Millennium's First Birthday

It is hard to believe that we've been using Millennium for a year already, but today we celebrated the first birthday of our Millennium system with cake and prize drawings at Cook Park and Evergreen. There were a lot of happy winners all over the library.

Everyone wins because we recently joined LINKin, which allows patrons to directly request material from 5 Innovative libraries in our area. We also upgraded to Encore 2.0, which has a lot of great features, including Community tags, fewer logins, and reviews, summaries, and tables of contents.

There was also a special appearance by Ms. Millennium, Deb Lindahl. She really lit up the room with her special presence and left with a lovely corsage--the sugar flowers from the cake.

Read below for a list of people's favorite Millennium features, least favorite things, and Millennium wishes. We also asked people for their favorite shortcuts.

What is your favorite Millennium feature?

• fines paid, change due date, # in hold list, ++++


• Ease of checking patrons out.


• It is very easy to use and it was easy to learn.


• easy patron name lookup in circ


• ease of cancelling holds


• It is easy for new people to learn!


• looking up patron name & item title/not barcode


• placing holds


• looking up patron library card numbers


• Millennium Collection Module & Fines Paid


• You can see what number you are in the hold list.


• I can see what # I am in a hold list.


• Ease in which one can place & modify holds.


• CREATE LISTS, a very powerful tool


• The custom hold slip!


• The ability to create lists and do global changes.

What is your least favorite Millennium feature?

• only being able to check current and last patron


• Bibliographic information is inadequate.


• The "Account in use" messages blocking accounts


• title searching & scrolling down to barcode


• length of time to load


• The statistics. They are too rigid.


• waiting time for login


• back-up procedure


• trying to find a title for a hold


• Can't checkin patron's items on more than 1 computer


• You can not tell when an item is at bill stage


• Two computers can't have same info up at same time


• That items are not listed in chronological order.


• Printouts leave a lot to be desired.


• The locking of patron records.


• System allows barcodes to be used more than once.

What do you wish Millennium would include?

• Lock on Bib Inq drop down menu, so it won't change


• Better checkout history of an item.


• Not having to use the beginning of barcodes


• deeper access to last patron & last status on item


• glossary (and there is probably one there)


• A report writer for statistics.


• Starbuck's French Vanilla Capuchino


• simpler acquisitions


• Only put in the last #s of patron & item barcode


• When you are checking in mode,it includes a number


• Fries and a diet coke.


• Ability to limit CDs to an artist as main entry


• Better ways to find the "right" topic in the IGR.


• Just type the last 7 digits of patron barcode


• Nothing that I can think of now.

What is your favorite Millennium Shortcut?

• F11 & F12, Alt Q


• predefined card templates


• F1 and F2


• alt-q


• F11 and F12


• The space bar to activate the selected option.


• is there one? too many mouse clicks now.


• none


• F1 checkout F2 check in


• Katie's F1, F2, F3 function


• Checking in in Circ Desk mode!!!!!


• spacebar to override alerts


• I have 2:Ctrl-] next bib rec; Ctrl-. next item rec


• Recent patrons


• None that I can think of now.

Closure

It is hard to believe that today is the end date of the ILS Implementation project. We started searching for a new ILS in late July of 2006. Two years later, we've transitioned from Geac PLUS to Innovative Millennium. What a long, strange trip it has been.

• July 2006 - ILS Replacement Committee, led by Pam Skittino, meets for the first time
• August 2006 - First vendor visits
• September and October 2006 - ILS Committee visited libraries that use the ILSes we were considering
• December 2006 - June 2007 - RFP (Request for Proposal) is prepared, written and submitted to vendors
• June 19, 2007 - Board approves purchase of Innovative Millennium
• June 2007 - The Information Distribution Team is formed and the I Luv Snacks blog is born!
• July 10, 2007 - Brainstorming meeting to start planning staff education, communication and inspiration
• August 10, 2007 - Contract with Innovative is signed
• August 30, 2007 - First set of data sent to Innovative
• October 11, 2007 - Word of the Week begins to teach staff more about essential ILS terms.
• October 23, 2007 - Mr./Ms. Millennium contest begins!
• December 2007 - Staff training begins with the Introduction to Millennium taught by the IDT Trainers
• January 2008 - Things get serious. Training sessions and the important dates start filling up our calendars. We have a wake for the departing Geac PLUS system.
• January - February 2008 - Training, training, and more training!
• January 2008 - Go live with Serials and Cataloging
• February 11, 2008 - We stop using Geac PLUS and begin using the Innovative migration system
• February 12, 2008 - We go live with Millennium! What a week!
• March 2008 - Go live with Acquisitions
• March 11, 2008 - Deb Lindahl is crowned Ms. Millennium

During the entire project we also had a new Library Director, installed Express Checkout machines, reopened the Meeting Room, rearranged most of the library, and planned two new library buildings.

