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  1. Often times when items are moving from one call number to another, holds are placed on the items that are checked out in order to capture these items when they are returned so that any cataloging work can be done.

    The idea is to have an option to have some way that multiple item level holds can be placed on one bib record at the same time.

    Idea Value
    The value of this idea is staff time. By having to place individual holds on each item, this can take a long time when there are multiple copies of an item…

    32 votes

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  2. In Sierra 5.5 the circloanrule view was added to SierraDNA, providing SQL access to an abridged form of the loan rule table. A few of the fields missing from this view are particularly notable and their addition would greatly expand on the opportunities to utilize this view in queries:nameis_bookablemax number of auto renewalsamount of fine

    Idea Value
    SQL access to this fields would enable the construction of more detailed loan rule based queries. In particular being able to look at fine rates and their impact on checkouts would be of great value.

    18 votes

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  3. When there is a change to Loan Rules such as an increase to number of renewals, etc., it would be beneficial to globally update the field instead of changing each independently.

    During Covid we increased the renewals and then decreased them a year later. I was told there was not a way to globally update the field and had to go into each Loan Rule to make the change.

    Idea Value
    This would save staff time and possible errors. Freeing staff to be more productive in other areas.

    46 votes

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  4. When you checkout an item whose item status is not '-' (AVAILABLE), the system takes special action depending on the item's STATUS value. For those item statuses that generate a system prompt, the library would like the option to determine whether there is a prompt. This would have a significant positive impact on checkout workflows.

    [I could place another "idea" for check-in prompts as well]

    Idea Value
    Our library assigns item statuses to items that generate a system prompt to clear the item's status at checkout (eg. missing, in processing, trace, and unavailable").

    I appreciate that libraries may have different…

    20 votes

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  5. Currently you can define fixed field data in a record template and have that data loaded into records via a load profile when using data exchange. Variable fields, however, are not available in this process. Make variable fields in a template available for inserting into records via the load profile and data exchange process.

    Idea Value
    Currently when we have a note or message that needs to be inserted into every record in a load we do it through global update after the load. If we could add this note or message to the template being used with the @dflt…

    25 votes

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  6. In Rapid Update, if a value is selected by first typing in the value field and then clicking on a result in the dropdown menu, the wrong value shows up in the Current Command list. According to Innovative, this is because the expected workflow is to use either just the keyboard or just the mouse. The functionality should be adjusted to allow the mixed use of keyboard and mouse.

    Idea Value
    Library staff don't always notice when they follow this workflow and then end up with the wrong value selected. In our consortium, this sometimes happens with location codes, and…

    15 votes

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  7. Increase the Patron Block Table to allow more than 4 block categories for groups of items by item type/location.

    We would like to see Innovative add at least 6 additional categories, bringing the total categories up to 10.

    Idea Value
    Libraries are lending an increasing array of non-traditional materials. More categories in the patron block table are necessary to facilitate limited lending on these materials.

    This would allow libraries to limit lending more granularly. For example, allowing a set number of items in each of the following categories:
    Books -100
    CDs - 25
    DVDs - 5
    Videogames - 1
    Games/Puzzles…

    39 votes

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  8. When viewing an item record, you can double click on the patron# and you can view the patron record of the person who currently has the item on loan. It would be good to also be able to have the option to actually edit the patron record, and to also be able to access what they currently have checked out.

    Idea Value
    This would negate having to have another Sierra session open and do a seperate search for the patron's record so as to check what else they might have on loan, and/or to amend their record/add a message etc.…

    57 votes

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  9. Staff cannot change the hold pickup location if a hold was placed more than 180 days in the past (perhaps the hold is frozen, there is a long hold queue, or the book publishing date was delayed). Essentially this means that once past 180 days, Staff cannot manage the hold. We don't want to cancel the hold and then apply an arbitrary "Not Needed Before date".

    Idea Value
    Many Idea Lab tickets request the ability to batch change hold pickup location or change the pickup location of items with a status of "on the hold shelf". This is another instance…

    25 votes

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  10. At present, a general search on Sierra brings up all records whether suppressed or unsuppressed. The plus sign next to the search button allows filtering of these results by material type, language, collection etc. but there is no way to just return records for unsuppressed bibliographic records or unsuppressed items. Having the ability to search for unsuppressed bibliographic records means that you do not then have to trawl through copious irrelevant records to find the desired record.

