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ILS - Sierra

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286 results found

  1. Today our Payment History file reached 9,999 records which is close enough to the 10k record capacity that the attached error message was displayed. Fortunately the staff member had the presence of mind to screen-capture this error dialog today so I could read its message verbatim, but this isn't always the case. It would be helpful for an error of this severity to be written to the System Messages log viewed using the web-based Sierra admin app.

    Given the low variety of error messages written to that log, there must be all kinds of similar messages which are not logged,…

    15 votes

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  2. Despite the constant threats to our funding & the fact that some seem to treat the notion of DEI as offensive, we continue to want our library to be seen as a welcoming & inclusive environment for our patrons.

    We would like to be able to extend this to how their name is represented in Sierra & on notices/when seen in the catalog. We currently have a sort of crib sheet for staff to use to insert diacritic characters into patron names as needed, but think it would be helpful if they didn't have to navigate away from Sierra when…

    15 votes

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  3. It would be nice if there was a setting in the Receiving function to limit your search to only items available to be received. We search by PO and have to wade through loads of items already received and billed. This was available years and years ago on the old Horizon system.

    15 votes

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  4. PINALPHANUM does not accept special characters.

    If Vega Discover continues to be limited by wwwoptions for PIN creation, this option should accept special characters.

    PIN Best Practice: The strongest defense combines a long length (12+ characters) with a true random mix of letters, numbers, and symbols.

    Length vs. Complexity: Recent security guidelines emphasize that making a password longer (like using a multi-word passphrase) is often more effective than adding a single symbol to a short word. That said, library users do use special characters and want them included in their library PIN.

    Adding symbols increases the character set…

    14 votes

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  5. We have many vendors who have a need to check data in a few patron record fields as part of their authentication process. Fields such a ptype, home library, the expiration date, etc...are necessary to confirm that a patron is affiliated with the institution subscribing to that vendor's resource and that their card remains in good standing are necessary to provide. However, doing so currently requires providing the patron read permission, which also exposes a variety of additional sensitive data that these vendors should not have access to for their needs (PII, checkouts, fines, reading history, etc.)

    The lesser patron…

    14 votes

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  6. Please integrate text messaging/SMS as a notice delivery method just like print, phone, and email. Some patrons want texts and no other method. Even if patrons must complete a step outside Sierra, staff should be able to see and choose text as a preference. This would make things more consistent and easy for both patrons and frontline staff.

    We had planned to switch to Vega Interact SMS but discovered that it is intrinsically linked to email notices, limiting its ability. We would love to have SMS as a real notice option in Sierra.

    14 votes

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  7. Currently, when a record is deleted in Sierra, the system captures the date via the deletiondategmt, but it doesn't track the exact time, the specific Sierra user, or the process used to delete it. We would like to see this metadata enhanced to include the Sierra user, a timestamp, and the function or process used (Delete Records, API, etc.), with the date.

    Tracking these details is critical for consortium management, system auditing, and data integrity. Having this information readily available would significantly improve our ability to handle targeted staff training when records are deleted in error, investigate the…

    14 votes

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  8. When creating a new record for a material, it's sometimes necessary to copy part, but not all, of an existing record. However, there is currently no way to copy/paste multiple MARC fields simultaneously, despite the fact that you can perform similar operations on multiple MARC fields simultaneously like deleting them. This would be especially helpful when needing to copy/paste 336, 337, and 338 as well as various subject fields.

    14 votes

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  9. Create Lists allows staff to create review files of invoices, but a number of useful fields from the invoice cannot be exported from the system. Notably the subtotalamt, shippingamt and totaltaxamt fields, which can all be accessed via both SQL and the RestAPI, are missing from the export options.

    We would like to see these added so that fuller invoice data could be exported into something like Excel for further accounts reporting and tracking.

