Project Update 7/10
TBLC staff have been working with staff at SirsiDynix and in participating libraries to continue setup of iBorrow. Many thanks to everyone who has participated in this process. We appreciate all of your efforts and ask that you continue to bear with us as we work through this process.As we look at our progress to date, we find that a combination of software problems and software opportunities suggest that it would be best to push our launch date back a week.
Here is a brief summary.
We’ve been given the opportunity to move from the shared URSA server in Provo, Utah, to a server dedicated to TBLC. This is a very big change, because many of the improvements to the iBorrow portal we’ve suggested so far (Often these are your suggestions that we are passing along) have been denied, because they would affect SirsiDynix’s other URSA clients. If we have our own server, those objections go away and we will be able to customize the interface more. So, we have agreed to move to the new server.
However, that means the URSA client and the iBorrow portals will have a new address. And that raises some problems. First, that address needs to be “propagated through the DNS space” by SirsiDynix. That process can take up to 48 hours, which takes us right up to July 12. Once the address is propagated to all the DNS servers, each of you will have to download the URSA client again and bookmark the new iBorrow portal addresses. We know that some of you must work with your local IT staff to install or update the URSA client. And if it is not available until Wednesday, there is no realistic way you can get your IT staff to enable it on your local PC’s that same day.
We also need to give your Webmasters time to replace the current AlleyCat link on your catalog with the new iBorrow link with the new URL.
Finally, and this is not a software issue, some of you have experienced staffing problems that have kept you from getting your setup data to us, so some of you are still not completely set up in URSA’s master tables.
With all of these issues in mind, we feel that we can best serve you and your patrons by pushing the initial launch date back to Wednesday, July 19. We will be working with all of you between now and then to iron out the problems—and opportunities—we’ve run into. And we may be able to launch on July 19 with a larger group than we could have achieved on July 12.
Thank you for your patience with what we know is a lengthy and often frustrating process.
We will continue to keep you updated as we proceed. Expect to hear from us often throughout the coming week.
Please contact us if you have questions:
iBorrow Project and Training Coordination – Beth Farmer, Assistant Director, 813.622.8252 ex 228 / farmerb@tblc.org
iBorrow Technical Issues – Al Carlson, System Administrator, 813.622.8252 ex 223 / carlsoa@tblc.org ; and Matt Smith, Technical Assistant, 813.622.8252 ex 229 / smithmm@tblc.org
Administration – Charlie Parker, Executive Director, 813.622.8252 ex 222 / cparker@tblc.org