Progress on Holdings Maintenance

All the problems with the Holdings Maintenance portion of NHU-PAC have still not been resolved. However, we are making progress. Before Christmas none of the functions of holdings maintenance were working properly except for the export function. Currently the export function works and the "add brief records" functionality works. The scripts that support adding or deleting holdings from a record already in NHU-PAC continue to behave erratically.

If you are seeing issues with the NHU-PAC other than what I described here, please contact the NHAIS Help Desk at 271-2141 or nhu-pac@dcr.nh.gov and let us know what you are seeing.

DO NOT:


Add or delete holdings from the NHU-PAC through the Holdings Maintenance module. It looks like it might work (aside from the disclaimer you will see on the login page), but it is inconsistent. Any holdings added or deleted through this channel at this point in time are not being successfully added to the NHU-PAC. Please don't waste your time doing a bunch of cataloging that will have to be redone.

You CAN:

• Search NHU-PAC, all the searching functionality should work as expected.
• Place and fill interlibrary loan requests in NHU-PAC.
• EXPORT records from NHU-PAC through Holdings Maintenance
• Send exported files of records taken from NHU-PAC to nhu-pac@dcr.nh.gov for loading.
  This is an exception to the standard policy regarding holdings contributions, but we don't want people to end up with missing holdings. Be sure to follow the guidelines for sending records for loading -- especially indicating the source of the records (NHU-PAC) and your hsa code so we know whose holding to add. You won't be able to add call numbers to your NHU-PAC holdings through this channel.
• Send us files of records (from your local system, from vendors, etc.) as you normally have to add your holdings to NHU-PAC. Our ability to load records here (with or without call numbers according to your library's established routine) is unchanged.
• Use the "Add brief records" function of Holdings Maintenance to submit requests for records that are not in the NHU-PAC. These requests will, as usual, be searched on OCLC and matching records that are available will be added to NHU-PAC. This is generally done within one working day and that should be the case at this time.

Brief Holdings Maintenance outage Fri 2:20pm

Friday, Dec. 30: There will be a brief interruption of Holdings Maintenance service starting around 2:20 p.m. Other parts of the NHU-PAC will not be affected.

Van Delivery Route Cancellation, 12/30/2011

Today's North Country Van Delivery route is cancelled due to driver illness.  A sub driver is not available.  Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Afternoon Update

We finished restarting Holdings Maintenance. 
We are now back to the situation from last week. 
It does look like a solution is in sight.

Holdings Maintenance outage Tuesday 2:55 pm

Tuesday, Dec. 27: NHU-PAC Holdings Maintenance will be offline for about 10 minutes starting around 2:55 p.m. Other parts of the NHU-PAC will be unaffected.

NHU-PAC server restarts

Tuesday, Dec. 27: Hello and welcome to the last Tuesday of the month, which is when we normally take the NHU-PAC entirely offline briefly to perform scheduled maintenance. Because of the maintenance (and consequent service interruptions) we've been performing in the past 2 weeks, we do not plan to bring the entire system down today. However, you should expect parts of the NHU-PAC to be offline briefly today. Holdings Maintenance is still being worked on and its server will be restarted at some point--we'll try to give you a little notice--and Interlibrary Loan, which remained in service throughout the past 2 weeks, will experience a brief interruption of service at 10 a.m. ILL should be available again no later than 10:10 a.m.

Please note that the add/delete holdings and add brief records functions of Holdings Maintenance are still not working. Refer to Mary Russell's message of Dec. 20 for more information.

NHU-PAC Friday update II

Friday, Dec. 23, 3:20 p.m.: NHU-PAC Holdings Maintenance users are still urged to follow suggestions in Mary Russell's posting of Dec. 20. I was really, really hoping that everything would be fixed today following significant progress yesterday but it was not to be. The next update will be posted on Tuesday.

A clarification: alert users have noted that the official instructions for sending files of MARC records to NHAIS Services as a way of adding holdings to the NHU-PAC say "Do not send files of records exported directly from the NHU-PAC." We're suspending that part of the rules temporarily until Holdings Maintenance allows you to add your own holdings again.

One more thing: while I haven't experienced any trouble with My List today, I haven't been able to import titles from a saved list into Holdings Maintenance. The list isn't being recognized at login.

Wait...just one more thing: best wishes for a happy holiday to you and yours.

