1.1. MOA and Bylaws

Memorandum of Agreement and Bylaws

Memorandum of Agreement

Bylaws

Annual Costs By Library Calculations

1.2. Patron Privacy Policy

Patron Privacy

Protecting user privacy and confidentiality is one of the core values of librarianship. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect from you and why. You agree to this policy by using any member library websites, downloading our mobile applications, or visiting any NC Cardinal Library location. While North Carolina State law requires that we treat materials you check out and information you access as confidential information, we also do so because it is in keeping with our commitment to you to protect your privacy. The confidentiality of library records is a core part of library ethics and the NC Cardinal consortium follows the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association and NC General Statutes.

North Carolina General Statutes Related to Patron Privacy

§ 125-18. Definitions.
As used in this Article, unless the context requires otherwise:
(1) "Library" means a library established by the State; a county, city, township, village, school district, or other local unit of government or authority or combination of local units of governments and authorities; community college or university; or any private library open to the public.
(2) "Library record" means a document, record, or other method of storing information retained by a library that identifies a person as having requested or obtained specific information or materials from a library. "Library record" does not include non-identifying material that may be retained for the purpose of studying or evaluating the circulation of library materials in general. (1985, c. 486, s. 2.)

§ 125-19. Confidentiality of library user records.
In keeping with the American Library Association's Policy on Confidentiality of Library Records and Policy Concerning Confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information About Library Users, NC Cardinal libraries agree on the following:

(a) Disclosure. – A library shall not disclose any library record that identifies a person as having requested or obtained specific materials, information, or services, or as otherwise having used the library, except as provided for in subsection (b).
(b) Exceptions. – Library records may be disclosed in the following instances:

(1) When necessary for the reasonable operation of the library;
(2) Upon written consent of the user; or
(3) Pursuant to subpoena, court order, or where otherwise required by law. (1985, c. 486, s. 2.)

How NC Cardinal Collects Patron Information

1. User-Provided Information.
When registering for a new account for our library services or updating an existing library account, we may ask you to share certain information with us.
Personal Information : any information that can personally identify you, such as your name, physical address, email address, phone number, library barcode, date of birth, and other similar information.
Residency Verification : information such as driver’s license, other government-issued identification, and utility bills containing a postal address.
Library Record : contains your personal information related to your personal use of circulating and non-circulating library materials, including but not limited to computer database searches, interlibrary-loan transactions, reference queries, e-mails, faxes, requests for photocopies of library materials, title reserve requests, and the use of audio-visual materials such as films and music.
We are committed to keeping such information, outlined in all the examples above, only as long as needed in order to provide library services.

2. Information NC Cardinal libraries may automatically collect.
When you use our library services, such as our website and mobile applications, our computer servers may automatically capture and save information electronically about your usage of our library services. Examples of information that we may
collect include:

• Your Internet Protocol (IP) address
• Your location
• Kind of web browser or electronic device that you use
• Date and time of your visit
• Pages that you viewed on our website
• Certain searches/queries that you conducted

If you are using a library device, we may also record your library barcode, time and length of your session, and the websites that you visited.

3. Cookies.
A cookie is a small data file sent from your web browser to a web server and stored on your electronic device’s hard drive. They are generated by websites to provide users with a personalized and often simplified online experience. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default, though they can be disabled. Keep in mind that removing or rejecting cookies could affect the availability and functionality of our library services.

You should be aware that the information collected about you through any of the above means may be de-identified and aggregated with information collected about other users or visitors. This information helps us to administer services and analyze usage of our library services.

4. Staff Provided data.
Staff may create statistical categories for library users that contain arbitrary data that does not fit into the system’s default records. These statistical categories can be applicable to specific library systems or branches within the consortium. Some examples of statistical categories we currently use are ethnicity, gender, language, school.

How NC Cardinal Uses the Information Collected

• We use personal information and residency verification to issue library cards. If a user chooses to provide an email address, NC Cardinal may use it to send account alerts and other communications. We use library records to assist in maintaining our collections and to verify records of users’ paid and unpaid fines.
• We may use login credentials and library records to deliver enhanced or personalized services.
• We use personal information, login credentials, and residency verification to provide access to e-books through our mobile applications.
• We use personal information when collecting or processing payments and fines.
• We use cookies to collect information about your activity, browser, and device in order to provide you library services.
• We use user statistical categories to filter data within our reporting modules.

How NC Cardinal Safeguards the Use of Library Cards

• To check out items or retrieve account information requires a current library card or another way to verify identity.
• Hold items will check out only to the requestor’s card. Per library system policy, a friend or family member may pick up the hold items, if they have the requestor’s card.
• We give hold/reserve information only to the requestor. Specific details on hold items will not be left with voice mail or other persons.
• If someone other than the borrower returns a lost or overdue item, the person may pay the fine, but the account history will not be disclosed to them.
• Persons may request access to all their personally identifiable information the Library collects online and maintains in its database by contacting the patron’s home library. The information may be changed or updated through the library catalog or in person at a local branch of the library.

How NC Cardinal Shares User Information

These are the ways NC Cardinal shares your information with third-parties:

1. Third-Party Library Services Providers.
We use third-party library service providers and technologies to help deliver some of our services to you. If and when you choose to use such services, we may share your information with these third parties, but only as necessary for them to provide services to NC Cardinal. We may also display links to third-party services or content. By following links, you may be providing information (including, but not limited to Personal Information) directly to a third party, to us, or to both. You acknowledge and agree that NC Cardinal is not responsible for how those third parties collect or use your information. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of every third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact with through our library services.

2. Legal Requests.
Sometimes the law requires us to share your information, such as if we receive a valid subpoena, warrant, or court order. We may share your information if our careful review leads us to believe that the law, including state privacy law applicable to library records, requires us to do so.

How Does NC Cardinal Collect and Share Children’s Information?

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regulates online collection of information from children under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 13, you may not be allowed to use our online services without your parent’s or guardian’s permission, especially when your personal information may be collected. Parents and guardians of children under the age of 13 may view their children’s library records. Parents and guardians of children between the ages of 13 and 17 (inclusive) may also view their children’s library records, but require their children’s consent. We may partner with third-party services to provide educational content for children. Parents and guardians should review those services’ privacy policies before permitting their children to use them. Parents and guardians may also need to sign additional consent forms for the collection of information about their children before they gain access to optional programs and services, such as our enrolled programs.

How Does NC Cardinal Protect User Information?

• Exchanges of data between users and the system are encrypted using HTTPS through SSL. To enable encryption we purchase an SSL certificate from a certificate authority. This certificate ensures that data being sent to and from the server is going to the right IP address. Our webservers use a domain validated certificate.
• Users’ passwords are hashed using the MD5 cryptographic hash algorithm before they are recorded into the database. These hashes can not be reversed to retrieve the original, unencrypted password.
• Our strict system of permissions prevents library patrons or unpermitted staff from collecting patron information from the reporting module.
• Cardinal staff do not have the ability to modify the database with our read only account, protecting user data from potentially erroneous changes. In addition to this, Mobius makes regular backups of the database to protect our data.
• When using unprotected WiFi in public areas like hotels and coffee shops, NC Cardinal staff use a virtual private network to encrypt all incoming and outgoing information from our machines.

 

1.3. Fines and Fees Policy

NC Cardinal Fines/Fees Policy

Member Libraries should follow Local Fines and Fee policies when checking out items except for the following exceptions:

I. Collection fees are not to be paid, waived, or voided except by the assessing library system.
Patrons whose accounts have been referred to a collection agency must settle the account with the assessing library. If a physical trip back to the assessing library is not feasible, local staff will
assist the customer in finding the appropriate contact information needed to settle their account. Fees in this category may be identified by several different bill types:
1. Long Overdue Collection (Fee)
2. Legacy Referral
3. Grocery
4. Migrated OT

Justification: Patron accounts referred to a collection agency are charged a fee that covers the library’s collection agency costs. This fee is important to libraries contracting with such agencies.

II. Lost or Damaged Fees assessed at a library not your own may not be voided or waived.
Patrons who dispute Lost or Damaged items should be referred to the assessing library for resolution of their account. Patrons may pay for a lost or damaged item at any consortium library; however, a courtesy email to the owning library (if different than where fee is paid) is appreciated to allow for replacement of items. This notification should be sent to the Resource Sharing Contact as found in the Knowledge Books.

III. Fines and Fees on DVD’s shared through resource sharing.
It is recommended that staff void or forgive fees assessed to their patrons that do not match the fines/fees policies of their local library system, including Rental Fees.

Justification: Different AV fee & checkout policies throughout the consortium make it difficult to match fees appropriately. As transit times are not counted as part of the checkout period for AV materials, fees assessed while the item is in a patron’s possession are still valid.

Passed by the Governance Committee June 2016 

1.4. Resource Sharing Agreement

Resource Sharing Policy

• Member libraries agree to share all circulating books, music CDs, audiobooks, DVDs, Blu-rays and related audiovisual materials through resource sharing after the expiration of the 6-month age hold protection.
• Member libraries agree to allow a minimum of 25 holds per patron for materials that are available through resource sharing.
• Student Access accounts are not eligible to participate in resource sharing.
• If materials are available for holds to local patrons after the six month age hold protection, they should be available for resource sharing holds.
• Library systems can choose to not have materials on Bookmobiles and Outreach collections available for holds, but if those materials are holdable, they should be available for resource sharing.
• Materials can remain on the hold shelf for a maximum of seven days.
• Material types not listed above can be shared at the discretion of the owning library.

(Passed by Governance Committee 5/3/22)

*The State Library of North Carolina’s Government and Heritage Library (GHL) is a special government library. GHL makes a portion of its collection available to other NC Cardinal libraries through resource sharing. GHL patrons are not able to request materials through resource sharing and GHL is not a designated pick-up library for resource sharing materials from other NC Cardinal libraries. The other special government libraries do not participate in resource sharing.

1.5. Staff Login Accounts Permissions and Password Policies

Staff Login Accounts and Permission Policies

• Cataloging and administrative staff login accounts shall be assigned to individual users, who are responsible for activities using that login to ensure compliance with all consortium policies. NC Cardinal libraries can retain generic circulation staff login accounts. Generic accounts currently in use for reporting will be transferred to a “reports only” permission group.

• Each library system shall have a local administrator who is responsible for maintaining staff user login accounts in consultation with their library director and State Library NC Cardinal staff, creating accounts for new library staff and updating, merging, and deleting staff login accounts as necessary to keep employee access current and in compliance with all NC Cardinal policies.

• Staff user login accounts are to be used only for access to Evergreen and work related activities, not to circulate materials or any other personal use.

Passed by the Governance Committee April 2017 

 

Staff Login Account Password Requirements

Cardinal staff login account users will be required to change their password every 90 days. Staff will be emailed a reminder to change their password two weeks before their account expires. Staff accounts will need to have an email address listed on their login account for this notification purpose. If passwords are not changed by the end of the 90 days, the staff member will be prompted to provide a new password before logging in. Staff will not be able to log in to the staff client until they’ve updated their password.

Login Account Password Strength Requirements

Patron Account Login Password Requirements

• Requirement: At least four characters.
• Maximum Password Age: None
• Force Reset at Maximum Age: no
• Permission Groups: All Patrons

General Staff Login Account Password Requirements 

• Requirement: Upper case letter, lower case letter, numeric character, and at least 8 characters.
• Maximum Password Age: 90 days
• Force Reset at Maximum Age: yes
• Permission Groups: Circulator, Circulation Lead, Item Cataloger, Bib Cataloger, Volunteers, Data Review

Administrator Login Account Password Requirements 

• Requirement: Upper case letter, lower case letter, numeric character, special character and at least 8 characters
• Maximum Password Age: 90 days
• Force Reset at Maximum Age: yes
• Permission Groups: Branch Administrator, System Administrator, Global Administrator 

Passed by Governance Committee 10/2/24

 

Staff Code of Ethics

Patron Privacy Policy

Statewide North Carolina Information Security Policies

1.6. Multi-card Policy

NC Cardinal Multi-Card Policy

It was decided by the NC Cardinal consortium members in 2015 that all member libraries honor the library cards of all other member libraries, allowing patrons the fullest access to NC Cardinal consortium materials. Because the consortium does not currently share electronic resources consortium-wide, patrons may maintain library accounts in more than one member system in the consortium based upon the established patron registration policy for each library system. While a library system may want to ensure they issue only one card per person within their own library system (except in the case of Student Access accounts), patrons may not be limited to a single NC Cardinal consortium account and are absolutely permitted to have multiple library cards/accounts for multiple different library systems within the NC Cardinal consortium. This allows patrons the broadest possible access to any electronic resources they are eligible to use.

The NC Cardinal multi-card policy allows patrons to maintain library accounts with any and all library systems in NC Cardinal which they are qualified to join, based on the library systems' registration eligibility requirements. Some NC Cardinal library systems allow any North Carolina resident to register for a card, other systems only grant no-cost library cards to people who reside, own property, attend school, or work in the county, while other systems grant no-cost membership to anyone who resides/own property/work in the the county and any adjoining county. Some library systems may charge an annual fee to out-of-county users. It is up to each individual library system to set their own policy for who is eligible to join. That could mean that a library system that allows patrons who reside in contiguous counties to join may find that these patrons maintain cards in both counties/systems, when both library systems belong to NC Cardinal. Library systems may not ask patrons to give up one library card in favor of another.

Additionally, patrons are always permitted to use their existing library card from any NC Cardinal library system to check out at any other NC Cardinal library, so long as their account is eligible (e.g. not assigned to Internet or School permission group) and does not exceed the circulating library's fine thresholds. Patrons cannot be required to register for an additional account for the library system where they want to check out.

For example: Say a patron has an existing NC Cardinal card at Library System A, but indicates they have moved and wish to apply for a library card at their new location (Library System B). Staff at Library System B should not alter the existing library account created by Library System A. Instead, staff should search NC Cardinal to see if there are any other accounts attributable to the patron with unresolved bills.

If there are existing bills, staff should consult the NC Cardinal Fines and Fees policy and let the patron know they will need to be resolved before a new card can be issued. If no outstanding bills exist, staff should let the patron keep the card for Library System A and issue a new card for their own Library System B (if the patron meets local eligibility criteria). Staff can create a note in the old library account (for System A) to indicate that the patron has moved and a new card was issue by System B. Staff can also group the two library accounts following the patron grouping instructions in the Circulation knowledge book. 

 

Note: It is important that staff do not change the home library in an existing account from one library system to another unless they are also issuing a new barcode. The home library should always match the system that “owns” the barcode range for the barcode listed on the library card/account or e-resources will not authenticate.

Policy:

It is the policy of the NC Cardinal consortium that all member libraries honor the library cards of all other member libraries, allowing patrons the fullest access to NC Cardinal consortium materials. Because the consortium does not currently share electronic resources consortium-wide, patrons may maintain library accounts in more than one member system in the consortium based upon the established patron registration policy for each library system. If a patron requests a new library card or wishes to use their existing library card in another NC Cardinal library, please follow these recommended procedures.

Procedures:

When a patron requests a library card, staff should: SEARCH the NC Cardinal consortium database for patrons with the matching name and other identifiers. The scope of the patron search MUST be set to NC CARDINAL.

1. Does the patron have an existing account in NC Cardinal database?

• Yes - go to question 2
• No - Use patron registration to create NEW patron account following your library’s local patron registration policies.

2. Does the patron owe money to ANY NC Cardinal library?

• Yes - go to question 3
• No - go to question 5

3. Is the patron account above the fine limit (purple box around name) or sent to collections?

• Yes - NO checkout or NEW card. Patron MUST pay bills before proceeding. Patrons in collections must resolve with library system owed.
• No - go to question 4

4. Is patron paying off ALL fines?

• Yes - go to question 5
• No - Use patron’s card AS IS. Do NOT change patron’s Home Library or Permission Group. If patron’s existing card is expired with no fines, verify/update contact info & extend expiration date for a week. Do NOT use Update Expire Date button.

5. Does the patron wish to check out with the existing NC Cardinal card?

• Yes - Use patron’s card AS IS. Do NOT change patron’s Home Library or Permission Group. If patron’s existing card is expired with no fines, verify/update contact info & extend expiration date for a week. Do NOT use Update Expire Date button.
• No - go to question 6

6. Does the patron want to get a NEW local card and keep their existing card, thereby maintaining 2 accounts, or do they want to migrate their existing account to the new library?

• Maintain 2 accounts - Use patron registration to create NEW patron account following your library’s local patron registration policies. Patron’s other library account(s) remain in the database as is. Do NOT merge accounts into one.
• Migrate existing account to the new library - Replace barcode in existing account with barcode of new card for your library. Update patron info, including Home Library and Permission Group to your library system.

 

 

 

1.7. Cataloging Policy

NC Cardinal Cataloging Policy

The NC Cardinal consortium is committed to providing the highest standard of library service for consortium patrons. Member libraries share the responsibility of maintaining high-quality bibliographic records, as they form the foundation of the consortium’s shared catalog. To ensure the consistent quality and integrity of these shared resources, all member libraries within NC Cardinal shall ensure that any staff who perform cataloging functions in the ILS conform to the NC Cardinal Cataloging Best Practices established by the consortium and shall pass the appropriate cataloging assessments based on the criteria below:

• The NC Cardinal Cataloging Committee has identified two levels of cataloging privilege. Item Catalogers primarily impact records within their local system. Bibliographic Catalogers additionally administer consortium-wide bibliographic resources. Some actions within the catalog do not require cataloging permissions, such as editing item and volume records (replacing a barcode, changing a call number, copy status, shelving location, etc.)

• Any staff who wish to have Item Cataloging permissions must pass the Item Cataloging assessment. Examples of item cataloging include adding or deleting item and/or volume records.

• Any staff who wish to have Bibliographic Cataloging permissions must pass both the Item Cataloging assessment and the Bibliographic Cataloging assessment. Examples of bibliographic cataloging include creating, editing, merging, or deleting bibliographic records as well as importing records from any outside source (vendor, z39.50, etc.). All NC Cardinal libraries should endeavor to have at least one certified Bibliographic Cataloger on staff at all times.

