipt status of a library’s

holdings). NOTE: See their report attached to the Cataloging Agenda, 8. Task Force Reports, b. Indexing Task Force. 3) Information a. Libraries searching Worldcat or FirstSearch can click on your Holding. HRL library brought to the attention of PALS the following: When libraries search for records through Worldcat or FirstSearch, they can click on the Holding Code attached to that record. It then takes the searcher to the bib record as seen at that holding library with that library’s edits on the record. OCLC provides an immediate link into the holding library catalog’s bib record via the 035 tag 1st indicator 9 where the OC # is stored. If the bib record does not have a 035/9, the link is not made. Then, the librarian coming into a catalog would have to redo the search which is an inconvenience. HRL thought PALS had to provide the 035/9 in Bib records with just the OCLC number and no leading characters; e.g. ocn or ocm. As it turns out, this can be set at OCLC. Here is the process:

• When libraries search Go to http://firstsearch.oclc.org/crs/ and log in. • Click the Linking tab (fourth one) • On the left, click Web Library Catalogs • Under OCLC Number Search Results, enter this URL (replacing the mnpals.mnsu.edu

with your domain and msu_cat with your base code) http://mnpals.mnsu.edu/F/?func=find-c&local_base=msu_cat_pub&ccl_term=sysno%3D

• Click the Add leading zeros box (it doesn’t appear checked in the picture for some reason)

• Also click the “add ocn/ocm prefix…”

• This has been tested with 7, 8, and 9 digit strings and it works perfectly. b. ELUNA 2008 Conference. The third annual ELUNA meeting will be hosted by the California State University Office of the Chancellor on July 30 - August 1, 2008 in Long Beach, California. The Ex Libris Technical Seminar will precede the annual meeting on July 28 - July 29. Conference details can be found at this website: http://el-una.org/web/event/2008 c. Cataloging Wiki – ‘Cataloging User Group’ http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Cataloging_User_Group

• Listed here are: Charge, Steering Committee, Documents (Task Force Policy, MARC Records, Holdings Templates), Work Day (2007 Work Day Handouts, Work Day Planning)


http://firstsearch.oclc.org/crs/

http://mnpals.mnsu.edu/F/?func=find-c&local_base=msu_cat_pub&ccl_term=sysno%3D

http://el-una.org/web/event/2008

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Cataloging_User_Group


d. Cataloging Forum – Functional Areas/Modules, Child Board – Cataloging http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=54.0

• OCLC Local Holdings Record Updating Service (LHRUS) • MARC Tag Fields needed in the MnPALS Library’s Serial Holding record for

LHRUS. e. Forums you should follow:

i. Authorities Task Force http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=5.0 ii. Indexing Task Force http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=6.0 iii. Reports Task Force http://forums.mnpals.org/index.php?board=31.0

4) Knowledge Base Answers (New or Updated) 3190 Retrieve call numbers in format used by oracle (mnpals-37) 3191 Bibs with many Holdings (mnpals-32)

3195 Issue titles that have been browsed (mnpals-36) 3196 Brief bibliographic records and default Book format

3197 All titles – barcode in a collection (mnpals-38) 3199 Online manual inventory management in ver. 17 and ver. 18 3202 Text on item record buttons 3205 Summary holdings set up requirements 3206 Record lock time period settings 3212 z13 Oracle table – short bibliographic record 3213 Usage statistics on electronic Government Documents 3215 Title browse search on BIB record not displaying in WebOPAC 3219 ‘x’ call number cleanup on the SYS60 Holding Record 3223 Turn off the CORRECT feature 3224 New titles for all libraries (mnpals-48) 3225 Batch inventory management in ver. 17 and ver. 18 3221 Adding a Material Type 3226 Holdings template 3227 Cataloging module Bases in the dropdown menu 3228 Loading Course Reserve article with URI 3231 Date sort on brief bibliographic records 3232 Most popular searches in WebOPAC (mnpals-43) 3233 All searches for your library (mnpals-42) 3234 NetLibrary/eBooks Usage Statistics 3235 Searching for a title with ‘not’ in the title 5) Rep changes (fixes) to ver. 17 and ver. 18. (NOTE: Do a version check in the Cataloging Module/Aleph dropdown/version check to get the GUI client updates). Service pack contents can be found on the PALS homepage at this URL: http://www.mnpals.org/sections/alephservicepacks.html. Listed below are some highlights for Cataloging and Items.





http://www.mnpals.org/sections/alephservicepacks.html

• The most recent ver. 17 service pack was loaded in November, 2007. There were no special issues that affected cataloging or items.