NHU-PAC Friday update

Friday, Dec. 23, 11:30 a.m.: I regret to report that the add/delete holding function and the add brief records function in NHU-PAC Holdings Maintenance still aren't working reliably so please do not use these features until further notice. The program will reliably give you a "Thank you for adding your holdings to the NHU-PAC" or similar message but, as things stand now, that doesn't necessarily mean the requested action actually happened.

Please refer to the Dec. 20 posting by Mary Russell for some workarounds.

Holdings Maintenance outage Friday 11am

NHU-PAC's Holdings Maintenance server will be offline for approximately 10 minutes starting at 11 a.m. today (Friday, Dec. 23).

Where We Are at for the Time Being

The server switch is completed, and all but two of the issues have been resolved.

1. When you first come to the NHU-PAC you very likely have a redirect message flash on your screen before the nhu-pac page loads. This is annoying, but not critical. If you replace the URL for NHU-PAC that is currently in your bookmark (or favorite, or tabset, or whatever) with http://www.nhu-pac.nh.gov/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=#focus that will stop happening. We may get it to stop happening at this end at some point, but it is not immediately clear why it is doing that, so making it stop is a problem.
2. You cannot add or delete holdings from the NHU-PAC through the Holdings Maintenance module. It looks like you can, but it is an illusion, nothing is being written to the database when holdings or brief records are added through holdings maintenance. We are continuing to work with SirsiDynix on this, but it has the people assigned to our project stumped and what with the holidays the other people that might have expertise to offer are not available at the moment. It looks likely that the Holdings Maintenance problem will remain a problem through the holidays.
   
   We have activated the Holdings Maintenance module -- the tab is now marked "Export Only"
   Our testing indicates that the export of records is working as it should, so if you have materials for which you need records you can go ahead and download them for your local system. So that you don't end up with missed holdings, you can send the exported files of records to nhu-pac@dcr.nh.gov for loading. Be sure to follow the guidelines for sending records for loading -- especially indicating the source of the records (NHU-PAC) and your hsa code so we know whose holding to add. You won't be able to add call numbers to your NHU-PAC holdings through this channel.
   
   If you normally add your holdings to NHU-PAC by sending us files of records you can continue to do that with no change. Our ability to load records here (with or without call numbers according to your library's established routine) is unchanged.
   
   Items for which you cannot find a matching record on NHU-PAC will have to wait as the "Add brief records" function of Holdings Maintenance isn't communicating with the database. We will be continuing to load records from OCLC, so it may be worth checking the NHU-PAC a second time for new materials you didn't find records for on the first search.
   
   Deleting holdings will have to wait until things are back to normal.

If you are seeing issues with the NHU-PAC other than these two, please contact the NHAIS Help Desk at 271-2141 or nhu-pac@dcr.nh.gov and let us know what you are seeing.

Van Delivery News December 2011/January 2012

The New Hampshire State Library will be CLOSED on Monday, December 26, 2011 and Monday, January 2, 2012 for the Christmas and New Year's day holidays.  The New Hampshire State Library will also be closed on Monday, January 16, 2012 for Martin Luther King Jr./Civil Rights Day.

There will be NO VAN DELIVERY on those dates.

For a complete list of all of the holidays the State Library is closed, please visit http://www.nh.gov/nhsl/services/librarians/van_delivery/instructions.html (the van delivery instructions) and scroll down to "NO Van Service".

If for any other reason (e.g. bad weather) van service on a particular route(s) does not operate, libraries will be notified via an e-mail message and this blog. If your library does not receive van service on a particular day, please check your e-mail and this blog before calling the State Library.

Please remember to properly label each item which you are sending via the Van Delivery Service. This will help ensure these items make it to the correct destination in a timely manner.

If you need a refresher on how items should be marked for the van, please refer to the Van Delivery Service - Instructions, http://www.nh.gov/nhsl/services/librarians/van_delivery/instructions.html, and scroll down to number 3 of the guidelines, "Addressing material to be sent on the van".

