OWWLUG Meeting, Friday, April 29, 2016

10:00am-12:00pm at PLSHQ, Large Meeting Room


Snack sign up!

Thanks to everybody who has signed up to provide snacks! We all appreciate snacks!

Contacting PLS staff

There are better ways for library staff to contact PLS staff than the Contact us form (http://pls-net.org/contact), particularly if you have a specific problem, need a faster response, or are trying to reach a specific person.

Key points:
  • The contact us form goes to three people at PLS, only one of whom (Lindsay) really handles staff work/Evergreen-related issues (and Lindsay isn't always around to catch those messages right away).
  • Instead use the Get Help link on the PLUM front page, that opens a form that is sent to a ticketing system viewable by 5 people, all of whom can handle staff work/Evergreen-related issues, and the ticketing system keeps messages visible so we can tell if a question is waiting for response, has been worked on, by whom, and what the status is.
  • Or, send an email to support@pls-net.org, which also will go to the ticketing system.

Android app for Evergreen

Chck it out: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kenstir.apps.hemlock&hl=en

App developed by a patron (isn't that cool?) of the C/WMARS consortia in Massachusetts. Provides access to your account and the OWWL catalog. A few quirks: there is no log out option; searches default to your home library, so you have to select OWWL to search the whole catalog; the My Lists feature is glitchy. But still an option!

If you don't want to install an app, or your use an Apple or other non-Android device, the regular OWWL catalog is designed to render well on a small-screen device.

Circulating DVDs

Or, "Why don't DVDs get the right due date?? (now with 100% more ponies!) Download the slides!

Key points:
  • Loan periods DO follow the check out library, BUT…
  • Circulation rules are very complex
  • Circ rules are primarily formed of patron profiles, circulation modifiers, and loan durations
  • There are (generally) 2 primary patron groups defined in circ rules, 3 video-related circ modifiers, each circ modifier can have up to 3 durayion options, and there are SEVEN various loan durations configurations (this is ~126 possible permutations for matches!)
  • In most cases, "wrong" due dates are not, in fact, wrong, and the item is circulating according a correct rule, just not the expected rule
    • a video from 2012 still has the circ modifier "New Video"
    • a video is circulating according to configuration staff don't know about, such as "Long"
    • the item was configured for its owning library rules, and that library uses a rule your library does not, such as "Video Set"
    • Something, somewhere in the item does not match any of your library's rules, so the system selects the next best fitting OWWL rule
    • "My normal is not your normal"
  • Check the Items Status > Alternate view > Quick Summary to see: the loan duration applied to the circulation, the circ modifier, the loan duration, and the owning library
  • Why do these problems almost exclusively happen with videos?? Because there is the widest variation in loan durations for videos. Most books, audiobooks, etc., have very consistant loan durations. Consistent loan durations = consistent due dates everywhere!
  • The "S" word… standardized video loan durations… yep, I went there! If libraries could agree to standard loan durations and standard use of circulation modifiers, these problems would resolve themselves. And when I say "standard loan durations" I mean just that - loan durations. Fine rates, or even renewals, don't matter.

What I learned at the Evergreen Conference

  • Floating collections
  • Catalog search trends

Evergreen upgrade

  • General timeline
  • New features
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