• The NC Cardinal Cataloging Committee establishes, reviews, and updates the Cataloging Best Practices for the NC Cardinal Consortium. The Committee reviews and updates the assessments to ensure they fairly evaluate comprehension of consortium cataloging standards. Periodic recertification may be required for catalogers in NC Cardinal.

• Any NC Cardinal library may suggest changes to the Cataloging Best Practices and to this Cataloging Policy by contacting a Cataloging Committee, Governance Committee, or NC Cardinal staff member.

• Staff who have not yet passed the necessary assessment(s) to perform cataloging duties may be assigned temporary/limited Item Cataloging permissions. If there is no other Bibliographic Cataloger in a library system and a cataloger wishes to receive temporary/limited Bibliographic Cataloging permissions, they must first pass the Item Cataloging assessment. Temporary/limited cataloging permissions may be granted for no more than 3 months. Any cataloging work performed by catalogers with temporary cataloging permission must be reviewed by a certified Bibliographic Cataloging mentor (either within their library system or from another library system in NC Cardinal). This assigned Bibliographic Cataloging mentor will have the responsibility to regularly review and correct their mentee’s cataloging work until such time as the mentee passes the necessary assessment(s).

• NC Cardinal staff will regularly monitor the Item and Bibliographic Cataloging assessment results, notify successful candidates after they achieve the passing score established by the Cataloging Committee, and assign the new cataloging permissions. Assigned cataloging logins may only be used by the person to whom they were assigned and a library system must promptly notify NC Cardinal staff when a certified cataloger no longer works at the library.

• Catalogers will be notified by an NC Cardinal staff member when their practices do not conform to Cataloging Best Practice Standards. Staff that fail to address these concerns will be offered the opportunity to work with a mentor Bibliographic Cataloger. If non-compliance continues, the library director will be notified of continuing concerns regarding the cataloger’s performance.

• Any member library that repeatedly fails to comply with the NC Cardinal Cataloging Best Practices as agreed to in the NC Cardinal Memorandum of Agreement sections I. B. 2 & 3, may result in suspension or revocation of cataloging privileges for the non-conforming staff member, subject to review by and decision of the Governance Committee.

 

Passed by NC Cardinal Governance Committee on February 13, 2019

1.8. Staff Code of Ethics Recommendation

Code of Ethics for NC Cardinal

This is a suggested Code of Ethics for Cardinal example for Cardinal member libraries. As policies like this are a Human Resources matter for member libraries, the User Experience committee put this together to provide a suggestion for member libraries revising their employee handbooks. This was approved by the Governance Committee on 5/11/2020.

(Your Library) Code of Ethics For Staff

I acknowledge that I have an obligation to the (Local Library System) and agree to comply with this Code of Ethics:

• I shall not violate the privacy and confidentiality of information entrusted to me or to which I may gain access, including a patron’s private information or reading records. A patron’s personal information, history, or records will not be provided to anyone without legal authorization.
• I shall not use knowledge of a confidential nature to further my personal interests or for personal gain for myself or others.
• I have an obligation to (Local Library System) to use equipment and software only for the purposes intended.
• I shall accept full responsibility for the work I perform.
• I shall cooperate with fellow staff members at my local library and NC Cardinal consortium members, treating them with honesty and respect.
• I will not exploit the weakness of a computer system for personal gain or personal satisfaction for myself or others.
• I will adhere to all library policies and will follow the appropriate reporting procedures for any illegal or unethical practices that come to my attention.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Staff Member’s Signature and Date

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Staff Member’s Printed Name

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Library Branch Name/System Name

 

1.9. Cardinal Communication Practices and Standards

How to communicate support needs to the Cardinal team

HelpSpot is our help ticketing system, the tool we use for managing the wide variety of requests that we receive from staff at Cardinal libraries. 

What Should Be a Ticket

In general, if you’re reaching out to us to request that we take action of some sort, it is helpful for that to be a ticket. You can create a ticket by filling out our Request for Assistance form or sending an email to help@nccardinalsupport.org. This allows us to keep track of the status of a specific issue, see the history of a request, work on questions as a team and know what issues still require effort on our part. It also allows us to interact with external vendors like Mobius. 

Help Us Help You

When sending in tickets, please provide as much specific information as you can: barcode numbers of the patron and/or item, links to the catalog, screenshots of error messages. If your question is related to placing holds, please include the usernames of the person placing the hold and the workstation name and branch. The more specific information you provide, the easier it is for us to track down the issue.

Ticket Response Time

Our goal is to respond to your ticket by the end of the next business day. If we can resolve your request in that time we will, but if we are unable to complete the task or have more questions, our goal is to respond to you in that timeline. Sometimes tickets require us to troubleshoot and test, interact with external vendors, or implement fixes which may impact resolution times.

Closing Tickets

We are always trying to work towards resolving tickets in our system. Generally, if there is no further action necessary for a ticket, we will close the ticket. If it is unclear if the issue is resolved for you, we’ll ask if it is OK to close the ticket before doing so. You can always reopen tickets when you need to later on by replying to the email messages you received related to the ticket.

Basecamp

We also make significant use of Basecamp for projects and discussions with the Cardinal community. You can interact with the Basecamp groups through the website or by responding to the messages via your email. We try to keep an eye on all traffic there and answer questions that require our responses. Basecamp also has the benefit of being a space where staff members from Cardinal libraries can ask questions of their peers and find the answers to questions without requiring the Cardinal team. 

Please visit the "Join Our Mailing List" section, under the Submit a Request link to request access to our Basecamp Teams.

Basecamp Best Practices

Here are a few practices and techniques that have been established to assist library staff with using Basecamp to produce effective and meaningful communication.

1. Does your response add to the conversation? When you reply to a Basecamp thread, your response goes to a few hundred of your peers in other Cardinal libraries. That is great because it provides an opportunity to reach a lot of other people that may be able to respond or help if you have a question. But, if there is too much extra chatter, people stop paying attention. 

• Consider using Basecamp’s Boost functionality on a post to add an emoji or reply that is up to 16 characters in length. Something like “Me too!”, “That’s great!” rather than posting a response that generates an email to everyone in the group.
• If you get too many email notifications about Basecamp posts, consider setting up an email filter that filters messages from a sender that has (NCC) in the name to put all the Cardinal team’s posts into a different folder. 
  

     

     2. Strive to be positive and kind. It's good to raise issues, suggestions and challenges, but nihilistic rants don’t help the conversation. 

• It's hard to communicate intent when conversing over the internet. If your words can be perceived in different ways, they may be understood in a way which you did not intend.
• “Now” is often the wrong time to say what just popped into your head. It’s better to let it filter through the sieve of time. What’s left is the part worth saying.
• Text typed in all caps may be interpreted as yelling or displaying a emotion of anger
• If something’s going to be difficult to hear or share, invite questions at the end.
  
  

     3. Before creating a new thread, please check if there is an active thread that covers the same topic (particularly when encountering an issue with Evergreen performance, as it is likely that you’re not the only one experiencing the problem.) 

• Please read the post instead of just subject line before responding 
• Try to make sure that your post is in the right group. The right communication in the wrong place is not likely to reach its intended audience. 
• Incidents: specifically for Evergreen performance issues that may be affecting the entire Cardinal community
• Resource Sharing: for any topics about resource sharing practices, shippers, the FedEx website, etc.
• Cataloging/Reports/Serials/Acquisitions/etc.: anything targeted specifically at people that use these components of Evergreen
• General Discussion: All the other communication that may appeal to the broadest audience in Cardinal 
• Communication often interrupts, so good communication is often about saying the right thing at the right time in the right way with the fewest side effects.

 

      4. Once an issue has been raised on the Incidents list and a Cardinal team member has responded to let you know we’re troubleshooting, there’s no need to continue to respond to the thread with “me too”. If we announce that we believe the issue has been resolved and you’re still experiencing issues, then please weigh in and let us know if you’re still experiencing the problem. 

 

     5. Don’t get personal.

• Whenever possible, communicate directly with those you’re addressing rather than passing the message through intermediaries. Example: OK to mention who has copies on a problem bib, but in a public context like this it is not polite to point out a specific cataloger that made a mistake (we’re all learning)
• If you’re experiencing a specific issue that is related to another Cardinal library, consider reaching out to them directly via the Points of Contact list. If you have a challenging issue with another library, feel free to reach out to the Cardinal team, as we’re happy to communicate diplomatically on your behalf.
  
  

     6. Should this be a ticket?

• In general, if you’re reaching out to us to request that we take action of some sort, it is helpful for that to be a ticket. You can create a ticket by filling out our Request for Assistance form or sending an email to help@nccardinalsupport.org. This allows us to keep track of the status of a specific issue, see the history of a request, work on questions as a team and know what issues still require effort on our part. It also allows us to interact with external vendors like Mobius.

Knowledge Books

We’ve also built a significant amount of documentation in our Knowledge Books. Generally, if there’s a question that may come up on a regular basis, we’ll try to find the right place to document it there. 

How to communicate bug or suggestions to the larger Evergreen community

Launchpad

The Evergreen software community also has a website for reporting and tracking bugs with the Evergreen software. Generally, if an issue you find is a flaw or functional request, the Cardinal team will post a bug report or wishlist item there. You may find it useful to search Launchpad to see if the issue you’re reporting is a known bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen

Evergreen Mailing List

There are a number of public mailing lists for people interested in Evergreen open source library software – general, governance, documentation, taskforces, development & commits. For details https://evergreen-ils.org/communicate/mailing-lists/

 

 

 

1.10. Third-Party Hardware and Software Policy

Using Third-Party Hardware and Software

Many NC Cardinal libraries contract with what are termed “third-party” software vendors (because they are outside of the purview of the NC Cardinal relationship with the member library system) for products that need to connect with the NC Cardinal software to work. This is governed by NC Cardinal policy (see section below) which requires that libraries expecting full compatibility with NC Cardinal software must consult NC Cardinal staff in all negotiations with vendors to ensure that their products are compatible. Assurances from other users of the product or from the third-party vendor that the product will work as expected should not be taken at face value.

In certain cases, software development is required to make the third-party's product connect correctly with NC Cardinal. In these cases, the cost of developing, supporting, and maintaining the custom interface will fall to the library purchasing the product. When contracting out for SIP-specific technology, it is the responsibility of the third-party vendor to build the crosswalks necessary for compatibility with Evergreen, as it is the responsibility of the vendor when providing compatible technology for any ILS. In order to collaborate with the NC Cardinal libraries in contracting for third-party technology, NC Cardinal will provide a test environment within which the library and/or the vendor may develop and test the crosswalks necessary in order to ensure compatibility with Evergreen.

Once the third-party product has been proven to work with Evergreen and for those products that are currently in use, NC Cardinal staff is responsible for Evergreen server-side administration. Support for the third-party product continues to be the purchasing library’s responsibility.

These same guidelines apply to any product or service that would require any sort of data export, either one-time or ongoing, from NC Cardinal staff. Many catalog added content services and statistical analysis services require this. Please consult with NC Cardinal staff about these requirements before entering into an agreement.

Policy & Procedure for Libraries considering third-party products that need an interface with NC Cardinal (i.e., Library Management Products)

The NC Cardinal staff has been asked to make the NC Cardinal database available to outside vendors via library management products. The NC Cardinal staff should be consulted during all negotiations with vendors to ensure that their product(s) are compatible with the NC Cardinal database.

Some examples of third-party software and/or services that require access to NC Cardinal resources:

• Self-checkout stations
• PC Time Management Systems that require access to patron accounts
• E-book providers who need to authenticate against the NC Cardinal patron database
• RFID systems, including security gates that automatically check out items
• Collection Management software that requires data extracted from the NC Cardinal system
• Cataloging/Bibliographic database cleanup vendors that need staff client access and/or bibliographic data extracts
• Added content providers who depend on modifications to the Evergreen OPAC

In order to collaborate with the NC Cardinal libraries in contracting for third-party technology, NC Cardinal will provide a test environment within which the library and/or the vendor may develop and test the crosswalks necessary in order to ensure compatibility with Evergreen. Contact the Help Desk for access.

Submit the following information to the Help Desk prior to making a purchase decision for evaluation of functionality, security, and support by NC Cardinal and so that the NC Cardinal team can work out a project timeline for implementation.

• What need are you trying to fulfill? (PC reservation, internet access, print management, etc.)
• What are the requirements for your product to interface with NC Cardinal? (SIP2 connection, data extracts, etc.)

Some things to keep in mind when selecting a product:

• Third-party products and services must align with NC Cardinal policies and Memorandum of Agreement.
• The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources legal affairs team and North Carolina’s Department of Information Technology may be consulted where applicable. 
• NC Cardinal will review some third-party product proposals where applicable. 
• NC Cardinal staff will work with these units to be sure proposed services are compliant with security and legal policies.
• If NC Cardinal server-side processes are required for the third-party product or service to work, NC Cardinal system staff will need to evaluate the feasibility of implementation during the testing phase. Security, policy adherence and staff time are factors that will be considered.
• In cases where the administrative burden on NC Cardinal system staff is determined to be prohibitive, NC Cardinal staff will not be able to accommodate the product or service.
• If customization is required in order for Library Management products to work, the cost of developing and supporting those customizations will fall to the library purchasing the product and/or the vendor.
• Software upgrades may break these external connections. Libraries may want to consider using a product that does not depend on the NC Cardinal server.
• During NC Cardinal system upgrades or downtimes, Evergreen functionality will be the priority. Maintenance to external connection(s) will be prioritized accordingly after Evergreen is stabilized.
• If it is determined that a third-party software product or service is causing system instability or other problems, the NC Cardinal  staff reserves the right to remove access to that product or service until the issues are resolved by the product or service provider.
• In the event of vendor error or damage, the NC Cardinal staff will consult and recommend how to clean up any problems. Some types of problems may be solved by NC Cardinal staff, but the NC Cardinal Program Director may request that the vendor make the repair/corrections or contract with approved vendors (such as Mobius, Emerald Data Networks or ESI for example) to complete this work.

 

Policy Passed by Governance Committee 3/20/23

 

Notes:

This policy only relates to Third-Party Hardware and Software deployed after the policy is in place. 

Software that implements the standard SIP protocol should not require further scrutiny.  

The NC Cardinal team has already integrated with the following vendors/tools, and further scrutiny shouldn't be necessary before deployment but may require planning for implementation.

• EBSCO Novelist
• ExLibris Summon
• Gale Analytics
• LibraryIQ
• LibraryHQ
• MyLibro app
• PatronPoint
• PayPal
• PayflowPro
• Stripe
• Unique Management Collections
• Wowbrary 

1.11. Reserved Barcode Ranges

Reserved Active Patron Barcode Ranges

This is a list of the ranges of barcodes in use by Cardinal libraries. Over time we've worked to get everyone into their own 14 digit barcode range reserved just for their system. We reserve the shorter numeric barcodes for Student Access accounts because these accounts use their Student IDs for barcodes, and Student IDs are all over the place.  

If you have cards you're actively issuing in other ranges not mentioned here, please reach out to the Cardinal team. If you need to buy new patron cards or need to reserve a new barcode range, we need to coordinate that so that we can reserve a range that isn't already in use. (We also try to keep track of non-Cardinal libraries so that if any of them join, they don't have to rebarcode all their patrons.)

Some libraries have institutional or staff accounts that have short text barcodes to easily pull up the accounts, like 'STORYTIME', 'ILL', or that sort of thing. If you want to make use of these non-numeric barcodes as shortcuts, please add your system's Non-Patron Prefix to the beginning of the barcode. 

Last updated 11/21/2023

System	Length	Patron Prefixes	Non-Patron Prefixes
ALEXANDER	14	24269	ALX_
AMY	14	11111, 12222, 13333, 14444, 15555, 16666	AMY_
APPALACHIAN	14	44501, 44502, 44503	APP_
BHM	14	28344	BHM_
BLADEN	14	20441	BLD_
BRASWELL	14	57505	BRS_
BROWN	14	20308	BRN_
BUNCOMBE	13	10205	BUN_
BURKE	14	23557	BRK_
CALDWELL	14	40669	CLD_
CARTERET	14	24208	CRT_
CASWELL	14	24622	CAS_
CLAYTON	14	29523	CLA_
CLEVELAND	14	62999	CLV_
COOLEY	14	31244	CLY_
CUMBERLAND	14	21781	CMB_
DAVIDSON	14	35908	DVD_
DAVIE	14	29872	DVE_
DUPLIN	14	20372	DUP_
FARMVILLE	14	33900	FRM_
FONTANA	14	19493, 29493	FRL_
FORSYTH	14	11125	FOR_
FRANKLIN	14	70000	FRK_
GIBSONVILLE	14	20449	GIB_
GRANVILLE	14	32756	GRN_
HALIFAX	14	11011	HLF_
HARNETT	14	23630	HRN_
HAYWOOD	14	23115	HAY_
HENDERSON	14	23258	HND_
IREDELL	14	23114	IRD_
JOHNSTON	14	28950	JHN_
LEE	14	23262	LEE_
MADISON	14	21229	MAD_
MAUNEY	14	52999	MNY_
MCDOWELL	14	27910	MCD_
NANTAHALA	14	70605	NAN_
NC_GOV	14	23091, 32850	GOV_
NEUSE	14	29149	NEU_
NORTHWESTERN	14	40000, 50000	NWR_
ONSLOW	14	46015	ONS_
PERRY	14	23727	PRY_
PERSON	14	24621	PRS_
POLK	14	21250	PLK_
ROCKINGHAM	14	21554	RCK_
RUTHERFORD	14	20113, 20134, 20254, 28801	RTH_
SAMPSON	12	81010, 81050	SMP_
SANDHILL	14	17033, 27033, 37033, 47033, 57033, 67033	SND_
SCOTLAND	14	20388	SCT_
STANLY	14	21010	STN_
TRANSYLVANIA	14	28079	TRN_
WARREN	14	20304, 28017	WRN_
WAYNE	14	22947	WYN_

 

Reserved Active Item Barcode Ranges

If you have item barcodes you're actively issuing in other ranges not mentioned here, please reach out to the Cardinal team. If you need a new barcode range for purchasing barcodes, we need to coordinate that so that we can reserve a range that isn't already in use. (We also try to keep track of non-Cardinal libraries so that if any of them join, they don't have to rebarcode all their items.)

