Koha Concerns

As we have reminded our staff, there have "always" been issues when we've migrated to a new integrated library system (ILS). But memories are often selective. Change continues to bother some of our staff. While we are making headway with many of our migration problems, there are still some bothersome issues to be resolved in the future.

• The Slowness of the System: This happens sporadically throughout the day but at this point we can't pinpoint what the issue is. On January 12, around 5:45pm until 6:00pm, the Circulation workstations slowed down so much that the staff felt they should log out and log in again. The Children's staff noticed this too. However, most staff have had occasions where they wait for the system to catch up before going on to the next search. Cathi is thinking that it might have to do with indexing that happens throughout the day... but we aren't sure.


• Diacritics - We are encountering issues with searching by title when there are diacritics in it-we can't find the record, however by keyword it pops right up. Also there are problems with linking authority records that contain diacritics.


• Self-Check Machines - We have added separate SIPs for each of our machines so they do not timeout any longer, but another issue has appeared. We have noticed that there are certain bar codes that can crash the self-check stations, but they don't crash the regular check-out stations. We have discovered that these bar codes are part of the diacritics issue (see item above).


• Downloadable Audio Books - We added another SIP for our MyILibrary . There seems to be an issue with authenticating through our external IP address from the Ingram site. We hope to work this out soon since we are paying for this service and not able to use it.


• Bookdrop - We use the bookdrop check-in function in the morning so that we won't charge patrons for materials they have dropped off over night. We have noticed that this function doesn't always work properly. Sometimes it charges a fine, while at other times it doesn't. We're not sure if we trust it.


• Authorities - Links within bib records that are selected by catalogers are "unlinking" over the weekend when the "linking bibs to authorities" script is run. The documentation hasn't been helpful in determining exactly how Koha uses authority records and how the linking works.


• Holds - 1) Holds may remain on the patron's record, even though the item is checked out to the patron. 2) A hold notice may be sent to two patrons for the same item. The patron that is "first" on the list is usurped by the second person. Since this happens sporadically, we are not able to duplicate this... yet. 3) Sometimes the hold is not caught by the system... patrons really get upset when they find their book on the shelf. [Some of this "may" be staff error, we're just not sure.]


• Receipt Printing - We are currently using IE for circulation functions since we couldn't get the printing to work at all from Firefox or Chrome. We would really like the receipts to print automatically but for now we must select the Print function for each individual receipt. Currently, Circulation makes date due slips to pass out since the procedure mentioned above slows them down.


• Collections - We use Unique Management Services for credit reporting. So far we haven't been able to run a satisfactory report to track patrons currently on the list, add overdue patrons to the list nor to remove them from the list after paying their fines. Part of the issue is that the Patron Attribute fields, though intended to be searchable, are not and that makes finding these delinquent patrons difficult. Another part of the issue is that once the delinquent patrons begin paying down their balances we're not able to easily track and record that activity. There have been some suggestions from ByWater Solutions but no success yet. [Shhhh... don't tell our patrons!]


• Reports - We are still fine tuning reports. ByWater Solutions has helped out by setting up some SQL Reports for us but in some cases we have found that the canned reports work just as well. I find Holds Queue, Holds to Pull, Hold Ratio specifically helpful.


• Migration Issue - We had around 6,000 items that were migrated to the "Book Cart" location because their location in the old system didn't translate properly into the new one. David Dolim, one of our Reference Librarians, ran a report so we knew what was in the Book Cart location. Then, Cathi, using the "Batch Item Modification" utility moved these items to their correct shelving location. I really love this feature! It made a very time consuming task much more manageable. We have found all sorts of other uses for this utility.


• Bookcover Images - We have paid for a subscription to Syndetics Solutions for bookcovers and reviews, etc. but I have been frustrated that it is so unsatisfactory. When I compared our old catalog with the new, many more images loaded onto the SirsiDynix OPAC than into the Koha OPAC. We have been unable resolve this problem.

Of course, none of these are deal breakers. We are still pleased with our decision to go with Koha. I'm hoping that these problems will be resolved quickly and that staff will continue to adapt to those procedures that are new.

Jackie

Cheerleading continues

Cathi and I really try to paint a positive view of our Koha experience, especially for the staff. I've been asked by some staff members how I can keep my cool with some of the problems that we have had with the migration. It's simple, it doesn't do anyone any good when the project leader loses focus. We want the staff to know that we have confidence in the system and that we will work out all the bugs.

