Hosts
Key: IHLS Library
Thomas Sisler 2: Hi Brandon!
Thomas Sisler 2: Hi Linda!
Troy Brown: Good afternoon everyone. We can start anytime with your questions. I'm sure others will join us in a little bit, but they'll be able to read the chat history and catch up.
Troy Brown: So, what would you like to talk about today
Troy Brown: Since it seems a bit slow to start, I'll talk about the server issues from last night.
Troy Brown: It appears some of the temp files grew quite large on the database and kept the main Polaris database from functioning properly. I have been reading all morning on the topic and know more than I really thought I needed to know on the subject. Good news is that I think we have a solution, but we'll need to implement it off hours.
Kim: Can we run Polaris on Windows 10?
Troy Brown: Great question!
Troy Brown: I'll let Brandon chime in too here, but the short answer is yes. So far we haven't seen any problems with running Polaris on Windows 10.
Troy Brown: Where are you from, Kim?
Kim: Onarga
Brandon Chapman: Kim: Yes, it will run on Windows 10. However, if your default browser was Internet Explorer before upgrading to Windows 10, it will be the new Microsoft Edge browser after the upgrade.
Brandon Chapman: Polaris doesn't work on Edge (yet), so you'll have to click the "..." in the upper-right hand corner, and then click "Open with Internet Explorer."
Susan Neverman: Just curious if it the problem yesterday was listed on the website. A co-worker mentioned that she did not see it.
Susan: In respect to running a fix for Polaris during off hours, we do not close until 9 pm during the week. Would you run it after that? Last night Polaris was down starting at 5.
Troy Brown: Normally "after hours" means after 10pm. Yesterday the database didn't make it that long. It ended up locking people out about 5pm. That wasn't our intention.
Susan: Thanks. That is good to know.
Troy Brown: Also the system status did take a while to get updated yesterday. An email went out to the SHARE listserv immediately tho. So if you aren't on that listserv I highly recommend ALL library staff sign up for it so they can get those updates.
Susan Neverman: Polaris was down around 5 for about an hour and there was nothing found on the website stating that. My staff doesn't receive the emails about problems so it is crutial that they can check the website for any status infromation.
Troy Brown: Our email lists can be found here: http://illinoisheartland.org/?q=content/page/ihls-listservs
Troy Brown: The status at 5pm sould have stated that the system was degraded and had problems.
Susan Neverman: Checking the status on IHLS website is what we have always been instructed to do...is that not policy now? Our clerks do not have library email addresses so checking the status on the webpage is vital.
Brandon Chapman: We will see to it that the system status be updated in a more timely manner.
Troy Brown: Yes checking that status is still a great way to see if there is a problem. We update it as soon as we've confirmed there is a problem.
Susan Neverman: Okay just checking that is still policy and I am not missing something because often the issues arelisted or updated right a way. We will continue to lean on that as an avenue of communication for the clerks.
Troy Brown: Thank you, Susan for reinforcing how important that status box is! :)
Brandon Chapman: As I am still (relatively) new to IHLS, I often overlook updating the status box as issues come up. As Susan pointed out, not everyone has access to the SHARE e-mails, so I will definitely make it top priority to update the status box first and foremost!
Troy Brown: Brant also enabled a history view on that status so you can see if there was an issue in the past and it's back to normal too.
Brenda Gilpatrick: Thank you Brandon. I agree with Susan, it's important to be on the website.
Susan Neverman: Thanks, this will be so helpful.
Brandon Chapman: No problem. :)
Troy Brown: We are getting a lot of calls from schools this week! We are gearing up for all these schools to start logging in again and request books. Do you find that when school is in session that you get more requests?
Brenda Gilpatrick: Some, both the grade school and the hight school have stand alone systems so they get things through us.
janeth: All of the Carlinville Schools order through us.
Troy Brown: We need to get those schools on SHARE! :-)
Linda Johnson: This migth be a bit off topic, but is anyone having trouble with SAM? It will reject patron's cards, just suddenly quit and a host of other strange things.
Troy Brown: I haven't heard of any other issues with SAM today. But I can reset the server tonight. It usually needs it about once a month or so.
Linda Johnson: It's not been just today, but for weeks.
Karen Perrin: My printer will no longer print correctly from Polaris. The characters are not spaced correctly and it is difficult to read. Has this come up for others in the past, and how do I fix this? Thanks.
Troy Brown: Linda, you're from Marion, right? Usually that comes down to a network problem. Since I haven't heard from other libraries you might want to check with your IT staff at the city to see if all your bandwidth is being used.
Linda Johnson: Yes, I'm in Marion. I'll check with them. Thanks.
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Mem. PLD: Linda--the newer version of SAM sometime comes up with an invalid user error. Tony at Lazerware says they can't figure out why it happens, but switching to a different computer usually fixes the problem.
Troy Brown: Karen, is it a receipt printer or a laser printer?
Susan: Going back a bit, where on the ILLS webpage is the status button located?
Brandon Chapman: Karen: How long has this been happening?
Brandon Chapman: Susan: Top right hand corner, just below "Support"
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Mem. PLD: Susan--it's on the SHARE page
Brandon Chapman: http://share.illinoisheartland.org
Karen Perrin: Laser printer
Brandon Chapman: What's the make and model of the printer?
Brandon Chapman: HP LaserJet something
Karen Perrin: Been happening for many months now. I finally called a little over a month ago to someone at IHLS and they said they would get back to me but never did.
Karen Perrin: Dell 2355dn
Brandon Chapman: Most of the time, when laser printers have issues with Polaris, the problem is with the printer's driver (a special piece of software that let's the printer talk to the computer).
Brandon Chapman: I'm looking on Dell's website to see if there's a different driver.
Karen Perrin: Weird part is my intern's computer which is the same as mine, still prints just fine
Brandon Chapman: Same printer?
Brandon Chapman: ...and can I call you after the chat to see if we can fix this problem?
Brandon Chapman: ...or you can call me at 618-656-3216 x440.
Troy Brown: Are there any other questions today? If not, we can wrap up a few minutes early. Looks like we covered quite a bit today.
Susan Neverman: No I don
Susan Neverman: don't have any
Troy Brown: Well thanks for joining us everyone. We'll stay on until 2, but if you don't have anything else feel free to step away. Have a great aftrnoon and I hope you get to enjoy some of this great weather.
Karen Perrin: I'm calling Brandon directly now, thanks