    14 votes

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  10. Currently, only when you cancel a hold from either the Hold tab or the Hold queue do you get the option to generate a hold cancellation notice. When a defunct hold is cleared from the holdshelf (clear expired holds), we would like to see a prompt to send a hold cancellation notice(s), just as we do when cancelling holds outside of the clear holdshelf process. All those that get cleared could use the same “drop hold” message in the text of circulation notices (explaining your hold has been cancelled because it’s expired/hold pickup by date has passed). These would be…

    14 votes

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  11. It is sometimes helpful to see who created, updated or deleted a record. Catmaint provides a lot of detail but doesn't cover many record types. I propose the following solution, which doesn't have particularly burdensome storage requirements:

    1. Build a many-to-many table with an id primary key column, a timestamp, a code indicating the C-R-U-Uprevious-D record operation and foreign keys linking to record_metadata.id and to iii_user.id.
    2. Backfill this new table using the available timestamps in record_metadata, catmaint and any other table like catmaint which might provide record edit history.
    3. Rename record_metadata and drop its four *_gmt timestamp columns. Yes, this creates…
    14 votes

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  12. Staff are really appreciating the addition of a 'Previous' button to the record creation process which allows them to back up and fix a mistake without having to go all the way through the process before returning to make a correction. Staff would like to see similar functionality within the Receiving process. We receive using the process that combines creating the item with receiving.

    Currently, for receiving an item, it will prompt you through the boxes to fill in the required information.  As you proceed through, if you make a mistake or skip something you have to cancel and start…

    14 votes

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  13. In a consortial setting we have some libraries that would like to avoid showing last patron data for a item in an attempt to avoid retaining data that could be used to breach a patron's privacy.

    14 votes

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  14. 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…

    14 votes

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  15. Sierra does not preserve any applied sorts after a "Notices Job" Edit dialog is closed. Instead, jobs are re-sorted by job number. This makes it difficult to keep track of which jobs have been reviewed, and generally contributes to unnecessary frustration in the Notices function.

    This improvement is related to "Arrange Saved Notice jobs" suggested by Kathy Setter, but instead of applying a custom arrangement I am asking for persistence on a short-term basis:
    https://ideas.iii.com/forums/951745-ils-sierra/suggestions/46677958-arrange-saved-notice-jobs

    Rationale:
    When making changes to multiple notice jobs at once, it is often necessary to sort notice jobs (e.g., by template, location, or "auto") to…

    14 votes

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  16. In circtrans and finespaid views (and maybe more views) there are several dates that are showing a value of 0 (which displays as 1969-12-31 due to UNIX date formatting).

    Dates do not have a value of 0, they can however, have a value of NULL, which is already how things work with other dates in the system, like the bib record cataloguingdategmt.

    This should be fixed for any dates in the system, not because anyone may or may not vote for it, but because it is both inaccurate and inconsistent.

    I logged this as a ticket,…

    14 votes

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  17. There are various reports/files in Sierra that should be exportable to Excel or CSV for manipulation/analysis purposes, similar to our ability to export fines paid or statistical reports from the Statistics function. Candidates include Circulation Overrides (printable view puts each override on 2 lines) and other System Files (from admin app), Group Call Numbers (from Sierra 6.6), and really any sort of table or parameter that consists of columns/rows (branch table, patron type, etc.). This would save the effort of copying/pasting and attempting to fix in Excel.

    13 votes

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  18. Building on the recent navigation enhancements that allow users to send Review Files from Create Lists to Rapid Update, Global Update, and Delete Records, we propose adding a "Send to Batch Check-in" option.

    Now that Batch Check-in has been integrated into the Sierra client (as of the 6.5 Release), adding this "Send to" functionality would significantly streamline workflows and reduce the risk of errors associated with file handling.

    13 votes

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  19. Sierra SDA allows you to place holds on items with special statuses, and do not show any pop-up window to warn of this circumstance. Currently this is not possible in Sierra for statuses other than 'Library Use Only'.

    We would like the system to display a pop-up window when attempting to place a hold on an item with special status, as Sierra SDA does in checkout and checkin procedures.

    Thanks.

    13 votes

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  20. When a new library card is created in a month, Sierra auto-populates the expiration date for the card as next month +3 years, but this has to be manually adjusted every month by the Circ supervisor. It would be nice if Sierra could automatically set the expiration date for library cards created every month.

    13 votes

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