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IRC log for #evergreen, 2014-05-05

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All times shown according to the server's local time.

Time Nick Message
01:12 zerick joined #evergreen
01:14 ATS_JC joined #evergreen
01:14 ATS_JC Hi! I just encountered a problem while logging in the admin account
01:15 ATS_JC Please open a helpdesk ticket and include the following text:   Mon May 05 2014 13:12:48 GMT+0800 (Malay Peninsula Standard Time)  Error during login sequence.  The client will logout after this dialog.   { "fileName":"oils://remote/xul/re​l_2_5_4/server/OpenILS/data.js", "lineNumber":591 }
01:15 ATS_JC thanks for the help
01:15 ATS_JC :)
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09:33 kmlussier @coffee
09:33 * pinesol_green brews and pours a cup of Nectar, and sends it sliding down the bar to kmlussier
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11:12 csharp lastlog Dyrcona
11:12 csharp @seen Dyrcona
11:12 pinesol_green csharp: Dyrcona was last seen in #evergreen 1 week, 3 days, 19 hours, 56 minutes, and 1 second ago: * Dyrcona assumes a list/book bag.
11:13 kmlussier csharp: Dyrcona has been on vacation.
11:13 csharp kmlussier: cool - just hadn't seen him in here for a while ;-)
11:33 jeff vacations++
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12:02 krvmga i'd say one of the biggest problems that i face with libraries is related to library staff trying to use the public catalog as if it's a staff client and vice versa. getting the staff to understand the difference and the limitations of each is a strong challenge for me.
12:03 krvmga i'd be interested to hear how you all have faced this.
12:03 krvmga especially if you've been successful at it :)
12:04 csharp krvmga: can you elaborate? how are staff using the public OPAC as if it's the staff client and vice versa?
12:05 krvmga using the public catalog as a staff tool: trying to get inventory counts through OPAC searching.
12:05 csharp yowza
12:06 krvmga using the staff client as public catalog: trying to place holds for patrons on materials that aren't available to them and that wouldn't have shown up in a public opac search but do show up in a staff client search
12:06 krvmga then thinking the "catalog" is broken
12:06 tsbere krvmga: I don't think I have ever run into that issue....though "the staff client opac somehow forgot it was in the staff client and reverted to public mode" comes up every so often. >_>
12:08 krvmga library staff often don't seem to grok that the opac is the catalog and "Search Catalog" in the staff client is an inventory search rather than a catalog search.
12:09 krvmga the opac shows what's available to patrons (in other words, what's in the "catalog"); the staff client shows what records are in the general inventory
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12:10 tsbere krvmga: That line gets blurred a lot. :P Though a "restrict to public" mode would be nice at times in the staff client. (Note: There are ways to get the public opac to act more like the staff one, but not the other way around)
12:11 krvmga tsbere: "restrict to public" would be nice sometimes. +1
12:12 csharp "restrict to trained staff" might be better :-)
12:13 csharp </unnecessary_snark>
12:13 * krvmga thinks that "restrict to trained staff" might leave almost no one at the library able to use it.
12:14 csharp krvmga: in my experience, that kind of thing is only helped by training and documentation
12:14 csharp and site visits where staff can show you what they're doing and where you can educate them on how it's supposed to work
12:14 kmlussier krvmga: I wouldn't consider a search in the staff client an inventory search either.
12:15 kmlussier Reports is the most accurate way to do an inventory.
12:15 krvmga kmlussier: does the staff client not search the entire bib record inventory?
12:15 kmlussier My concern is that staff would then look at the count on the search results screen and consider it a real count of what they have that matches that search.
12:16 kmlussier That count won't be accurate once the results hit a certain threshold.
12:16 krvmga kmlussier: yes, i've already seen this numerous times.
12:19 csharp reports are really the only way to do any sort of inventory process (though there are some features librarians expect in an "inventory module" that EG doesn't have)
12:20 krvmga csharp: yes, this is what i tell them.
12:21 csharp krvmga: for that issue, you might develop a couple of reliable inventory-related reports templates and "push" them out to the concerned staff
12:21 csharp "here's your monthly inventory report - go at it"
12:22 krvmga csharp: you're right and that's a good suggestion. we have produced quite a few report templates for the libraries to use.