Acquisitions Prefixes are the prefixes systems use for dummy item barcodes before the item is shelf ready.

System	Barcode Length	Item Barcode Prefix	Acquisitions Prefix
ALEXANDER	14	34269
AMY	14	31111, 32222, 33333, 34444, 35555, 36666
APPALACHIAN	14	50501, 50502, 50503
BHM	14	38344
BLADEN	14	30441
BRASWELL	14	37807	BRAS
BRASWELL	15	54019	BRAS
BROWN	14	30308
BUNCOMBE	13	00205, 00206, 00204
BURKE	14	33557
CALDWELL	14	50669
CARTERET	14	34208
CASWELL	14	34621
CLAYTON	14	39523
CLEVELAND	14	22281
COOLEY	14	20100
CUMBERLAND	14	31781	CMB
DAVIDSON	14	25908
DAVIE	14	39872
DUPLIN	14	30372
FARMVILLE	14	23900
FONTANA	14	39493	FON
FORSYTH	13	01125, 01124, 21125	FOR
FRANKLIN	14	72350
GIBSONVILLE	14	30449
GRANVILLE	14	42756	GRAN
HALIFAX	14	01011
HARNETT	14	33436, 33633, 33632, 33631, 33630
HAYWOOD	14	33115
HENDERSON	14	33258	HCPL
IREDELL	14	33114
JOHNSTON	14	38950, 38955	JOHN
LEE	14	33262
MADISON	14	30229
MAUNEY	14	26280
MCDOWELL	14	37810
NANTAHALA	14	80605
NC_GOV	14	33091, 31957, 47000, 31879, 32850, 34100
NEUSE	14	39149
NORTHWESTERN	14	40599, 30499, 30671, 30664, 30670, 30094, 30665, 30005, 30666, 30672, 30667, 30668, 30669, 80001	NWACQ
ONSLOW	14	36015
PERRY	14	33727
PERSON	14	34622
POLK	14	31250	POLK
ROCKINGHAM	14	31554
RUTHERFORD	14	38801, 30254, 30113, 30134
SAMPSON	15	81019
SANDHILL	14	48198, 38198, 28198, 58198, 18198
SCOTLAND	14	30388
STANLY	14	31010, 31011, 31012, 31013, 31014, 31015	STAN
TRANSYLVANIA	14	38079	TRAN
WARREN	14	28017, 38017
WAYNE	15	90000, 64019, 99000, 99900	WAYNE

2.1. Governance Committee

Members

Juli Moore - Iredell (County) (July 2022 – July 2024, July 2024 – July 2026)
Franklin Shook - Nantahala (Regional) (July 2024 – July 2026)
Christina Martin - Mauney (Municipal) (July 2023 – July 2025)
Johnnie Pippin - Johnston (County) (July 2021 – July 2023, July 2023 – July 2025)
Trina Rushing - Henderson (County) (July 2023 – July 2025)

Sarah Gransee - State Library Library Development Director
Benjamin Murphy (facilitator) - State Library

2.2. Cataloging Committee

Members

Cataloging Committee members invite you to contact them with any questions by posting on the Cardinal Cataloging Basecamp group or emailing them directly:

Jennifer Jackson - Henderson County Public Library (2023-2025)

Jessica Efron - Government and Heritage Library (2022-2024)

Cory Ledford - Caldwell County Public Library (2023-2025)

Kathryn Nesbit - Forsyth County Public Library (2022-2024)

Tamara Baltazar - Wayne County Public Library (2023-2025)

Mary Wilson  - Carteret County Public Library (2022-2024)

 

2.3. User Experience Committee

Members

The User Experience Committee invites you to contact them with any related questions or advice:

Kenneth Odom - Rutherford (2023-2025)
Joy Cecil-Dyrkacz - Davidson (2023-2025)
Lisa Donaldson - Henderson County Public Library (2023-2025)
Deborah Wadleigh - Onslow (2023-2025)
Cheryl Middleton - Buncombe (2022-2024)
Nastassia Debnam - Perry (2022-2024)
Jamie Stroble - Forsyth (2022-2024)

Samantha O'Connor (facilitator) - NC Cardinal

3.1. Cardinal Member Lists and Contacts

List of Member Libraries and their Branches

Shipping Addresses of Member Libraries

Resource Sharing Contact List 

Cataloging Contact List

System Login Access Managers

 

Links to Member Library's OPACs

3.2. Mailing Lists

Basecamp

NC Cardinal uses an online tool called Basecamp to facilitate communication between Cardinal member libraries, staff, and Mobius.

Basecamp Teams

Access can be requested for any of the following teams on Basecamp.

• Acquisitions: Purchasing, orders, EDI, etc.
• Cataloging: Questions and comments that specifically relate to cataloging in NC Cardinal.
• General Discussion: Day-to-day questions, comments, reports, and announcements.
• Incidents: System-wide performance issues such as slowness and outages.
• Resource Sharing: Information and questions about resource sharing among Cardinal libraries.
• Serials: Information and discussion about serials and periodical materials.

Request Access to Basecamp

3.3. Marketing and Branding Resources

Resources for Marketing and Branding

Color coordinates for NC Cardinal red: Hex: C41E3A RGB: 196,30,58 CMYK: 0,85,70,23

Color coordinates for Green in the OPAC banner: Hex: 00593d RBG: 0,89,61 CMYK: 100,0,31,65

Map of NC Cardinal

3.4. NC Cardinal Interactive Map

3.5. Upcoming Evergreen Training Opportunities

NC Cardinal Hosted Training Events

Monthly Training Drop-Ins

Each month, NC Cardinal will host a virtual drop-in on an Evergreen-related function or topic. Anyone interested in coming and learning more about the topic, asking questions, or sharing their knowledge and experience is welcome.

All drop-ins will start at 12 PM EST and run for 1 hour.

Month	Topic	Date
July	Resource Sharing	July 18
August	Reports	Aug 22
September	Circulation	Sep 26
October	Open Forum	Oct 17
November	Upgrades Questions	Nov 21
December	Holds Management	Dec 19
January	MARC Records	Jan 16
February	Reports	Feb 27
March	Item Cataloging	March 20
April	Communication, Documentation, and Support	April 17
May	Billing and Payment	May 15
June	Acquisitions	June 19

3.6. Ways That Cardinal Can Help During Service Disruptions

Things That Cardinal Can Do For You During Service Disruptions

• Add An OPAC Banner Announcement
• Set An Emergency Closing for Your Library 
• Bump Due Dates Forward
• Freeze / Suspend Your Users Unfilled Holds
• Cancel or Transfer Holds of a Closed Branch
• Set Your Library as “Skip For Holds”
• Block Your Patrons from Placing Additional Holds
• Don’t Charge Fines / Waive Fines
• Add a Holds Hard Boundary
• Disable or Update Your Email Notices
• Update Patron Account Expiration Dates
• Activate Auto-Renewals
• Update Your Student Access Accounts

Add An OPAC Banner Announcement

If you have alerts that you’d like to make visible at the top of your OPAC, we’re happy to add those for you.

Set An Emergency Closing for Your Library 

If you’re closing your library to the public, you (or we) can run the emergency closing process in the Closed Dates Editor for your expected closed dates. This will move the due dates for all loans and hold shelf expirations forward to the next day that the library is expected to be open. If you end up needing to be closed for a longer period, this process can be repeated, as needed. Staff can also backdate checkins when you reopen. We recommend that this process be run for each branch, rather than for the system as a whole. If the process has run correctly, you should see the number of transactions updated, like this: 

Circulations: 55 / 55 | Holds: 116 / 116 | Reservations:0 / 0

Bump Due Dates Forward

If your library is still open, we can bump the due dates on all your current loans forward to some date in the future, or by an amount of time like an additional two weeks, so that all of the items aren't coming due at the same time. We can do this by circ mod if that’s helpful, so that for instance we update books and audiobooks but not technology items. 

Freeze / Suspend Your Users Unfilled Holds

If your library is closed, you may wish to freeze/suspend the holds that have been requested to be picked up at that library. This will prevent the holds for that closed library from showing up on the picklists of other libraries, being pulled from their shelves and then sitting around when they can not be sent. We can set it so that holds your patrons place are frozen every minute, so that they'll still be able to place holds during the disruption, but those holds aren't filled until you're ready to handle the traffic. Once you ask Cardinal to unfreeze the holds, they'll start showing up on picklists again. If you’re offering curbside service where users are requesting materials via the catalog, we do not recommend this option.

Cancel or Transfer Holds of a Closed Branch

If a branch is going to be closed indefinitely, we can change the pickup library on unfilled holds away from that closed branch to another branch that's open. Alternatively, we can cancel all of the holds that were destined for pickup at the closed branch.

Set Your Library as “Skip For Holds”

If your library is closed and not able to pull things on your pick list, we can set your branches as “Skip For Holds.” If a library chooses this option, their collection will not be targeted for holds for local patrons or for resource sharing. If you are still providing curbside checkouts that patrons are requesting by placing a hold or wish to continue resource sharing and filling patron holds, we do not recommend this option.

Block Your Patrons from Placing Additional Holds

Some libraries want to block patrons from placing additional holds during the library's closure to prevent a large backlog of hold requests and long pull lists once libraries reopen. We can do so with a library setting "not a pickup location" that makes your branch(es) ineligible to be the hold pickup location. If the patron already has one of your branches selected as their preferred hold pickup location, they will not be able to complete the hold placement, but there is no clear message, so we recommend adding a banner stating that holds cannot be placed while the library is closed. We can create the OPAC banner for you.

Don’t Charge Fines / Waive Fines

If you are open or providing curbside service, we can set your current circulation policies to “no fine” so that you are not charging overdue fines during this time period. Even if you are not open, we can also retroactively waive recent or accruing unpaid fines for items that aren’t marked “lost” or “claimed returned.” If you request this option, it would be wise to evaluate the effects of backdating on billing when checking in your material.

Add a Holds Hard Boundary

If you are not currently participating in resource sharing, but do not want to suspend/freeze patron holds because you’re providing limited service like curbside hold fulfillment, we can set a “hard boundary” for your system. This will prevent your patrons from placing holds on materials that are not owned by your library system. If your library is fulfilling holds with materials transiting from other branches within your system, we can set a hard boundary of 1 (system). If you are not transiting materials between branches, we can set a hard boundary of 2 which will limit the patrons’ pickup library to the branch that owns the item. The hard boundary does not prevent patrons with a home library outside your library system from placing holds on your materials, so your staff should only pull materials when the pickup library on the pull list matches your branch or system (as appropriate). Pickup library can be added as a column in the pull list using the column picker: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=477

Disable or Update Your Email Notices

If you set an Emergency Closing or ask us to update due dates for your library’s circulations, then your patrons should generally not be seeing notices. If however you’d like us to disable email notices for your system, we can also do that. If you'd like us to edit your email notices, please contact us at: help@nccardinalsupport.org

Update Patron Account Expiration Dates

If you’d like us to update the expiration dates of patrons accounts expiring soon, we’re happy to do that for you. 

Activate Auto-Renewals

If you’d like us to activate auto-renewals for your system, we’re happy to do so. 

Update Your Student Access Accounts

A number of systems have seen a bump in their students’ usage of electronic resources during this time. If you’d like us to process a fresh feed from your school system for Student Access accounts, please let us know.

 

Other Information That May Be Useful During Service Disruptions

Resolving transits for libraries that are not currently resource sharing:

When running the pull list and pulling items from the shelves, staff should be sure to display the pickup location as a column on the pull list and reference this page for the most up-to-date information about which libraries are resource sharing and which are not when determining whether or not to capture items on the pull list.

If you find that items are targeting patron holds for libraries that are not yet resource sharing during check in, staff should choose Cancel Transit from the Actions menu on the Item Status screen, as libraries should not collect or store in transit items for libraries not currently accepting shipments.

Note: Once an item has been shipped to the hub, only Branch Admins can cancel transits when the transit source is a different branch (i.e., when the item is owned by a branch other than the hub library).

If there are other holds on the item, you can check in the item using these checkin modifiers: Retarget Local Holds and Retarget All Statuses.

If the item has no other holds, you can  check in the item using the checkin modifier: Suppress Holds and Transits.

 

Please be aware that check in modifiers are "sticky", which means they will stay on until you uncheck them again, even after you log out of Evergreen completely and log back in later. So, it is always a good idea to uncheck them before you close out the tab or move on to something else.

Retarget Local Holds and Retarget All Statuses:

Suppress Holds and Transits:

For libraries that are open or offering curbside checkouts:

Instructions for setting up self-check workstations to help limit close contact of staff with patrons: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=105 

If you want to set the due dates forward for the items you are checking out to patrons in your curbside service, you can manually change the due dates for those items when checking out in the patron account by clicking on Date Options and selecting Use Specified Date until Logout:

 

 

 

5.1. Annual Reports

NC Cardinal Annual Reports

2023-2024 NC Cardinal Annual Report 

• video
• slides (pdf)

2022-2023 NC Cardinal Annual Report 

• slides (pdf)
• Annual Meeting Strategic Plan Reflection
• Annual Meeting Discussion Notes

2021-2022 NC Cardinal Annual Report 

• video
• slides (pdf)

2020-2021 NC Cardinal Annual Report

• video
• slides (pdf)

2019-2020 NC Cardinal Annual Report

• slides (pdf)

2018-2019 NC Cardinal Annual Report

• slides (pdf)

2017-2018 NC Cardinal Annual Report

• slides (pdf)

2016-2017 NC Cardinal Annual Report

• slides (pdf)

2015-2016 NC Cardinal Annual Report

• slides (pdf)

2014-2015 NC Cardinal Annual Report

• slides (pdf)

2013-2014 NC Cardinal Annual Report

• slides (pdf)

5.2. 2021-2022 Annual Survey Responses

Annual Survey Responses

We appreciate the time that you take to respond to the Cardinal Annual Staff Survey. Each year we work through the comments to help us figure out things we need to focus on in the year ahead. This year, in an effort to improve our communication and transparency, we wanted to publicly share our responses to your comments and suggestions. 

We’ve compiled your responses to the following questions in the Annual Survey:

• Do you have any comments on the NC Cardinal resource sharing provider change? 
• What are the top three improvements, changes or additions you'd like to see the NC Cardinal team focus on? 
• Please share any other feedback you have.

We’ve tried to address every comment, but some suggestions will take time to investigate. We’ve tried to refer you to solutions where we can, and hope that these are helpful rather than something that you already knew but didn't meet your needs. We've also referred to Evergreen Launchpad bugs in some of our responses, which is the place that the larger Evergreen community lists known bugs and wishlist items for improvements to the Evergreen software. 

Like one respondent said “there are a number of training avenues that I had no idea existed.” We hope that by sharing our replies, you may be able to learn from the responses to questions your peers have asked. The comments are grouped by subject, with individual comments bulleted followed by Cardinal’s responses. 

OPAC

• Continue to improve patron experience with OPAC.
• Patron friendliness with OPAC.
• Patrons view, look of the PAC.
• Improving the patron OPAC experience.
• Smoother patron user experience from home.
• The opac redesign is clunky to use for staff now.
• Improve the OPAC (older one was much more user friendly).
• The largest issue I seem to run into is the usability of Cardinal on the patron side. They find it difficult to maneuver and filter their searches and the site in general.
• I’d like to see the patron side of the catalog look more streamlined and easier for the general public to access and navigate.
• The new upgrade search is not as patron friendly.  It hinders me in providing fast, positive  customer service. 

We're always open to suggestions on how to improve the OPAC. The recent public catalog updates focused on improving the look and feel of the catalog, as well as making it more functional for a variety of devices like phones and tablets. On of the projects we can undertake with the User Experience Committee is to gather more specific feedback and suggestions.   

• Searching. 
• Search options.
• More intuitive resource search functions.
• Any ways to make the Cardinal catalog software more "intuitive" (a la Google).
• Making NC Cardinal intuitive.
• Making catalog search less of a hassle.
• More sophisticated search for books. Would be great to have a search that would make suggestions based on what you type. For example - If I mistyped the word "sea" and it asked did you mean "see" that would be very helpful.
• The patron search function needs easier accessibility with misspelled words and keyword suggestions.
• Pulling our most recent, relevant books first (I don't want all the books from 2005 and 2006 to show up first when we have books that are just as relevant from 2021).
• Fixing OPAC. Some of the updates make it much harder to search for and find what you are looking for. It is not easy to navigate between items.

The search and indexes of Evergreen are some of the core functionalities of the software. We’ve learned more about search configuration recently in response to some tickets we’ve received, but this is an area we can continue to work on. Some aspects of how search behaves are based on the quality and consistency of our cataloging records. Regarding “fuzzy” search suggestions, there is a relatively new Evergreen feature called “Did You Mean” that became available in 3.7. At this point we haven’t implemented it out of concern for it slowing down the time it takes to return search results, but we could investigate further. https://docs.evergreen-ils.org/eg/docs/latest/admin_initial_setup/dym_admin.html   

• I enjoy the way that catalogs using BiblioCommons have their filters set up. You can see an example of a catalog using this system at the Durham County Public Library. I would love to see a similar way to limit search results in Evergreen (if possible) since the one using BiblioCommons appears more user-friendly.

Do you mean having check boxes in the facet search limiters on the left with the count of items that match that facet category?

• Changes made to the basket system. Having the shelf location be shown when you print title details would help when trying to find the books.
• Ability to print buckets that includes shelving location.

This is a current Launchpad wishlist request. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1833565

• The option within 'patron view' of the catalog doesn't successfully pull in the contact information for patrons when placing holds.

If we’re understanding you correctly, this is the traditional staff search view. We don’t expect any further improvements to the traditional staff search.

• Have more icon based searches on the OPAC.

We’d be interested to hear more about your ideas! Do you mean searching by format icons? 

• Kept records of patrons reading history.
• A "reading history" option for patrons to keep up with books they've checked out / read in the past.
• Patron history that staff can see?

Patrons can turn on their reading history within the My Account section of the public OPAC. The Evergreen community as a whole chose to not make this visible to library staff for patron privacy reasons.

