LINK 2.0 Koha

4.10 LibLime Koha Upgrade "Coming Soon"

 

We are planning to do the 4.10 LibLime Koha Upgrade in mid-January (no specific date yet).  The LibLime elves are working on completing the final bug fixes.  Next week, ILS staff will be doing additional testing in the sandbox and begin preparing the documentation for the upgrade.  Included in the 4.10 upgrade are:

• Last patron information (more details coming next week)
• Holds Managament which resolves the problems with manipulating holds when there are a large number on a single bib. See the Holds Managament document under Testing on the ILS Web Site Training page. We strongly encourage you to look at this in the sandbox as it substantially changes the way holds are displayed for staff.
• Display Agency code when checking in holds
• Improvements to relevancy ranking (more details coming soon)
• Many bug fixes (more details coming soon)

We realize there are a lot of "details coming soon", but we wanted to get the word out about this upgrade as soon as possible.

Following this upgrade, LibLime will be delivering to our sandbox a substantial number of additional bug fixes and enhancements pertaining to our contracted development. We are working on a complete list which is "coming soon."  This will be the beginning of LibLime Koha 4.11 which will also include our next phase of new development.

 

Updated Circulation documents

The following sections of the Circulation Manual were updated in October and November 2011:

• Section III Check In
• Section V Patron Record and Registration
• Section VII Fines and Financial Transactions
• Section VIII Problem Items: Lost, Claims Returned, Defect Reported, etc.
• Section IX Placing and Managing Holds
• Section X Circulation Codes

The following documents were updated or added to the Circulation Workflows web page in October and November 2011:

• Claims Returned workflow
• Lost Item workflow
• Troubleshooting Email notices
• RETURN REFUSED message at Check In - explanation and work-around
• Specify due date work-around

Drafts of two report workflows were posted on the Reports page, ILS Support website:

• Claims Returned report workflow
• Long in Transit report workflow

All Circulation documents are works-in-progress.  If you see any errors, have any suggested changes or want more information about a particular topic provided, please fill out the Koha Problems and Questions form and enter MANUAL or WORKFLOW as the first word in the the Comment box.

 

 

 

New Check Out receipt option

A  new checkout receipt template has been added to each library's set up.  The new receipt lists:

• Item(s) checked out today (section header in italics)
  • Date due in boldface
• Item(s) previously checked out (section header in italics)
  • Renewed item have Date due in boldface and Number of renewals = 1 or more
  • Overdue items have Date due in boldface and Number of renewals = blank

We are not able to compartmentalize the items previously checked out into separate sections for overdue and renewed items.  Having the due date in boldface should help patrons identify overdue items.  If we wish to separate the overdue items and/or renewals on the receipts, we will have to pay for additional development.

Here is an example using this new template : 1027receipt.

If you are interested in using this template when you select the "Print Slip" option, fill out a Circulation Work Request Form  requesting that the "All Check Outs" receipt be assigned to your Print Slip option.  If you have had additional changes made to your current check out receipt that you want included in this new receipt, you must include those changes in this request as well. 

No changes have been made to the Quick Slip template, which still prints only "Item(s) checked out today".

Koha update rescheduled for Wed, 9/21

LibLime will be applying an update to the production system Wed., Sept. 21. The update will take place after 9 pm CST. Fixes for the following problems are included in this update:

• Koha attempts to "suspend" holds that are Waiting or In transit when patrons click the "Suspend All" button (SCLS Support Ticket 40729)
• Patrons are unable to log into the PAC using the significant digits of their barcode (SCLS Support Ticket 39874)
• Items that cannot fill holds are displaying on Holds Queue report (SCLS Support Ticket 40836)
• Lost items with no holds are not automatically put into transit upon checkin at a location other than the home library (SCLS Support Ticket 40381)
• Staff receive error message when attempting to delete patron record (no SCLS ticket number)

SCLS staff will be testing these fixes after the update is applied. If you notice problems on Thursday please submit them on the Koha Problems and Questions form. For urgent problems, call the ILS Help Desk at 608-242-4720.

Communication and Reporting Problems

The SCLS ILS staff are streamlining the way that we communicate Koha problems.  We have been working on re-vamping the ILS web site to make it easier to find the information that you need. The Get Help Tab is where you will find instructions for reporting problems and links to information about Koha and Koha problems. This is now the "go to" page when you need help. Below are additional changes we have made.

Finding Information about Koha Problems

• The SCLS Status wiki will now be used for Urgent problems only. Typically this will be when some aspect of Koha is down. You will check here to see if a down system has been reported.
• The Koha Known Problems page now includes a section of recently added items. Problems will remain here for two weeks. On Fridays we will integrate problems older than two weeks into the larger list. Problems on the larger list are listed from newest to oldest.
  • We have sub-divided the Circulation problems by sub-type, for example "Fines."
  • We will continue to update the Known Problems and Fixes Status spreadsheet and will indicate the date it was last modified. Most of the changes to this spreadsheet have to do with development projects. This spreadsheet has been moved closer to the bottom of the page but there is a link to it at the top.
• The ILS Home page will now be used for News items and will be updated frequently.
• The LINK2.0Koha blog will still be used for lengthier articles on new features and other information.