12:25 csharp krvmga: I'm pretty sure one of my colleagues here documented an inventory process in Evergreen as-is, but I'm having trouble locating it
12:27 krvmga csharp++
12:28 krvmga does anyone know/remember the rationale for displaying the contents of the 856 field in the opac but not in the staff client search? (Online Access)
12:30 krvmga nevermind...
12:32 krvmga totally off topic: i saw capt. america winter soldier yesterday and enjoyed it
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12:38 csharp krvmga++
12:41 csharp krvmga: if I get a hold of that inventory doc, I'll send it along
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12:48 jl- berick: your holdings script worked quite nicely
12:48 jl- thanks again
12:58 berick jl-: great, glad to hear it
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13:32 csharp @karma reports
13:32 pinesol_green csharp: Karma for "reports" has been increased 2 times and decreased 9 times for a total karma of -7.
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15:43 kmlussier So quiet in here today.
15:45 hbrennan Yessum
15:45 hbrennan Feels like a Friday afternoon!
15:45 bshum It does feel like a Friday.
15:45 kmlussier @dessert add banana split
15:45 pinesol_green kmlussier: Error: You must be registered to use this command. If you are already registered, you must either identify (using the identify command) or add a hostmask matching your current hostmask (using the "hostmask add" command).
15:45 kmlussier Bah!
15:46 kmlussier @dessert add banana split
15:46 pinesol_green kmlussier: The operation succeeded.  Dessert #9 added.
15:46 hbrennan I'm making my first rhubarb pie of the year today
15:46 hbrennan Can you add that?
15:46 hbrennan I know we're already pie saturated though
15:47 kmlussier hbrennan: We had strawberry rhubarb pie with the old dessert plugin, but I don't think it's been added since then.
15:47 bshum @dessert add Krispy Kreme Donuts
15:47 pinesol_green bshum: The operation succeeded.  Dessert #10 added.
15:47 kmlussier hbrennan: We actually don't have as many pies as we used to. Most of the old desserts were wiped out when bshum went all fancy on us and created a dessert database.
15:47 hbrennan I wish my strawberries were producing already!
15:48 kmlussier I tried to make my own rhubarb pie once. It was a disaster.
15:48 bshum @dessert search pie
15:48 pinesol_green bshum: 1 found: #4: "Lemon Chess Pie"
15:48 bshum We have exactly one pie right now.
15:48 bshum So, more the merrier.
15:48 hbrennan What the heck is a Lemon Chess?
15:48 kmlussier That's a shame.
15:48 kmlussier Ask csharp
15:48 hbrennan ah, some Southern thing, eh?
15:49 bshum Hehe
15:50 kmlussier @dessert
15:50 * pinesol_green grabs some banana split for kmlussier
15:50 hbrennan @dessert add rhubarb pie
15:50 pinesol_green hbrennan: Error: You must be registered to use this command. If you are already registered, you must either identify (using the identify command) or add a hostmask matching your current hostmask (using the "hostmask add" command).
15:50 hbrennan ah boo
15:51 bshum hbrennan: You can message pinesol_green directly and register yourself and identify so that pinesol_green learns who you are.
15:52 bshum @register
15:52 pinesol_green bshum: Error: That operation cannot be done in a channel.
15:52 bshum See, it's smart ;)
15:52 hbrennan Oh that register
15:52 hbrennan gotcha
15:52 hbrennan Let's see if I can do that
15:53 kmlussier @dessert add coffee frappes
15:53 pinesol_green kmlussier: The operation succeeded.  Dessert #11 added.
15:54 hbrennan @dessert add wild alaskan rhubarb pie
15:54 pinesol_green hbrennan: Error: You must be registered to use this command. If you are already registered, you must either identify (using the identify command) or add a hostmask matching your current hostmask (using the "hostmask add" command).
15:54 hbrennan haha
15:55 hbrennan dang it
15:55 bshum @dessert add Vanilla Frosted Donuts with Sprinkles
15:55 pinesol_green bshum: The operation succeeded.  Dessert #12 added.
