Getting the Bugs Out of the New LINKcat System

I find it interesting that, as far as I can tell, no other newspaper in the South Central Library System is covering this story.

LINKcat

Library moves forward with new catalog. (Stoughton Courier-Hub, 7/18/2011)

Excerpt:      Past problems. In May, there were a few problems that affected libraries and their users.

The first problem was an error with the hold system where a number of holds were cancelled and reinstated, which created a backlog in the system. This error was corrected early on during the switch, Ibach said.

Another issue was related to the self-checkout scanners in libraries. Software engineers corrected this problem in May, Ibach said.

In addition, the search functions of the catalog system had issues in terms of presenting relevant items first. Ibach said the search functions have been improved, but that users will find their items more easily if they use the advanced search function.

MacDonald said that patrons are becoming more adept at using the system, as evidenced by the types of questions people are asking.

“Instead of basic question of how it works, they're asking questions that are more in-depth,” MacDonald said. “The questions are indicating that people have learned the basics.”

Updates planned

Most of the front-end problems have been corrected, Ibach said. The developers are working to increase the speed of the system now.

“A lot of stuff they're working on is behind-the-scenes issues,” Ibach said. Still, the library system is working on a major update that is tentatively scheduled for the week of July 25. “We've got some pretty big updates in the works,” Ibach said, adding that a lot of back-end issues should be cleared up in the update.

It is currently being tested offline by local libraries and would go live if no bugs are found.

Related posts:
The LINKcat upgrade.  (5/28/2011)
So many things I would have done....  (4/21/2011)