RESOLVED - Problems with Request

The timeouts with the Request service have been resolved. All Requests
should proceed as normal.

Please let us know if you encounter any difficulties.

CDL staff are currently working to resolve timeouts with the Request
service. There may be a short downtime.


Please stay tuned for updates.

Please share this information with your colleagues.

CDL Alert

Melvyl down for scheduled maintenance - 5/58/10, 12:01 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.

26 May 2010

Current Melvyl (http://melvyl.cdlib.org/F/?func=file&file_name=find-b&maleph=yes) will be down from 12:01 AM - 2:00 AM (PDT) on Friday, May 28th for an operating system upgrade.  During this time, the Next Generation Melvyl Pilot (http://melvyl.worldcat.org/) along with the campus Next Gen Pilot instances will be available. 

from CDL Alert

Public scanner update

The scanner in S&E is available again.  Another scanner is still out for repair and a third scanner has been ordered.  As soon as a second scanner (either the repaired one or the new one) is available it will be installed in the Media Center. In the meantime patrons who need access to a scanner should be referred to S&E.

Chat reference Qwidget availability

 A question came up recently about when the QuestionPoint Qwidget form is available and whether or not it is indicative of when the 24/7 QuestionPoint service is available to our patrons. I want to explain here when you can expect to see the Qwidget and how patrons can access QuestionPoint when the Qwidget isn't available. To simplify that last part I've added a new link to our Ask A Librarian page. 

The Qwidget form only displays on our Ask A Librarian page when QP is staffed by UC librarians. Currently UC librarians are staffing the service from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday.

Questions posted to the Qwidget are only seen by UC librarians. The other method of posting questions is via the standard QuestionPoint chat form. The chat form is monitored 24/7. That monitoring is done by librarians from other institutions around the clock accompanied by UC librarians during the hours listed above.

When the Qwidget is available the following form will be displayed:

When the Qwidget isn't available patrons need to click on either the "Ask A Librarian" logo (see below) or the new text link "UC Ask A Librarian Live Chat Service."

Laura, Peggy and I will be reviewing and revising the Ask A Librarian page next month. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or recommendations for its improvement.

New large monitor in McHenry 0345

There is now a large television monitor mounted on the wall in McHenry 0345. This monitor can be used to display data from a PC or Mac. There is a VGA cable that you may attach to a PC laptop. If you have a Mac laptop, come see me for a VGA to MiniDVI dongle that will allow you to use your Mac.

Right now, video from PC and Mac is supported. Audio is not yet supported but I am working on it.

--Greg

Extended library hours for finals

Library hours will be extended during finals week (June 2nd through June 9th) as follows:

Wednesday, 6/2/10 10am-2am
Thursday, 6/3/10 10am-2am
Friday, 6/4/10 10am-10pm
Saturday, 6/5/10 11am-7pm
Sunday, 6/6/10 10am-2am
Monday, 6/7/10 10am-2am
Tuesday, 6/8/10 10am-2am
Wednesday, 6/9/10 10am-2am

No public scanners in either McHenry or S&E

The public scanners from both McHenry and S&E are out for repair. They are expected to be back by the end of the week. See below for more detail:

Hi all,
Below is an update thanks to Omar (via IT Request) re: the Cowell Room scanner as well as the Media Center scanner.
-Ann

05/17/10
9:25 am
Mojaddedi, Omar

Hi All,
The scanner was dropped off at Dave's computer for warranty repair to begin on or around May 13th. They will notify ITS when the work has been completed. A rough estimate would be mid to late this week--depending on the workload at Dave's computer.

For more clarification, original Cowell scanner went out of service, so ITS brought up the Media Center scanner with permission from Greg as a temporary solution. Soon after, the scanner that we had brought up to S&E had power issues. They are now both at Dave's undergoing warranty repairs.

Omar

Sulpher Smell on 2nd Floor

Hi Folks,

Tim Basquez, Senior Construction Inspector, and Thomas Lee with EH&S were in McHenry this morning investigating the sulfur smell on the 2nd Floor. After a thorough search they were unable to determine the source of the smell. The air in the affected areas tested negative for anything harmful, and now the odor seems to have dissipated. If we learn anything more we'll let you know.

-Operations

Commencement schedule 2010

The campus commencement schedule for 2010 has been posted here.

Primer to be used in McHenry Renovation

Pending EH&S final approval this Friday, ATI will begin on Saturday treating some of the concrete in the renovation with a product that may produce some odor. EH&S has reviewed the product and the process and have put controls in place to mitigate it's impact. It will be done in contained areas and vented to the north side of the renovation. The work, which will be done in stages through next week, will be closely monitored throughout by EH&S. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Eric

--
Eric Baker
Head of Library Operations
University of California, Santa Cruz
831.459.4038

I followed up with Eric to find out what the product is. Here's his reply:

The brand name is KilZ.

http://www.kilz.com/

It's a primer that they'll spray over the concrete after they've wiped it down with chemical sponges to remove as much soot as possible, then they will paint over that. They are only doing this in areas where the concrete is above a dropped ceiling. The rest of the concrete will be cleaned by blasting with dry ice.

Material Safety Data Sheets for the product can be found here.

Reference Service - 6/14 to 6/18

Hello Ref Deskers,

I wanted to share a temporary change in reference service for the week of June 14-18th. I'm sending this message to you because you typically work on the Reference desk during the summer. If I have neglected to include anyone on this list, please let me know.

During the week of June 14-18, the week between Finals and Summer Session, Reference desk assistance provided at both McH and S&E libraries will be shifted to the Access desk. This temporary change is to allow Access Services to deploy their staff to shelf-reading and shelving in the stacks. Reference hours starting this week are 1p-5p, and again, you would work your regular reference shift(s) at the Access desk.