• Making the OPAC more user friendly by paring down the options from the first screen.

Are there certain aspects on the search screen that you’d like to be able to collapse or hide that might make it easier to use?

• Enlarging the print size on the OPAC, especially the call number and availability status.

If we find that there is a consensus about this we’re happy to make the change. In the meantime, you may find increasing the size of the text in your browser window by hitting the Ctrl key and the + key may make the text easier to read. 

• Is there a way to show when audiobooks/ebooks are available? 

RBDigital used to have a plugin that would make this possible in Evergreen before they were bought out by Overdrive. We can look into whether there is still something like this available.

• Adding a patron app.
• An app for patrons. 
• Make it mobile friendly. An app would be great.
• An app patrons can download onto their mobile devices, allowing them to: search for books at their chosen library, or any library in the NC Cardinal system; view books they have on hold; view books they currently have checked out; view reading lists they've set up, and view their reading history.
• OPAC ease of access for patrons, especially on smart phones or tablets (app created to provide a virtual library that provides users check out lists, easier searchability and holds placed, and notifications).

Cardinal has looked into pricing of commercial apps, but we found that it was cost prohibitive to implement consortia-wide. Member libraries have a choice to implement their own app and we’ve supported numerous libraries who have implemented an app called MyLibro.

• Performance
• Faster servers.
• Sometimes Cardinal is really slow.
• Lag time when switching between screens.
• Focus on issues with pages taking too long to load or unresponsive or error messages.
• Dedicated application with faster servers.
• While somewhat obvious, I feel the performance of Evergreen on search times and occurrences of downtime could be improved upon. I often find my biggest issue with Evergreen is how slow it can be to search for items in the catalog, making the time I have to take helping patrons with resource requests add up significantly. There is significant variance in the systems load times that fluctuates wildly day to day.
• On the back end, it's quite some time for Cardinal to load over the browser with checking out patrons.
• Faster computer speed.

We’re always striving to optimize performance. We’ve had a lot of progress as Cardinal has grown over the years, but we still have room to improve. Mobius has been a very good partner in optimizing our system to meet the changing demand over time and to systematically react when problems occur. This is an area we’re always trying to monitor and improve. 

Accessibility

• Easier accessibility for patrons.
• Make NC Cardinal accessible for disabled users! WAVE is a free browser extension that can help you flag some of the immediate problems right off the bat, but you really need a full design-review. Please see my feedback in this next section below.
• Please, please hire an accessible design consultant to review the NC Cardinal online system. I am disabled and have done accessibility audits professionally in the past, and would be happy to offer some suggestions via email, but you really need a team for this. You guys do amazing work, but accessible design is something that has to be applied consciously and actively to any system, and currently NC Cardinal just doesn't have that.

This is something we've been talking about as a team. The best solution is likely to put together an accessibility audit of Evergreen and then see what we have the ability to change locally and what we need to submit Launchpad bugs for. As of now, there is an accessibility tag for these kinds of issues in Launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bugs?field.tag=accessibility

Staff Interface

• Easy way to determine how many people have a book reserved before a patron in question.

Unfortunately, the way that Evergreen targets holds makes this a difficult question to answer. Hold are generally placed on a title level and a process is always running trying to find available copies to match up with open hold requests. Today there may be fewer copies available due to age hold protection, whereas tomorrow more copies may be available. Different patrons have access to different copies based on who owns the book, so its hard to determine how many people have a book reserved before a patron in question.

• Pulling holds from the closest library. Even if another library in our county has an item, Evergreen pulls it from across the state and it takes weeks to get here.

This is one of the customizations we’re actively working on to add to Evergreen. Our goal is for the holds targeter process to be aware of the physical distance of available copies when targeting a copy from another library system so that the closest one is targeted before the more distant ones. Additionally, we’re looking at ways to update the initial targeting process so that when a copy is targeted in your local system, you have more time to fill that hold before it is retargeted to another copy at a different library.

• For the staff catalog: I would appreciate clarity when items can't be placed on hold because of "MAX HOLDS". Sometimes it means that and other times it means and items can't be borrowed from out of county. Could it say things that explain why a hold can't be filled?

We agree that the default error responses to hold failure messages are not user friendly. We’re looking into how we can customize them.

• The "Bills" screen in accounts could be improved to be more user-friendly/more clear. It is hard to understand as it is. The color coding (red/dark red) is great.

We'll try to improve our documentation for the Bills screen.

• I'd like to be able to connect NC Cardinal to a register to make it easier to record physical money transactions. About half of our use of NC Cardinal is adding money transactions to a 'Photocopy' or 'Fax' account and then showing that they're paid.

Are you thinking something like a connection to a Point of Sale system? I’m seeing that there’s a Evergreen Launchpad wishlist for to the Stripe POS system https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1851586 

• Bucket list titles in (A,B,C).

Looks like there’s a LaunchPad bug for your suggestion: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1758381

• I'd like to see a way to make item status buckets sharable after they have been created. 

It looks like there was a recent LaunchPad bug added with suggestions on sharing buckets that might incorporate the kinds of changes you’re suggesting. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1971770

• It would be nice if the system re-calculated fines properly when items in a 'lost' status are returned. the issue has been persistent for 6 months with no remediation.

There are a variety of settings associated with fines, lost items, late fees, refunds, etc. and it sounds like we don’t have things set up the way you’d like. If you can submit a ticket with details about the issue with example accounts, we’d be happy to work on this for you.

• The Acquisitions module is in need of many changes and improvements. So many of the choices and items do not work correctly, such as owning library. Also, there needs to be a print option for the Acquisition lists once they are created and sent in for admin review. 
• Review of acquisitions module for streamlining/updating.

Fortunately, there will be a lot of updates to acquisitions in the 3.9 upgrade coming this fall. We’ll circle back to your comment once we have a chance to try it out.

• Within Acquisitions, the ability to batch print worksheets would be a time saver.

I think this LaunchPad bug addresses that goal? https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1841123

• Is there some way to add images to DVD records? 

We rely on Open Library for our images and they don’t include images for DVDs. Evergreen 3.9 will have a cover image uploader that will allow you to override external sources. This may not be automatic like Open Library, but it may provide another option. We're also going to investigate a tool called Chilipac.

• I might be wrong.. but I was trying to move a holding to another bib record and it wasn't working.  So I tried the same method but in the "Traditional" site and it worked.  I was just wondering if there was a bug in the new version.  

Not one that we’re aware of. This process changed with our most recent upgrade. You may find this page helpful. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=83 The trick is that you have to mark the bib record as the target if you’re moving a call number and item(s) and if you're only moving items, you have to mark the call number record as the target from the holdings view. 

• Add an option to put something on hold using the barcode.

At this point, the quickest way to do this is to search by barcode in the Item Status screen. When you do so, the item will show up already selected and you can go to the dropdown Actions menu and choose “Request Items” This will give you the option to add the user barcode and then do a title or copy hold. Are you familiar with this option?

• I would like to see more improvements made to the catalog search. As of right now, I currently google anything first before checking the catalog because of how unreliable the system can be finding titles if something is slightly off. It is better than it was, but could be further improved.
• Evergreen has been great for basic functions like checking out or checking in items, but search functions could be more intuitive and streamlined.
• When searching for an item that you know is in the catalog but does not show up in your search by title and then you have to switch and do several different methods of search to find the item.
• I would also appreciate revisiting the most recent Evergreen upgrade to the staff catalog. Specifically the removal of the extra fields in the advanced search. It consistently adds time to a search by needing to add them back. Extra time is also now spent getting item record information which can only be found by switching to the patron view. 
• Can we please have a better Search interface? The new one is very unfriendly, and the Traditional one, which used to work like a charm, often doesn't do holds correctly (contact info not populated, so patron doesn't get notification that hold is ready).
• The new staff catalog is less functional than the patron OPAC view. We need to be able to see plot summary and subject headings in staff view. We also need to be able to see copies at other counties when clicking a title in the catalog even if our default search setting is the local level.
• The Angular staff catalog is a usability disaster. This is not something that NC Cardinal is responsible for, but maybe we can find some way for member library staff to participate in usability testing for future development? I recognize that this is not NC Cardinal's responsibility. I used to be a huge cheerleader for EG, but I can't endorse it to anyone now. I can't get my head around what the community was (collectively) thinking. They certainly didn't do any usability testing or ask librarians how they use a catalog interface. I should note that I normally get excited about upgrades and learning new operating systems, so I'm not opposed to change.
• I wish you could see the summary of a book without having to go to the patron's view.
• Putting summaries and tags back on to the card catalog.
• Changing the way staff access/view the catalog did not help our staff in any way. The new version is confusing and not user-friendly.
• Fix the new catalog.
• Most here use traditional catalog search. Can this become a permanent setting on a particular device?
• I prefer the traditional catalog search to the new one (as a staff member and as a patron). I am glad that is still available for us to use.

The new staff search interface was first introduced when we recently upgraded to 3.7.2. We understand that it has some problems and we’re hoping that the problems you’ve identified with Search Templates in the new staff search interface are fixed in our upcoming upgrade. Unfortunately, we don’t expect the traditional catalog search to stay around indefinitely. We’ll be announcing this summer when you can test out the new version 3.9 that we’ll be upgrading to this November and we hope you can spend some time testing it out and seeing if the updates better suit your needs. There are a lot of ways you can be involved in the usability testing of Evergreen as it develops. Many of the design decisions are made at the larger software community level and your involvement as end users is important in helping the designers to make good decisions about functionality that impacts you. We’ll provide some examples at the end of this document. We'll look into whether we can add back the summary and subject headings to the staff search results view.

• Make it easier to find non-traditional holdable materials, like the telescopes and SAD lights that some counties have. Currently, even when I type in the barcode number for a telescope from my own County system, it will not appear in the search results.

Yes, it looks like item barcode is not part of the Keyword search index. Barcode searches are available in the Numeric search. This is something we can talk about in the Cataloging Committee and try to offer a better recommendation. 

• Something that has come up recently is that the search results come back differently if you are searching the catalog vs. searching from within a patron's account in order to put an item on hold.

This is likely due to the Default Search Library and Preferred Library you have set in your workstation settings (Administration menu > Workstation) versus the default scope that the catalog has when your users go to your library’s public catalog. You as a staff member also see materials that are not OPAC visible, so the results will not always be the same. 

• When I'm looking up books for my branch and I say I just want books for my branch and no electronics, all I want to see is exactly what I am asking for. I cannot display electronic books! It's a waste of time to still have to filter through the stuff that is still being displayed after I set my choices.
• Exclude electronic resources by default when initially searching.

If we’re understanding you correctly, this may be fixed in the staff search by going to the Catalog Preferences link under the search button. At the bottom of the Catalog Preferences screen there’s a checkbox that says “Add the 'Exclude Electronic Resources' checkbox to the main search form.” If you check that box, an “Exclude Electronic Resources” option will show up on your search screen, allowing you to exclude electronic resources from your search. This option is sticky meaning it will stay on for your searches until you unselect it.  

• The catalog search needs to offer list printouts for pulling books when doing reader advisories for classrooms, preschool patrons.

It is possible now to add things from your search results to your basket, and then in the Basket Action drop down menu, one of the options is to Print Title Details. As others have suggested the list still needs a bit of work because it is not easily configurable so the order is not clear and it doesn’t include shelving location. 

• The problem with catalog search is that it doesn't let you return to the results when the last result is the only one on the page. ie. 11 results, 10 per page, when you view #11 you can't get back to the previous 10.

This sounds like a bug! We’ll investigate.

• Is Call Number (Shelf Browse) going to be added to the Numeric Search tab?

Shelf Browse is one of the tabs available in the Staff Catalog Search screen.

• Add a search for item by Barcode option

The two routes I use for this are from the green bar at the top of the staff interface, under Search there’s an option for “Search for Items by Barcode”, or if you choose “Search the Catalog”, one of the tabs is “Numeric” and for the Query Type dropdown you can choose “Barcode” 

• Sometimes alerts/messages in patron accounts do not display properly until the screen is refreshed. Not sure what causes this but we often use this for readily seen alerts as soon as the account is pulled up. It would be nice for these to display correctly more consistently. Minor/uncommon occurrence but still notable.

The upcoming version of Evergreen has completely redone the alerts/messages in patron accounts, so we hope that this will address the issue. If not, please let us know when we roll it out for testing this summer.

• Improve the system for adding a preferred name (when not a legal name- specifically for people transitioning or divorcing- when it can be a triggering situation).

Do you have suggestions on how it can be improved? What would make it more functional when adding or editing an account?

• Fixing the patron account update function so that it does not give me an error message every single time.
• When you go to update a patron's account sometimes the Statistical Categories  does not appear and you can not save any changes;  you have to go back into the patron's account and start over. 
• Please work on fixing known "bugs" such as the weird message that often appears at the top of the page (look like hieroglyphics) when you try to update/renew a patron's library card. This is very annoying because it doesn't save any of your information and forces you to begin the process all over again.

This is a bug that we’ve figured out the cause of and believe we have a solution to. We hope to have this resolved very soon.

• Change the edit feature in accounts to allow to update expiry and change information at the same time (system does not save changed information if expiry date is updated first).

We weren’t aware of this bug. We’ll investigate.

• I would like to use an "F" key to end a session and trigger a receipt or email at the end of checkout session per patron.

We've added a LaunchPad bug for this:  https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1981506

• Where if I look up someone's name and I spell it wrong (Ex: Whisnant/Whisenant) it still tries to find who I'm looking for.

This kind of fuzzy searching was also suggested for catalog searches. We’ll investigate if it is available for the staff patron search as well.

• User friendly for staff (current system is cumbersome).
• Overall, the ILS is cumbersome. There are too many steps to get you where you need to go.

We welcome ideas for ways to make it more user friendly.

• Simplifying column resizing/deleting/rearranging.

There will be some changes coming to the column changer in version 3.9 coming this fall. I hope this meets your needs.

• Change the date format for the suspend field when placing holds. it is the only area i've seen that is yyyy-mm-dd and the calendar weeks start on monday. it is an inconsistent and confusing layout compared to any of the date fields on the platform.

We're investigating whether this is something we can fix or whether we need to submit a Launchpad bug.

Technical

• Stop redesigning/changing things in Evergreen without soliciting input from the people who use them the most.
• I'd like to see Evergreen updates done more frequently so our ILS can be as up-to-date as possible with the latest features/enhancements/bug fixes.
• Fewer major changes--requires constant re-training.

We know that change can be hard, and that living with known issues, bugs or interfaces that don’t meet your needs can be frustrating too. One of the benefits of using open source software is that the Evergreen community is always working to improve it, which means it is constantly changing and evolving. We hope we’re always moving forward, but sometimes the changes may not meet your expectations. We'd encourage you to engage with some of the groups that test and design some of these changes so that your experience and feedback can be part of the process. We'll include more details at the end on how you can get involved.

• Each library given the ability to have an OPAC overlay like Bibliocommons.
• Consortium discovery layer that could replace Summons and be installed as a window for other vendors like Bibliocommons or Capira to latch onto our catalog and tap into smart phones as an app. Similar to first answer.

We’re happy to investigate this. We rolled out Summon for the majority of Cardinal libraries several years ago at the request of member libraries. I see that Bibliocommons works with Evergreen, so I’ve reached out to them to learn more. 

• Chromium based - Stand-alone Browser (a dedicated Evergreen Browser) would go a long way to ensuring all locations are interfacing with NC cardinal as expected! --> Google Chrome is way too BETA for our member libraries to rely on as it is constantly changing. I would like to see a dedicated Evergreen Browser for our use!

I think the community as a whole is moving away from dedicated software installations with the move from the XUL client to the web browser based software. 

• When clicking on the "Request Library Card" link on NC Cardinal's homepage, the redirect is flagged as bringing you to an "unsafe page" because https is not enabled. This confuses and concerns patrons and it is difficult to explain to older patrons in particular why this happens. Understandably, it makes many patrons feel uncomfortable entering their personal information into the online form.

We weren’t able to find the link you’re mentioning (sounds like the link you’re referring to was using http rather than https) but if you can submit a ticket with more details we can help address this.

• Reports
• Easier report system.
• Make reports more user friendly.
• Make running reports into something that people from a library background can navigate easily.
• Improve ease of reports, when looking for a report it would be helpful to see an example of the report before creating the report and then finding that the data is not really what you need.
• More streamlined way to view data.
• Simple method for customizing reports.
• Reports (confusing and hard to use, even with new training).
• Reports are difficult to access, as a part of a new library joining the consortium I haven’t yet been able to pull useful circulation data for my collection (I.e., titles that have circulated from a certain collection, # of circs, etc.).
• Reports module use.
• The ease of running reports.
• Simplifying reports.
• Easier creation of reports
• Setting up reports and running reports is not very user friendly, not very adaptable.
• Pioneer Library System (OWWL) up in NY has a very simplified report access portal for their library members. drop down menus for each library and about 10 reports that are standard for them all to use on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. I don't know if that is something we could gain access to, but it is really easy to use.

We agree! The default Evergreen reports module is not intuitive and is difficult to learn. We’re excited to see that our upcoming upgrade this fall will include a new simplified reports tool that is in addition to the existing Reporter. We’ve seen it demonstrated at the Evergreen Reports Interest Group and the Annual Conference. We hope that this will make reports more approachable for most users.

• Fix the ability to create reports. Sometimes the information I need is not available in an existing report. I have been told several times this bug will be fixed in the next update and it has yet to be fixed. 

If there’s a specific bug that you’re dealing with, we’d like to learn more so that we can investigate.  

• More canned reports for all library functions (payments, collections, patrons).
• Improve the reports current reports are a nightmare when it's time to do statistics.
• The statistical reports are incomplete. Which makes completing Statistical surveys more time-consuming.

We’re open to suggestions on how we can improve these report templates. If you have something specific that you need, please submit a ticket so that we can help. 

• Ability to remove "problem" items from reports to avoid recurring listing of items that are no longer in transit".

If you can submit a ticket with information on the report you're running and the items that linger, we're happy to work with you to figure this out. 

• There are several reports that are no longer working in the templates.
• Review of existing shared reports to remove old reports that don't work properly and organizing/creating one shared folder of reports that are adaptable for all systems.

