LINKcat News

New Help Desk Software

SCLS will be switching to new Help Desk software on Tuesday, September 6th!

Why are we switching?

• The software we currently use for Help Desk tickets is no longer supported and will lose functionality in October

What’s the new software like?

• The new software has similar functionality but is more user-friendly
• There will still be a User Portal for library staff to submit and manage their own tickets
• Tickets can still be created via the Help Desk Portal, by sending an email, or by calling the Help Desk

What will change?

• The new Help Desk Portal will be available from both inside and outside the SCLS network
• There’s an app (if you’re into that kind of thing… 🙂)
• To use the Help Desk Portal, library staff must have a library-branded email address to create an account (no @gmail.com or @hotmail.com addresses!)
• We will add Knowledge Base articles for self-service
• Portal differences – Library staff can…
  • resolve tickets
  • edit comments
  • more easily add multiple attachments to a ticket
  • add comments to Closed tickets (which will re-open them)
  • add additional accounts to CC: on the ticket

What does SCLS staff love about the new software?

• It is more user-friendly and has additional functionality that may be implemented in the future

How will we get to the new Help Desk portal?

• The new Help Desk portal address will be announced in an email the week before Go Live

What do library staff need to know to use the new Help Desk Portal?

• The new Portal will function similarly to our current Help Desk Portal
• It will be accessible from inside AND outside the SCLS network
• Library staff will need to have a library-branded email address to create an account. Without an account, you may still submit tickets by calling the Help Desk or sending an email.
• Library staff will continue to receive ticket updates via email

What will happen to the old Help Desk Portal and any open tickets?

• Please try to close any open Help Desk tickets before Sept 6th
• Beginning on Sept 6th, SCLS staff will move any remaining open tickets to the new software
• The old Help Desk Portal will be unavailable after Sept 6th

We expect there may be an occasional hiccup as we transition to the new software. We look forward to your feedback (and patience) as we get adjusted!

New Collection Code and Shelving Location available in Bibliovation

A new Collection Code and Shelving Location are now available in Bibliovation:

• Collection Code: LPJ - LARGE PRINT JU - Large Print
• Shelving Location: LOC - Local Collection

This Collection Code and Shelving Location were approved by the ILS Committee at its August 2022 meeting.

The Collection Code and Shelving Location can be used by any LINKcat library. For a full list of Collection Codes and Shelving Locations, see the ILS Support Codes page at https://www.scls.info/ils/codes.

If you would like SCLS staff to batch change a group of items from an existing Collection Code or Shelving Location to one of the new codes, please fill out the Batch Change Collection Code/Shelving Location/Item Type Request form, available from the ILS Forms page.

News Summary (7/1/2022-7/31/2022)

News (in case you missed it!)

• 7/27/2022 3,694 bibliographic records were newly cataloged and/or updated in the database between 6/30/2022 and 7/26/2022.
• 7/27/2022 14,229 items and 2,455 bibliographic records (with only withdrawn items attached) were deleted in the monthly batch deletion of withdrawn items.
• 7/27/2022 2,728 bibliographic records with no items attached (that were created before 4/1/22) were deleted from the database.
• 7/27/2022 The minutes from the July 20, 2022 DIS Meeting are available online.
• 7/26/2022 Please fill out the 2022-23 ILS User Group survey by Friday, August 12.
• 7/20/2022 The minutes from the July 13, 2022 CMS Meeting are available online.
• 7/15/2022 Reminder! All links to the Bibliovation staff URL must be changed to scls.bibliovation.com by September 1, 2022. After September 1, the old URL of scls.kohalibrary.com will not work. See the LINKcat News blog post for more details.
• 7/13/2022 The minutes from the June 28, 2022 CSS Meeting are available online.
• 7/6/2022 The monthly LINKcat.info and LINKcat Mobile reports for June 2022 are posted.
• 7/5/2022  The monthly Bibliovation reports for June 2022 can be found online.

REMINDER: Update Bibliovation URLs by September 1, 2022

This is a reminder that all links to the Bibliovation staff URL must be changed to scls.bibliovation.com by September 1, 2022. After September 1, the old URL of scls.kohalibrary.com will not work. This change only affects staff. It does not affect patrons using www.linkcat.info. See below for more details on updating URLs. 

Where are the staff URLs saved?
Some places where URLs might be stored are:

• Bookmarks in browsers on staff computers
• Shortcuts on staff computers
• Internal library websites that are only used by library staff
• Documentation and instructions that your library created for staff
• Receipt printer shortcuts on staff PCs
• Spine label shortcuts on staff PCs

How do I update the URLs?
For browser bookmarks and shortcuts, you can edit the existing bookmark/shortcut and replace the old URL with the new URL. You can also delete the existing bookmark/shortcut and create a new bookmark/shortcut with the new URL. For internal documentation or websites, you can do a find and replace to update the URLs.