    Idea Value
    It will speed up searching.

    37 votes

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  11. Enhance the URL Checker so that it does not check suppressed records

    Idea Value
    When downloading or importing a group of records, they sometimes have many extra URL's or 856 fields in them. Some other fields such as subjects also have nlm url's in them and one of the publisher fields has a publisher url in it. It can take time to clean up this records but the URL Checker checks before they are ready for public viewing. This wastes time going through the URL Checker and ignoring these false positives. It would be a good enhancement for all libraries…

    20 votes

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  12. In the web-based Admin App, currently you need to click on the edit button in order to open a user record. However, that button is hidden at first and only appear once you have expanded the entry in the browse to see the list of associated applications and workflows (which personally I never need to see from this screen).

    This very much fits into the category of pet peeve but that extra click is not at all necessary and it would be simpler and save some screen real estate if that hidden edit button were removed and the username were…

    29 votes

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  13. Our libraries would like a second option regarding the price copied from the order record to the item record. Currently, the option to Default "Copy EPRICE to item" is available, but if the library wants to use the actual price from the invoice, they have to input the price manually. If there were the second option in the login settings: to "Copy Invoice Price to item," this would allow staff to use the actual price and the convenience of this shortcut to reduce the amount of time it takes to create item records. We envision this as an option in…

    19 votes

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  14. Currently, the Sierra message that you're checking out a book that's on the holds shelf for someone else is almost identical to the message that someone has a hold on the title at a bib level, and it is extremely easy for harried, hurried staff to skip right over the more important message, that they're accidentally checking out the book to the wrong person, because they think that the message is not important. I would like a way to either differentiate those two messages in Sierra to be more clear, or to eliminate the message that says the book has…

    20 votes

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  15. When exporting data from Create List, it would be useful to be able to include subfield delimiters in the data.

    Idea Value
    Sometimes I want to export data so I can search and manipulate the data in another system like Excel or OpenRefine. However the Export Records function leaves out subfield delimiters. So for example 020|a and 020|z become exactly the same in the exported data.

    30 votes

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  16. I've found the ability to save complicated global updates on the server for reuse to be a huge time-saver. But I recently needed to delete a couple of the updates saved on the server and was suprised I had to contact Innovative to do that. It would be great if that was something we could do ourselves!

    Idea Value
    I don't mind contacting Innovative for help and in many cases prefer their assistance! But in this case it seems like if we can create these saved updates, we should be able to delete them ourselves or at least edit the…

    16 votes

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  17. This is connected to Paul Costa's idea "Check for Due Slip Delivery Method Change Before Closing Patron Record" (link). Many patrons, probably most, have a consistent preference about receipts -- either they almost always want one printed or they almost always don't. (Or prefer to have it emailed.)

    What if we had a field in the patron record that recorded this preference, and when the patron record was opened for checkouts, the print receipt button defaulted to the patron's preference?

    The field would default to "no receipt" when the patron record was created. I'd want input from others on whether…

    28 votes

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  18. Incorrect images for DVDs and music CDs are displaying in Sierra because the UPC is being truncated, which creates an issue when it matches a book ISBN.

    Idea Value
    Staff use the images as guides for searching for an item on the shelf. It is their form of a finding aide.

    14 votes

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  19. Currently, Sierra goes by the delivery method selected before the last item is scanned, instead of when a user clicks the Close button. Having recently changed to not automatically print due slips, we are still working on asking patrons their preference before scanning items, but will often forget until all items have been scanned, which is too late. The workaround of using the Print Table option is less than ideal, as it doesn't follow our print template for Due Slips. As far as my knowledge goes, it also completely cuts staff off from the option to email the due slip…

    18 votes

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  20. I want to be able to create a load profile that will default to use review files when loading.

    Idea Value
    I have record loading projects that always need the Use Review Files function, but I don't always remember to check the box. It would be useful if I could make a setting in the load profile that would check the box for me, so I don't have to remember.

    20 votes

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