To print a current van directory list arranged in alphabetical order by library, please use the PDF version which is available at http://www.nh.gov/nhsl/services/librarians/van_delivery/documents/vandirectory.pdf
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print this pdf file. If you do not have it installed on your machine, you may down load it for free from http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Due to the ever increasing load of materials transported by the New Hampshire State Library van delivery system, our vans can reach maximum capacity before the end of a van route, especially following long weekends and holidays. Our drivers can decline to accept materials if they feel they cannot fit them safely on their van. We are also asking libraries to please be aware of volume during times when there is likely to be a problem. You should prioritize your materials to be picked up, in case some items must be left until the next van pick up. That will allow us to immediately transport the most important items as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions you may contact Donna Gilbreth at 271-2060 or Diana DeCota at 271-2206.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Van Directory Update, December 2011

Gilmanton Year Round Library will now receive their van delivery via Oscar Foss Memorial Library in Barnstead.  The online Van Directory (and pdf) have been updated to reflect this change.

To print a current van directory list arranged in alphabetical order by library, please use the PDF version which is available at http://www.nh.gov/nhsl/services/librarians/van_delivery/documents/vandirectory.pdf
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print this pdf file. If you do not have it installed on your machine, you may down load it for free from http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

NHU-PAC Tuesday morning update

Tuesday, Dec. 20, 8:10 a.m.: Are we there yet? For most functions except cataloging, yes. A synopsis:
SEARCHING: OK. The duplicate results issue has been fixed.
INTERLIBRARY LOAN: OK.
HOLDINGS MAINTENANCE: Don't go there. Seriously. At this writing the Holdings Maintenance server is offline but it'll be online later today for testing. Any attempt to add or delete holdings during the testing period will be a waste of time. Please wait until we announce here that it's OK to use Holdings Maintenance. Thanks.

Update as of Monday 5:30pm

The problem with the duplicate results from searches in NHU-PAC may be resolved in the morning. We are rebuilding the index which appears to have not created itself correctly the first time. It takes about 8 hours to reindex NHU-PAC and about 4 hours into it today someone (at SirsiDynix, not NHSL- for the record) stopped the reindex by mistake so we had to start over.

The Holdings Maintenance problem is less clear. The holdings maintenance module "talks" to the server that displays data on the web that you see as the NHU-PAC, it also "talks" to the main database server that holds the NHU-PAC data in a sybase server. Somewhere in those various machines there is a setting that is blocking the Holdings Maintenance module from sending info back to the sybase server. I have spend most of the day working with someone from SirsiDynix going through all the settings and testing each one to see if it is the weak link. So far we haven't found it. We will keep at it tomorrow, but meanwhile Holdings Maintenance remains non-functioning.

Those of you who don't believe this isn't working are wasting your time adding or deleting holdings. Each time I look at the transaction logs I see my tests (always on the same few records) and have also been seeing various other records someone out there is working on. Those changes are not being communicated to NHU-PAC and can't be tracked later -- I can see what record was used, but not by whom and not what was done.

NHU-PAC Monday afternoon update

Monday, Dec. 19, 2:30 p.m.: We now have a plausible explanation for why ILL searching stopped over the weekend (involving changes made to our main server) and the ILL program has been functioning normally since shortly after 8 this morning. You may use NHU-PAC ILL to search for materials and place new requests as usual--but please be aware that since parts of the NHU-PAC are still being worked on there is the possibility of a brief service interruption sometime today.

Getting Holdings Maintenance to work correctly is our current priority. The server is online but the add/delete holdings function is not working. That's why the tab which normally says Holdings Maintenance now says OUT OF SERVICE. Please do not use Holdings Maintenance until further notice.

We're also looking into why duplicate results are turning up in many searches.

Holdings Maintenance Tests Going On

The Holdings Maintenance module of NHU-PAC is still not working properly, so DON'T TRY TO ADD HOLDINGS.
However, we have to bring it back up to test possible fixes. It may appear to be there--though the tab has been changed to indicate that there is still a problem--but it isn't fixed yet.

NHU-PAC Monday morning update II

Monday, Dec. 19, 8:20 a.m.: NHU-PAC ILL seems to be working more or less as usual right now (a change from half an hour ago) but expect this to be an up-and-down day for the system. Technicians will be stopping and starting various NHU-PAC components today as the effort to get everything working together continues. Much as we'd like to, we won't necessarily be able to issue a warning ahead of any service interruption.

NHU-PAC Monday morning update

Monday, Dec. 19, 7:50 a.m.: It appears the interlibrary loan program lost its connection to the database late in the morning on Saturday so you cannot search and place new requests. Otherwise, the situation is as was reported late Friday afternoon: no Holdings Maintenance, duplicate search results, and random search error messages. We'll be working on all these issues today.