If you can let us know which shared report templates these are when you encounter them, we’re happy to try to fix them or remove them. We’ve been working lately to clean up and organize our existing shared reports and welcome this kind of feedback.

• Cataloging
• Improving the system's ability to find matches during deduplication.
• Figure out a deduplication algorithm that actually works.
• Duplicated records.
• I really like the deduplication project. It is doing a great job.

Deduplicating records in the catalog is a continuing goal for us. We're always trying to walk the line between merging everything that should be merged and not merging things that shouldn't be on the same record. Each year we try to dial it in a bit more and also encourage catalogers to improve the quality of the less complete records so that the process can see what bibs match.

• And one of the biggest bothers to me is that cataloging is not standardized, so you can come up with many entries when you search Cardinal for a popular book or audiobook (e.g. audiobook for Where the Crawdads Sing has 4 entries, when it could be 2 for the different publishers).
• Cataloging Etiquette throughout NC Cardinal since we are all using the same records.

This was what led us to put together the Cataloging Best Practices. Its challenging having so many people working in the shared catalog and trying to make sure that everyone is up to date on the best way to work collaboratively with their peers in the catalog. One of the other tools that we've rolled out recently was the Cardinal Cataloging Reports available at the bottom of the Cataloging drop down menu in the green bar at the top of Evergreen. These are some standardized reports of common issues for catalogers to address. We're happy to add other reports if you have suggestions on common errors we can highlight.

• Another issue I have is that it is sometimes difficult to tell the edition of the book based off of the information in the system, as it will list multiple ISBN numbers that don't always line up with each other. Making this clearer would help.

We can talk in  the Cataloging Committee about how to address this.  

• More strict shelving location guidelines. The massive number of shelving locations across the consortium makes compiling statistics difficult. Vague shelving locations such as stacks, annex, storage, or at desk make determining which collection (adult, juvenile, AV) impossible.

After our shelving location consolidation a few summers ago, we're always trying to prevent the creep of adding more and more shelving locations, while still meeting the needs of everyone that uses the system. Perhaps the Cataloging Committee can revisit our guidelines on when we make new shelving locations and what kind of information they need to have.  

• Serials.
• Integrate better series functionality into the catalog.

One of the things the Cardinal team has been working on lately is Acquisitions. We can add Serials to the list next.

Documentation

• Update/improve KB content.
• Quicker changes to best practices template.
• Better manuals.
• Informative instruction guides.
• Give us more easy-to-find info about the other Cardinal libraries, something that we don't have to hunt through the documentation to find.
• Make things easier to find in the Knowledge Book.
• Make Knowledge Book searches more intuitive
• Subject guide more user friendly.
• There are many moving parts - is there way to simplify,  make it ease to use,  or clarify instructions.
• I would like to see the Knowledge Books and training videos more frequently updated. 

This is an area we’ve put a lot of effort into in the past few years and a key aspect to the support we offer. We’re always working to add more content and make sure that the content is logically structured and up to date. We’ll look into what options we have for improving the Knowledge Book search, or options such as adding more tags to the contents.

• This survey indicated to me that there are a number of training avenues that I had no idea existed. We have been asking our local administration for a manual, never realizing that the "Book of Knowledge" was available to us! 

That’s great! Part of our intention with adding the links in the survey was to bring people’s attention to things we may think of but that everyone may not be aware of. 

Training

• I'd like to see more training and information resources for Local Administration.  Our library joined NC Cardinal over 7 years ago.  All but one of the people who attended the original Administration training sessions and helped set up the settings for our library have retired.
• Authorities training.
• Trainings on Subject Headings and Authority Records.
• Cataloging training.
• More training for catalogers!
• Offering more training in cataloging so that records are more consistent. 
• I would love to have more trainings throughout the year. I would love to be more involved and learn more, however I do feel that if we could meet face to face it would be better. I would love the chance to have meetings and conferences in person again.  I would consider classes to learn more, the more I can learn to help benefit our library the better we are. 
• I'd also like to see more live online or in-person training opportunities (maybe conduct a survey of members on topics they're most interested in?).
• Focus groups & training.
• Patron focused training might be great to offer.
• More local training sessions or just face to face discussions.
• More training.

We agree! We’ve been working the last few years to improve our online documentation in the Knowledge Books and had plans for cataloger and circulation round tables before the pandemic hit. With Samantha joining our team, we’re strategizing on what we can do to meet your needs. We recently offered Admin training for the first time and would love to offer more sessions on topics like authorities and subject headings. If you're interested in helping to train your peers on something like this, please reach out to us! 

• Better training plan for staff for migrating into system.

Right now we try to get all of the circulation training into one day since it usually means the library has to close down so everyone can be there. In a lot of ways, the live sessions are an introduction to the training content we have offline that we want you to be familiar with when you have questions down the road. We’re open to suggestions on how we can do better.

• I would definitely like to see more Reports training on creating reports from scratch and the opportunity to go through the Reports module and update it. 
• Can't wait to have some trainings offered in person - especially for REPORTS. Report training is still very difficult to understand and it really boils down to understanding the nuances of coding. But there has to be an easier way. 

We've offered an updated reports training recently and will definitely be including this in our future offerings. 

• More widespread training that can be taken in smaller increments. For example, when someone feels proficient in one area moving then on to a more difficult task.

We’re trying to provide better training like our Niche Academy offerings ( https://my.nicheacademy.com/nccardinal ) that allows you to work through the training at your own pace.

• Provide in-person one-on-one training.

This is probably more than the Cardinal team has the staffing to offer, but there may be someone in your library that can help. We also hope that we can offer more regionalized gatherings in the future that will help meet your needs. 

• More technology/software training for our in-house computers.

We’re not quite sure what you mean here, but happy to hear your ideas.

Communications

• Fine-tune Basecamp notifications so that we can select to be notified only of urgent/important issues, not when someone replies "thanks" to a post.
• Since Basecamp is our resource for communicating within each library branch, it would be nice if that's all we saw versus each individual email response that ties up our "Other" email account that I delete and only save the grouped "Basecamp" version to refer back to in the Basecamp grouping. It's just time consuming individual response but not a problem I can't live with at all. I'd rather have the information than not know.

We'll offer this feedback to the Basecamp team and see if there are any practices we can suggest to reduce the extra email traffic. There are some settings in Basecamp that help you dial in what kind of notifications you receive.

• Better communication to catalogers about expectations and changes.
• Quality communication about bib freezes and Marcive updates, and communication when the bib freezes are completely done and not half way done.
• Communicating updates to cataloging so that everyone is aware of any changes that need to be made.
• Better communication about cataloging changes.
• More notice/reminders on freezes, communication.
• Communicate better. This is an area that seems to have suffered with the loss of key staff members. We need to know about changes and have input well before they happen.

We hear you. With April's departure, we didn't do as good of a job alerting everyone to the authorities cataloging freeze timeline, but this spring we've made a concerted effort to let catalogers know each step of the process.

• Better communication between Cardinal libraries, ie transit list items.
• Some mechanism for staff members from libraries grouped by region to communicate/exchange ideas and knowledge.
• Need more opportunities to connect among libraries and with Cardinal staff. Unless you're on a committee, there's a tendency to feel like you're on your own. Even virtual get-togethers help some. Phone calls instead of email and tickets all the time can help too.

We'd welcome ideas on how to facilitate this. Our Resource Sharing Basecamp group is our intended venue for these kinds of conversations, but there may be better ways that a message board blast to everyone in the group. Before the pandemic we were planning on having some regional round table gatherings and we’ve been working our way back towards how we can help facilitate better connection and communication.

• Perhaps some better communication about changes being made to Evergreen (both staff and public clients) and offering more in depth explanation as to why those changes are being made. They sometimes can feel arbitrary and counterproductive from a user experience perspective when they worked fine before changes were made. Most of the time I feel we are given a good forum to discuss changes before they take effect, but perhaps a more comprehensive documentation of all changes and why they are being made could be made. (This may already exist and I am simply not aware of it).

Many of the changes are made on a broader Evergreen community level and that's a great venue to get involved with and make your voice heard. There's more information about this at the end. We as the Cardinal team will also heed this advice as well when we're considering changes. 

• Assist in keeping a positive environment thought-out all of Cardinal and especially on the list-servs.

We do connect with individuals on the list, but this kind of thing is done directly in private with the individual. If you have concerns about a post, let us know.

• Keep working on the communication; it's getting better.

Thanks!

Resource Sharing

• Return to UPS for shipping.
• Yes, FED-EX is TERRIBLE!!! UPS all day long!!!
• UPS was significantly easier to deal with than FedEx.
• Switch back to UPS please!!!
• UPS offered a higher level of service and consistency. FedEx has the advantage with regards to online shipping interface.
• UPS was very flexible; following our timetable instead of having to rush to follow FedEx's.
• Our UPS drivers are more friendly but no complaints with FedEx, they get the job done.
• FedEx drivers are much friendlier during pick-up of items.
• Go back to UPS.
• I hate Fedex.
• I'd love to go back to UPS.
• Fedex is very rough on the shipments. Boxes are in MUCH worse shape than with UPS. Not able to reuse many of them. Rotation of drivers means we have to repeat instructions on a regular basis, and no consistency in times or how items handled.
• The transition was rocky to begin with, but has since become satisfactory. The initial driver did not have a good attitude and even mishandled some of our packages. The new driver however has been great and things seem to have settled down.
• We are having trouble scheduling UPS pickups for leased books.
• In our area, UPS is far superior.
• Go back to UPS.
• UPS back.
• UPS provided a much better service than FedEx. 
• FedEx is NOT a good service.
• UPS came in the mornings and picked up boxes then.  FedEx comes a lot in the afternoon and staff has a hard time checking in the holds before 5:00 pm.
• Should definitely go back to using UPS even if cost is higher. Basically sometimes you get what you pay for. 
• Please go back to UPS. FedEx is extremely unreliable in the timeframes they deliver and pick up items, which causes us staffing issues regularly. 
• I would love to go back to UPS. It was overall a much better experience, not the hassle with whether it's okay to have people come extra times, not the struggle to figure out exactly when is okay to come, very little difficulty with the website, etc.
• Is it totally cost-prohibitive to go back to UPS? If so, may need more work between FedEx and libraries to smooth over some things. 
• Change to UPS.
• Both services have been fine. We love our delivery people.
• FedEx seems to have an unorganized approach when it comes to handling our resource sharing responsibilities. Unorganized responsibilities include multiple drivers for pick ups and deliveries throughout the week, pick up and delivery scheduling issues, unequipped drivers (needing dollies, not able to scan all packages to pick up-multiple picks up a day, unable to provide information when packages arrive damaged), and online site lacking ease of usability. Do not like that FedEx requires a pick up schedule date instead of an already planned schedule of when pick ups/deliveries occur as compared to UPS.
• While we completely understand the reason behind the switch, our experience so far with FedEx has been mostly unpleasant. Our pick-up/drop-off time is not consistent. Some days we receive our deliveries too close to closing time, preventing us from unpacking the boxes in a timely manner. It also has been taking longer to receive materials, which our patrons have noticed and are displeased with. Also, most of the boxes we receive are too damaged to reuse, requiring us to purchase more boxes than we did with UPS.
• For each company, FEDEX or UPS  service depends on the relationship on the local level.
• We have only received an incorrect bin a few times (maybe 3) since I have been here in November 2021 (I am a part-time employee).
• Perhaps a polite message pop-up for all patrons to read when using Cardinal, reminding them the Cardinal book sharing system is privilege, not a right, and to please be patient due to many factors involving getting out-of-county books into their hands.
• I've noticed rougher handling of boxes/packages by FedEx that cause more damage, plus they are often messy with how they deliver materials. UPS was more careful, there was less damage, and they delivered boxes/packages neatly.
• Damaged boxes. Too many different delivery people for the area, not familiar with our deliveries.
• While it's nice to be able to borrow from libraries across the state, there has been a great loss of efficiency due to this dinosaur of an ILS.
• fewer glitches in hold wait times and transitions from one NC Cardinal library to another
• What ever gets materials to and from various NC Cardinal library locations the quickest works for me and definitely for the patrons.
• Our regular FedEx driver Josh is simply amazing, however we just found out they may pull him from us. The ones that fill in for him aren't nearly as nice. I'm hoping they reconsider. We were not here for the UPS transition however have been pleased with FedEx. I do wish that the boxes and shipping material was included with our agreement, however understand we ship a lot. 
• As indicated above, on the whole, I'm satisfied. I feel like the boxes are slightly dirtier through Fed-ex. The online site for Fed-ex is a little bit harder to read and use. The site has been a little crashy of late. UPS's plastic address sleeves seem better than Fedex's. My thermal printer seems to prefer Fed-ex label stock.
• We have noticed many more incidents and transit damages while using FedEx vs UPS. Delivery times are inconsistent and have even been left outside. Our normal driver is great and very polite, so it is not his fault. The FedEx training was not consistent with realities of using FedEx, and their website is not as easy to use as UPS. Overall, we strongly prefer UPS.

We appreciate all of the feedback. We don't consider the move to FedEx to be final until North Carolina signs on to a new UPS contract and we learn more about the terms. As you experience issues that you'd like us to pass on to our FedEx rep, we encourage you to fill out the Resource Sharing Incident Report so that we can pass on the information and seek a resolution.

• Delivery times are still all over the map, making it difficult to maintain a Resource sharing schedule. Attitude of drivers has improved significantly--we're on our third FedEx driver. The Fed Ex doesn't seem to be prepared to deal with such regular, large ground shipping orders. FedEx site experiences stability issues. UPS is still our preferred shipper-- reliable pickup and delivery times, better shipping products and better website user interface.
• It seems to take longer to get things than it used to.
• It is slower. It now takes 1 and a half to 2 weeks for out of county items instead of around 1.
• Although I'm not directly involved in processing Resource Sharing items, as someone who works the circulation desk, I have noticed that requested items are arriving sooner than patrons or I usually anticipate. It's been quite nice.

At this point we’re about six months in to using FedEx and we’re not seeing big differences in delivery time when we ran our annual statistics. 

• A better program for item choosing in consortium. Ex. Patron in Richmond County places a hold on item, the program chooses said item first from within Richmond County then progressively extending within Region & then CARDINAL.
• Hold capture is inconsistent and doesn't seem to operate as it is supposed to (often finding books on the shelf that patrons are waiting to get from out of county).
• Holds targeted by proximity - To reduce transit time, provide a mechanism that targets holds by branch, system, adjacent system, region, etc. Evergreen already "looks" for holds at branch and system, but perhaps holds targeting could be adjusted for a regional level.
• With rising shipping costs I wonder what the future of RS will be? The biggest costs seem to be shipping small items longer distances. Maybe divide the state into a few zones and only ship to libraries in your zone unless staff can over ride a hold not available in your zone?

This is something we’re actively working on, altering the holds targeting process so that it targets the closest physical copy rather than going to just any library across the state if your library system doesn’t have a copy.

• I would love for NC Cardinal to negotiate using UPS for resource sharing. I think it would be wonderful to have a contract/consortium contract with a packaging supplier which we either pay into for resource sharing supplies OR have negotiated pricing on standard mailing supplies. Amazon is all over the place with prices and availability and difficult to buy in bulk. Uline is overpriced and has way too many options. I wonder if NC Cardinal could find a supplier that we all could have accounts with to pay direct but streamlines the pricing and options? Renew or purchase shipping contracts before they expire.

Unfortunately, the contract we were participating in was negotiated by a large group of states, rather than us as an individual institution. We’re continuing to look at options, but thus fr it doesn’t appear North Carolina has signed on to a new UPS contract.

• More resource sharing with other counties not yet in the system.

As it is, our ability to resource share relies on us having a shared catalog that facilitates all of the technical processes associated with placing holds and processing incoming materials. We’ve investigated other software such as an open source tool called Fulfillment that works with Evergreen, but thus far it doesn’t connect with many other ILS systems. In addition to the technical hurdles, there’s also a financial aspect.

Notices

• Courtesy notices need a line between each time - when it's a long list of titles, it's hard to see the individual books.

We’re happy to customize your library system’s notices to meet your needs. If you need a tweak like this, please submit a ticket and we’re happy to help.

• Courtesy notices should be html so there can be a "click here to renew" link.

Looks like this is possible! We’re looking at how to implement this.

• Text messages need to be sent from a phone number (or something) that allows us to get rid of the need to select a carrier.

Unfortunately, the way SMS messages are sent, they’re actually an email with the users phone number before the @ sign. The “carrier” information tells Evergreen what to put after the @ sign in the email address. 

• All hold slips and patron communications MUST default to preferred names, and this field needs to be utilized by staff. Hold shelf slips should also default to printing preferred name and date on the slip.

When preferred names were implemented (I believe we first got them with our Fall 2021 upgrade to 3.7.2) we didn’t make a big push to update the patron notices, but we can fix this. 

Policies and Administration

• More customizable for each library to meet their community needs "One size fits all" does not apply for libraries.
• Encourage consistent practices and rule application among libraries (since there are so many neighbor libraries in the consortium, we have many patrons using multiple systems. Having as much consistency as possible improves user experience).

We try to walk a fine line between library autonomy and consistency. Generally, we try not to impose rules on member libraries and dictate what their policies are, unless it has an impact on other libraries through resource sharing. Our goal is to make your experience of Evergreen customizable and flexible, while keeping the administration and maintenance of the software from getting too complex.

• Let library assistants place books on hold that have a six month restriction at other libraries. It's disconcerting not to be able to help the patron.

Library staff can place title holds on items before the six month age hold protection is up, so that as soon as a copy is available your users can get their hands on it. That six month age hold protection embargo is an important part of library systems being willing to share their collections. We don’t want a situation where you buy a bunch of new books for your collection and immediately they all disappear to other libraries in the state while your patrons are waiting to read them. 

• Making everyone change their password periodically in order to prevent former employees from accessing patron data is a bad (and ineffective) plan. Why? (1) An employee who leaves right after the password changes would still have until the next change to access the page. (2) Hardly anyone KNOWS the password anyway; it's saved on each computer and we only see ***s when we log in. (3) It's using a machete instead of a scalpel. Make it a requirement that libraries change THEIR password when an employee leaves and leave the rest of us alone. Maybe read Philip K. Howard's "The death of common sense".