15:56 hbrennan @dessert wild Alaskan rhubarb pie
15:56 * pinesol_green grabs some Lemon Chess Pie for wild Alaskan rhubarb pie
15:56 hbrennan woops
15:56 hbrennan @dessert add wild Alaskan rhubarb pie
15:56 pinesol_green hbrennan: The operation succeeded.  Dessert #13 added.
15:56 kmlussier hbrennan: After you registered, did you identify with pinesol_green?
15:56 bshum That sounds like it might be fun.
15:56 bshum hbrennan++
15:56 hbrennan Success!
15:56 kmlussier hbrennan++
15:56 mmorgan Wow, a Lemon Chess Wild Alaskan Rhubarb pie!
15:57 hbrennan I hate that all my tries are publicly logged, but hey I did it
15:57 hbrennan Took enough effort that I needed to personalize my pie
15:57 kmlussier hbrennan: No worries! I'm pretty sure the same thing happened to me the first time.
15:57 kmlussier And I still always forget to identify.
15:57 hbrennan Well the register instructions have () around them, but that doesn't work
15:57 bshum hbrennan: The secret trick is messaging the bot privately with commands to learn the best one.  Sometimes I do that when I want to know.
15:57 hbrennan So it's trying to trick me
15:57 hbrennan That's a great idea
15:58 kmlussier Probably something we should add to one of those IRC help pages.
15:58 bshum @whoami is a good one before you start engaging with the bot too.  Just to see if it knows you.
15:58 pinesol_green bshum: (whoami takes no arguments) -- Returns the name of the user calling the command.
15:58 bshum Yes, yes, we know :)
15:58 kmlussier @whoami
15:58 pinesol_green kmlussier: kmlussier
15:58 kmlussier Well, that's helpful
16:02 * berick can't tell if kmlussier is being sarcastic
16:03 kmlussier berick: Just a little sarcastic.
16:04 jeff if you aren't logged in, @whoami will indicate that.
16:04 kmlussier But I'm wondering if I was supposed to do something fancier the first time I registered. Like give the bot my real name.
16:04 jeff @help whoami
16:04 pinesol_green jeff: (whoami takes no arguments) -- Returns the name of the user calling the command.
16:04 berick jeff: i know, it just looks funny.. "whoami?  You are you!"
16:04 jeff or, if not registered AND currently identified to the bot...
16:05 Guest86793 @whoami
16:05 pinesol_green Guest86793: I don't recognize you.
16:05 bshum @later tell gsams Looking back at what you asked over the weekend, I think maybe the reason we haven't noticed any issues with the back button and call number SMS texting retaining the entries is because we set the library setting requiring users to log in to send texts.
16:05 pinesol_green bshum: The operation succeeded.
16:05 Guest86793 joined #evergreen
16:05 kmlussier bshum: We don't have that requirement. So I was able to confirm his bug.
16:06 bshum kmlussier: To me, I think we enabled requiring it because we didn't want to deal with people using our system to send unnecessary texts to any number they wanted to.
16:06 bshum But yeah
16:07 bshum That did lead to different behaviors.  Looking at the original no-cache bug, it seems to only apply to when you're logged in.  Not just looking at various pages.
16:07 kmlussier bshum: Sure. I understand why some sites like to require authentication, but we have some consortia that prefer not to make authentication a requirement.
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16:20 mmorgan Does anyone give library staff members permission to delete non-ideal status items?
16:21 hbrennan I have that permission
16:23 mmorgan hbrennan: Have you ever run into any problems when something in a restricted status was deleted?
16:23 hbrennan Nope, but we've only been with EG for a year
16:23 hbrennan I've used it a handful of times with items in Lost status
16:24 hbrennan but they were truly lost, or missing
16:25 mmorgan We've had a few instances when libraries wanted to delete long in transit items, but that's restricted.
16:25 mmorgan Seems reasonable that they should be able to do that. They could abort first, I suppose.
