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ILS - Polaris Updated

Patron Barcode as Subtext in Current/Recent menu (last4) in Leap

Customer Relationship & Account Management UNDER REVIEW

ILS - Polaris Updated

Indication of a note for a specific issue on the Serial Check in card

Acquisitions, Serials & Item/Issue/Inventory Management UNDER REVIEW

ILS - Polaris Updated

Add series info when linking

Cataloging & Metadata Management UNDER REVIEW

ILS - Polaris Updated

PII Management Options

System Administration (incl APIs) UNDER REVIEW

ILS - Sierra Updated

Ability to update inventory date from "checkin no patron" function

Circulation, Access Services & Fulfillment PLANNED

ILS - Polaris Updated

Edit Half-Deleted Item Records

Cataloging & Metadata Management UNDER REVIEW

ILS - Polaris Updated

Trap hold with first item received

Circulation, Access Services & Fulfillment UNDER REVIEW

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  1. 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.

    7 votes

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  2. 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…

    7 votes

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  3. I just learned that Scheduler Output MARC records can't send an FTP password that includes the characters [{}"/

    It will let me save a task with such a password and spend months trying to figure out what's wrong. If it can't deal with a particular password, it should give an error saying what's wrong with the password.

    7 votes

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  4. Currently, the ability to override a hold block is governed by permission 92.

    A hold might be blocked for a number of reasons. Staff might attempt to place more than the max number of holds allowed for a customer. They might place a hold for a customer on an item they already have checked out, etc.

    One scenario especially has been problematic for as long as I can remember:

    A patron finds an item on the shelf & takes it to a service point to check out. It turns out that this item can satisfy a hold placed by another…

    7 votes

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  5. Enhance cybersecurity by not revealing the api methods through the swagger interface to unauthenticated users. For example, a potential hacker can view the swagger interface which shows all methods and explains how to use them. This is an issue on all api endpoints including the iii sandbox. My idea is to only reveal the swagger methods to authenticated users.

    https://sandbox.iii.com/iii/sierra-api/swagger/index.html#!/patrons

    7 votes

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  6. Why is it important to link patrons?

    • Without linked patron functionality someone that is authorized to pick up a hold on another account is complicated. This is manually done by staff using patron notes, and the authorized patron signs out the book leaving the original hold on the other patron record.
    • Parents visiting the library with children would like to jump to the record of each child rather than using the child’s cards.

    Current privacy and circulation workflow issues:

    • Someone could link to the child record without authorization. If a patron is sharing their circulation details with someone, they should…
    7 votes

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  7. That way other devices such as self checks can show that warning to the patron in the case of them checking out items and having the due date shortened to their expiration date instead of the full borrowing period for the item. If they were alerted they could contact staff to update their account and any item due dates that were shortened to their prior expiration date.

    7 votes

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  8. Staff would like to see the ability to sort results retrieved from queries performed in Sierra's Search/Holds mode.

    Say for example they do a keyword search for Star Wars at our Forest Park branch. 124 items are found. The results are displayed alphabetically by default. But if the staff member wants to quickly sort by DVDs, they can't even click on the Format column heading, as it exists currently.

    While they can run multiple limits to narrow down the results by format, language, shelving location, publication date, etc., they might just as equally be inclined to SORT the entire list…

    7 votes

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  9. Our patrons are curious about their loan history. They would like to sort it by author or title in addition to the checkout date. We have told them to export it. But exporting the checkout history loses the checkout date! Could more sorting possibilities be added to the catalogue and checkout date added when exporting?

    7 votes

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  10. During the Circulation Forum at this week's IUG, a few libraries brought up their continued interest in going fine free, but also shared how they still faced challenges within their respective institutions from those who felt materials would not come back.

    This is a realistic concern, especially for libraries that couple going fine free with the protracted loan periods made possible by autorenewals. It can sometimes be challenging to get customers to return things, so we appreciate the availability of patron blocks that will prevent checkouts, renewals, etc., but not penalize a customer financially, like the ability to suspend borrowing…

    7 votes

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  11. I know that there is a product called External Patron Images that would allow patron photos to display in their records. I am wondering if a similar product exists for documents (such as PDF)? For some of our lending items, patrons must sign a user waiver to agree to the terms and conditions, and we currently have a two step process to verify if this has happened each time they come in. It would be good to be able to add the scanned image of the waiver to a patron record for easier verification.

    7 votes

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  12. One of the major advantages of Sierra is it's flexibility. Particularly the Sierra fixed fields. Sierra allows those fixed fields to be used in non-standard ways, but the API loader does not have that flexibility. If you try to load records with unexpected data with the API, the load will fail. The API MARC loader does not have to validate MARC. Sierra has never really validated MARC. Don't start now. The API should allow the same weird non-standard data as the rest of Sierra.

    7 votes

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  13. Libraries use Decision Center to determine what is not circulating or what has been at the Branch for a long time without circulating.

    The new "item status date" added in Sierra 6.0 could help Decision Center identify items that were moved to a branch but have not been checked out (eg. items get to the new branch by using CIRCA's item status change from "checked in" > "in transit" > and then are checked in at the new branch)

    Reports that would benefit from this would be the Maintenance Report or any report that lists a "created date" and "last…

    7 votes

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  14. We're interested in evaluating how well our Floating Collections are performing to see if it's benefiting specific locations or ranking specific location codes preferably, but not necessarily limited to, change of circ or transit wait time post-float at branches to determine what should and shouldn't float for that branch going forward based on past performance. Besides the drought report in Decision Center, this information appears to be lacking. We'd like for reporting capabilities to be added to its data to help inform decision-making in terms of tweaking Floating Collections location codes to keep and which to return to non-Floating going…

    7 votes

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  15. 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.

    6 votes

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  16. Currently, Sierra does not provide built-in functionality for processing or tracking refunds. While the system records partial payments that result in credits (displayed as negative fines) and waivers applied by staff (visible in Fines Paid), there is no equivalent workflow or tracking for refunds.
    We request the addition of a refund tracking feature within the patron record, ensuring that staff can see when a refund has been issued. Specifically, we propose:
    A clear refund indicator in the patron record.
    A display of refund amounts including payment method in the Fines tab, similar to how fines and waivers are shown.
    An…

    6 votes

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  17. 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.

    6 votes

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  18. 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…

    6 votes

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  19. 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.

    6 votes

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  20. 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…

    6 votes

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