Reporting Problems

• The Koha Comments and Questions form was renamed the Koha Problems and Questions form.
• Urgent problems are now defined as "down systems" which include Koha, the self checks, LINKcat, GetIt, etc.
• We will be removing the Urgent status from the Koha Problems and Question form on Friday, September 16. Urgent problems should be called in.
• The High status now takes the place of Urgent when prioritizing your new tickets. We will continue to focus on High problems first and will try to address them within 8 business hours after they are submitted.
• Library staff may report problems and questions via the Koha Problems and Questions form or by calling the ILS Help Desk between 8:30-5 M-F.  

We hope that these changes will make things a bit easier for you. Please let Vicki Teal Lovely know if you have any questions or comments.

Measuring slowness

Be detailed when reporting slowness
One of the things being reported to the ILS team is that "Koha is slow."   Just like when you take your car to the repair shop, it's helpful to be able to provide as many details about what you're experiencing as possible.  In the case of your car, you might report "it's a 'tink-tink' noise on the front drivers' side when I'm driving between 10 and 20 mph."   In the case of Koha, it's helpful to be able to tell ILS staff:

• whether you were in the staff client or LINKcat PAC
• which module you were using (circulation, acquisitions, etc)
• what you were doing when it happened (checking in, checking out, etc)
• if it involved a patron record or an item record  (and which records those are)
• approximately how long it took to do the action
• what time of day it happened
• if the slowness was happening on all PCs around that same time or if it seemed to be tied to the action you were taking

The link to the form to report slowness can be found on the ILS page.

Every bit of detailed information helps.  Some slowness may be related to network traffic and issues.  Other slowness may be the Koha software and what's going on behind the scenes.  Details will help staff track down the source the of the problem.

Add-on for Firefox to assess speeds
If you are interested, there is an add-on for Firefox that will display the length of time it takes a webpage to load.  It can be used to assess speeds for Koha functions.

To install the add-on:

• In Firefox, go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/lori-life-of-request-info/
• click on "Add to Firefox"
• Restart Firefox if/when prompted

The plugin will add a status bar at the bottom right corner of Firefox and will display:

• TTFB: how long it took to see the first byte from remote server (from click to first byte received). This value gives a rough estimate on when the browser can start laying out the content.
• TTC: how long it took to display the page (from click to complete drawing of the page).  For us, this includes all possible contributions to lag time:  the Koha database + the Koha web server + the internet + Badgernet ---- it is not a pure measure of "how fast is Koha?"
• Page size (number of bytes used to display the page): this value includes both bytes fetched from network and bytes fetched from the browser's cache.
• Number of requests: number of requests used to fetch the page's content (images, style-sheet, javascript ....). Again, this value include both network requests and cache requests.

Notes: that the above stat is only updated when a page is completely displayed (the progress bar is no longer displayed). 

The numbers reported by the add-on of most interest to SCLS staff troubleshooting the slowness problem would be the TTFB and TTC numbers.

 

Swimming in Data

Ever feel like you're up to your eyeballs in your inbox? Since go-live on April 18th, we've had 750+ problem/question submissions!   A *HUGE* thanks to everyone who's submitted feedback!

As you can imagine, all these issues and questions are keeping everyone very busy. To help the ILS staff, Jean and Kerri will be posting responses to some of the reported problems to the FAQ.  We'll be listing updates on the blog so you know which issues have been answered.  And if there's an issue generating lots of calls or questions, we'll try to highlight that.

Thanks for your patience as these issues are addressed.  We know that it may not appear that much is happening, but there is LOTS of hustle, bustle, testing, investigating, bug-reporting, and email going on behind the scenes!

A quick reminder:

• critical issues and information can be found on the SCLS Status Wiki  (most everything else will be moved to more appropriate homes now that things are settling down a bit)
• email will still be sent out about critical issues (like restoring holds)
• known problems (and fixed issues) can be found here: http://www.scls.info/ils/koha/faq/problems.html
• Problems can be reported using the Koha Comments and Questions form. 

Links to all of the above information (and more) can be found on the main page of the ILS Support website: http://www.scls.info/ils/index.html.

Support During SCLS ILS Koha Go Live

Here are preliminary details of the support SCLS will be offering during the Koha Go Live period.

Hours of Support

Beginning January 17, 2011 we will offer ILS support from 8am to 9pm M-F for the first 4 weeks following Go Live.  We will also provide support on Saturdays through February 12, but the hours have yet to be set. ILS Staff will be answering the ILS Help Desk phone during all of these hours.

