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  1. 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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  2. 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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  3. 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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  4. As a default suppressed records are not included in the harvest stream. This becomes an issue when a harvested record later becomes suppressed in Sierra as the harvester does not know to remove it from its listings as its omission from the stream does not allow for identification of its suppressed state. I would recommend that the option to include suppressed records should be configurable as a harvest stream level, giving the library the ability to configure the inclusion/exclusion dependent on their business rules.

    11 votes

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  5. Since becoming a III customer in 2008/2009, it's baffled me that we don't see a representation of the total number of notices sent daily via autonotices, but instead see the Notice History feature, which shows the number of items for which notices are sent.

    I think it would be far more useful for statistical purposes if the number of notices sent for each notice type was what's recorded & shared by Sierra.

    11 votes

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  6. We need to increase the number of characters allowed for the username - currently a maximum of 12. We prefer to keep our Sierra usernames the same as a user's network login name (one less thing to remember). Anything over 12 characters forces us to make a different Sierra username that fits within the Sierra parameters.

    11 votes

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  7. We've been exploring new ways that our library, as an institution, can meet the evolving interests of DEI efforts. One very small but meaningful way we thought we might do this is to allow for the inclusion of diacritic characters in customer names in Sierra.

    Their inclusion appears as desired on the customer record when created/displayed in Sierra (images dia1 - dia2).

    They do not appear to impede searching for the customer by name - the search just ignores them (images dia3 - dia4).

    They appear as desired in the name display in the Classic Catalog (image dia5).

    They appear…

    11 votes

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  8. There are instances where its appropriate to put in a MARC field in the bibliographic record that only pertains to your local institution and you wouldn't want that field erased if the record was overlaid. If that MARC field was designated a local-note, using a $5 then that field would be "protected".

    11 votes

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  9. Prior to Sierra 6.0 and the introduction of MFT, it was possible to use FTP to transfer files though data exchange within Sierra. This is no longer possible as MFT is not supported in data exchange.
    Please add support for MFT in data exchange in the same way as support for MFT has been added in scheduler.

    11 votes

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  10. We will periodically have situations, as we did this morning, where staff move to print their holdshelf report & for one reason or another (today's was some manner of technical issues with their printer), the content of the report is lost.

    We can sometimes salvage this data from the back end by looking for holds cleared on the day by the login responsible, but it would be much easier if there were some sort of Recycling Bin style feature, where "cleared" files like the holdshelf report or paging lists were stored until the user logs out, giving them another chance…

    10 votes

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  11. In the settings for code categories (Physical Format and Collection), you can change the display order, but it only applies to that page, not to the option menu users see when building a report.

    When creating a report, the list of categories is always alphabetical. There is also a "Sort A-Z" button, which is currently unnecessary (and caused confusion as its existence implies that there could be another way).

    I suggest applying the manual display order set in Admin Tools to the "edit" pop-ups in the initial filters of a report.

    This would allow us to put more commonly-used categories…

    10 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…

    10 votes

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  13. We have shelves for new materials, and item location codes for these ("new mysteries," "new fiction," "new DVDs," and lots more). Moving items from the new shelves to the regular shelves is a chore, both in handling materials and in knowing (and selecting) what location to change them to. It would be great if you could just get into a function in Sierra that would change the current item location (the "new" one in my example) to the permanent item location (a new field that would be added with this idea, which would catalogers would populate when the item was…

    10 votes

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  14. Develop a utility to add new location codes to the so-called Branches table using a CSV file as input. Optionally permit updates (overlays) of existing location code entries so that the branch_code_num, name and/or is_public columns may be reassigned values in this way.

    Our library has very granular location codes which describe branch (or collection subset of a branch such as a display area), audience, format and genre, loosely speaking. This amounts to 220-250 location codes per branch (or collection subset). We currently have over 5,000 distinct location codes in our Sierra database, and every time a new branch is…

    10 votes

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  15. It would be helpful to have the ability to prevent a hold from being canceled based on its pickup location.

    We have holds pickup lockers installed in three locations and are finding that if the lockers contain an item which has since had its hold canceled, the lockers will send a CheckIn SIP transaction to Sierra for that item, resulting in the item being [logically] used to fulfill someone else's hold [while physically still housed in a locker]. For popular new releases, this is happening more frequently than one might imagine. The ability to disallow the cancellation of holds at…

    10 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. Our catalogers would like the option when choosing a field and selecting "Move to Bottom of Group" that it could go to the bottom of the list of numbered tags it is part of instead of the field name of tags. An example is moving a 5xx field to the bottom of a list of other 5xx fields, and not to the bottom of the record if there is an 852 (also a note) field.

    10 votes

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  18. Technical Services Staff and Circulation Staff often ask for the ability to toggle between tabs in Check Out. We need to reduce repetitive keyboard strokes at checkout and this workflow requires staff to continually reach for the mouse during a circulation transaction.

    For example: There is no way to move from the patron check out screen to the patron holds screen without using the mouse to select the corresponding tab.

    The Check Out options (check out, checked, out items, holds, fines, check in, linked patrons, bookings etc) could be hardcoded to the drop down menu options so that Administrators could…

    10 votes

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  19. Update the "last checkin" field every time an item is checked in. Now, when you check in an item, the "last checkin" field is not updated if the item is not checked out. I don't know of any reason to not update it. When I look at an item record, I want to know the last date that the item was seen; this can be useful in tracking down items that seem to be missing, or coming up with a list of items that might be missing.

    10 votes

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  20. Rapid or global update to update all Order Status at once.

    10 votes

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