Friday 4pm status

Moving three library systems from an old server to a new server is a huge project with a lot of moving parts and all of the parts are not moving in the correct direction at this point.

We tested stuff in the restarted NHU-PAC and several things don't work. The most major of these is that the Holdings Maintenance module is not talking to the rest of the system.

I know people are anxious to get back to doing stuff in NHU-PAC, so we are going to leave the system partly up and running over the weekend.

Here's what you CAN do:

1 - search NHU-PAC

• there are duplicate record displays for lots of things, though not all  which is an outstanding issue to be looked at on Monday
• also, there are some weird random search errors popping up, resending the same search again seems to work though

 2 - search for stuff in the ILL system and place new requests

•  the same duplicate issue as in the NHU-PAC is showing up here, but we did a couple of complete transactions cycles and the requests seem to process ok

Here's what you CANNOT do:

 1- add records or holdings through holdings maintenance -- it has been shut down so it won't even display for you because it is not communicating with the database correctly.

-----------------------------------

We will be back to working on this on Monday morning.

If you observe odd stuff over the weekend -- especially a pattern to the search errors--please email your observations to the NHAIS Help Desk (nhu-pac@dcr.nh.gov)

We are Testing

We are working on getting everything back in order with the NHU-PAC so everyone can use it again.
The next step is to bring parts of it online and test stuff.
This means you may see an apparently useable NHU-PAC if you go there. DO NOT BE FOOLED, it isn't ready for prime time and we may disconnect all or part of the system at any moment over the next few hours depending on how the tests go.

When everything works correctly we will bring the NHU-PAC back up and post a message here to let you know. Meanwhile, please resist the urge to try stuff out just because the site isn't returning an error message anymore.

NHU-PAC Friday am update

Friday, Dec. 16, 8:15 a.m.: Things are moving along with our upgrade of NHU-PAC hardware and software. We still expect to have the system back online today but it may not happen until the end of the day (as previously announced). There'll be an announcement here on the NHAIS Notes blog when the NHU-PAC is open for business again.

Until we announce that the NHU-PAC is back please don't use the system to modify holdings or start ILL transactions. That's impossible at this writing because the system is offline but at some point today there'll be something that looks like the NHU-PAC online--it will likely be a temporary test environment and any work you do there will be lost. Please check the blog for the announcement about when you can resume using the NHU-PAC.

Progress Report on the Server Upgrade

As of 5:44pm on Thursday all the data has been transferred from the old server to the new one and the software that runs the web interface for the catalog has been upgraded.

The public interface for the NHSL Catalog and for the Gilford Public Library Catalog are up and running in their new improved format. (The differences are mostly behind the scenes so you may not notice much change.)

The NHU-PAC is being reindexed, which is where we expected to be with it at this point so we are for the most part on track. The indexing should complete in the middle of the night or early tomorrow morning. There are several tests that need to be done -- sucessfully-- before we go back online. When everything is ready we will announce that here at http://nhais.blogspot.com/. It will probably be the end of the day Friday before that happens.

NHU-PAC Thursday am update

Thursday, Dec. 15, 9 a.m.: The NHU-PAC remains offline (as scheduled) while hardware and software upgrades are implemented. Data has been moved to the new server and software has been upgraded. Today's tasks involve configuring the system so everything works the way it's supposed to.

A reminder for ILL users: our ILL server is online but you'll need to use this address to connect directly to it: http://centre.library.state.nh.us/~ursa/staff_login_frame.html
You won't be able to create a new request because any catalog search will yield no results (the ILL server isn't hooked up to the new server that hosts the catalog yet) but you'll be able to check and change the status of active requests that were created before 8 a.m. Wednesday.

NHU-PAC maintenance update

Wednesday, Dec. 14, 3:25 p.m.: The NHU-PAC remains offline while data is transferred to a new server and our software is upgraded. By this time tomorrow we hope to have a better idea of when the system will be back online.

NHU-PAC offline today & tomorrow

Wednesday, Dec. 14, 8:30 a.m.: The NHU-PAC is now offline as we prepare to transfer data to a brand new server. The earliest possible return of the NHU-PAC would be late Thursday afternoon but plan on not seeing it again until late Friday afternoon.

Our ILL server remains online but you'll need to use this address to connect directly to it:
http://centre.library.state.nh.us/~ursa/staff_login_frame.html
You won't be able to create a new request because any catalog search will yield no results but you'll be able to check and change the status of active requests that were created earlier.