How do I update the URL in the receipt and/or spine label printer Firefox profile shortcuts?
There are special procedures for updating the receipt and spine label printer shortcuts. Instructions are posted on the ILS Support Manuals page.

Can I use my library's unique Bibliovation URL?
Yes! In Bibliovation, each library can use a unique URL for staff as well as for patrons. Your library's unique URL is <agency code>.scls.bibliovation.com. (For example, the URL for SCA will be sca.scls.bibliovation.com.) If you use your library's unique URL, then your library's items will display first on the "Detail" screen of the bib record, the "Edit items" screen of the bib record, and on the "Item status" screen of the bib record.

What about the LINKcat URL?
The generic URL for LINKcat is www.linkcat.info. The www.linkcat.info URL is not changing. Each library also has a unique LINKcat URL, which can be used for patrons. Your library's unique LINKcat URL is <agency code>.linkcat.info. (For example, the unique URL for SCLS is sca.linkcat.info.) Always use <agency code>.linkcat.info for any patron-facing information. Please do not use the scls.bibliovation.com URL for any patron materials or websites. If you are copying and pasting URLs into websites or other patron materials, be sure that you are using <agency code>.linkcat.info instead of scls.bibliovation.com.

What does this mean for patrons?
Patrons should not notice a change. Patrons will still be able to use www.linkcat.info to access LINKcat. Patron PCs in the library will continue to take patrons into the library's custom-branded LINKcat instance.

I need more help with this
If you need help with updating bookmarks, shortcuts, or anything else, you can contact the Help Desk. See the Get Help page for information on contacting the Help Desk.

Special note about GetIt Acquisitions
Libraries who are using GetIt Acquisitions must continue to use their library's unique URL in order to use GetIt. The library's unique URL is <agency code>.scls.bibliovation.com.

News Summary (6/1/2022-6/30/2022)

News (in case you missed it!)

• 6/30/2022 The June ILS Report is available online.
• 6/29/2022 6,293 bibliographic records were newly cataloged and/or updated in the database between 4/28/2022 and 6/28/2022.
• 6/29/2022 18,241 items and 2,828 bibliographic records (with only withdrawn items attached) were deleted in the monthly batch deletion of withdrawn items.
• 6/23/2022 Starting Monday, June 27, 2022, the Fast BIB Add form will require staff to select an Item Type before the form can be saved.  Please inform all staff that create Fast BIB Add forms.
• 6/17/2022 The Local Holds/Use Workflow document (how to create the records) and an FAQ have been posted to the ILS Support/Circulation webpage. Other documents for this pilot project are still under construction; we will post them when complete.
• 6/15/2022 The "new" LINKcat library patron registration forms (English and Spanish language versions), approved by the ILS Committee in June 2021, have been completed and posted to the ILS Support/Forms webpage.  Both pdf and Word versions are available.
• 6/13/2022 The Mid-Year Serials Clones 2022 Memo is available online.
• 6/10/2022 Two Collection Codes (BKAFISL - BOOKS AD FIC STREET LIT, CAY - CASSETTES YA) and three Shelving Locations (MED1F - MEDIA LAB, 1st FLOOR, RFTB - REFERENCE TABLES, TD - TODDLER) were deleted from Bibliovation. See the minutes from the June ILS Committee meeting.
• 6/7/2022 New Collection Code, Shelving Location, and Item Type limits available in Advanced Search for staff only. Please see the LINKcat News blog post for more details.
• 6/3/2022 The monthly Bibliovation reports for May 2022 can be found online
• 6/3/2022 There will be a full cataloging moratorium during the weekend of June 4 and 5. See the Linkcat News blog post for more information.
• 6/2/2022 The monthly LINKcat.info and LINKcat Mobile reports for May are posted.
• 6/1/2022 The Bibliovation staff URL has now been changed to scls.bibliovation.com. You can now update any links from scls.kohalibrary.com to scls.bibliovation.com. Please read the LINKcat News blog post for more details on updating your links.

New Collection Code, Shelving Location, and Item Type limits available in Advanced Search for staff only

New limits for Collection Codes, Shelving Locations, and Item Types are now available in the Bibliovation Advanced Search for staff only. These limits are not available to patrons. To see the new limits, log into Bibliovation using a staff login, and click Search in the top toolbar to access Advanced Search. If you don't see the new limits, please clear your browser cache and verify that you are logged into Bibliovation using a staff login.

Full cataloging moratorium starting June 4

We are continuing our work on the authority control project to update existing OCLC bibliographic records in our database with up-to-date author, subject, genre, and uniform title (series) headings.