It's been a very busy two years and we're not even done yet! Here's what's still to come:

• eCommerce set up so patron's can pay fines online with a credit card
• Pathfinder Pro
• Load Table Training - Barb Jarvis will learn how to change the way records load from outside the system
• Modify statistics database to work with Millennium data
• Future Innovative purchases: AirPac, LinkInn, etc.
• Millennium Release 2007 - expected in April 2008 (think May, if we're lucky). This includes a lot of features we're waiting for like Syndetics (reviews, summaries in the catalog) and special printing abilities we don't have now.

We've progressed through this process pretty smoothly. Some bumps, bugs, and problems are to be expected. Hopefully you feel like you understood what was going on most of the time, felt prepared for the transition, and had a pretty good time along the way!

Your Information Distribution Team,

Katie Olsen
Mary Andrew
Heather Beverley
Deborah Gafka
Erin Maassen
and Andrea Johnson

PS Feel free to comment with suggestions or comments on how it can be done better next time!

Order, Order in the Catalog!

Alert searcher, Carol H., noticed that copies in the Encore part of the catalog aren't listed in any order, as in the example below.





We have set the web option for Web PAC Pro to display copies in order, with copies at the location you are searching at listed first.



Unfortunately, this setting does not extend to Encore. According to Innovative, copies are listed in Encore in alphabetical order by the location code, except in some situations like the one above, which makes me skeptical of this explanation.



Anyway, this is a feature that many customers have requested that Encore include so it is on the list of future enhancements, but a date this will happen is not available at this time.

On letting go...

We all knew this day would come. I know there's never enough time to say goodbye, but we must move on.

The SmarTerm shortcuts on your desktop will hopefully disappear on or around April 15th. These are the shortcuts are the ones you used to access the Geac "blue screen" programs. The Plus Circ Client will also be uninstalled.

Enjoy the time left. If you feel you need access to Geac longer, please contact me.

And the winner is...

Millennium has been alive and thriving for almost a full month now, and it has proven to be a huge success. The public has embraced our new system with open arms, delighting in its ease of use and access.

Yet, the success of Millennium is not due to just any one person or committee, but to the library as a whole. Each and every member of the library staff has made a significant contribution to Millennium’s success. From attending training sessions to assisting patrons, offering suggestions for improvement and reporting problems, from participating in parties and to showing overall enthusiasm, each and every thing has made a large impact on Millennium’s success.

Although it would be impossible to list each and every thing every single staff member has done, you will find below a list of all the library’s staff and highlights of their contribution to Millennium’s launch.

Congratulations everyone on a job well done!

Thank you so very much,

The IDT Committee.