We hear you. We don’t want to let perfect be the enemy of good. When library staff share accounts and passwords which provide access to patron data, that’s a risk if libraries aren’t proactively changing passwords when team members leave. We’re trying to do more than we have in this area and we’re one of the first consortia to make these kinds of steps to do so. The larger Evergreen community has been discussing the best way to provide security for staff accounts and really patron data and whether things like multi-factor authentication is feasible in a public library environment. 

• When updating information for systems coming into Cardinal, it would be useful, at least to me, to update contacts, addresses, and lists of systems and branches all at once so I can update our in-house documentation for all of them at once instead of 3-4 times a year.

We can see about doing this. We need to find a way to make it clear to staff when the libraries are active in Evergreen and for resource sharing. This past year we added all of the joining libraries to Evergreen early on and caused some confusion because there’s no way to hide them from the staff view. We then had one of the systems have to delay their migration indefinitely, and it is difficult to delete an organizational unit in Evergreen once it is created. We also had people trying to send packages to one of the systems months before they began migrating. We’ll try to find a way to put out the information while making it clear of their current status.

• I'd like it to be easier to see what fine and checkout policies are being used by your library system in an easy to understand format, or at least a format that doesn't require the current level of explaining.

One of our current projects has been consulting with library systems to help them understand their library settings and what options they have set and available. This has led us to want to do just what you’re suggesting: having a process where we can work with libraries to help them understand what current circulation and hold policies they have, see if they match their needs and help them update them as needed. We expect we might kick this off this coming winter. 

• Ebooks.
• I think there is room for a more diverse reading selection for Juvenile and Young Adult nonfiction; there seems to be a bias slanted to leftist ideologies. I personally am a "purple person," politically and socially, and therefore *do not* align myself with either major political party. I do, however, notice the new content we receive tends toward the radical left. Thanks so much for your consideration.

The Cardinal team doesn't make decisions on what member libraries have in their collections, so its probably best to talk to your library leadership about this.

Support

• Improving responsiveness to help tickets. The NC Cardinal team used to be VERY responsive. Now, tickets can linger for weeks and do not seem to be a priority.
• I appreciate the speed with which tickets are handled and ease and completeness of communication with support staff.
• Quick and accurate ticket response.

Support tickets are the core of what we do every day and our first line of interaction with all of you. We’re always working to improve our knowledge and effectiveness so that we can quickly address the issues you’re facing and resolve them. Most straightforward requests can be resolved quickly. Sometimes it takes us longer on really challenging tickets to try different solutions, work with our vendor, talk to the Evergreen community and figure out how to help. 

Praise

• We appreciate NC Cardinal's communication and efforts to always improve. We love being part of the consortium. 
• I appreciate everyone's hard work and dedication. You all are doing a good job.
• Overall I do like NCCardinal, especially resource sharing.
• Thanks for all the hard work.
• The Cardinal staff in Raleigh does a great job. Thanks for all your work on our behalf.
• Can't think of anything else, so I will just say that the NC Cardinal team seems competent and skillful at managing a complex cataloging system for the entire state. Just keep refining the experience and be sure to actively consider feedback from us simple circulators. Thanks for all the work you do. :)
• I'm fairly new in my position but I've been impressed by the work accomplished by NC Cardinal so far!
• Thank you for dealing with a tough situation as smoothly as possible.
• Overall, NC Cardinal is a great consortium to work with!!! Keep up the good work and thanks!
• I think everybody is doing a GREAT job!! What a system!!!
• It is a terrific resource! So happy to offer it to patrons.
• Keep it up!
• NC Cardinal is overall a great thing and we appreciate the work you do!
• Love love love that we are with NC Cardinal and truly hope I can find more time to train on every aspect of my position to be more supportive to all involved, especially our patrons and guests. We'll get there...

We appreciate the opportunity to serve the public libraries of North Carolina. We know that you spend a lot of time working in Evergreen every day and it has a huge impact on how you accomplish your work and how you serve your patrons. We’re always striving to improve the performance of Evergreen, the administration of the software, the integrity of the catalog’s data, the training opportunities, and the service you receive when you need help. Thank you for your feedback and thank you for thinking critically about how we can improve Cardinal and Evergreen. We hope this is the beginning of a discussion and we welcome further feedback and clarification on your comments.

How You Can Get Involved

The Evergreen Community

Evergreen software is open source, meaning it is developed by a community of users across the world. This community has a variety of mailing lists and interest groups where you can learn about what's happening with the software, ask questions and be involved with the future development of the software. Your voice is important here and this is a great opportunity to be involved in the development of Evergreen over time as it changes. 

• Evergreen Mailing Lists includes mailing lists focused on topics like General, Circulation, Documentation, Catalogers, Acquisitions, and New Developers. 
• Additionally, the Evergreen Wiki has information on interest groups that meet (these regular meetings are generally also announced on the relevant mailing lists listed above.) This is a great place to just join in and listen or get involved! 

Testing out upcoming Cardinal versions of Evergreen

Every fall, Cardinal upgrades our Evergreen software to be more in line with the current developments of the software. Before we roll out the changes, we install the new software on a testing server we call "next", which allows you to log in using your regular login credentials and play with a snapshot of your user and catalog data in the new software before we actually install the updates for everyone to use. We'll announce when this new version is ready for review on our General Discussion Basecamp group and then have a Basecamp group specifically for people testing the new version to share their feedback. Playing around with the new version before we roll it out gives us the opportunity to identify problems and fix them before we roll it out for everyone, so this testing process on next is really valuable. 

Submit a Ticket

If you have an issue that you need help with you can create a ticket by filling out our Request for Assistance form or sending an email to help@nccardinalsupport.org

Ask and Answer Questions in Basecamp

You can interact with the Basecamp groups through the website or by responding to the messages via your email. Basecamp has the benefit of being a space where staff members from Cardinal libraries can ask questions of their peers and find the answers without the Cardinal team.

 

 

5.3. 2022-2023 Annual Survey Responses

Annual Survey Comments and Responses

Thank you for taking time to respond to our Annual Staff Survey. We’ve compiled your responses to the following questions in the Annual Survey:

• What are the top three improvements, changes or additions you'd like to see the NC Cardinal team focus on? 
• Please share any other feedback you have.

We appreciate the thoughtful and detailed comments you’ve offered. We want to be accountable to your input and transparent in our responses, so we've have tried to respond to everything as best we can.

Some comments we can provide answers to now, some are things the Cardinal team can work on in the months ahead and others relate to the design and functionality of the Evergreen software as a whole. The community of people building and maintaining Evergreen use a tool called Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen) to report problems, make suggestions for improvements to the software and monitor the progress of fixes. If your suggestion was a problem or improvement to the Evergreen software that we couldn’t find on Launchpad, we’ve added it and shared a link to the request. If we found an existing request that aligned with what you said, we’ve shared the link to it so that you can follow the progress of addressing the issue. 

In some instances, we may have questions about the issue you mention. In general, if you want to submit further details or follow up on a suggestion the best way is to email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org Sometimes screenshots or more detail can help us understand what you mean. 

Thank you for your feedback and helping us to improve Evergreen and the support that we offer to you and your patrons.

Benjamin Murphy, NC Cardinal Program Manager

 

Technical Issues

GENERAL

The following comments asked for more direct involvement in Evergreen development:

• Any ways that you can influence Evergreen development to improve the software would be great
• We need a dev so we can tweak Evergreen and more fully participate in Evergreen development.

Our response:

This feedback from the annual survey is really helpful. The majority of the suggestions relate to the way Evergreen is designed. We can contribute suggestions and have a Developer on the Cardinal team, but there’s a large community of Developers working on Evergreen and the decision-making process for features and changes involves a lot of other people and opinions.  

Fix integration with the NCLive resource "NoveList Plus" - it should be linked to our catalog records, but is not, which means we're reliant on the Evergreen search interface which is not great.

We’ve recently fixed an issue with NoveList integration this spring. If your library is still having issues, please submit a ticket so that we can investigate.

Connecting NC Cardinal to a point of sale system so we can track other expenses besides late or lost fees for materials.

Stripe was added recently and SmartPAY is being added in 3.11. The larger Evergreen community also seems to be interested in making Evergreen work with more payment providers.  

When something is in transit from one of our branches to another, even if it is not on hold, it has to go there and then come back before I can do anything with it (or am I missing something?).

If you’re a cataloger, and the item is not headed to the hold shelf at that branch, you can change your workstation so that Evergreen thinks you’re operating at the branch it is trying to go to. When you’re done making changes though, you’ll need to change it back to the location you're actually working at. 

UPDATES/UPGRADES

The following comments asked for more communication about the upgrade process:

• Better communication on how to use new features.
• Once updates occur, a smoother transition into new updates needs more attention.

Our response:

Our typical process is to ask for involvement from member libraries in summer and fall to scrutinize the changes of upcoming versions ahead of time and then we summarize what we believe to be the biggest impacts of upcoming upgrades. We have webinars and documentation going over the new features and make those available for staff if they’re not able to attend. Most of this communication happens in Basecamp and in the Knowledge Books (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=10). We welcome any other suggestions on how we can help spread the message ahead of time. 

Others had comments about the process of developing the upgrades:

• Avoid change for change sake
• Keep things as simple as possible
• Consulting a range of library staff for updates vs. looking at Evergreen from a tech perspective (the vision doesn't always match up with the functionality that library staff needs)
• Sometimes it seems like "upgrades" are made by those who no longer use the system on a daily basis and are out of touch with the day to day operations of the library.

Our response:

Most of the changes made to the Evergreen software are made by the larger Evergreen development community, rather than the Cardinal team. The best way to make your voice heard on what’s useful or unnecessary is to be a part of those discussions and groups as the decisions are being made. A great place to start is to join the Evergreen mailing lists, like the General Discussion that are available here: https://evergreen-ils.org/communicate/mailing-lists/ 

The following comments requested specific timing for upgrades:

• do updates after hours
• Pick better times for updates, not during open hours.

Our response:

We do our annual upgrades over the weekend as much as possible in an attempt to avoid disrupting staff functionality. The process can take time, so we try to find an opportunity that has the least impact on the Cardinal community. 

The following comment spoke to upgrades for the catalog interface:

• Make Evergreen more user-friendly. Every so-called upgrade makes using the catalog more time-consuming and less efficient. For example, when you want to see how many people have holds on a book, you have to go to "Patron View" -- we used to be able to see that info (as well as the ISBNs and genres, etc.) from the staff search. And then when you go to "Patron View", you can't see barcode numbers and there's no link to "Item Status".

Our response:

For the holds, have you tried the View Holds tab in the staff title record? Does that suit your purposes? You should be able to see the ISBN in the search results of the staff search, if the information is present in the bib record, but you’re correct that genre only shows up once you click into the title record from the search results. I’m not sure I understand what you’re experiencing with the Patron View. The records should show both barcode and status. We may not be understanding what you’re seeing, so feel free to reach out to us at help@nccardinalsupport.org if we’re misunderstanding. 

Performance

The following bullet points all reflect the same concept: Improve performance.

• Bigger server before new libraries
• Improve servers before adding more libraries
• Improved servers - As more libraries join the consortium, please make sure the consortium has enough server expansion with Mobius to continue to bring new libraries on board; It feels a little too frequent that Basecamp lights up with libraries across the state saying NC Cardinal\Evergreen is running slow, their patrons are not getting their notices, or reports have failed to run.
• Database optimization to reduce latency
• Glitches and freezes in Evergreen
• Issues dealing with slowness and performance
• Less freezes
• Less glitches
• Less service disruption (seem to be a lot of days that reports and/or notifications for patrons are held up or just don't happen). even if this means bigger servers and a higher cost per library, I think a lot of us would be willing to pay more for more consistency.
• Maintaining system integrity
• No freezes
• Only one -- Better server performance -- more speed and reliability.
• Speed in which Evergreen/Cardinal works (searching opac, checking in/out, etc).
• Speed of application
• Speed of use.
• Speed
• System lags.
• We shouldn't have lag issues
• Work out the bugs, server space, speed
• Would love to have the database speed to increase (quicker clicks etc)
• Loading the catalog and patron accounts can be slow because of the servers.
• Stabilize Evergreen performance, when it was it's own app and not browser based it ran much better. 

Our Response:

This is a topic we’re always working to improve. We’ve worked with Mobius over the years to monitor the performance and automatically restart servers that are getting bogged down, and to dynamically add additional servers when we’re seeing heavy traffic. It is always a moving target. We’ve recently reconfigured some of our “utility” servers that run processes in the background due to issues we were having with patron notices and reports. We appreciate the tickets and posts on the Basecamp Incidents list to let us know when you're seeing issues so we can address them promptly.  

OPAC

CIRCULATION HISTORY

Several comments requested the ability for staff to see patron circulation history, or to have circulation history automatically turned on in patron accounts. Individual comments are listed below:

• Ability to let patrons know what books they have previously checked out.
• available patron circ history
• being able to see a list of books previously checked out
• check out history of a patron
• I would like for the improvement to be made if patrons ask library staff if they have read a certain book, for the staff to be able to look in their account without having to ask the patrons to log into their accounts to check.
• It would be helpful if there was an option to save patron history. This is something that is asked often and not available.
• patron book history
• Patron's have asked often if we could have a history list of books they have checked out. So they don't repeat a book or series.
• Providing a way for patrons to look up their reading history,
• following patron's records throughout transactions in Evergreen
• Able to access patron history on staff side

Our Response:

We can understand how this would be useful. Evergreen developers made an intentional design decision to let patrons choose to opt-in to history tracking via the My Account section of the OPAC, so that patrons know about and manage the information available about their activity.

SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY & CATALOG

Several respondents asked for specific customizations to the search interface:

• Improvements to OPAC for patrons still get complaints about search results daily. The OPAC should be helpful for patrons when using, not confusing. NO ONE uses the OPAC to search for electronic resources including them by default in search results is counter productive and requires significant scrolling for patrons simply looking to see if a print title is owned by the library and available. I'd exclude them by default.
• Changing the way searching looks to patrons in the OPAC, the Basic search is useless to most patrons who walk up to that screen; some form of the Advanced search is much more user friendly, even to the non-techy patron.
• Exclude online resources should be a sticky key
• Alphabetize the search results

Our Response:

With the variety of suggestions about how staff members would like their search functionality to work, in general, more ability to configure and customize your preferences for search results and display is needed. So, for instance, choosing how to sort or group the results, what they exclude by default, etc. We’ve added a LaunchPad wishlist request for the ability to customize search results.

Additional comments focused specifically on how electronic materials are included in search results:

• For catalog results: put electronic materials at the bottom of the search, not the top.
• Place electronic resources last
• Make the default results list sort with the regular print book first, the LP print book second, the BCD version third and the electronic versions at the very bottom of the results. This would make it much easier for casual users to see the most popular format first and would eliminate the need for the "Exclude electronic resources" check box. Users of electronic resources are using their app, not the PAC to search. Alternatively, make the check box “Show electronic resources” and exclude them from searching by default. ONLY if patrons want to see electronic resources, they could then check that box.

We’ve added a LaunchPad wishlist request for sorting results by format type.

There were a variety of suggestions involving how item information is displayed in search results:

• If an item is located on a library's Bookmobile, maybe Bookmobile could be highlighted, bolded or italicized since the eye is scanning only for the first word in the "Library" column within the "Library/Shelving location/ Call number/Status information block. Same goes for the word New under Shelving location where it is very easy to miss!
• Eliminate the "Show more details" option from the menu/filter bar. This would eliminate confusion for users who don't know a call number from an ISBN and allow for a more compact and coherent display (which I will address in entry #. And besides, this "more details" information is available when the title record is selected and very rarely relevant in a results list.
• By eliminating the space where "more details" would display and slightly decreasing the size of the Library/Shelving location/Call number/Status block, this information block could be nestled to the right of the format icon and directly below the Title/Author/Copies/Call information so that everything relevant is grouped closely together and is all clearly related to the same item. This is especially important on smaller screens where the Library/Shelving location/Call number/Status block cannot be seen without scrolling down which the novice user does not know to do.

We’ve made this change and will be rolling it out soon. 

• Please add book series name/number (490) to book information that displays in staff view and patron view when performing a book search.
• Wouldn't it be lovely if locating series and readers advisory information did not require clicking on the title link and then scrolling down, down, down to the bottom of the page but could instead be accessed from links on the results list directly below and identical to the "Place Hold" box, one for "Similar Titles" and one for "Series Info." And what if the "Series Info" link only showed up for fiction?

We’ve added series information to the quick summary display and are rolling it out soon. By reader advisory information, you mean Novelist content that’s currently in the “Awards, Reviews, & Suggested Reads” section? That content varies according to what various Cardinal libraries subscribe to. What if we have a link up high on the record that expands that section and jumps the view down to that area?

It is impossible to view the entire line in the catalog filters (look at the filter "Adult Foreign Language"--you cannot see which languages and therefore cannot select a filter)

We’re looking into how to fix this issue. It looks like after about 25 characters the shelving location names are hidden. 

In the patron search screen (F4), we often have to switch back and forth from searching our local library to searching Cardinal. The highlighting to type over text function works half of the time when switching from Cardinal to Transylvania. It would be nice if it worked more smoothly, assuming that is something you can control. Thanks!

We will investigate whether we can highlight the entire text in the field when you click on it, rather than having to use your mouse to select the text.

In addition to the specific issues listed above, several comments requested improved accuracy and a more user-friendly experience in the catalog interface:

• Better search engines
• Better searching
• Catalog search sometimes lacks
• Make improvements to search algorithms!!!
• Overall tweak of search for the better
• Accuracy of search results in catalog
• Please make the catalog easier to navigate.
• Searching for titles is still not consistent
• The catalog is so faulty for subject or keyword searches that it is functionally useless, and becomes more so when any kind of filter is applied. Ex. A search for children's non-fiction will bring up adult fiction titles and exclude relevant JNF titles. It is difficult for staff to find items for patrons and nearly impossible for patrons to use successfully on their own.
• Continue streamlining our services to match what patrons are using outside the library with search engines.
• I would also like to see a more streamlined OPAC.
• Improve OPAC usability for patrons.
• Make the catalog easier to search. The catalog needs to be more user friendly.
• The patron catalog interface could be more user-friendly in general.
• Make Patron Catalog more user friendly
• Easier and more effective searches on the Patron side
• More catalog search criteria
• I would like to see a more specific search. If I enter an author or title, I would like to just see that information.
• Making Catalog searching more user friendly for staff (the layout of the search query fields is just all wrong).
• Improving the staff catalog client. The UI for the staff catalog client is significantly less usable than the OPAC, and I very often find myself just using the public-facing version when helping patrons.

