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ILS - Sierra

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  1. For testing purposes, it would be beneficial to be able to make a backup of a patron PIN, assign a new temporary PIN, perform the testing from the patron's perspective, and then restore the original PIN. This way we would not have to inconvenience the patron by asking them to reset their PIN when testing has completed.

    We can retrieve the encrypted PIN with this API GET request:
    https://library-app-server:443/iii/sierra-api/v6/patrons/patron-record-number?fields=varFields
    but the PIN string will be re-encrypted if we attempt to write it back using the patron record PUT request. We would like to have the option of passing a directive…

    4 votes

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  2. 5 votes

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  3. The Time to Holdshelf feature in Sierra is useful in keeping patrons from showing up too early to pick up their holds. As seen in the attachment "Discovery Layer View" – which in our case happens to be BiblioCore – the availability status correctly reflects that the recently checked-in item "Easter Mice!" is not ready for pickup because the item is en route to the pickup location (which in this case is a set of freestanding pickup lockers in a remote area of the county).

    However, the holds status as displayed in the SDA incorrectly reports the item as being…

    25 votes

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  4. Idea: add the money owed fixed field as an option for a data point in the Bills Notice Data Library for print templates.

    Value: Some libraries would like to be able to call out to users how much in total they owe on their account, not just the total of the items on that particular bill. Adding this field to the data library would enable them to do so.

    5 votes

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  5. In Sierra, on Windows 11, when you click "Tile Vertically" so you can see multiple records at the same time, it makes the windows too long, so that the bottom of the windows get hidden behind the taskbar if it is locked. It does not do this if you maximize a record window, or if you use snap. It only seems to be the "Tile Vertically" function.

    We use this function a lot to compare records for deduplication, and it is really annoying to have to manually resize windows so you can see the whole thing.

    16 votes

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  6. Issue Description:
    At our institution, item record numbers in Sierra are either 8 or 9 characters long, including the check digit. We’ve encountered issues during import/export processes where 8-character item record numbers inadvertently match 9-character ones—particularly when the check digit is excluded—leading to data mismatches and processing errors.

    Proposed Solution:
    We suggest padding item record numbers with leading zeroes to standardize their length, which would help prevent unintended matches and improve consistency.

    Current Workaround:
    Our current approach involves separating items into two groups—those with 8-character and those with 9-character item record numbers—then importing them separately and merging the files manually.…

    1 vote

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  7. Problem:
    In the current version of the Sierra system, restricted or sensitive bibliographic records can only be suppressed from the public catalog but remain visible and accessible to catalogers within the system. This visibility creates the risk of accidental editing, publishing, or mishandling of these records, particularly:

    • Restricted Records: Some records are sensitive or confidential and should not be visible to all catalogers.
    • Records Under Review: Records undergoing auditing or verification need protection from edits until the review is completed.

    • Recommendation:
      Introduce a feature that allows the System Administrator or Cataloging Supervisor to hide specific bibliographic records within the Sierra…

    11 votes

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  8. There SHOULD be an OpenAPI definition document available for Sierra's APIs via Swagger, but currently, there is not.

    The OpenAPI definition document (https://swagger.io/specification/) is a standardized format for describing the structure and behavior of an API. It is a machine-readable document, usually written in JSON or YAML, that provides a comprehensive blueprint of an API's endpoints, operations, input/output parameters, response formats, authentication methods, and other essential details.

    For comparison, here is an example for the Polaris API / Swagger install (on an iii training server):
    https://polaris-training.polarislibrary.com/PAPIService/swagger/v1/swagger.json

    Benefits of an OpenAPI Definition Document:

    * Standardization: Provides a consistent format
    30 votes

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  9. Our consortium would like an automated way to update the encoding level to help with managing load profiles that use the encoding level priority function. It would be very helpful to add an API endpoint for updating all the MARC Leader fields. The 008 MARC field can only be used for updating some of the Leader fields.