On Site Support

On the first week of Go Live we plan to have an SCLS staff member visit every library to provide on-site assistance.  We will do this beginning Monday, January 17.  In order to help us plan this, please read the Important Go Live Details blog post and complete the form indicating when you will be open by the end of the day, December 17.

LibLime Support

We will have a LibLime employee on site at SCLS headquarters on January 17 and 18 to assist with resolving any problems with the system that might occur.  Hopefully there will be no serious problems, but it will be nice to have this support should we need it.

 

Reporting Problems

The ILS web site "Get Help - ILS Support" page will have the details you need to report problems.  Right now the only thing that is on there is the ILS Help Desk phone number.  We will have the support forms in place prior to the transition from Dynix to Koha.

Go Live Triage

During the first few days following go live, we may need to prioritize problems if the volume is high. We may not be able to resolve everything in those first weeks.  We have tracking systems in place that will allow us to do this and we can assure you that no issues will be lost or forgotten even if we can't get to them right away.

Update on Spine Label Printers (and other printers)

Spine Label Printers

We have successfully printed spine labels from Koha. There is still some tweaking that needs to be done, but we feel confident that we will have a reasonable procedure fairly soon. We are definitely ready to recommend the spine label printer that will work with Koha--the DYMO LabelWriter 450.

This printer is currently available for $89 plus shipping and it can be ordered from the LINK Peripherals Order Form. If you search for this printer on the internet, you will see that SCLS is able to offer it at a substantial discount which includes our standard support. New printers should be ordered as soon as possible so that SCLS Tech staff can complete the proper configuration.  If ordering new printers in 2010 proves to be a hardship, SCLS can postpone billing until 2011.

Some benefits of this printer are that it takes up significantly less space on your desk and it is very quiet.  We will be offering labels for this printer on the SCLS Coordinated Order which will be available mid-December, but if you would like to look at them, they are available from Gaylord.  The recommended label is the CCLA-1 which is the same size label you have been using on Dynix.

At this time we do not anticipate that we will be able to support the existing Panasonic, Epson and Data Products printers on Koha. The primary reason is due to print driver incompatability.

Receipt Printers

In case you missed it, Andrew Hoks wrote a blog post on receipt printers and Koha. Please take the time to read it as you may want (or need) to order new receipt printers to work with Koha. Receipt paper for the new receipt printers will be included on the SCLS Coordinated order.

Notice Printers (revised 12/28/2010)

We are finalizing research on options for libraries to print notices at the library.  This will be a change from Dynix where notices are printed centrally.  By allowing libraries to print notices on site you will have more control over what is printed and you will be able to get notices out to your patrons much more quickly because they do not need to travel through delivery first.  [We hope to have printer and notice paper recommendations to you very soon.  Notice paper will be included on the coordinate order as well.] 12/28/2010: SCLS will be distributing notice paper to libraries to use on regular printers in time for the Go Live. Ultimately, libraries will need to purchase their own notice paper and we will make that information available when we make that transition.

 

Channels of Communication

We are starting to hear some concerns about the migration and about communication regarding the migration, so I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about some of the ways we’re communicating with you and how you can communicate with us. 

First, we do want to hear your concerns!  We may not be able to fix everything right away, but we will save all suggestions and concerns for potential future development.  While the development to be included in go-live is already decided, we are committed to doing more development in 2011 and beyond. 

To make the product as functional as possible before go-live, we need your help!  As you try out Koha, we would like you to submit your questions and comments via the SCLS Koha Comments and Questions form.  Using this form helps us to organize questions and allows us to respond to them as quickly as possible.  We are using these questions as the foundation for our LINK2Koha Migration FAQ.  We will be adding a lot to this FAQ in the next few weeks.  We’ll send out reminders about the FAQ via the blog and email, and you can always check it often to see what’s new!

I am always available to talk about any concerns regarding the migration.  If you want to chat about something and you don’t want to use the form, please call me (608-242-4713), email me (vtl@scls.lib.wi.us) or see my SCLS Contacts page and pick your preferred method of communication.  For example, when I am at my desk, I’m also available for a chat on Meebo.

I’ve heard that canceling the ILS Committee meetings has caused some frustration, since these meetings were a forum for clusters to ask questions or express concerns.  In lieu of the ILS meetings, if you would like me to attend your county librarian’s meeting or cluster meeting for a question and answer session, just let me know!

As we approach our Koha Go Live date, I would like to take the opportunity to assure everyone that we are all in this together.  The SCLS ILS Team and the ILS libraries are working together toward the same goal—going live on Koha on January 17^th and 18^th with a well-trained library staff and our critical functionality in place.  We realize that things may not go as smoothly as we would like and there are going to be bumps in the road.  But the ILS Team will do its best to address as many issues as possible. 

Vicki Teal Lovely