Our Response:

We agree! Search and the discoverability of content in the catalog is the heart of what we need Evergreen to do well. The community continues to try to improve the tools we have now as well as looking at entirely new tools like Elasticsearch (https://www.elastic.co/what-is/elasticsearch) We will continue to advocate for improvements.  

 Many respondents commented on their preference for the traditional catalog interface:

• I really hate the new catalog interface -- so I'm grateful you still have the traditional catalog search available. Please, please, please don't take that away!
• Bring back the traditional look up for items
• I like the traditional method for searching the catalog way better than the new method. I find the new method for searching the catalog to be super confusing.
• Get rid of the patron view feature in the catalog and take it back to the way it was before.
• I also miss the NC Cardinal/local system toggle feature in search results.

Our response:

Given the nature of ever-changing development and change of software, the traditional catalog isn’t likely to be with us for a whole lot longer. We’d welcome your suggestions on how we can continue to improve the catalog and fix things that aren’t working to your satisfaction.

Comment:

• Put the search results features of the old staff catalog into the new staff catalog - it's missing so many things that were useful in the search results.

Our response:

Are there specific things we can put in wishlist requests for?

SMART SEARCH

A number of survey respondents expressed interest in developing a "smart search" feature that can autocomplete or understand mis-spellings and typos. These comments are listed below:

• Autocomplete predictions
• Compensate for misspelling/mistakes in searching (even a misplaced punctuation mark will negate a search).
• I honestly find the "traditional" catalog searching to be more helpful in actually finding items, if we can't get "Amazon" quality searching that offers options for spelling errors, I would like to have the traditional way of searching be the regular way.
• I would like to see NC Cardinal become more intuitive in terms of searches. For instance, if someone searches for a title but misspells a word, a "did you mean ...?" would be helpful.
• Implement smart searching (or better smart searching) to account for typos
• Less picky search engine: more intuitive - like Google search (search: norah raberts > "did you mean Nora Roberts?") and ignore articles ("a", "an", and "the"), and with matching materials outside the search locale listed at the bottom - like craigslist ("more from nearby areas" instead of just saying "No matching items found").
• More forgiveness in search terms when using the catalog - the ability to bring up items which are similar
• More forgiving catalog not to have to get the title perfect for it to pull up the item.
• Perhaps a little more forgiveness in search with spelling
• Search could be improved so that punctuation like dashes or apostrophes don't influence results
• Searching the catalog (doesn't have to have perfect spelling, spacing, etc. to pull up results),
• Searching with age preferences for juvenile books
• The search feature for both patrons and circulation material could be improved to include items/patron names that may have been misspelled, much like a suggestion feature you see on a browser search engine.
• I wish the system was less sensitive when it comes to looking up titles and authors.
• A google-type approach when searching for items in the catalog. Sometimes I don't realize I accidentally misspelled something until after I've told the patron we don't have that title in the system.
• I wish the exact spelling was not an issue when catalog searching
• In searching catalog not having to have an exact spelling to produce needed results
• When looking up a title or author, the system does not recognize if you have misspelled or shorten the title or name. It would help if we had a better search option.

Our response:

A more efficient Smart search functionality that offers suggested search terms is expected in our upcoming upgrade and we hope to test this out. Previous versions slowed down the system, so we decided to not turn them on because they negatively impacted the search times. 

STAFF SIDE CATALOG

Several comments were specific to the catalog and search interface in the staff client:

• Fix card catalog so that ALL available copies show on one screen
• Easier access to "Available Copy" info on the staff side

Our Response:

Do you mean for instance when you’re looking at the Item Table tab, being able to filter out items of specific statuses so you can see only things that are available?

Comment

• Fix potential error with "Group Formats / Editions" when I check this box and search for a specific title, the results have often NOT included the book I searched for at all, but will include completely different titles that only contain similar words like "the".

Our response:

We need to investigate this more. We found a variety of bug reports related to "Group Formats / Editions" but not sure that any related to this specifically. We would appreciate it if you could send us screenshots to help@nccardinalsupport.org of any instances like this you find so that we can investigate exactly what is going on behind the scenes. 

Comment:

• It would also be helpful in finding available items if the series/season/volume number of DVDs were listed alongside the title of an item.

Our response:

Do you mean in the initial list of search results? Is this something you’d like in the staff search or the public search?

Comment:

• When searching the catalog, I frequently have to switch to the patron view to get the summary, subject headings, and other record details. Can this be seen on the staff side, too.

Our response:

Are you referring to the content in the “Awards, Reviews, & Suggested Reads” section of the public record? There’s some information in the “Record details” section of the public display. Are there other fields from the MARC content we should add?

Comment:

• Items from other libraries that are age protected should be more clearly marked on the search page.

Our response:

We’ve talked recently with Mobius about removing the Age Hold Protection label after the six months has passed so that it doesn’t confuse users and draws more attention to the status when it is relevant.

Comment:

• It would be nice for shelf browse to have an option to look at just call number, author, title all in a line instead of having the big picture and so much blank space

Our response:

We found a current Launchpad wishlist item for this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1424690.

Many respondents commented on an issue with how the search interface excludes electronic resources:

• Improving the search parameters when selecting "No Electronic Resources" (it still shows a ton of electronic resources)
• In Catalog Search when excluding electronic is designated that it actually does that
• Include a way to filter out electronic items from http://digital.ncdcr.gov. Checking "Exclude Electronic Resources" does *not* exclude these items from searches, nor does searching by "All Books" as the format.
• When you click "exclude electronic resources" it would remove all electronic resources from the list
• After selecting "Exclude Electronic Resources", electronic resources are not excluded.

Our response:

We’ve discovered that there are some things we can do to improve the "exclude electronic resources" and are working with the Cataloging Committee to update the criteria of what is excluded.  

The following comments are about the way the search interface scopes by library:

• Sometimes it will not put branches within our system first when searching all of Cardinal.
• I would like a way for each branch to be able to search within the system, but with the local branch at the top. As a librarian at the Swannanoa branch, often the system will not show that we have a copy of something on the original search and sometimes people won't go into the record to discover it. Each branch should be able to find their own collection on the top, even when searching beyond.

Our response:

To help us troubleshoot this, it would be helpful to know what you have listed in your “Default Search Library” and “Preferred Library” fields when you go to the Administration and then Workstation menu in Evergreen. We suggest setting your library system as your “Preferred Library” If you’re a cataloger, we usually suggest Cardinal as your “Default Search Library” but you also can use your library system.

Comment:

• Often I search for a specific title or author, but will see results that don't include the words in said title / author I entered in, leading me to believe "keywords" may be used despite filtering by title and/or author.

Response:

It could be that there are other matches in the authority records of those results for the search term you entered. We’d welcome screenshots of such instances so we can investigate what’s going on.  

Comment:

• Increase ease of filtering during searches e.g. non-fiction, fiction, juvenile, adult, etc.

Response:

Do you mean for instance having a search facet on the left hand side of the search results that lists audience or literary form (the 008 LitF field) options so that you could limit your results by those values, rather than having to select it in the Advanced Search fields? The content in 650 subfield v might be a place we could build these kinds of selections from in addition to the 008 LitF.

Comment:

• When performing a search, allow for multiple audiences and shelving locations to be selected.

Response:

If you click on one shelving location or audience in the list, and then hold down the Ctrl key and click on another shelving location or audience in the list, you’re able to select more than one at a time.

Comment:

• Title would be best as the first option on catalog search.

Response:

Title is a more efficient search for the database and more precise, but when we suggested changing that over to the default the majority of the feedback we heard is that it may cause confusion for users who benefit from the fuzziness of the keyword search.

Staff Interface

GENERAL

Several survey respondents expressed streamlining the interface:

• General simplification
• Making the site more user friendly and making access to information easier to find.
• Streamlining Evergreen and improving performance.
• Easier to see patron view
• UI - feels bland
• Ease of usability for library staff and patrons
• Streamline the entire system so it is less cumbersome to use.
• Easier way to maneuver/use Cardinal
• For us to have easier to use and not so many steps to do one thing and even down to having to print a receipt for the patrons too many steps to do in all aspects of Cardinal.
• Reduce the number of "clicks" to perform a task (i.e. to get to the details of on item in the catalog, you must click to the patron view, click the "Show details" button...; to change anything in Item Status you must click twice to bring up the drop down list, then click "Apply" then click "Save"

Our response:

This is something we’re always advocating for in the development of the Evergreen software. As daily users, we welcome suggestions you have as you use the software on how it can be improved.

List all column managements preferences in Alpha order.

We’ve added a Launchpad wishlist request for alphabetizing the column management preferences.

BASKETS & LISTS

There were several requests for changes to the way baskets are displayed:

• Ability to change visible fields in item baskets so that we can print the list and have call numbers show.
• This one is huge for me...The basket is a useful tool when working with patrons but we have to go back to the records to get the shelving information. The current printout from the Basket does not provide what we need. We need: Title, Author, Shelving Location, Call # but instead it gives bib ID, ISBN, publisher and language info. It is the same scenario for the baskets in the OPAC.
• When printing information that's been added to a basket, please add call number to the information that prints.
• Please create better resources for creating item lists within Evergreen. The public Lists function does not offer a lot of options for the way data is displayed, which makes it only *almost* useful for reader's advisory.

Our response:

These suggestions seem to be echoed by the larger Evergreen community. There are a few open requests relevant to baskets, such as  https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1833565 https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1749475 and https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1899408 

The following requests are related to placing holds from baskets or buckets:

• To be able to place multiple copies of a book on hold at the same time (with one click), like for a book club.
• Improvements to the basket function in the Cardinal catalog (ability to place holds for patrons using the basket function)

Our Response:

We’re not sure if you mean 1.) Having a bucket of items and placing a hold for multiple patrons for those items or 2) Having a bucket of items and placing a hold for all of those items for a single patron in one process. #1 is possible using a feature called Hold Groups which may be useful for book clubs or popular authors: https://docs.evergreen-ils.org/eg/docs/latest/circulation/basic_holds.html#hold_groups #2 is possible by selecting the checkboxes next to the items in the search results, which adds them to the basket, and then going to the Basket Actions dropdown and choosing Place Hold 

BOOKING MODULE

The following comments requested improvements to the Booking Module:

• Better room reservation tool that will not allow you to double book and is less clunky
• Improvements to the booking module so it can be better used for room reservations
• Reservation system reboot

Our Response:

The bookings Module has seen a variety of improvements in the last few years, but is still actively in development. Click here for a list of the current open bugs and wishlist items.

CATALOGING INTERFACE

Comment:

• For cataloging, the latest "upgrade" (for adding holdings) has made the work very tedious. As a cataloger, I apparently don't have permission to do some things (deleting some items) without tying myself into knots (like marking them missing before being able to delete them).

Our response:

I’m not sure if this is the limitation you’re hitting, but Evergreen has some protected statuses where items are in an open transaction status (like checked out or in transit) that are prevented from being deleted before that transaction is resolved. Details on this can be found here: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=80

Some comments focused on the number of clicks needed to perform cataloging tasks:

• Simpler design (ie, the last catalog update created additional clicks on the staff side that slowed down the flow of quickly checking an item's status)
• Make it easier (less clicks) to get to an items status to edit it

Our response:

We typically recommend hitting the F5 button to get the Item Status screen and then scanning the barcode. From there the Action Menu allows you to choose Edit Items if that’s your goal. You may also find that displaying additional columns on your Item Status screen helps to show you the information you need? It may be helpful to see a screenshot or description of your process to understand what you mean.

Comment:

• Find a better way to add book covers.

Our response:

Has the recent ability to upload covers helped, rather than relying on Open Library? Are there parts of it that are challenging or need redesign?

Comment:

• Cataloging works well so please don't change the interface or functions unless its absolutely necessary :)

Our response:

Its challenging because the Evergreen software is always changing and sometimes the changes don’t work great at first or take time to adjust to. 

Comment:

• Simpler way to make spine labels

Our response:

We’d be interested to hear more about the aspects of printing spine labels that are challenging. 

Comment:

• The weakest area: the serials modules.

Our response:

We’d agree that it hasn’t seen the same level of development as for instance the Acquisitions Module is currently getting but we've heard from the Evergreen community that once the Acquisitions Module gets some attention upgrading the Serials Module is on the horizon.

CIRCULATION INTERFACE

Several comments requested keyboard shortcuts for circ functions:

• Add keyboard shortcuts into the circulation functions
• An F-key to end a session and prompt the receipt or email.
• Don't know if this can be done without the larger Evergreen community, but it would be nice to have an "F-Key" option to end a check-out session and send/print their receipt.

Our response:

We’ve added a Launchpad wishlist request for this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2027721.

Comment:

• Getting everyone set up with uniform labels so our check-in pads can be used for all check-in

Response:

Do you mean the barcode formatting (Codabar vs. Code39) or RFIDs?

Comment:

• In the items status of a book it would be helpful to have how many times a book has checked out for weeding purposes.

Response:

In the Detail View of Item Status this is visible in the field Total Circs. We added a LaunchPad wishlist request to make this an option to display in the List View: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2027805 It looks like this will be available in our next upgrade.

Comment:

• Please add publication date to check-in.

Response:

We’ve added a Launchpad wishlist request for this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2027806.

Comment:

• Making offline circulation easier to navigate

Response:

We’d welcome more details on suggestions you have for making it easier to work with.

Comment:

• On the Circulation check-in screen under actions. There is no action for Mark Item in Repair. There is an option for mark Item as Damaged. We use Repair a lot more. It would be helpful to have that option instead of having to change TABS to make some extra selections on each item such as Edit Item---- then mark Item in repair.

Response:

We found a LaunchPad request for this same functionality: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1862982.

Comment:

• It would be great if there were a notification pop-up for holds for your location.

Response:

Do you mean receiving some kind of notification at the circ desk when an item at your location is placed on hold instead of having to check the Holds Pull List?

HOLD FUNCTIONALITY AND INTERFACE

The following comments addressed age-hold protection:

• Ability to place hold on age-protected materials that can hang out until the 6 months has elapsed and then be automatically moved to the Pulls list.
• The way that holds are filled on new items

Our Response:

I asked the Evergreen community about this and was told that even when you see the ITEM_AGE_PROTECTED message, the hold will be recorded but just won’t be able to be filled until one of the potential items rolls off of age hold protection. If you see ITEM_AGE_PROTECTED as a staff member, you should be able to override that error message.

Several comments asked for changes to the way hold queues are managed:

• Clarify queue status especially on 6 month hold items.
• Make it easier to show what place in line a hold is without having to go in individually and click a box each time you want to know.
• Checking reserve queques is sometimes confusing (meaning parton can be listed as #3 but then suddenly #4 will get it instead).

Our Response:

The way Evergreen handles holds, there is not a strict queue. The order that users place their holds is generally the order the holds targeter tries to fill them but there is a process called opportunistic holds whereby if a user returns an item to a branch, Evergreen checks to see if there are any holds for that title at that branch before sending the copy down to road to fill another hold. Also, if a copy is targeted at a branch and that library doesn’t pull their holds in timely manner, Evergreen will look for another copy to target, shuffling that user’s place in line. 

The following comments address the process of cancelling holds:

• I would like an easier way to cancel holds. There seem to be a lot of steps.
• Make canceling holds easier 

Our response:

We’re open to suggestions on how to make it more efficient. Do you find the process from the bib record or the patron account more cumbersome?

Comment:

• Easier to go from seeing if one branch has an item to all systems when placing a hold.

Response:

In the staff search? Have you tried rerunning your search with the “Results from All Libraries” checkbox checked? We’d be interested to learn more about what you mean. A screenshot might be helpful.

Comment:

• Make it possible to place holds from the item status screen.

Response:

Have you tried the Request Items from the Action Menu in the Item Status screen? Any suggestions on how it can be improved?

Several respondents had comments about eh hold pull list:

• Also the Holds Pull List function is unreliable at best.
• Better sorting of hold lists.
• The pull holds list does not sort in any helpful fashion. It mixes juvenile and adult book types, e.g.
• The format for pulling the holds list varies based on which circ desk computer we are using. I would like to have that standardized with larger font and consistent format.

Our response:

We now have the ability to create a custom Print Template for your Holds List. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=823 If you reach out at help@nccardinalsupport.org, we can set one up for your branch or your system.

Comment:

• I have one patron that reads A LOT, and wish there was a way to increase the number of holds, (like 30) that I can place for her at once.

Response:

Libraries can have varying policies for their users to be able to request more items from their collections, but thus far we’ve settled on a limit of 25 concurrent holds for resource sharing items in an effort to balance demand on outside libraries.

Comment:

• I would like it if there was an option to use the traditional method to place holds for patrons. I don't like it at all that the only way you can place holds is by using the new method. Everything else about Evergreen I like.

Response:

We expect the Traditional Catalog to eventually go away, so we’d welcome suggestions on specific aspects of the traditional hold process that you like, or ways the current hold placing interface could be improved.

Comment:

• I wish there was a way to filter out long overdue/missing/claims returned items out of the staff client side on the record summary page. It's difficult to quickly determine which locations have valid items from some of the more "high rate of non-return items" titles.

Response:

When you check the Limit To Available at the top of the staff search interface, what kinds of materials is it showing that you’d like to exclude? We’re happy to submit a Launchpad wishlist request if we can pin down the specifics of what we need to ask.

Comment:

• Make the Holds process more intuitive.

Response:

We’re open to suggestions on ways that we can improve the process.