Cook Memorial Public Library District’s Dedicated Staff
Julie Abbott – ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee; Parameter Team; Cleaned up patron records.Leonor Abreu – Attended training. Mary Andrew – Queen of Communication; ILS Committee member; IDT Committee member; Head of the Millennium Ambassador program; Kept staff entertained when informing staff about migration (the popular mother having-a-baby analogy!); Word of the Week contributor. David Archer – Research Pro King; Location Code King; ILS Implementation Team member; ILS Committee member; ILS Selection Committee member; Parameter Team; Mr. Millennium contestant. Dan Armstrong – Provided valuable advise for the ILS migration based on prior experience; Assisted with the creation of Millennium tips and tricks sheets; signed Millie award certificates. Jane Aten – Trainer; Staff Day Training Organizer. Ellen Bassett – Catalog Reviewer; Millennium Cheerleader. Heather Beverley – Queen of the Catalog; IDT committee member (joined mid-project); Core Implementation team member; Member of the Web Pac Customization team; Set up staff usernames and initials; Millennium Cheerleader; Trainer; Word of the Week contributor. Nicole Bosak – Backup Queen; Trainer. Vanessa Boss- Attended training. Lori Carnes –ILS Selection committee; ILS Committee; Trainer; Millennium Ambassador; Word of the Week contributor. Lauren Cerniglia – ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee member; Trainer; Parameter Team. Sandy Cisneros – Attended training. Marian Clark – Trainer; Assisted her department in becoming more familiar with the new system. Stephanie Clavey – Millennium Cheerleader; Volunteered and trained to be a patron catalog assistant. Janet Claussen- Attended training. Winnie Collins – Trainer; Learned new ILL system without assistance. Debbie Colodny - Organized fantastic staff Millennium celebration parties; Millennium Cheerleader. Mary Ann Constantine – Learned new ILL system without assistance. Mike Cotini – Helped set up for all Millennium training sessions: Attended training. Maureen Czerwinski – Attended training. Patricia Danch – Attended training; Provided helpful suggestions for easing patron use of the catalog. Fran David- Karen Decker – Attended training. Ann Eckmann- Attended training. Robert Eckmann – Attended training. Cindy Evans- Attended all training sessions. Gail Finegan– ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee member; Trainer. Kathy Fabbri- Attended training. Erick Fortmann – Attended training. Deborah Gafka – IDT member; Trainer; I Luv Snacks blog participant. Glenn Gotrik – Attended training. Diana Guzman – Attended training. Laura Hadjimitsos – Arranged lunch for training. Jo Hansen – Attended training Nancy Hart – Millennium Cheerleader. Amy Heatherman – Assisted Circulation in learning how the new ILS system works in a one on one basis; Great Problem Support submitter. Libby Heumann – Trained Evergreen Circulation staff; Input helped refine the new system; Millennium Ambassador. Jan Hastings – Trainer; Millennium Ambassador; Catalog proof reader. Carol Hubert – ILS Committee Member; ILS Selection Committee member; Millennium Ambassador. Michele Hussli – Staff Day Training Organizer Barb Jarvis – Loan Rule Queen; Trainer; WOW contributor; Ellen Jennings – Staff Day Training Organizer; Trainer; Created sample patrons for training purposes. Andrea Johnson – Queen of Inspiration; ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee; Core Implementation Team; IDT Committee; Parameter Team; Member of the Web Pac Customization committee; Word of the Week contributor; Snacker of the Month coordinator. Terry Johnson– Attended training. Jayne Kent - Learned new ILL system without assistance. Sandra Kline – Helped with periodicals; Millennium Ambassador. Colleen Koebel – Trainer; Collected Millennium tricks, tips and cheats for staff use. Donna Krause - Arranged a vendor training lunch. Jeanne Lamz – Backup Queen; Created backup procedure; Millennium Ambassador; I Luv Snacks frequent blog poster; Susan Lucci of Snacker of the month. Arlene Lane- Attended training. Karen Langridge – Attended training. Deb Lindahl – Ms. Millennium contestant. Bungy Lowry – Millennium Cheerleader. Alanna Little- Attended training. Erin Maassen – Member of the Web Pac Customization team; IDT member; Fantastic I Luv Snacks blog poster. Evan Mather – Created snack-themed CD for unveiling party; Created death-themed CD for wake. Mary Mellang – Trainer. Justin Metz – Helped set up for all Millennium training sessions. Gary Murphy – Helped set up for all Millennium training sessions. Lisa Newell– Attended training. Katie Oakes – Ms. Millennium Contestant; Millennium Cheerleader. Katie Olsen – The People’s Princess; ILS Selection committee; ILS Committee; Core Implementation Team; Head of the IDT Committee; Head of the Web Pac Customization committee; Word of the Week contributor; Parameter Team; Trained the trainers; Trainer. Carol Opsal – Attended training. Nancy Osborne – Attended training. Gaby Pantle – Accommodated the Meeting Room schedule around Millennium Training sessions. Susie Pasini – Trainer; Staff Day Training Organizer. Blake Peacock– Attended training. Bill Penne – Millennium Cheerleader. Chris Popoli – Headed the Staff Day Training Committee; Coordinated catalog assistance volunteers. Rose Prouty – learned ILL system without extra training; didn’t leave us in frustration; Cheerleader. Connie Regan – Millennium Ambassador. Caroline Roberts – Gave good training suggestions. Marcy Rodriguez – ILS Committee member; Parameter Team; Provided valuable advise for the ILS migration based on prior experience; Assisted with the creation of Millennium tips and tricks sheets. Amany Rostom– Attended training. Lisa Rusch – Assisted in cleaning up GEAC patron records; Oversaw Word of the Week contributions; Millennium Cheerleader. Haley Samuelson– Attended training. Chris Scherman – Handled all IT responsibilities during the ILS process. Sonia Schoenfield – Millennium Trainer; Staff Day Training Organizer. Jane Seidman– Attended training. Nancy Shepherd – Attended training. Seethalakshmi Sivaram – Attended training. Pam Skittino – Empress of All. Head ILS Selection Committee; Head ILS Committee; Head of Core Implementation team; Parameter Team. Mary Ellen Stembal – ILS Selection Committee; ILS Committee; Provided M&Ms for conference calls; negotiated contract with III. Karen Sterly – Donated boxes for training supplies Pam Strain – Attended vendor training. Eileen Sullivan – Provided headphones for training laptops. Gail Tanimura – Trainer; Millennium Ambassador. Mary Tompson- Attended training. Matilda To- Attended training. Andy Traynor – The King of Pretty; Member of the Web Pac Customization committee; Designed all the icons and buttons in the new catalog. Jane Trump – Member of the Web Pac Customization team; Research Pro set up; Millennium Trainer; Word of the Week Contributor. Elaine Quinn – Attended training. Danielle Quist- Attended ILS meetings; Trainer. Cindy Ugaste – Trainer; Millennium Ambassador. Joseph Ugaste- Volunteered and trained to be a patron catalog assistant. Virginia Walker – Learned Serials application; Entered a huge amount of magazine subscription cards. Linda Weagley– Attended training. Debbie Willgress- Trainer. Carol Zwolski – Attended vendor training.

