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ILS - Sierra

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295 results found

  1. Right now NCIP for Symphony, Voyager, Polaris, Koha and Evergreen all accept ISBNs, but Sierra's does not.

    6 votes

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  2. Ability for patron to add money to their Sierra patron account (via self-check) to pay for future fines, fees, and printing. We are looking to go mostly cashless, but some patrons aren't able to get credit cards (like our young patrons here after school). Our self-check machine takes cash, which would allow patrons to print and pay fees/fines with cash, even if the staff doesn't have a cash register.

    7 votes

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  3. I recently learned that the fields included in the Expanded Display for patron records (when you rollover/click the i next to the record) are hard coded.

    I found this unfortunate, because what's shown in the Expanded Display differs depending on where you're viewing it, which in the case of patron records is either going to be in the Search/Find a Patron view or the Check Out mode view.

    Examples of where I see room for improvement here:

    1) When I search for a patron by name & come up with dozens of people with the same name, an identifier like…

    6 votes

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  4. PROBLEM: When I search for an item via F3 Search/Holds, after finding the desired item and clicking to place the hold, a popup screen appears called "Search for patron." If I don't have the library card number but instead type in a name, and there is only one matching result, there is no way to preview whether that patron account is truly the correct one or not. Plus, for libraries with multiple branches, it is helpful to see the preferred pickup location.

    SUGGESTED SOLUTION: in other areas/screens, there is a small i (info) button that one can hover their cursor…

    11 votes

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  5. It's great to be able to add a single item to a review file from the item record page. It would be even better if we could add multiple items from the item summary page.

    15 votes

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  6. Add the ability to suppress subfield 1 in the 1xx field so it will not show in Sierra. This way it can be unsuppressed when the library starts using linked data.

    18 votes

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  7. Sierra supports Z39.50 but not SRU. Remote search and import/overlay of records from SRU-only sources seems to be increasingly important. We have begun to encounter potential partners who are no longer able to offer Z39.50 access because their systems only support SRU; likewise, we would like to be able to offer SRU ourselves to maximize interoperability.

    GPL-licensed software is available to add SRU support to Z39.50-capable systems such as Sierra (for example, CQL-Java, yazproxy and metaproxy):

    https://www.loc.gov/standards/sru/
    https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/cql-java/
    https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yazproxy/
    https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/metaproxy/

    3 votes

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  8. We use forms in Sierra for inter-library loans. We have, however, found that some users are too quick in submitting requests. I think it would be a good idea for ILL forms in Sierra to have additional functionality to slow user behaviour down and to allow for more accurate ILL requests:

    1. We have ILL conditions included as text below our ILL forms that would be better served as check boxes in the form e.g., "I understand I am responsible for copyright"; "I understand I am responsible for any replacement or repair fines".
    2. I also think if we could make certain…
    2 votes

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  9. We would like to change the wording on our bills to patrons for long-overdue items from “COLECTIONS AGENCY REPORT CHARGE” to “MATERIALS RECOVERY SERVICE CHARGE,” but this is hard-coded. We use Unique Management, who describes themselves as a materials recovery service, and we try hard to always use that wording and not say "collection" or "collection agency." Some patrons have become alarmed by seeing "collection agency" on our bills for long-overdue items and in their accounts.

    13 votes

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  10. Staff assisting any customers who cannot pickup all their ready holds at once, would benefit from seeing and sorting the expiry date of holds in the patron's holds list. This will assist with preventing their holds from expiring and being placed again.

    8 votes

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    An item's status and pickup expiration date are displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the Holds page as an item is highlighted/selected. While you can't sort by the expiration date, this information is displayed on screen for staff users.

  11. For volume records, it would be helpful to have 'volume' listed as an option in Admin - Settings - New Record Templates (see attachment). When adding volume records, it would be helpful to have the desired 'volume' template appear in the same way our item record template appears. Currently we have to always select the volume template we want to use. All the other options are listed and it would be nice to have 'volume' listed as well.

    8 votes

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  12. The form endpoint is used to identify cases in which a patron must place a volume level hold or is restricted to an item's home library as a pickup location. Both of those involve item level specifics and yet the endpoint only works with bib records. This is an issue in particular with multi-location libraries/consortia who use the home pickup feature.

    As an example, a sample bib record has two attached items, one which uses the home pickup feature such that it may only be picked up at library A, and one that does not restrict pickup locations so may…

    6 votes

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  13. We would like to be able to reinstate manual charges, whether they're for the collection agency fee, or something like a damaged container or replacement power cable. The reason why we cannot currently reinstate this particular charge type is not stated in documentation & while I may have known at one point, memory fades as we age. Being able to simply reinstate a manual charge would simplify & expedite workflows, whereas now, we have to make like Hall & Oates.

    2 votes

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  14. Library staff would like to be able to see more details on holds that have been placed, including how the hold was placed (Sierra Desktop vs. SierraWeb vs. Web vs. mobile app, etc.) and who placed the hold (Sierra login if not the patron).

    Right now, it is not consistent how holds information is displayed.

    If you view holds w/in a patron record (holds tab), you don't see when the hold was placed or how they placed it. However, if you View Cancelled Holds, you see the date/time it was placed, along with the date/time it was cancelled, along with…

    40 votes

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  15. Problem: The text of emails sent when using the Approval and Denial notifications in Recommends cannot be currently altered. We would like to be able to provide more customer friendly email templates to patrons that allow us to explain why an item was denied or what the process is for items that are approved.

    Impact: Being able to communicate with our patrons at the outset of the process will save staff time by not having to have go back and forth with customers over email to explain processes and reasons for purchase requests. Additionally it will improve the customer's experience…

    6 votes

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  16. The only option for eReceipts is plain text. It would be a fantastic feature to customers to be able to build a nice HTML email for them.

    9 votes

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  17. Saved Queries in the SDA should function the same as they do in SierraWeb.

    In the SDA:

    If the first review file with search results in Sierra Create Lists is based on a specific record type (e.g., bibliographic record), and you create a saved Cross-Tab query based on the same record type, then the selection of the two fields in the Cross-Tab Field Selection panel will be retained when switching to another bibliographic review file in Sierra SDA.

    If the first review file with search results in Sierra Create Lists is based on a specific record type (e.g., bibliographic record),…

    5 votes

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  18. When using the Rapid Update function to update individual item records, you can select a specific field (or fields) and values to update. After setting up your desired fields to update, you then scan the item barcode, hit Enter twice, and return to the point to scan the following barcode. We have had multiple instances where staff accidentally insert an additional field to change after scanning a barcode. One example is if they accidentally hit the space bar instead of the Enter key. It then defaults to the Copy# field. If there were a way to lock the selected Commands…

    13 votes

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  19. In our library, all in-transit items are put into a single bin at the check-in location to be picked up and run through a central sorter which separates them by destination. This workflow doesn't require the use of transit slips, so our staff are trained to choose not to print one when prompted at check-in.

    Having to choose "no" at check-in for each item can become onerous when staff are checking in many items, but currently the only alternative is to have the system automatically print a transit slip for every item — which would simply be a waste of…

    16 votes

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  20. Our library has very generous allowances for both checkouts & holds on patron accounts. This can sometimes come into conflict with Sierra's seemingly arbitrary system limits. For example, when these items go unreturned & result in replacement charges, which then cannot be added because of the imposed limits. Like my waist can no longer accommodate 32" pants, Sierra cannot currently accommodate the lending policies taken advantage of by some of our more active borrowers.

    I'm sure there are other examples where these limits can manifest, but attached is an example message recently seen by staff which reads:

    CANNOT ADD FINE…

    4 votes

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