    5 votes

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  10. The Invoice Summary that is sent after posting invoices only lists the voucher number. Our Finance department has to go through the Invoice Register and match the invoice number to the voucher number to know what invoices should be paid. This is very time consuming, and susceptible to human error. Please consider adding the invoice number to the Invoice Summary.

    18 votes

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  11. We'd like to see a date/time stamp on the "Restart a process/terminal" display in the Admin Corner and be able to sort by it. We sometimes run out of licenses because staff don't sign out of their SDA sessions at the end of their shifts, and we have to contact Innovative and request that connections older than the current day be closed. It would be helpful to be able to do this ourselves. Currently, we can preemptively reset all connections early in the morning before staff arrive, but if a problem arises during the day we don't want to cause…

    8 votes

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  12. When users return the materials via self-check machines, we want an email receipt to be automatically sent to them. Unfortunately, Sierra does not currently support the AA element in the 10 Checkin Response. Some libraries purchased the Patron API feature to get it to work but if Sierra include the AA element, it will simplify the process.

    4 votes

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  13. Currently the Record History report for Bib Records in Sierra contains a list of record changes, the login that made a change, and when it was changed.

    However, if the change to a bib record was attempted with a login without the required permissions, Sierra will ask for a login with elevated permissions and allow the user make a change once logged in. In this case, the Record history will record the first login (without required permissions), instead of the elevated login needed to make the change.

    Problem: Record History report for Bib Records Record History report for Bib Records…

    6 votes

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  14. Libraries have the option to use "Check-in: Do not fulfill holds". This checks in the item without without fulfilling any holds that are in the hold queue for that item. This item will never appear on a Title or Item paging list unless the item is checked in AGAIN. To be eligible to appear on a Title or Item paging list the item must be checked in a second time.

    We need an option to release that restriction. The hold should be unfulfilled only during that specific check-in.

    Reasons for this:

    1) Our transportation system may be stopped due to…

    11 votes

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  15. I recently wanted to run a search for all records that matched certain criteria and did not have an 856 field. However, Create Lists does not currently have a "lacks field" option. It would be very helpful to be able to search for records that do not have certain fields.

    24 votes

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  16. Sierra queues the hold for paging at the time the hold is placed, based on the data the hold was placed with. If the hold is modified after that (by changing the Not Wanted Before date), those changes don't update the paging queue, and Sierra will continue to page as if the hold had not been modified.

    10 votes

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  17. We'd like to be able to limit access to the Login Names & Parameters section of the Admin Corner (especially the Limit Network Access tables) via permissions. Certain functions, such as load tables, require certain staff members to have access to the Admin app, but having the login names and parameters unrestricted leaves an unnecessary hole in security. There are other functions in Admin Corner that require separate permissions and prompt users to enter their credentials, but not this one.

    8 votes

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  18. For some fragile items that we don't want to put in transit (e.g. telescopes, vinyl records), we want to be able to limit check-ins to the owning location. We can communicate these limits to patrons on our website and through signage or labels, but we'd like there to be an option within Sierra to generate a pop-up (with an option to override) so staff are alerted to tell the patron they have to bring the item back to another location.

    8 votes

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  19. I would like to add an optional parameter to the Sierra API endpoint for checking in items to allow for backdating those transactions as you can within in the client as it may help with automating some projects.

    For an immediate example, I have identified a number of items that were not removed from the checkout table correctly due to locked patron records, where the were placed in transit and I can see a time the checkout ought to have occurred via the in transit message. I would like to write a script to correct these failed checkins once they…

    5 votes

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  20. Improve diacritic searching in Sierra to include Semitic languages, especially Arabic! We have a fair number of Arabic books in out collections, and a large Arabic community, but Sierra support for Arabic characters does not seem complete. We often find that Arabic letters in Sierra is replaced by a white square, which seems to mean that the character is not supported. The names appear fine in Vega but the non supported letters do not seem to be indexed in the search results. This is an important language for members of our community and support for it is important in our…

    10 votes

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