This means that we will provide very basic circulation assistance as well as research assistance at the Circulation desk. Access services staff will provide training, and an access staff person (most likely Molly) and a student will be available as back-up.

I understand you undoubtedly have questions about this, so I have scheduled the McH instruction room for a half-hour meeting tomorrow, Friday the 14th, from 9:30-10am. I hope to see you there.

thank you,

Lucia

New incident form

Dear Library Staff,

In order to make the library incident report form more stable and secure, we've moved it from the old library web server to the staff Drupal server. The new url is http://staff.library.ucsc.edu/node/add/incident-report but a redirect is in place, so you will be forwarded to the new form from the old link. It looks a little different but the information is the same as the old form.

You do need to login with your library server username and password in order to see the form. This is the same login and password used on the Edgar filesharing server and the main library webserver. If you do not to know your Edgar login, please contact IT help (at http://itrequest.ucsc.edu) and they will reset your password.

Please contact me with questions.

-- Sue Perry (for the Web Implementation Team)

Slug Copy Card Reader Tips and Hints

In the past week we have seen an increasing number of jams in the Slug Copy Card readers. Here are a few tips and hints that can help reduce jams and keep the machines operating smoothly.

1. Ensure that cards that patrons are using or that you have distributed to patrons are free of excess build-up. More specifically, tape of all varieties, dirt, dust, and anything that feels the slightest bit sticky on the card. If need be, you can clean the cards with an alcohol dampened paper towel or cloth

2. Please don't attach anything to cards like balance post-its that could be put into the reader with the card. Any tape, post-its or rubber bands will jam the reader.

3. Sometimes patrons will forcefully insert their student id's or a copy card from Fedex Kinko's. When this happens, call ITS staff before attempting to remove the card as both the reader lens and the card are susceptible to damage when removed incorrectly.


Thank you,

Omar for Library ITS

Password Reset Feature

The following was posted on the ITS News page a few months ago and might be of interest to folks working our desks. The original can be found here.


New Password Reset Feature

On February 21, 2010, ITS released a new self-service "forgot your password" feature that allows people to reset their CruzID Blue and Gold passwords online by answering security questions.

Anyone who signs in to the CruzID Manager will have the ability to set answers to security questions for their account. While it will be optional to set these answers, those who do will not need to contact the ITS Support Center to have their password reset when/if they forget their CruzID Blue or Gold passwords. Instead, they will be able to reset their password via a new "Forgot Your Password" link in CruzID Manager.

Note that this self-service password reset feature is not recommended for anyone who has administrative privileges to systems on campus. If you have admin-level access to campus systems, please evaluate whether using this new feature introduces a risk of someone guessing your security answers and gaining access to sensitive information. If it does, simply do not set answers to the security questions.

You may set up your security questions by accessing the CruzID Manager at: https://cruzid.ucsc.edu/ Once you sign in, click on the "Set/Change answers to security questions" link.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITS Support Center for assistance.

2010 Oil Spill incident site

from Cynthia Moriconi in Maps:

Here is a link to the Bibliography created by a Reference Librarian at the University of South Alabama for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Incident 2010:

http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/govdocs/gd/oilspill2010.html

It will be updated with the latest information.

Kerry's business guide

In case you need access to Kerry great business research guide, it's on the old server, and here is the link:

http://library2.ucsc.edu/collect/businessweb.html

I had a market research question that this was perfect in answering.

Best,

Laura

Light out log (not about sleeping in the library...)

The campus electrician has asked us to track when the lights go out,
where if occurs, and when they come back on again. Laura has made a
log at the Reference desk to track this.

I understand they suspect it may be a problem with the programming,
and they need our help to pinpoint the problem.

If the lights go out on another floor - i.e. NOT the second floor,
you can call the Ref desk to report the problem. Please understand
it is midterms, so we may not be able to answer the phone right
away. You may also email me directly (include date, time, place,
duration, etc.) and I will add it to the log.

thank you,

Lucia

Student email: CruzMail to SlugMail

I just had a student ask me if I knew anything about the fact that he couldn't log into CruzMail. Here is the story from the ITS site:

"On April 28, 2010 from 2PM to 6PM, all student email accounts currently using CruzMail, will be automatically switched to SlugMail.

On that day between the hours of 2PM and 6PM, students will no longer be able to login to CruzMail to check and send email. Instead, they will login to SlugMail. Their UCSC email address remains the same."

SlugMail login page:
http://its.ucsc.edu/service_catalog/slugmail/

Here is the full news article:

http://its.ucsc.edu/news_and_events/view_news.php?id=523

Wiki page for McHenry services info

Hi all,

I've set up a wiki page http://ucsclibrary.pbworks.com/McHenry+fire+-+services+update, where we can share information about temporary changes in service while McHenry is closed. Folks on refall are the intended audience but the page is open to anyone. While the page is very similar to the Alternative Services page this has the benefit of being informal and oriented to what we need to know from our reference service points. Feel free to update, correct and add new information as it becomes available. If you don't want to deal with the wiki but have info that you feel should be included just send me an email and I'll add it.

thanks, Frank

Title in Process (TIP) requests

I just wanted to send out a reminder that Title in Process (TIP) requests should be referred to the Circulation Desk. Staff at that desk can check to see where in the process the title might be and can check new book trucks, etc. or refer the request to Cataloging as necessary. Please don't send TIP requests to ejournals. The procedure for handling TIP requests is also available on the library's FAQ page
and copied below.

Thanks, Frank

Q: CRUZCAT says a book is "in process." What does that mean?

A: "In process" means the library has received the book but we're not finished cataloging and labeling it. To obtain access to these items, see the Circulation Desk staff to arrange for a “TIP" (title in process) Request. This service is available Monday-Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm only. Good news! Access Services has extended this service to whenever the Circulation Desks are open.