As of this afternoon (Tuesday, March 9), the slowness issue in Millennium circulation appears to be resolved.
Thanks to everyone who sent in examples of slowness in Millennium circulation. We received lots of good examples from OWLSnet librarians, listing exactly what happened, with what patron, and when. This was very helpful in troubleshooting the problem. After we provided this information to Innovative, they were able to make a change that fixed the problem.
The problem appeared to be closely related to the holds database. When checking out or adding holds to patron accounts with more than a few holds, the system would pause for several seconds, sometimes as many as 15.
If you have any questions or comments about the issue, or if you continue to experience the problem, please let me know.
-Gerri
Thanks to everyone who sent in examples of slowness in Millennium circulation. We received lots of good examples from OWLSnet librarians, listing exactly what happened, with what patron, and when. This was very helpful in troubleshooting the problem. After we provided this information to Innovative, they were able to make a change that fixed the problem.
The problem appeared to be closely related to the holds database. When checking out or adding holds to patron accounts with more than a few holds, the system would pause for several seconds, sometimes as many as 15.
If you have any questions or comments about the issue, or if you continue to experience the problem, please let me know.
-Gerri
***March 9, 2010 update*** Thanks to everyone who has been sending in examples of slowness. We're pretty sure that the problem is related to patron holds, and we'll be working with Innovative to see if we can resolve this problem. No need to send in further examples, unless they seem to be related to patrons without holds.
Over the past week, we've had several reports of slowness in Circulation. The slowness doesn't seem to be happening at any particular time of day, and it doesn't seem to be consistent. We've called Innovative several times, but they've not seen any problems with server functions.
One library has reported that it seems to be more of a problem when patrons have higher holds, and we've seen this happening too. So we're asking Innovative to do an intensive data integrity check tonight. We should know by Monday if this finds any problems. If not, we'll keep working on it.
In the meantime, if you are experiencing slowness, please let us know as soon as possible. It would be helpful to know exactly when it happened, what you were doing, and the patron barcode.
-Gerri
Over the past week, we've had several reports of slowness in Circulation. The slowness doesn't seem to be happening at any particular time of day, and it doesn't seem to be consistent. We've called Innovative several times, but they've not seen any problems with server functions.
One library has reported that it seems to be more of a problem when patrons have higher holds, and we've seen this happening too. So we're asking Innovative to do an intensive data integrity check tonight. We should know by Monday if this finds any problems. If not, we'll keep working on it.
In the meantime, if you are experiencing slowness, please let us know as soon as possible. It would be helpful to know exactly when it happened, what you were doing, and the patron barcode.
-Gerri
The InfoSoup/Millennium server replacement is complete. Basic functions have been tested. If your library used offline circ, we will be contacting you about sending over your files. Please do not send over your files until you've been contacted.
If, when you go to www.infosoup.org, your browser continues to point to the alternate page, you may need to restart your browser.
If you experience any other problems, please contact the OWLS office.
The Millennium/InfoSoup server will be replaced tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb 23). Millennium and InfoSoup will be unavailable for much of the day, beginning around 8:00 AM. We expect the work to be completed by 5:00 PM, but it could be much earlier or later. Attempts to access InfoSoup at this time will be redirected to an alternate page, explaining the maintenance. If there are delays, we will update this alternate page.
While Millennium and InfoSoup will be unavailable, Internet access, SAM, and email will still be available. Most OWLSnet databases will be available through Badgerlink.
When the work is completed, and the server has been thoroughly tested, we will send out a NetSupport Notify pop-up message to all OWLSnet staff computers. If your library will be open tomorrow, we recommend that you keep your computers turned on, so you will be notified when the replacement is complete.
If you have questions, please feel free to call or email the OWLS office.
While Millennium and InfoSoup will be unavailable, Internet access, SAM, and email will still be available. Most OWLSnet databases will be available through Badgerlink.
When the work is completed, and the server has been thoroughly tested, we will send out a NetSupport Notify pop-up message to all OWLSnet staff computers. If your library will be open tomorrow, we recommend that you keep your computers turned on, so you will be notified when the replacement is complete.
If you have questions, please feel free to call or email the OWLS office.
If you're printing out the OWLSnet Directory, the following page has
changed and should be updated:
*Page 16 MAR Marion Public Library - Contacts list has been updated.
*Page 16 MAR Marion Public Library - Contacts list has been updated.
The Monthly Checkouts and Renewals and Monthly Checkouts and Renewals by Municipality statistics from June through December have been updated online. The original June statistics posted online were incorrect. They included the May renewal figures - something we didn't discover until last week. (Thanks, Vicki for pointing this out!)
The total difference was only 298 renewals, but since it affected the total annual figures, we updated all of the monthly spreadsheets.
If you have questions, please contact Gerri at the OWLS office.
The total difference was only 298 renewals, but since it affected the total annual figures, we updated all of the monthly spreadsheets.
If you have questions, please contact Gerri at the OWLS office.
The following documents discussed at AAC have been posted online (and are also linked to from the Jan 2010 AAC agenda:
- 2009 OWLSnet Partnership Report
- Rental vs. Retail DVD introduction
- Brainstorming 'bout Browsing discussion group report
- Holds Analysis Charts:
- holds placed
- holds placed monthly
- holds placed quarterly
- ILLs quarterly
- Circulation quarterly
- Holds/ILLs/Circulation
- TNS project costs - updated costs for OWLSnet libraries
If you're printing out the OWLSnet Directory, the following pages have
changed and should be updated:
*Page 3 BCL Black Creek Village Library - Winter Hours have been updated, effective Jan.9.
*Page 3 BCL Black Creek Village Library - Winter Hours have been updated, effective Jan.9.
If you're printing out the OWLSnet Directory, the following pages have
changed and should be updated:
*Page 10 GIL Gillett Public Library - Winter Hours have been updated, effective Jan.1.
*Page 14 LEN Lena Public Library - Winter Hours have been updated, effective Jan 1.
*Page 10 GIL Gillett Public Library - Winter Hours have been updated, effective Jan.1.
*Page 14 LEN Lena Public Library - Winter Hours have been updated, effective Jan 1.
We will be monitoring the system remotely. If you have an urgent question, please use the after hours contact list. For routine questions, please send an email to the OWLSnet help list.