Forget-Me-NOT!!!

Yes, the old catalog had it's limits, but it did have at least one nice feature, the "Remember me until I quit" checkbox. It put a cookie on the patron's computer that remembered their barcode and password whenever they used a My Account-related feature. This info was deleted when the user clicked the Quit button.

The new catalog does not have this exact feature. Instead, it has a "reverify" option, which we have turned on, which remembers the patron's barcode and password for requests (holds) placed in succession. It is not remembered when the patron clicks the My Account link, however. It also causes an interesting problem on the catalog stations in the library.

I'd like to share a work-around that you can share with patrons and use yourself and also important details about the interesting problem I mentioned above.

A work-around
Patrons can use a common web browser feature to remember their barcode number and password. These features are usually called something like "auto complete" or "auto form fill". They save the usernames and passwords you enter in the web browser so you can select and use them quickly in the future. You can often delete individual entries or indicate that you do not want some entries saved. These are the instructions Jane Trump wrote for the Help pages of the catalog.

Here's how you turn AutoComplete on in Internet Explorer. And here are links for instructions for Firefox users and Safari users.

• How can I avoid typing my entire barcode number and password every time I access my account from my home computer?
  You can set your browser to remember logins and passwords in all the sites you use, including Cook’s catalog. You will only have to do this once. In Internet Explorer:
  1. Choose Tools from the browser toolbar at the top of the page.
  2. From the dropdown menu choose Internet Options.
  3. Click the Content tab in the box that appears.
  4. Click the Settings button to the right of the AutoComplete description.
  5. Click the box for “User names and passwords on forms.”

An interesting problem.
As I mentioned above, the Reverify option we turned on automatically remembers the patron barcode and password for successive holds. A problem occurs when a patron using the catalog to place a hold leaves and someone else walks up and uses the catalog to place another hold before the timeout at 10 minutes occurs. The second patron can accidentally place a hold for the previous patron without realizing what has happened.

Here's the solution for this problem. After a patron places their last hold, they should click the Log Out link to log out of their account, then close the New Search window that appears. This clears their account information from the catalog so another request can be made. The Web PAC Pro Customization Committee will try to find a way to make this more obvious for patrons.


Keep those patron comments and questions coming! You can use the new #Millennium Comments and #Millennium Problems email accounts to report patron raves and rants (#Millennium Comments) or system problems (#Millennium Problems) you're experiencing.

Who Will Be Crowned The Winner?

The contestants have spoken...they've showed us their baby pictures, waxed poetically about Millennium, showed us a secret talent, and attended a few training classes!

Now it's your turn. Cast your vote below for who you think should be crowned Mr. or Ms. Millennium. The coronation will take place on Tuesday, March 11 at the "Thank God It's Over" Party.

In case you've missed it, here's what our candidates have done.

Dave Archer
On record saying"If elected Mr. Millennium, I will favor the incentive-laden approach such as: ‘Return a book on time, get a hug.’" Also told us of an authority-records obsession, a love of Junior Mints, and how excited he was by the staff's Millennium enthusiasm.

Deb Lindahl
She transformed to a goddess of the silver screen, developed a Clem Kadiddlehopper affection for Millennium, and revealed a crush on Mr. Rogers. She once said, "Millennium is like the little words shown on the screen at a Stars Wars movie. You know? You have to see dimensional letters fading to small in the background and large in the foreground. Or like Star Trek, 'Beam me up, Scotty!' Yipes!"

Katie Oakes
We were entranced with her extraordinary talent of falling asleep instantaneously. When she told us her nickname was Crash, we believed it...especially when she told us she would like to "be an Oscar Mayer Wiener, because everyone will be in love with me." Her catchphrase, "It's better than chocolate, and fat free: Millennium!" is sure to be caught on throughout the library.


Vote below!