Self Service Program

The new self service circulation program is now available. Although it is still a work in progress, we felt it would benefit from wider beta-testing.

The feature is designed for those libraries and locations where patrons are allowed to check out and check in materials at a dedicated self service station. It is also designed to allow someone to perform basic circulation activity without access to the main management program. There are limitations to the service. No renewing is allowed. Items that are on a reserve list or on hold cannot be checked in or checked out. If an item is overdue and there is a fine, the item must be checked in at the normal circulation station.

To access the self service login page go to: Self Service

Normally this URL "http://circ.libraryworld.com/selfservice.html" would be setup as a shortcut on a computer station that is not used by management staff.

Highlights from 2014

We are finished up another great year here at LibraryWorld and are looking forward to 2015.  We’d like to take a moment and thank our customers and review some of our achievements.

We began the year by asking our users to suggest new features they would like to see within our service.  We compiled a poll and asked users to prioritize over two dozen feature requests that were originally generated by LibraryWorld users.  The top five features were chosen and implemented into our service throughout the year.  The top five features were:

1. Self checkout service, so patrons can check items out themselves. - Scheduled release  in Jan. 2015.

2. In OPAC provide spelling correction, “Did you mean.” - Completed!

3. In the circulation module, place holds or reserves by patron name as option to patron number.  -  Completed!

4. Allow use of Temp Due Date for renewals. - Completed!

5. Add a ‘print report’ option to the Clipboard in Manage.  - Completed!

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in our ‘New Features’ poll.  We always appreciate feedback on ways in which we can improve upon our current service.  We will be conducting another New Features poll in early 2015,  so be sure to keep an eye out for more information.

Another important highlight to mention from this year:  we converted our service from running on Berkeley Unix to the world class Ubuntu Linux operating system running on new high end hardware.  We also contracted the Level 3 Internet Service Provider for server warehousing and telecommunications.   With these investments, we continue to provide state of the art technology to support the thousands of libraries that depend on our services.  

Wrap Up on New Features

Earlier this year we asked for your help in determining which new features you would like to see implemented into our service.  Close to a thousand customers participated in choosing and prioritizing over two dozen feature requests that were originally generated by LibraryWorld users.

The top five most requested features were:

1. Self checkout service so patrons can check items out themselves.

We have decided not to implement a complete standalone self checkout system at this time, but will continue to study the issues.  However, by setting up a user account with just checkout permissions, you can create a 'Check Out Only' station.  To find out more go to Help at the top of the LibraryWorld page and enter 'Self Checkout'.  Step by step instructions are provided.

2. In OPAC provide spelling correction, “Did you mean.”

To access this new feature, simply log into the OPAC service.  Once logged into the service you can search for a catalog record according to title, author, subject, etc.  Spell checking and word recommendations are available in the standard search and simple search pages.  It is not available at this time in advanced searching. 

3. In the circulation module place holds or reserves by patron name as option to patron number.

You can now place an item on hold or place a patron on a reserve list for an item by using the patron’s name instead of their barcode number.  This works in a similar fashion to the checkout procedure.  If there are multiple patrons with a similar name, a list of names will appear.  Simply click the correct name and the process will continue.  

4. Allow use of Temp Due Date for renewals.

The Temp Due Date feature can be found in the circulation module using the Renew button.  Click on the ‘Temp Due Date’ button to set a temporary due date. Once set, the button will change to ‘Clear Temp Due Date.”  The checkout temp due date and the renew temp due date are exactly the same.  Saving and Clearing in one does the same for the other.  It is important to note that temp due date doesn’t affect the Renew or Renew All function in the patron module. 

5. Add a ‘print report’ option to the Clipboard in Manage.  

We have added a ‘print report’ option to the Clipboard in Manage.  Simply add items to your clipboard and use the new ‘Print’ link to create a new page with the records.  

We would just like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in our ‘New Features’ poll.  We always appreciate feedback on ways in which we can improve upon our current service.  

We will be conducting another ‘New Features’ poll in January.  We will inform you how to go about submitting your feature requests.  These request’s will then be compiled into a poll and be voted upon by you.  We will announce the results and be sure to update you whenever one of the features is integrated into our service.

OPAC: Now With Spell Checking

We are pleased to announce that a third feature from our poll has been integrated into our service.  OPAC now includes spelling correction.  To access this feature, simply log into the OPAC service.  Once logged into the service you can search for a catalog record according to author, title, subject, etc.  Spell checking and word recommendations are available in the standard search and simple search pages.  It is not available at this time in advanced searching.

