Temporary ILL process

As David's update earlier today indicated the access problem with the ILL system is ongoing. It is part of a larger complex problem on the state network and may take some time to be resolved.

For those of you looking for alternate means of processing ILL requests while the system is unavailable I would suggest using the same routine you used in January when we had a long-term outage. The notes on our suggestions for that are in the post "My 2 Cents"

The contact lists referred to in that posting are on the NHAIS Services ILL Resources page. They have not been updated since January, so they may need some corrections at this point.

Please look at the list of ILL contacts and send any needed corrections to your library's email or phone contact for ILL to nhu-pac@dcr.nh.gov.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR HSA CODE IN THE EMAIL WITH THE CORRECTION.

We will make the corrections you send us to the list (and to the one by town) and post a new version at the end of the day today (4pm). Update frequency after that will depend on the volume of changes sent to us.

NHU-PAC update: ILL still inaccessible

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 8:20 a.m.: NHU-PAC's ILL server remains unreachable for most users.  Whether you go to the Welcome to NHU-PAC page and click on the ILL tab or have a saved shortcut that points to http://centre.library.state.nh.us/~ursa/staff_login_frame.html, chances are the login page will never load.  Except for a brief period late Friday, this has been the case since Friday morning.  It's a network issue that the state's Department of Information Technology is working on.

A separate issue came up yesterday when "searching" logins weren't working.  This is the login available in the upper right of most NHU-PAC screens except for ILL and Holdings Maintenance.  It's used chiefly to save and retrieve lists of titles found in the NHU-PAC.  That problem was fixed yesterday afternoon.

Yet another issue is the absence of pictures, reviews, and other extra content that should display on many NHU-PAC screens (but not in ILL or Holdings Maintenance).  This content comes from servers in New Jersey that were affected by Hurricane Sandy.  As of this morning, cover images are displayed when you get multiple hits from a search but not when you're looking at details on an individual record.

NHU-PAC searching login fixed

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 3:40 p.m.: NHU-PAC "searching" logins should work now.  Please contact the NHAIS Help Desk if you find otherwise.

The ILL connectivity issue remains under investigation.

NHU-PAC searching login

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 11 a.m.: NHU-PAC's "searching" login (the one in the upper right of most NHU-PAC screens except ILL and Holdings Maintenance) is currently yielding the message "Login failed. Please check your barcode and pin and try again."  Don't bother trying to log in again--we're having SirsiDynix look into the problem.

NHU-PAC is back -- except ILL

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 8:20 a.m.: The NHU-PAC is back online after a storm-imposed overnight outage.  Cover images, reviews, and such are not currently displaying.  That's probably because that extra content comes from servers in New Jersey, where power outages are widespread in the wake of Sandy.

There was some progress on the ILL connectivity issue yesterday, with the state's IT folks determining it was connected to an intermittent network issue that's affected other servers since Friday.  Still, unless you're working inside the state's network, you'll find that the ILL login page doesn't load.  Work on this problem will continue today.

NHU-PAC offline starting 3 p.m. Monday 10/29

Monday, Oct. 29: Because of concerns about damage caused by power outages, the State of New Hampshire is shutting down all its servers at 3 p.m. today.  That includes the NHU-PAC.  Service will be restored when the risk of outage-related damage has passed.

Additionally, the State Library will be closing at 3 p.m. today.  If you have a question or comment for the NHAIS Help Desk after that time, you may leave a voicemail message at 271-2141 or send an e-mail message.

ILL still inaccessible

Monday, Oct. 29, 11:50 a.m.: NHU-PAC's interlibrary loan program remains inaccessible for most users.  We're waiting to hear further word from the state's IT folks.

Thank you to all who responded to Mary Russell's call for reports about connectivity problems over the weekend.  We don't need further reports.  It turns out there were a lot of people who tried to get some ILL work done Saturday and Sunday.

Van Delivery Route Cancellation

Because of the deteriorating weather conditions starting on Monday, October 29 and lasting through Tuesday, October 30^th,  delivery routes for Tuesday, October 30 have been cancelled. 

THERE WILL BE NO VAN DELIVERY ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30.  

Wednesday's scheduled deliveries will depend on weather and road conditions.  Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

ILL unreachable Monday am

Monday, Oct. 29, 7:50 a.m.: This morning finds most users unable to connect to NHU-PAC's ILL server.  As was the case for much of Friday, the server is up and running but there appears to be a problem blocking connections from users outside the state's network.  The problem appeared to be resolved late Friday afternoon but returned on Saturday morning.  While others keep their eyes on the storm, we're focused on restoring ILL service for all.

ILL is now working

The NHAIS ILL system now appears to be available to computers outside the state network. Why it hasn't been all day, or why it now is, has not been determined. For now all seems fine. If your experience is otherwise please call us at 271-2141 (we will be here until 4:15pm).

If you find over the next couple days that you cannot connect to the ILL part of NHU-PAC please make note of EXACTLY what time it is that you are trying to connect and not able to and email nhu-pac@dcr.nh.gov so we know when issues occured.

Maybe we will get lucky and they won't recur.