16:26 hbrennan Hmm. We're a solo library, so I have no opinions on in transit
16:26 hbrennan I suppose if that person was in charge of tracking down long overdue transit items, and they knew there was no hope of it returning, it would make sense to give that permission
16:27 mmorgan Ah. Right. The other situation is when something is long overdue, and is deleted. Then it wanders back into the library and can't be checked in.
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16:27 hbrennan We have one staff person at our library for Lost items
16:27 hbrennan if anything comes back with that status, the item goes to her
16:28 hbrennan so she can keep track of what's returned, paid for, who to refund (if they bring it back in a reasonable amount of time)
16:28 hbrennan It's very helpful that way
16:28 hbrennan She can also use her experience to forgive certain cases and break the rules a bit
16:29 jihpringle our libraries have run into that problem on occasion (deleted items being returned) once we track down in the database who the item was originally checked out to the item can be checked in through the patron's account
16:30 bshum We don't allow anyone that permission to delete bad copy status items. Primarily to avoid folks deleting lost/missing stuff
16:30 bshum Especially lost. While the items are still checked out.
16:31 bshum Because someone was a bit too eager...
16:31 RoganH bshum: Another dark tale from granting permissions.  :)
16:31 mmorgan bshum: so do the checked out items just stay in the database?
16:31 hbrennan bshum: So you never deleted lost status items?
16:33 Dyrcona mmorgan: We, MVLC, don't permit the deletion of "bad" status items, either.
16:33 bshum mmorgan: hbrennan: Yes, until they check in the items and then delete them.
16:34 Dyrcona hbrennan: It causes a lot of staff confusion in a consortium, particularly when libraries re-use the barcodes of deleted copies.
16:34 hbrennan bshum: Check it in, even though it's not really in?
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16:34 Dyrcona hbrennan: Deleted things are not really deleted.
16:34 hbrennan Dyrcona: Oh, that makes sense. We never reuse barcodes... that would make things very confusing
16:34 bshum hbrennan: Yeah, it's safer that way. Especially like what Dyrcona says.
16:35 hbrennan Dyrcona: That's the mantra I've learned this year!
16:35 Dyrcona :)
16:35 hbrennan That's why I thought it would be better to keep the status it is truly in
16:35 hbrennan So if someone was to look back, they'd see it as lost rather than checked in
16:36 Dyrcona The re-used barcode scenario leads to questions about why do two patrons have the same barcode/copy checked out?
16:36 Dyrcona Barcodes are only unique for copies that are not flagged deleted.
16:36 hbrennan Evergreen lets that happen?
16:36 hbrennan Ohhh
16:38 Dyrcona So, because of that we added the code to make it so things in certain statuses could not be deleted.
16:39 Dyrcona You can allow them to be deleted if that's your policy, but that way lies madness in a consortium.
16:39 hbrennan So I'm not ruining everything by deleting things in these statues, really?
16:39 hbrennan There is no policy :)
16:39 mmorgan Oftentime staff don't realize they are "re-using" a barcode, because they can't see that it's been flagged deleted. They can't retrieve it by barcode, so they add it.
16:40 Dyrcona hbrennan: The copies are still in the database so the integrity of the universe is not affected.
16:40 hbrennan Dyrcona: Oh good. Thanks. :)
16:40 bshum I think the problem for us was people deleting a lost copy while it was still out and on a patron's record.
16:41 Dyrcona The hard part is getting staff to understand that "deleted" does not mean deleted in the case of copies, call number, bibs, and usually patrons.
16:41 bshum Then when the item came back it wouldn't go off the record.
16:41 bshum It would just trigger as barcode mis-scans
16:42 bshum Or they would reuse the barcode and not know which copy was which.
16:42 Dyrcona Yep, silly software....Can't keep up with wily humans.
16:43 mmorgan So if a patron still has something checked out, or has lost it and not paid for it, it stays in the database, even if it was due several years ago?
16:43 bshum It'll stay there until you do something about it.
16:43 Dyrcona mmorgan: Any deleted copy, regardless of status, stays in the database, no matter how long ago it was deleted.
16:43 RoganH left #evergreen
16:44 bshum Or you ignore it with the scope of your reports.
16:44 mmorgan Dyrcona: By "stay there", I mean be visible in the staff client. I know they're there forever ;-)
16:44 Dyrcona Like I said earlier, "Deleted things are not really deleted."