• The most recent ver. 18 service pack was loaded on February 7, 2008. The ver. 18 training may have included some of these pieces.

o 1414 – when performing a multiple bases search via the GUI, if one of the bases did not exist, the search was not always performed for all of the selected bases. This was corrected and now the search is performed for all existing selected bases.

o 1416 – when running the ‘Print Catalog Records – Columnar Format’ (print-08) service, with ‘Print ID’, the output file was created in the ADM library instead of the BIB library. This has been corrected.

o 1418 – In GUI search, the full view of a record failed when clicking on a field that contained a link with more than 500 characters. This has been corrected and now it is possible to insert up to 2000.

o 1422 – Sort levels 2, 3 and 4 of the Sort Catalog Records (ret-21) service were not working correctly with subfield definitions. The subfield was not taken into account and the sort was done by the field content. This has been corrected.

o 1428 – There were 2 limitations on the HOL record: 1) The HOL record was up to 2000 characters, 2) the HOL record could not include more than 30 tags. Now there is no limitation on the HOL size. There is a limit of 1000 HOL+Item records created from one BIB record.

o 1436 – When running the Delete Item Records (item-11) service with update = N, loaned items were reported as not loaned.

• The next ver. 18 service pack is expected on April 7, 2008. Circulation– Susan Dueis Aleph Circulation Issues V.17 fixes • Item record deletion because of ILL return caused incorrect barcodes in circulation logger.

This has been fixed and now barcode is deleted from circulation logger when ILL is returned (and brief bib is deleted).

V.18 fixes • Filtering dropdown list of profiles in new patron registration forms (both fast and regular).

This has been tested and is working.

• Entering closing hours after midnight directly into Tab 17. This will be in the April service pack, so it has not been tested yet.

• Fixing the p-cir-77 process so that it deletes expired patron records and propagates blocks and expiry dates. We are expecting this in the April service pack, so it has not been tested yet.


Forum New boards have been created on the MnPALS Forum for the Functional Areas/Modules divisions. Check out the Circulation board at http://forums.mnpals.org under Consortium of MnPALS Libraries > Functional Areas/Modules > Circulation. This is a place to discuss Circulation issues. Aleph ADM Codes We are working on enhancing the MnPALS consortium membership list on the PALS web site to show the Aleph ADM codes. Changes will be happening in the Members area of the MnPALS Consortium page at: http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Consortium_Members.html. Cash Export We have sent in an enhancement request to Ex Libris for the Aleph cash export process. Aleph currently just supports transferring the cash debits (what patron owes) to an external office, where it will be handled. We have explored a work around and believe it would involve a rather large programming effort with many possible side effects. However, there is a possible new way of handling cash in version 18 that we have yet to test.

Recent answers added/edited in the Knowledge Base (go to the PALS Support Center at http://pals.custhelp.com/ to view):

• 2347 Changes to Tab 15 or Tab 16 Effective Immediately • 3204 Deleting Strange Profiles in Circulation • 3206 Record Lock Time Period Settings • 3210 Patron Pincode and Barcode Verification Defaults • 3211 Services Available in Aleph • 3214 Unable to Find Global Patron Information Error • 3217 Tables Editing and Lockouts • 3229 Hold Request and Letter Status • 3230 Hold Request Reports

Interlibrary Loan – Sonja Eilertson Transition from WebILL to ILL2 (Integrated Interlibrary Loan) with Version 18 When we move to version 18 ALEPH, we will use interlibrary loan in the GUI client. Your ILL requests will transfer from WebILL to ILL2 (GUI ILL). Your settings for your ILL unit will transfer and your potential supplier lists will transfer. Trainings focus on the new look of the interface. Automatic Processing-Lending Requests that are Checked Out In WebILL maintenance module, staff can choose to have lending requests that are not available automatically be answered unfilled. From maintenance module, http://ill.mnpals.net/M click on ILL units and select your own ILL unit. Click on the Auto Process tab and select and in Item Availability Failed (Loan) use the dropdown list to select Answer Unfilled.



