Innovative is happy to announce that Sierra 5.3 is in general release, offering many enhancements to libraries using Sierra.
Please note that Sierra 5.3 and Encore 5.3 have the new requirement that the hosting server be running CentOS 7 or RedHat 7 and above.
Manage Holds Improvements
“View Outstanding Holds” will now be called “Manage Holds” in the function drop-down list. Additional changes include:
- Manage Holds update – Manage outstanding holds information in real-time, as well as revise the limits available to include limits for item location, hold status, and “special limits.” The “Holds placed before” limit will be changed to “Holds placed between” two dates.
- Modify individual holds – Transfer, cancel, or otherwise manipulate holds in the new Manage Holds list.
- Display “Frozen” hold status in Sierra hold queues – Frozen holds will display a “Frozen” status in Check Out mode, Search/Holds mode (and similar), and Manage Holds.
- Additional holds improvements – Export the outstanding holds table to a csv file, automatically page title-level holds, and more.
Create Lists Improvements:
- Create Lists User Interface Changes – Seven ideas suggested through Idea Lab to make Create Lists easier to navigate for users.
- Create a review file by importing a file of barcodes – Users can now upload a file containing item or patron barcodes and populate a review file with the records corresponding to those barcodes.
- Volume records in Create Lists and Delete Records – The volume (j) record type is now available in the Store Record Type drop-down in Create Lists, and users can now create a review file of volume records and use that file in Delete Records.
INN-Reach, Usability, And More
Sierra 5.3 includes almost a dozen more features, such as:
- A new INN-Reach “Borrowed” report – This report will provide customers with a list of what they have borrowed from partner libraries and is intended to be run at the borrowing library.
- Automated INN-Reach transit slips at non-checkin locations – Materials borrowed from an INN-Reach partner library will trigger the option to print a transit slip if it is checked in at a location that is not the pickup location. This will help to route materials to their intended destinations more quickly and easily.
- Enhanced error log for Data Exchange Output MARC Records – When outputting MARC records using Data Exchange, some records will be output with errors, but the log file doesn’t identify which records had errors. Starting in Sierra 5.3, the Output MARC Records error log will include the details of the records that generated errors. The user will be able to download the error log if necessary to check the records with errors.
- Capacity for up to 5,000 Sierra logins – Libraries will be able to create up to 5,000 Sierra user logins and see those logins in the Sierra Admin App.
- Float Determiner Table limit expanded – The Float Determiner Table limit is increased from 1,500 to 2,500 lines
Encore Improvements
Encore 5.3 also contains many fixes. A few highlights:
- Fixed an issue where logging out of SSO-proxied Encore in Firefox does not successfully redirect back to the Encore home page and displays an error.
- Fixed an issue where selecting Encore facets refreshes the Encore results screen, contravening Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- Fixed an issue in Encore Duet searches, where the last catalog record in a result set disappears if any facet is selected while the patron has selected the Plus tab.
- Fixed an issue with OverDrive outages causing Encore to become unresponsive if the OverDrive integration in Encore is enabled at the time of the outage.
- Fixed an issue with Syndetics cover images not displaying correctly when an ISSN is used to retrieve the image
- Fixed an issue with some authority records not returning results (as Established Terms in Encore) unless a space and wildcard is added to the search term.
You can read the detailed release notes on the Innovative Supportal (login required).