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Sierra 6.0 delivers new features and greater accessibility

 

Sierra 6.0 and Encore 6.0 are now available! A few highlights are mentioned here, and you can see the Sierra Release Notes (login required) and Encore Release Notes (login required) for a full list of software updates. 

Staff login improvements 

  • With this release, Sierra supports SAML-based authentication for Sierra Web and the web-based Admin App using your institution’s central authentication system.  
  • Users who do not use SAML-based authentication can still use native Sierra credentials to sign in, which means that any institution can choose to use SAML authentication for all staff users, some staff users, or no staff users. 
  • Institutions wishing to use SAML authentication must contact their account manager to arrange for SAML installation and implementation. 

Scheduler for All 

The Sierra Scheduler, previously an optional utility, is part of the Sierra 6.0 installation for all institutions. The Sierra Scheduler enables libraries to schedule jobs to:  

    • Output Delimited Records 
    • Load Patron DELIMITED Records 
    • Load Patron TEXT Records 
    • Output MARC Records 
    • Load MARC Records 
    • Create a Review File 
  • Libraries using Scheduler for the first time must add Scheduler permissions after upgrading to Sierra 6.0. 
  • The Scheduler now has key-based authentication to support MFT file transfers for customers using Ex Libris Summon or 360 Services. 

 Client improvements 

  • The Sierra Desktop App has been improved to better support for screen readers. 
  • The Sierra Desktop App now supports MacOS Ventura. 

Support for MARCXML in OAI-PMH Harvesting 

OAI-PMH harvest software requires separate implementation; contact your account manager for arrangements 

  • The Sierra 6.0 OAI-PMH server supports MARCXML 
  • MARC21 crosswalks have been added to the options in the Admin App for OAI-PMH harvesting 

FTP improvements 

Sierra 6.0 supports selecting multiple files to download at once. 

Maintain item status change date 

Sierra 6.0 will start storing the last date an item status has changed after Sierra 6.0 is installed. 

  • You can hover your cursor over the status field in an item record to view the last date the item status was updated.  
  • The last date the item status was updated is also visible in the SierraDNA Views as part of the item record status view 

Record display improvements 

  • Patron information is available when viewing an item, volume, or bib-level hold, so that staff can identify the patron in the holds queue  
  • The status and due date of checked-out items are visible when searching the catalog in the Sierra Desktop App 
  • The descriptive name of the stat group in the checkout location (field 064 – OUT LOC) and checkin location (field 070 – IN LOC) of the item record will be displayed 

 See the full list of changes in this version in the Sierra 6.0 Release Notes and Encore 6.0 Release Notes (login required). 

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