LibLime will be importing and overlaying bibliographic and authority records. This means that there needs to be a full cataloging moratorium this weekend with no work done on bib records (including BSEs). This will start tomorrow, Saturday, June 4.

During this time, staff cannot:

1. Create, edit, or overlay records (BSE and MARC).
2. Use "Send to Catalog" from GetIt to create bib records.
3. Create new LOCAL or PERM records.
4. Delete or merge bib records.

During this time, staff can continue to:

1. Create, edit, withdraw, and delete item records for items owned by your library.
2. Use "Send to Catalog" from GetIt to create item records.
3. Work with Purchase orders in GetIt (as long as you don't send bibs to the catalog).
4. Work with Receiving and Invoicing in GetIt.
5. Update and create GEN records.
6. Do serials checkin in Serials.

This is planned to be completed for Monday, June 6. Once completed, cataloging and acquisitions staff will receive an email (should be early in the morning) when it is ok to resume creating new BSE records and sending to catalog from GetIt.

News Summary (5/1/2022-5/31/2022)

News (in case you missed it!)

• 5/31/2022 The ILS Report for May 2022 is available online.
• 5/25/2022 The minutes from the May 18 DIS Meeting are available online.
• 5/25/2022 The minutes from the May 11 CMS Meeting are available online.
• 5/25/2022 The minutes from the May 10 CSS Meeting are available online.
• 5/25/2022 20,201 items and 2,507 bibliographic records (with only withdrawn items attached) were deleted in the monthly batch deletion of withdrawn items.
• 5/20/2022 The GetIt Acquisitions Setup: Vendors on-demand webinar is now available. Click here for the video.
• 5/18/2022 If you experience response time problems in Bibliovation, please report them to the Help Desk. For more details on reporting response time problems, see this LINKcat News blog post.
• 5/17/2022 See the LINKcat News blog post for information about the moratorium on changes to existing bibliographic records, which starts Saturday, May 28.
• 5/16/2022 There is a new Workflow for re-queuing holds at Check in or from the Hold Shelf.  See the LINKcat News blog post for more details.
• 5/6/22 The Bibliovation staff URL will be changing on May 31, 2022. A redirect from the old URL will be in place through September 1, 2022. See the LINKcat News blog post for more details.
• 5/4/2022 The monthly LINKcat.info and LINKcat Mobile reports for April are posted.
• 5/3/2022  The monthly Bibliovation reports for April 2022 can be found online

Reporting Bibliovation Response Time Problems

SCLS staff are working with LibLime to determine areas of Bibliovation where intermittent and short-term slowdowns are a problem and we are looking for your help. If you experience response time problems with Bibliovation, please open a ticket using the SCLS Help Desk Portal or send an email to helpdesk@scls.info.

In order to provide the most specific information possible to LibLime about response time, please report any problems at the time that they occur, and with as many details as possible. For example, if there is a problem when checking out to a patron, please provide the patron’s barcode number, as well as information about whether the patron has a large number of items already checked out or is checking out a large number of items. If there is a problem when viewing a bibliographic and/or item record, please provide the bibliographic number and/or item barcode number and the specifics of the problem. It’s also important to provide the date and approximate time when the problem occurred.

If Bibliovation is unusable or seems to be having major problems, please contact the Help Desk immediately (use the After Hours Support Number during evenings and weekends).

Moratorium on changes to existing bib records May 28 through around June 6

SCLS and the Madison catalogers are currently planning an authority control update project that will update all of the existing OCLC bibliographic records in our database with up-to-date author, subject, genre, and uniform title (series) headings. During this time, Madison cataloging staff cannot overlay or edit existing OCLC bibliographic records. 

What this means for you right now

Starting next Saturday, May 28, if you submit changes to Madison on the following ILS Work Request forms:

Request to Add ISBNs or UPCs to Bibs

Report Problems with Bib Records

Report Duplicate Bib Records

those changes will be held by Madison until the first full week of June. The changes will be done after the project is completed the next week. Unfortunately, we don't have an exact end date at this time, but it should be done by the end of the first full week of June.

 During this time, you can continue to:

1. Create BSEs and link items
2. "Send to catalog" from GetIt for both bib records and item records
3. Create, edit, withdraw, and delete item records for items owned by your library
4. Create LOCAL, PERM, or GEN records

What this means for you during the next week

Around June 4 or 5, there may be a day (or possibly two days) where we will ask you to refrain from creating BSEs and using "Send to Catalog" from GetIt to create new bib records while the updated bibliographic records are loaded into Bibliovation by LibLime. We will send an email out about this as soon as we have solid information. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly how long it will take for all of the updates to be made to the bib records and how long it will take LibLime to load the changed bibs back into Bibliovation.