ILL still unavailable

Thank you to everone who got in touch in response to my question about using ILL early this morning. We have been able to narrow the window and know that whatever happened that is blocking access to the ILL server happened between 7am and 8:40 this morning. At this point we are waiting for NHDoIT to get back to us with a solution.

Did you try to ILL last night?

As David reported here earlier today, the ILL portion of the NHU-PAC is inaccessible. We are working on resolving the problem.

I have spoken with NH Dept. of Information Technologu (DOIT) and with SirsiDynix.  We have tested various things and rebooted the server. The server itself is fine and running exactly as it should (which means all the ILL information is as everyone left it with no problems).

The problem appears to be with the access into this machine through the state network. I have been able to verify that the ILL system was up and running correctly at 8pm last night (someone placed a request then with no problems). There was another ILL request placed which was probably after that one. Nothing since then.

If you tried to get into the NHAIS  ILL system after 8pm last night and BEFORE 8:30 this morning, please get in touch (271-2141) and let us know what time it was and whether you were able to get into the system.

Updates will be posted here when there is anything to report (including when ILL is available again).

NHU-PAC ILL problem

Friday, Oct. 26., 8:45 a.m.: Some users are unable to connect to the NHU-PAC's ILL program this morning.  The rest of the NHU-PAC loads OK but nothing happens when they click on the Interlibrary Loan tab.  We're looking into this.

NHU-PAC is back Tue 10/23 am

Tuesday, Oct. 23, 7:50 a.m.: All parts of the NHU-PAC are back online and appear to be functioning normally after server maintenance work this morning.  If you observe any oddities in the system, please contact the NHAIS Help Desk at 271-2141.

NHU-PAC offline Tue 10/23 7am

Parts of the NHU-PAC will be taken out of service between 7 and 8 o'clock on Tuesday morning, Oct. 23.  This is to allow updating of server software.  You may be able to connect to the NHU-PAC at various times during that hour but searches may yield an "unable to retrieve results" message.  A message will be posted here when things are back to normal.

NHU-PAC search issues Mon 10/22

Monday, Oct. 22, 11 a.m: There are occasional problems with getting search results from the NHU-PAC  this morning. If you get an "Unable to retrieve search results" message, try again later. We're awaiting further information from SirsiDynix about some server issues we've been having with the system today.

NHU-PAC outage Monday am 10/22

Monday, Oct. 22, 7:40 a.m.:  It appears there was an issue with network connectivity earlier this morning which caused a number of problems with the NHU-PAC, including "unable to retrieve search results" errors. Starting now, NHU-PAC servers will be restarted and all services should be back online by 8 a.m.

Brief NHU-PAC searching outage Tue 10/16 7:35am

There will be a brief interruption of NHU-PAC searching to update keyword indexes starting around 7:35 a.m. on Tuesday, October 16. The outage should last no more than 5 minutes.

Brief NHU-PAC searching outage Fri 7:35am

There will be a brief interruption of NHU-PAC searching to update keyword indexes starting around 7:35 Friday morning, October 12. The outage should last no more than 5 minutes.

Brief NHU-PAC outage Thu 10/11 9:20am

There will be a brief interruption of NHU-PAC service starting at 9:20 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11.  The NHU-PAC should be back online by 9:25.

North Country Van Out of Order Today

According to Donna Gilbreth, Reference and Information Services Supervisor, NHSL:

The North Country van is down for repairs today, therefore there will be no North Country van route delivery today (Oct. 8). For a list of the affect libraries please consult our website: http://www.nh.gov/nhsl/services/librarians/van_delivery/north_country.html. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

New RDA field

It’s been transparent to many users but bibliographic records cataloged under the new RDA rules have been making their way into the NHU-PAC since 2010. At first it was just a trickle; more recently we’re seeing a dozen or more RDA records added to the database each week. That’s still a small percentage of the 1200 or so records added to the NHU-PAC in a typical week. Now we’re starting to see some RDA records with publication information in a new field which our system isn’t configured to display. Here’s an example:

What’s missing from the display is “Waterville, Maine : Thorndike Press, 2012,” which should appear above the ISBNs. In this and a handful (so far) of other RDA records, the publication information is entered in field 264 rather than field 260.  The Library of Congress MARC Standards site tells us “Information in field 264 is similar to information in field 260 (Publication, Distribution, etc. (Imprint)). Field 264 is useful for cases where the content standard or institutional policies make a distinction between functions.”

In addition to the display issue is the consideration that field 264 is not currently indexed for “Publication info includes” keyword searches.  As we expect the future to bring more records with publication information in this new field, NHAIS Services expects to modify the NHU-PAC for correct display and searchability of this field by the end of the year.

no SW van Mon. 10/1

Due to driver illness, the Monday Southwestern van route is cancelled today. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

To see the list of affected libraries, please go to our van webpage: http://www.nh.gov/nhsl/services/librarians/van_delivery/monday.html

Donna Gilbreth

Supervisor, Reference and Information Services

New Hampshire State Library

20 Park Street

Concord, NH 03301

603-271-2060

donna.gilbreth@dcr.nh.gov