For example, if you type in "mork Twayn" no results will be generated, however a link will appear that reads, "Did you mean: Mark Twain."  Simply click the link and the proper search results will appear.

New Server Announcement

LibraryWorld is growing and so are our server and telecommunications needs. 

We will be performing a major upgrade to our service on Sunday, August 31st.  This upgrade includes all servers, switching our Internet Service Provider and moving to a new server farm.

The upgrade will entail bringing down the service for approximately eight hours, from 4:00 PM PDT to Midnight PDT.  Please plan accordingly.

Since we are changing Internet Service Providers, our IP numbers will be changing.  If you are using a firewall you should use the base ".libraryworld.com" as the appropriate address.  If you require IP numbers for your firewall, please have your IT professional contact webmaster@libraryworld.com  for the correct information. 

This has been a long planned major upgrade, with the new server farm already being tested.  We do not foresee any issues or negative effect on your operations, except for the scheduled service downtime and Firewall changes. The programs will have the same URL Web address, features, and user interface as before.  You will need to sign back into the service for both management and OPAC programs on Monday morning, or after service is restored. .

If there are any issues, we'll keep you posted via the home page announcement section, as well as, our Blog and Facebook page.

Sincerely,
The LibraryWorld Team

Moving Student's Grade Level

If you are a school librarian and not re-importing your student records, one common task is to move students up a grade.  Here is the procedure.

You can move the students up to the next grade by using the ‘Find and Replace’ feature on the Advanced page in the Patrons module.  Make sure you start with the highest grade and work your way down.

First, you’ll want to delete the patrons in the highest grade.  Do the appropriate search to find all the patrons in the highest grade, then go to the Advanced page and use the Global Delete command near the bottom.  This will delete all the patrons in the find set (those for which you just searched).  If any of theses patrons have existing transactions their records will NOT be deleted.  You may want to change their grade to something like GRAD.  

To advance the rest of the grades, go to the Advanced page and use the Find and Replace command.

1. Select the appropriate field name (Grade, Code, etc) from the drop down menu.  Make sure you start with the highest grade and work your way down.

2. In the ‘Find’ box, enter the information from last year that you want to change

3. In the ‘Replace’ box, enter the new information.

4. Click the ‘Find and Replace’ button.

Repeat these steps for the other grades.

Using the Z39.50 Search Feature to Add Catalog Records

One way to add a new catalog record to your library is to search the Library of Congress z39.50 database of over 14 million records (or one of the other available z39.50 databases) and copy it into your collection.

Steps to search for a record:

1. On the Catalog page, click on the New Record link.
2. Select the database you want to search.
3. Enter an ISBN, or Title and Author last name and click the Search button.
   Note: If you have a bar code scanner, you may be able to scan in the ISBN bar code number usually found on the back cover of books.
4. If matching records are found, click on the divot to the left of each title to see the ISBN, author and publication information to make sure you select the correct record.
5. If you want to add a record to your collection, simply click on the title.
6. The record is added to your collection and displayed with other recently added records.
7. Click on the pencil icon to the right of the title to edit the record. You'll want to do this to add copies and other local holding information.
8. Click the Add a New Record link to return to the New Record page and continue adding records.

General Database Information

• The Library of Congress catalog does not include records for every book published – only those that they have added to their catalog.  Also, not all of their records contain an ISBN.  Sometimes you will get better results if you search by Title.

• Most books published before 1971 are not in the Library of Congress catalog.

• Many, if not most, of the books published by Scholastic are not included in the Library of Congress catalog.

• Many users have reported getting better results when searching the OhioLINK Central Catalog.  If you’re having trouble finding records in the Library of Congress catalog, try using the OhioLINK catalog for some searches to see if you get better results.

• Occasionally one of the databases may be unavailable (offline). This becomes evident when you do several searches and get no results.  When this happens, try searching one of the other databases for your titles and then you can try the original database again the next time you are adding records.

Searching Tips

• When searching by ISBN, do not include hyphens.
• You don’t have to enter the entire title or author when searching.
• If the title contains very common words, enter the title and the author’s last name.  This will speed up the search.
• Enter author names with last name then first name.  Punctuation is not necessary.
• It’s best not to search by author alone.  Searching by author and title will provide faster results.