We continue with our weekly Koha Task Force meetings. I have asked the members to not only let us know the new or on-going problems that they encounter but also any fixes or work-arounds that have resolved problems during the week. I think there are times that the problems resolved are forgotten.

I have also asked that the staff present a more positive view of the system to our patrons. Too often staff will blame the new system when it's really their own inexperience of how the system works. We certainly don't want the public to be skeptical about the new system.... they will question every time that they need to pay a fine. They will blame it on the new system too.

Today, we are at the one month mark of using Koha! We have had more publicity, ArcadiaPatch did a really nice interview with our Library Director, Carolyn Garner-Reagan. Next week we will be meeting with another local library concerning our migration. They are also thinking about migrating to Koha.

Jackie

Koha - 2nd week

Look! It's now official... we made the news services Arcadia Public Library Goes Live With Koha.

We still have some issues to iron out, but we are making progress. As with the last post, many of the problems we face are not knowing that what we put in the initial profile for the "test" system may not act as we really want it to in the "live" system. For instance, we "thought" we had set up "Circulation and Fine Rules" correctly only to realize that the system wasn't limiting DVD charges to 5 per patron for seven days. After trying a few combinations, we now have that working correctly. We are a single library so thought using the "default" settings that we'd created was correct, but we actually needed to create settings and select the configuration our specific library.

We have a problem with adding new bibliographic records from the Marc Import. It looks like Koha doesn't automatically attach a holding or item to the new records so our patrons (and staff) haven't been able to place holds on newly purchased material until they are cataloged. We have come up with a work around for this, at least until this issue is considered by development for an enhancement, by using MarcEdit to add the necessary 952 fields (a, b, c, y) to the Marc Import file before it is staged so that the temporary item record is created when the new bib record is imported into the catalog.

Authority records are not showing up in the catalog. Cathi has been downloading files from Technical Services but these records are showing as available authorities when the catalogers need them. We have a ticket in for this with our consultant team, ByWater Solutions.

The most troubling problem is that titles that were migrated aren't always searchable in the catalog and then in most cases reappear after the item is checked in even though it isn't actually checked out. This is puzzling to us. We know that a small percentage of our titles didn't migrate correctly from our old system, SirsiDynix Symphony, for one reason or another. For example the item barcodes that ended with a $ didn't migrate over correctly--the trailing $ was omitted. We are able to add the $ to the barcodes and this corrects the problem. This is an issue that we are fixing as the items turn up on a one-by-one basis.

I give kudos to the staff. Luckily the Christmas school vacation days are a slower time for the Library; it allows us to work out some of the kinks with the system. And while the staff continue to pass on problems/issues to Cathi and myself, they are still positive about the system.

Jackie

The First Week

Well, now it's Friday. We have been on Koha since Monday morning. The consensus is that our migration has gone very well. Our patrons seem to be taking the change in stride. Most of their issues have been not being able to login because of a password/PIN issue (PINs that start with a zero didn't migrate over correctly.) Once we reset their PIN they have found their way around the site with very little staff intervention. Several patrons have commented that they like the new format and features.

Staff are feeling their way along, many are wishing they'd spent more time "playing" with it when they had the chance, but have adapted quickly and their comfort zone expands daily.

We have found that there are 3 levels of issues - Discovery, Nuisance, and Problems.

1. Discovery issues are nothing more than the staff finding their rhythm and when there is more than one way to do something deciding which way is most natural for each person.
2. Nuisance issues are things like the "0" as the preceding digit in a password and the trailing "$" in an item barcode which didn't migrate to Koha in an orderly fashion. Both of which we've learned what we need to do to resolve the issue on a one-by-one basis. This too is becoming a familiar routine.
3. The Problem issues are those things we will rely upon ByWater Solutions to fix or educate us on, and there aren't many of those. But we've even found ways to cope with most of them in the short term. There are other problem issues that we created for ourselves. Staff error at work! These had to do with the marc imports and not setting the instructions for the loads correctly. For a while the catalogers thought they were losing their minds. Bibs and items were disappearing right and left! They would catalog material and the next day the titles were gone. We could appreciate their concern. We believe this is all under control now.*

The bottom line is there are few complaints and that makes any change easier to adjust to.

We thank ByWater Solutions for their excellent job and for the pleasantly surprising level of support we have received so far. And I want to thank Cathi Wiggins, our Information Systems Specialist for all the long hours she has given and her commitment to the Arcadia Public Library.

*(Most of this message was composed by Cathi in an email. She came up with the three levels of problems.)

Jackie