http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Consortium_Members.html


http://ill.mnpals.net/M

In ILL2, the setting can be changed: 1. ADMIN and click on Partners 2. Use Search Mode Code and type in your ILL unit code. 3. Click Lending ILL unit tab 4. Use the dropdown list for Returnable Request Status Item Availability Failed and select Answer Unfilled. 5. Click Update to save the change.


2.1.

5. 3

4

Reports Title list for Interlibrary Loan returnables has been added to the list of reports to be developed. The potential pull will be for title, author, ISBN-ISSN, requested media and the number of times the title has been requested. Libraries that requested this report be created see a potential use for collection development. Work Plan VDX and ALEPH Interlibrary Loan testing will occur when a fix for ALEPH Interlibrary Loan alias field is received from Ex Libris. Ex Libris staff and VDX staff have done preliminary testing. Forum and Wiki Each ILL module or functional area has a Forum. The Forum address is at: http://forums.mnpals.org/. The Forum can be used to discuss topics such as direct borrowing agreements or how a library handles distance patrons. The Wiki is available for collaborative work. It can be found at: http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Main_Page



http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Main_Page


Reference – Perry Madden Web OPAC Changes

• Instead of "More locations", the text below the libraries in the Location column now says "Click title for more locations".

• On the holdings page, if the bib record does not have any barcoded items, the system now displays the message: "The library does not have accessible items". We are still looking for suggestions for alternative wording. Some libraries have suggested no text at all, but others feel this could be confusing. If you have a suggestion, please let us know.

• BOOKBAG: The Call number info from the U of MN now displays in the Bookbag just like local record call numbers. We discovered how to do this in version 18 and were able to retrofit it for version 17 as well.

• Change in How Boolean Searches are Interpreted by Aleph. • In web OPAC search statements with only AND and OR, it was believed that the

Boolean operations were evaluated from left to right, and operations in parentheses were evaluated first. According to Ex Libris' Web OPAC Staff Guide, searches should have been processed as follows: Incorrect Search Execution Search Statement Executed as A and B or C (A and B) or C A or B and C (A or B) and CA and (B or C) A and (B or C)

After testing done by the PALS office and Ex Libris, it was determined that search statements with only AND and OR, operations in parentheses are evaluated first (as before) but then within any group of operations, AND operations are done first, executed from left to right, followed by OR operations executed from left to right.

Correct Search Execution Search Statement Executed as A and B or C (A and B) or C A or B and C A or (B and C) A and (B or C) A and (B or C)

The change comes in the second example, where if there are no parenthesis, the "B and C" portion of the statement is processed first, followed by "A or". Ex Libris will be changing their documentation in the Web OPAC Staff Guide to match what we have learned.

Statistical Reports: mnpals-42 and mnpals-43 Two reports were created for tracking Web OPAC searches. They are currently available in the Cataloging client under Services | Web OPAC:

• mnpals-42: List search types for Your Library Provides a list of all Search Types for a given range of dates. This service is identified in the Batch Log and Batch Queue as p_mnpals_42.

• mnpals-43: Most Popular Searches Provides Most Popular Searches for a given range of dates. This service is identified in the Batch Log and Batch Queue as p_mnpals_43.

Note: For both of these reports, to place the report in your ADM (XXX50) scratch directory, you must connect to XXX50 library before starting the procedure; e.g. Cataloging Module/Aleph dropdown/connect to XXX50. Item Process Status Updates For the latest information on Item Process Statuses in MnPALS, check out http://www.mnpals.org/sections/item_process_status.html.


http://www.mnpals.org/sections/item_process_status.html


Requests for Changes Made Since Fall, 2007 User Groups • MSU Mankato requested several Item Process Statuses be changed to Available. All

were voted down and will not be changed to Available. The PALS staff worked with the MSU Mankato staff to set up unique Item Process Statuses that they can set to Available.