16:45 Dyrcona Well, they are visible in the staff client, if you know how to search.
16:45 Dyrcona The barcodes won't come up if you scan them, but you can still find the copies.
16:45 mmorgan Dyrcona: How can you find them?
16:46 * tsbere points out that deleted bibs being searchable requires local config changes and deleted copies can end up with no staff client accessible ways of getting at them if there are no bills related to them
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16:46 Dyrcona Well, what tsbere said. I always forget it requires configuration.
16:46 Dyrcona Guess 'cause we have it turned on.
16:47 mmorgan So if you can't see deleted bibs, then you can't find the deleted items?
16:48 Dyrcona Well, I am mistaken about the deleted copies. As tsbere hints, pretty much only those with bills are visible.
16:48 Dyrcona Or those that are checked out, etc.
16:48 tsbere And any that were still in copy buckets when they were deleted, I think
16:48 mmorgan OK, thought I had missed something (wished I had missed something)
16:49 Dyrcona Deleted copies were more fun on Horizon....
16:49 Dyrcona Certain statuses would cause the program that was run to delete them to crash.
16:49 mmorgan So if all I have is a book in my hand with a barcode, and it's been deleted, there isn't any way I can find that out in the client. True?
16:49 Dyrcona Copies could be deleted when lost or whatever and leave dangling bills on a patron's account.
16:49 hbrennan In Sirsi it was terrible.. I was the "deleter" and it wouldn't let you delete anything with fines!
16:49 Dyrcona "You owe us $20."
16:50 Dyrcona "What for?"
16:50 Dyrcona "Don't know, but it says you owe us $20."
16:50 tsbere mmorgan: You are correct. for added fun, there can be 0 or more deleted copies with that barcode. :P
16:50 Dyrcona hbrennan: Well, it shouldn't let you delete anything with fines, unless the fines are also deleted.
16:52 mmorgan tsbere: Ok, I keep hoping there's something I'm missing, but seems not.
16:53 mmorgan at least in regards to this :)
16:53 tsbere mmorgan: Why do you want to find deleted copies again? They were deleted, hopefully with good reason. :P
16:55 mmorgan An example - we'd rather not have way overdue items showing up in all our searches, attracting holds, etc.
16:55 hbrennan You can make Long Overdue not visible, right?
16:55 Dyrcona Cool! We have 33 copies with the barcode "1234"
16:55 tsbere mmorgan: None of that explains finding deleted items. At best that is explaining why you are deleting them.
16:55 mmorgan hbrennan: Yes, but I think they would still be visible for staff, right?
16:56 hbrennan mmorgan: Ah, yes
16:56 mmorgan tsbere: the finding part comes when the long overdue deleted item is returned and the library staff member only has the book with its barcode to go on.
16:57 tsbere mmorgan: So you want your long overdue items to no longer exist, but you want to find them later. I think you need to decide which it is. ;)
16:57 hbrennan haha
16:59 mmorgan tsbere: Unfortunately, It's not my decision :-(
17:00 tsbere mmorgan: Well, from a normal staff point of view either they exist and can be found by barcode, or they don't exist and can't. If they exist they can come up in search results, but holds can be negated by making them longoverdue or lost and making those statuses not holdable.
17:00 mmorgan Anyway - so much for a quiet afternoon in the channel! Thanks, all for the input :)
17:01 hbrennan We can go back to adding desserts whenever you're done working
17:01 hbrennan :)
17:01 mmorgan Yes, desserts please!
17:06 hbrennan @dessert mmorgan
17:06 * pinesol_green grabs some Vanilla Frosted Donuts with Sprinkles for mmorgan
17:06 hbrennan Ha, that was my first gifting
17:07 mmorgan Perfect!
17:14 pinesol_green Incoming from qatests: Test Success - http://testing.evergreen-ils.org/~live/test.html <http://testing.evergreen-ils.org/~live/test.html>
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20:26 csharp @dessert add Coconut Cream Cake
20:26 pinesol_green csharp: The operation succeeded.  Dessert #14 added.
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