Present: Lois Clifford, Carolyn Dirks, Ruth Lamb (for Betty Graf), Alex McCulloch, Darlene Radicioni (for Verna Keller), Dan Sich, Gail Sperling, Linda Teather (facilitator & recorder), Debbie Tytko, Charles Woods
2.1 TRELLIS System Administrator
Charles reported that the upgrade went well and was completed in a shorter
time than last year. There are some bug reports to follow up on and some
new local configuration options to investigate with the TUG OPAC group.
WebAdmin software will be installed on the TRELLIS server to enable local
functional system managers to run batch jobs via a web interface. The training
system is being set up and, since configuration and database content can
now be carried over from one upgrade to another, the Prototyping Team will
need to establish rules for use for the training system. NetMeeting should
be installed for all TUG Prototypers to explore its effectiveness in communication
and problem solving.
2.2 TRELLIS Operational Management Group
Charles noted that TOMG meeting summaries are sent to the tugstaff-l list
after each meeting. Topics under discussion recently include options for
server replacement in the coming year and WLU's network/response time problems
(which will be addressed by increasing WLU's bandwidth by 60% in Sept.).
Charles also noted that UW's CNAG (Campus Network Advisory Group) is considering
limiting access to multimedia sites which are generating excessive traffic.
2.3 Acquisitions
Debbie reported that there are a large number of bugs in Acquisitions which
she and the TUG Acquisitions group will be writing up as bugs or DLoFs
(Dreaded Loss of Functionality), as appropriate, for submission to Endeavor
Support via the Prototyping Team. Most staff are using the basic functionality
of the new software with comfort but processes are taking longer to perform.
Owning library is not displayed in Acquisitions and staff must search via
the Cataloguing client for this information. (Charles will check for config
options to control this.) During the upgrade all "do not claim" statuses
were converted to "claim" and this is causing problems. Cancellations
are taking an extremely long time to process and the work-around TUG developed
does not work for titles with non-predictive patterns. The TUG Acquisitions
group and TOMG are trying to arrange to have an Acquisitions trainer
from Endeavor here for two days the week of Sept. 10th [it
was subsequently learned that a trainer could not be available until
later in the Fall and the training plan may be dropped].
Gail reported that she has been working with Endeavor to clean up a fund code problem and a new acqsvr was installed on Thursday night to prevent the problem occurring again.
2.4 Cataloguing
Ruth and others described some problems in the Cataloguing client. Fixed
fields are improved somewhat but still look peculiar. Connecting to
remote sites requires more steps and is accessed differently in 20001.3.
Charles is working with Betty to resolve problems with server connections
malfunctions to U.S. sites and to eliminate inconsistencies in Z39.50
attribute definitions. Some cataloguers are having problems with flickering
screens and the fix recommended by Endeavor of installing an additional
font is being tested on a few PCs, with varying effect. Approximately
2000 'bad' UW records were
detected during the upgrade and Cataloguing will be addressing these. New
capabilities to be investigated include BatchCat processes (e.g. batch
location changes) and OPAC forms.
2.5 Circulation
Alex reported that there is little new functionality in Circulation but
the look is different. A significant loss of functionality relates to
the ability to backdate. This has been reported to Endeavor and Gail
has written a report to identify fines assessed unfairly because of
backdating. A problem with St. Jerome's and Conrad Grebel calendars
not accepting updates has been reported to Endeavor. Offline charge
was used by Porter and Davis during the upgrade downtime and the upload
from the new clients worked well.
2.6 OPAC
Dan reported that most things are working well in the OPAC and that positive
comments have been received from staff and patrons. The TUG OPAC group
will be reviewing some decisions and investigating outstanding problems.
There is a problem with due date display on the titles list and this
feature has been turned off. The decision to offer both a full and brief
display will be reviewed and TUG OPAC may recommend reverting to a full
display only. The 'sort by' feature on the titles list is not working
as expected and requires further evaluation. There is a time-out problem
when a search appears stalled and the user goes to the 'exit' page.
Relevancy rankings now display on the titles page.
Dan and Anne conducted a training session for ISR staff on August 8 and have another session scheduled for September 5, 10:30, in Porter 428. Pilots are welcome to attend if space permits. Anyone interested in attending should contact Dan.
2.7 Reports
Gail reported that the catalogues have changed to reflect underlying table
changes. She has updated and distributed revised catalogues and asked
that Pilots contact her if they encounter problems running reports.
Notices seem to be running well. The Porter User Services 'reports'
station is restored to full functionality for reports and notices since
the Voyager upgrade.
2.8 Affiliated Libraries
Affiliated library Pilots agreed that the communication processes during
the upgrade worked well. Linda will review the membership of the tugstaff-l
list with the affiliated library reps to ensure coverage is current.
Renison: Lois has noticed a change in date display format on her PCs and on charge slips. Since this has not been reported from any other site, she will check the workstation regional settings for date format. The new Voyager clients are working on the Renison stand-alone PCs but not on the Polaris station. Lois will follow up on this with her systems support and Polaris contacts.
St. Jerome's: Carolyn will be examining the upgraded short loan functionality for potential application at St. Jerome's.
If the SISP/TRELLIS loader is not ready for the beginning of term, User Services staff will have to manually create new patron records and the self-registration form on TRELLIS might have to be deactivated. Alex' assessment of the situation is that the manual process will be manageable in Davis and Porter, except at busy desk times. In the affiliated libraries, only full-time staff do patron registration and this may be problem.
Since the upgrade, the only way to access the ASCII OPAC from the UW Library home page is via the "TRELLIS Help" page. Dan will discuss the need to add a link to the UW Library page with Esther Millar and Linda Hastings.
Linda distributed copies of the release notes for Voyager 2001.1. Additional copies are available on Endeavor's SupportWeb or from Linda.
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