• Normandale asked that Item Process Status WC (with a display name of "Weeding Consideration") display as Available. Since they were the only library at the time using WC as an Item Process Status, the PALS office went ahead and changed WC to Available

Item Process Statuses now set to Available • CY - changed February 2008 • DM - changed November 2007 • DY - changed September 2007 • NI - changed October 2007 • OD - changed October 2007 • PV - changed February 2008 • PY - changed February 2008 • RY - changed September 2007 • TC - changed February 2008 • WC - changed January 2008 • WK - changed October 2007 • WY - changed February 2008

Item Process Statuses left as Unavailable

• BR • CO • DS • EP • GL • IP • MD • NR • RF • RS • TS • WD • WR

Any other Item Process Statuses not listed above are also set to Unavailable. Reference User Group Page on MnPALS Wiki http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_User_Group The Reference Steering Committee members have been working to make the MnPALS Wiki a useful tool for all Reference Group members. So far, they have posted:

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_User_Group

• Steering Committee Meeting Notes http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_User_Group#Steering_Committee_Meeting_Notes

• Links to MnPALS Library Blogs, Wikis, and Other Library 2.0 Projects http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_User_Group#Links_to_Library_Blogs.2C_Wikis.2C_and_Other_Library_2.0_Projects

• Keith Ewing's document on Discovery Tools (Keith's original document has been updated by both Keith and other MnPALS staff members) http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Discovery_Tools

• Reference Workday http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_Work_Day If you have other ideas or things you would like to see on the Wiki, let the Steering Committee members know. Reference Workday http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_Work_Day The Reference User Group Workday was held on Friday, March 28, 2008, at Metropolitan State University. The purpose of the Workday was to share and learn about reference service, instruction, and new tools, as well as to enjoy the chance to connect and network with colleagues. This event was planned by your Reference User Group Steering Committee: Ruth Anderson and Pete McDonnell (conveners), Amy Soma, Kristen Larson, and Jennifer DeJonghe. Special thanks go to Metropolitan State University for hosting the event, and to the PALS office for logistical support. Click the link above for more information about Reference Workday. Systems – Dan Honetschlager Forum and Wiki The Systems module has a Forum. The Forum address is at http://forums.mnpals.org/. This Forum can be used to discuss topics specific to System Librarians. The Wiki is available for collaborative work. It can be found at: http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Main_Page EZproxy Dan Honetschlager and Rod Bruce have been diligently working at getting EZproxy running. • The “New” EZproxy server has been set up and configured for South Central College North

Mankato/Faribault. • Documentation has been created and tested. • There are three other “New” sites in line to join in with EZproxy. • There are nine sites on track to convert from LibProxy to EZproxy. • Minnesota State Moorhead and Concordia College are next in line. They are the institutions

that PALS will “Practice” converting from LibProxy to EZproxy.


http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_User_Group#Steering_Committee_Meeting_Notes

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_User_Group#Steering_Committee_Meeting_Notes

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_User_Group#Links_to_Library_Blogs.2C_Wikis.2C_and_Other_Library_2.0_Projects

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_User_Group#Links_to_Library_Blogs.2C_Wikis.2C_and_Other_Library_2.0_Projects

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Discovery_Tools

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_Work_Day

http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Reference_Work_Day


http://wiki.mnpals.org/index.php/Main_Page

• One aspect of testing will involve authentication via LDAP. The LDAP process allows PALS to authenticate a user against the campus active directory server (e.g. authenticate your email). PALS will continue to authenticate against the Aleph patron database.

• Once through the process of converting a current institution from LibProxy to EZproxy, PALS will be ready to move forward with any other sites that are interested.

• The PALS office has a goal to have everyone switched to EZProxy by September 30, 2008. Members are asked to submit a request to the PALS Support Center http://pals.custhelp.com if you wish to be put on the list for moving from LibProxy to EZProxy. Libraries wishing to add EZproxy as a new service should contact the PALS Support Center as well.

Questions? Please send any questions regarding the Support and Training Report to http://pals.custhelp.com/ or catch one of the Support and Training Staff at User Group.