NHU-PAC Unavailable Next Wednesday through Friday

The connection testing and equipment shifting/installing is all complete and the switch over from the old NHU-PAC server to the new one is scheduled to happen starting next Wednesday.
As we announced back in November:


NHU-PAC, for all searching and cataloging, will be unavailable from 8am on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 until AT LEAST the end of the day (4:30pm) on Thursday, December 15, 2011, and PROBABLY the end of the day on Friday, December 16, 2011.

You will not be able to start new interlibrary loan transactions during this period of time, because searching will be unavailable in the ILL system as well as the rest of the NHU-PAC. According to SirsiDynix (but untested until we actually disconnect the old server) you should be able to access your existing ILL transactions in the system to fill, or return, or set to not available requests that are begun before 8am on Wednesday 12/14/2011. As NHU-PAC will be down your usual path to the ILL system won't be available, but there is a direct link to the NHAIS ILL system on the NHAIS Services ILL Resources web page.

Updates on progress will be posted, as usual, on the NHAIS Notes Blog. If everything goes smoothly and we are able to bring the system back up sooner than expected, we will announce the revised plan on the blog and get things back online sooner. If you always access the blog from the 'system messages' link on NHU-PAC, take a moment to bookmark (or favorite, or whatever) the direct link to the NHAIS Notes Blog (http://nhais.blogspot.com/) as you won't have access to your usual path during the server switch. If you haven't already done so, you may also want to sign up to have the messages sent to your RSS reader or to your email. The links to do this are on the right hand panel of the NHAIS Notes Blog.

Until we announce that everything is back DON'T go online and modify holdings or start ILL transactions. Once things are installed we will test them, and it is possible that you might see what looks like the NHU-PAC available for use but is actually a temporary test environment and any work you do there will be lost. We won't forget to let you know when everything is ready. Similarly, trying to get a bunch of stuff in right before 8am on the day we shut the server down may lead to lost work.

Brief NHU-PAC outage Fri 12/9 noon

Friday, Dec. 9: There will be a very brief interruption of NHU-PAC service at noon today to implement a new route for the NHU-PAC to receive the cover images, reviews, and other enhanced content. We've lost the enhanced content 6 times since October 12 and it's hoped that this change will provide more reliable service.

Brief searching outage Thurs 12/8 am

Thursday, Dec. 8: There will be a brief interruption of NHU-PAC searching starting at 7:37 a.m. today. This is to allow updating of searching indexes. Searching should be restored in about 5 minutes.

ILL Policies Resource

There was quite a bit of discussion on nhais-l and nhais-ill last week about lending policies and other related ILL topics. One thread of this discussion reminded me that NHAIS Services had been working on a way to make ILL policies easily available to all NHAIS ILL participants. This was the case in the old Galaxy system, but has not been part of the current NHU-PAC.

I spoke with a couple of people who were involved in the listserv discussions about this and have come up with a way to post each NHAIS library's ILL policy in a single place--The ILL Policy Directory--so that anyone who wants to see all the ILL policies can do so. If you have your ILL policy (for lending to other libraries, not just for patron use of ILL) on your library web site then all you need to do to add your policy to the directory is email the URL for the specific page where your policy is to nhu-pac@dcr.nh.gov and we will link your directory listing to your policy page.

If you don't have your policy on your website, please consider adding it so that it can be linked into the ILL Policy Directory. If you don't have an ILL policy, check out Developing Your ILL Policy which will walk you through creating one.


We are working on putting a link to the ILL Policy Directory into the yellow sidebar in the NHAIS ILL system. Hopefully this will be in place within a week or so.


This tool is only going to be as useful as the NHAIS ILL libraries make it, however, as it depends on each library to post their own ILL policy and send the link to us to share. We will reassess this tool after about 3 months (in April 2012) and see if enough libraries have contributed links to make it worthwhile to maintain.

If you have questions or concerns about this project, please contact the NHAIS Help Desk at 271-2141.

Picture, reviews restored

Tuesday, Dec. 6: Enhanced content (cover images, reviews, first-chapter excerpts, tables of contents, etc.) now displays correctly when viewing individual records in the NHU-PAC.

Pictures, reviews missing again

Monday, Dec. 5: Enhanced content (cover images, reviews, first-chapter excerpts, tables of contents, etc.) which should display when viewing an individual record in the NHU-PAC is temporarily unavailable.