I recently met with a group of libraries from Union County. They had several questions about JerseyCat that I forwarded to Auto-Graphics. These questions and AG's responses follow:

1. Some libraries report that they are still using Iluminar and Classic versions of JerseyCat. I thought the redirect had been done.
2. There are questions about the log in process. The URL brings up NJ State Library and libraries are required to find their own library from the drop down box in order to log in.
3. Will there be a way to exclude e-records from search results.
4. Librarians report seeing many duplicate records. Is AG still actively working on deduping? One suggestion was a crowd-sourcing option, where librarians who see duplicate records could send them to AG for deletion.
5. There were comments that sessions appeared to time out quicker in ShareIt than in earlier versions. Specifically, some reference librarians reported search for a book, discussing with or waiting for a patron to decide whether or not to request the item, only to find out that the session had timed out.

  RE #1:  I’m stumped; which libraries are these?  Do you know what URL they’re using to access the system? (I replied to AG - they haven't folllowed up.)

RE #2:  The base URL is http://njsl-agent.auto-graphics.com (libraries may also have added the “/mvc”, which used to be necessary, but is no longer; the system will automatically add it now).  It is true that from this URL libraries must select themselves (their library) to log in under that library.  To go immediately to a desired library, use the following syntax, where “abcd” equals the JerseyCat library code:

http://njsl-agent.auto-graphics.com/mvc/?cid=njsl&lid=abcd

For example, to go to the login screen where NJAC is already the selected library, use:

http://njsl-agent.auto-graphics.com/mvc/?cid=njsl&lid=njac

I replied to AG that even when following the instructions above the log in screen does seem to revert to NJSL. They haven't responded.

RE #3:  For union catalog participants, they will need to exclude those records from their submittal, or alert Ramiro how to identify them and exclude them during processing.  For z-target libraries, it requires that their collection is mapped in their JerseyCat configuration (some are; some are not) and requires that their eBooks all reside in a specific collection (which may be specified as non-lendable).  

 RE #4:  Do you mean duplicates in the union catalog or in the search results that combine entries from many sources?  In either case, there is usually something from a cataloging perspective keeping the records distinct (one a large print or a  different edition), even though they appear to be the same record.

I followed up #4 - For #4 I mean a library searched by ISBN two or more records come up – they are identical – one may have a lot of holdings, the other(s) only 1 or 2. If the borrower selects one of those alternate records they won’t get their item. AG has not gotten back to me on this either.

RE #5:  Yes, there is a global timeout of (I believe) 9 minutes.  However, this applies only to unauthenticated searches.  If staff are logged into JerseyCat, their sessions do not expire until midnight.  This is to provide a modicum of patron privacy whilst searching.  Although not yet in queue, I know there have been requests to allow different customers to specify different timeouts (so that not everyone is relegated to the 9min rule).

I realize these answers are incomplete to say the least. I am posting them anyway as I told the Union County group I would do so. I will keep working with AG on these and if there are any fixes or resolutions made, I'll will post here.

Casey Confoy

[message_body] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to [list_settings.list_name] using [subscriber.email]

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

[plain_list_unsubscribe_link]

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism.

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

[PROGRAM_URL]/list/[list_settings.list]

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

[list_settings.list_owner_email]

Unsubscribe Automatically »