Comment:

• Remove audiobooks from Group Item Formats. Most people who READ don't mind paperback, LP, or regular print, but will outright refuse an audiobook. Those who LISTEN to audiobooks will outright refuse any print material. Often these requests are a needs-based request, ie: They are unable to read (either due to eyesight, inability, disability, or activity - like driving) or don't have a readily available disc player or it's dangerous (fall asleep while listening) and any other format is a ridiculous request (from the patron's POV). Perhaps form 2 Group Item Formats: One for print materials: paperback, LP, regular print; and one for auditory: Audio, MP3, playaway.

Response:

So, something like “group print” versus “group electronic” or “group audio”? The Group Item Formats seems to be a developing idea for placing holds on a broad range of potential candidates and as I understand it the ability to distinguish which formats are acceptable on the hold screen is where the developers give you the option to exclude formats from your hold.

PATRON ACCOUNTS

Several respondents commented on difficulties saving patron information when creating new accounts:

• Be able to edit/update an expired patron account and have that information save. (You have to input things in a certain order or it doesn't save any information edited.)
• Editing patron accounts (sometimes SAVE doesn't save, and requires staff to re-enter information).
• Updating library card accounts: when updating cards I often don't have the ability to save the new data when I get to the bottom of the page. At this point I get a message at the top of the page and have to hit okay, in which case I lose all of the newly entered information and have to start over. I have learned to scroll to the bottom of the page to see if the non-save indication is there, but sometimes I forget as this is a hit or miss situation. I wish this issue could be rectified or explained.

Our response:

We’d like to learn more about this. We’d appreciate any screenshots you can send us to help@nccardinalsupport.org so we can investigate.

The following comments address difficulties using the patron registration form:

• Making library cards easier
• Have a way to collapse all but the required fields for patron registration. A simpler, more minimal UI would make this process quicker and more efficient. Thanks.

Our response:

It looks like this is what the “Required Fields” link was intended to be, but when you click on that it doesn’t remove all the fields that aren’t required. We’re looking into whether this is something we can fix locally, or if this is a bug in Evergreen we can request a fix for. 

Comment:

• Deletions of out of date (deceased) patrons

Our response:

We’re happy to assist you with accomplishing this if you reach out at help@nccardinalsupport.org. On a smaller scale it is possible through patron buckets, but if you’re wanting to do it at a larger scale we can assist. 

Comment:

• Easier to see family groups

Our response:

Is there a place on the patron record that would be better to have it displayed? Somewhere over on the left side?

Comment:

• Make the active or inactive check box MORE PROMINENT

Our response:

We’ve added a LaunchPad wishslist request for this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2027821.

Comment:

• Pending Patron timeframe extended (2 weeks instead of 1 week).

Our response:

Our current policy was based on not wanting patron information to linger around too long. This is configurable per library system, so send us a message at help@nccardinalsupport.org and we can update it for your system. 

Comment:

• Adding Photos To Accounts.

Our response:

We were unable to find such a request in LaunchPad. We’ve asked the Evergreen community whether this was an intentional design decision for patron privacy concerns, or just never considered yet.

Comment:

• Enhancements to the Notes screen. Would like to see the entire note by clicking on the field and bringing up the whole text rather than hover over the note in order to see the text.

Our response:

We’ve found that there is a current wishlist request for this https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1979086.

Comment:

• Billing on patron accounts could be improved.

Our response:

We’d be interested to hear more details on ideas to make it better.

Training

AUDIENCE

The following comments requested more training for everyone:

• Better user training
• More training, outreach, and resource information for part-time staff.
• I would love for there to be an easier way for newer members to find training information that's more on demand, rather than having to wait for trainings to come around.

Our Response:

We will continue to expand our training in the coming year, including live trainings as well as increasing the amount of material in the Niche Academy and video content on our YouTube channel.

Comment:

• Training administrative staff on running reports and scheduling regular reports.

Response:

We will continue to expand our online training sessions in the coming year and will work on including a session specific to reports.

CONTENT

The following comments requested more frequent training:

• More training.
• Offering regular training opportunities on community interest.
• Offering regular training opportunities on problem issues.
• Offer in-person trainings for circulation, cataloging (too many are not following best practices as outlined in the Knowledge Book - This becomes frustrating for those of us who are), acquisitions, and local system administration.

Our Response:

We will be providing regional in-person training in the upcoming year. Keep an eye out for scheduling information for your region. You will also have the opportunity to share requests for training content.

Several respondents requested training in offline mode:

• I would like to know more about using the system in offline mode when needed.
• Training on off-line use.
• Work on more training for staff people on things like offline system.

Our response:

We will continue to expand our online training sessions in the coming year, and will work on including sessions on offline mode.

Several respondents requested training in reports:

• More in depth training on how to create the reports.
• Further education on using Simple Reports (hands-on or video are best for me).
• I would appreciate in-person training geared toward reports and cataloging.
• More training opportunities, particularly with reports.
• I'd like to see some training on using the reports features. 

Our response:

We will continue to expand our online training sessions in the coming year, and will work on including report-specific sessions. For Simple Reports, a good place to start is with the Simple Reporter training exercises: https://my.nicheacademy.com/nccardinal/course/57109 

The following comments are requests for training in search the catalog:

• More online catalog training.
• Training on catalog searching

Our response:

We will work on developing new training materials on effective catalog searching.

The following comments requested more training on the process of cataloging:

• Updated/more comprehensive Cataloging Training.
• More specialized training about best practices cataloging regarding tricky topics like race and gender especially with our subject headings being officially limited to LOC.

Our response:

We will work on providing some catalog training sessions in the coming year and will begin the process of developing a cataloging boot camp with expert catalogers.

Comment:

• More resource sharing training and accountability to easily activate that for them would be nice. Not really a "top three," just throwing it out there :)

Response:

We can work on developing training materials for resource sharing in the upcoming year.

DELIVERY METHODS

Several respondents wanted more online training, both live and pre-corded or self-paced:

• Also, maybe offering more online training sessions which are easier for folks to attend and let folks ask questions.
• More videos or self-paced trainings.
• Tutorials.
• Updated webinars as well.

Our response:

We will continue to expand our online, live training sessions in the coming year, as well as add new materials to our Niche Academy and new videos to our YouTube channel. If you have a specific training need, please contact Samantha O'Connor at samantha.oconnor@dncr.nc.gov

Comment:

• Fewer training videos and more documentation. But that's probably just me and my personal learning style. I'll never watch a YouTube video to fix my lawnmower; always prefer written instructions/documentation. With videos, it is much more difficult to extract the needed information than it is with written instructions/documentation because you have to waste so much time watching or cuing through a video attempting to find the information you need.

Response:

Documentation is available in our Knowledge Books, at https://nccardinalsupport.org/ If there is a specific topic or process not covered in the Knowledge Books, please contact Samantha O'Connor at samantha.oconnor@dncr.nc.gov about having it added.

The following comments requested in-person training:

• More in-person training.
• Provide face to face training every 12 to 18 months
• Hands on training as opposed to video training. 

Our response:

We will be providing regional in-person trainings in the upcoming year. Keep an eye out for scheduling information for your region. You will also have the opportunity to share requests for training content. 

Communications

CARDINAL

The following comments are related to committees:

• Better communication between volunteer groups and interested volunteers.
• More communication coming out of the committees to keep us all up-to-date on their projects. I'll note that I'm not a cataloger, so I can't speak to how well the Cataloging Committee gets their work communicated, which I suspect they probably do pretty well. Very rarely do I hear of what the UX or Governance Committee is doing.

Our response:

Discussions are underway within the committees and on the Cardinal team to determine how to better broadcast committee updates with the wider Cardinal audience

The following comments all relate to communication from the Cardinal team to library staff, or communication between staff at different member libraries:

• Clearer communication on known bugs
• Communication
• Communication
• Keeping libraries up to date in regards to changes such as new libraries or upgrade info.
• There needs to be more communication between the NC Cardinal team and the branches as to which projects are going on and what is
• Communication, We have none!
• More in-person or zoom meetings instead of mostly listserv conversations.
• Community forum instead of email threads, that staff can access if interested in participating/responding on the topic.
• More meetings for people who catalog, manage resource sharing, and the circulation managers.
• Communication between libraries

Our response:

We rely heavily on Basecamp to get the word out, so if you’re not on the General Discussion list there, that’s the first place to start. Other than that, communication is something we need to keep working on. I like the idea of having regularly scheduled meetings for specific interest groups like cataloging, circulation or resource sharing.  

BASECAMP

The following respondents commented on the volume of communication on Basecamp:

• Reduce irrelevant conversation on Basecamp. The number of emails I receive from Basecamp can be too much sometimes.
• Streamline Basecamp communication (not respond to all all the time)
• Sometimes notifications can be overwhelming in Basecamp because of the amount of responses

Our Response:

This past year, everyone on the Cardinal team added (NCC) to our names, so that if you’d like to be able to filter the messages from other users from the messages posted by the Cardinal team, you have a way to tell the difference. You’d need to set up filters in your mail client though to treat these messages differently or put them in a different mailbox.  

Another comment about content on Basecamp:

• Better communication and not just on Basecamp where it seems to be a place for people to complain about issues. Those issues could be dealt with by contacting the library with the issues and working on a solution instead of a steady stream of complaints on Basecamp that never solves the issues. It is helpful to know what other libraries have encountered as far as resource sharing goes. However, if that issue is with another library then there should be communication with the individuals involved.

Our response:

Yes, we try to keep it positive, informative and supportive. Often times we’ll reach out on the side and encourage direct communication or act as a diplomat when issues arise. But it's true, we are a community of users and there are frustrations at times if people are working cross-purpose or make mistakes. We try to encourage folks to communicate directly and in good faith when issues come up.   

Documentation

The following comments all refer to the Knowledge Books:

• A more navigable help site.
• Continue improving information in the Knowledge Book to keep all staff current on best practices but not so much information that feel overwhelmed. There is so much "meat" to digest.
• Fuller knowledge book that incorporates links to best practices documents (many children's and YA materials cataloging processes seem to be guessing and trial and error);
• I also would like a comprehensive list of shortcuts added to the knowledge books; this would be very helpful for both current staff and for training new staff.
• Make evergreen knowledge book little more understandable
• Make the Knowledge Book easier to navigate when looking for something specific.
• Make the Knowledge Book easier to search
• separate instructional site for patrons who need help using the OPAC. Our patrons are not able to understand all the jargon and also don't need access to things library staff do (e.g. acquisitions)
• The KB is still pretty clunky and not very intuitive when you're trying to find something.
• Training Resources/Documentation - needs to be upgraded more frequently
• Better organization in Knowledge Books, easier to find information
• The Knowledge Books are helpful so far as the up-to-date portions of it go, but they don't always demonstrate the full usage of certain modules.
• Improve Knowledge books by adding clear directions and digital content to go along with documents. 

Our response:

We have begun a project to re-format the knowledge books to ensure consistent navigation and formatting, as well as a re-assessment of the current content to identify areas for improved organization and the need for new content.

Comment:

• I would like to see an easy to access list (regularly updated) of member libraries, that's easy to access both on the staff side and client side of Cardinal. This would be helpful for both patrons and staff.

Response:

Generally the Resource Sharing lists in the Knowledge Books are the best place to go for this. We also have a list on the NC Cardinal website.

Cataloging

CATALOG CLEANUP

Comment:

• Remove e-books, that can not be accessed.

Response:

The electronic resource management process we implemented in 2020 allows us to remove electronic resources in batch by providing a file of the resources we’ve lost access to. If you come across something that you don’t have access to, let us know via  ticket so that we can make sure we’re up to date on the deletions or work with you to get a list from your vendor of the materials you no longer have access to.

The following comments all requested work to clean-up and maintain the catalog:

• More focus on pinpointing bibliographic catalog issues as the catalog is starting to get messy again.
• Accountability for poor cataloging and not following consortium cataloging rules. 30% of our time cataloging is spent de-duping and fixing things that other catalogers have done incorrectly. It is frustrating to have a new on-order book, and there are two large print records, and two or three regular print records. If we don't hold people accountable this will continue.
• Hire professional catalogers to go through the catalog and clean it up. Marcive obviously doesn't do it's job nearly as well as a human cataloger and there are a lot of duplicate/incomplete records out there. And not just merging records, but adding summaries, series, audience to the records so they show up better and more complete in a search. It feels like you're adding more libraries than you can handle and the catalog is suffering.

Our response:

I like the idea, though its difficult to increase the size of the Cardinal team. Our model has been a shared catalog with shared responsibilities. One of the things we’re focusing on as a team is how can we find ways to efficiently highlight issues and inconsistencies in the catalog and make it easy for catalogers to review and fix them. We’ve sent out some reports to member libraries like Orphaned Bibs. There’s also the Cataloging Reports that we need to continue promoting and developing: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=870 

The following are all related to the deduplication process:

• Deduplication needs to happen more frequently.
• Deduping as much as practical
• Encouraging merging records when possible
• De-duplication of records.
• Clean up records so there are not so many records for the exact same item.
• Consolidating records for items in the catalog - it's frustrating to find multiple records for the exact item.

Our response:

We did another round of our annual deduplication process this spring and are now trying to find ways to improve the process. Part of this may be identifying records that need attention so that we can ask catalogers to improve them in ways that will make them easier to dedup (like if they’re missing an ISBN or don’t have a format icon.)  

CATALOGING STANDARDS

Many respondents requested updates to cataloging standards, as well as improved oversight of those standards:

• Consistency in cataloging,
• Catalog search is often frustrating and time consuming due to inconsistencies in the way titles and series are listed. Please decide and use one way!
• It is probably time to update the entire cataloging document and it needs to be approved by all catalogers, not just the committee.
• Making sure that all libraries are following the Cardinal guidelines
• Clear guidance from the Cataloging Committee regarding best practices for catalogers.
• There needs to be a very straightforward message sent out restating the do's and don'ts for cataloging in Evergreen. Right now it's the wild west, people are doing whatever they want and it's disheartening to watch people override your hard work with something that isn't correct/proper.
• The Cataloging Committee needs to make a decision and help set a precedent when it comes to issues brought up on Basecamp.
• Greater Consistency in cataloging series; e.g.; some say series 1, some season 1, for same item
• I would like to see cataloging more codified so that any book that is listed in WorldCat as "mystery" (or other major genre) would have that in the descriptors. Sometimes books cataloged by Baker & Taylor do not follow that rule, just choosing the top 4 or 5 in an alphabetized list.
• I would like to see more training for catalogers so that hopefully the records could be more consistent.
• If everyone uses the same template, the results should be uniform and easily compared throughout the Cardinal system.
• More forward thinking by all cataloging members, such as if #h of the 245 has been obsolete for a while, the consortium needs to change with the times.
• There used to be youth age range choices when searching for appropriate materials. I understand that libraries don't care to catalog that way anymore, but it was really helpful when a patron would come in asking for Level 1 easy readers for their kid who loves animals. I would love to be able to more accurately target searches like that (maybe I'm missing some way that exists?)
• Cataloging categories
• Cataloging and subject tags. It is extremely difficult to search for items in Evergreen by subject since subject tags are wildly inconsistent.
• Increase discoverability of specialized member library services (for example, Wilson (not a Cardinal library to my knowledge, but a useful example) has 3d printing available in their maker space) so patrons can find and make use of non-local services if they need them, add to the collection of less recently published ebooks, organize cross-library promotions/events
• It would also be helpful to identify between hardcover and paperback.
• Patrons sometimes specify that they want a hardback edition of an item and it is difficult to find that information. It arrives from another library and is PBK but was not cataloged as such. Being able to check if an item is a trade paperback in Cardinal would be helpful.

Our response:

Best Practices and consistency are also really important to us. The experience of using the catalog and the effectiveness of search results are all based on the quality and consistency of the data we have in the catalog. We are approaching this a few different ways, through an emphasis on training and documentation as well as trying to identify issues that we can highlight for catalogers to fix. Much of our training in the past has been targeted to new systems, but we’re planning on offering more regular courses in the upcoming year on cataloging and circulation tasks for new and existing users.   

Request:

• Access to RDA toolkit and Bidex

Our response:

We subscribed tor access to the RDA toolkit for a few years but stopped the subscription due to low usage.

Reports

We had many comments about the reports interface in general:

• Accuracy of Reports.
• The reports module
• Better report function
• Better tracking of statics
• Easier reports
• More user friendly in the reports area.
• Report functionality
• Reporting instruction and more simplicity
• Reports - The ability to pull reports is an incredibly chaotic chore
• Reports should be made easier
• Reports should be simpler to use.
• Reports! They are very complicated.
• User friendly upgrades to the reports side of evergreen
• Reports More User Friendly
• Easy to use reporting tool(s)
• Improve the statistical reports so we don't have to organize and calculate.
• Easier templates
• Reports that are more easily created, shared

Our response:

This is probably our most frequently suggested training topic. We agree that the traditional reporter is not intuitive and has a steep learning curve. We’ve been pleased to see the development and release of Simple Reports and will continue to provide training on that as well as the traditional Reporter. 

Some responses singled out the availability of templates:

• Increase variety of templates
• I feel it would be helpful if Cardinal created a standard set of templates that meet the needs of the state reports.

Our response:

We generally create templates based on tickets we receive and then share them if we think they’ll be of interest to a broader audience. We’re open to suggestions! A list of currently available templates can be found in the Knowledge Books. 

And one request for a specific template:

• And I would LOVE to see this feature: a mechanism that would email me weekly/monthly with a list of frequently requested titles by my patrons that had to be shipped in from other library systems, so that I could buy those items for my system and reduce the burden on Cardinal resource sharing

Our response:

That sounds like a report we can make! Once we have finalized the template, we will reach out directly with information about setting up your recurrence schedule.

Notices

All comments about notices are below:

• Patron hold notifications need to be more reliable.
• Notification
• Ability to set auto-notifications for staff that are based on action triggers (available local hold request, items "timing out" on hold shelf, etc)

Our response:

We’ve been keeping a close eye on the utility server and making changes to the ways our notices are run to try to address the delays we’ve seen. We realize that notices are time sensitive and an important channel of communication with your patrons. 

Resource Sharing

HOLD TARGETING

All comments regarding the hold targeter functionality are below:

• Assigning holds to libraries within our County/Region FIRST (if the book is simply at another branch within our county more often than not the book is tagged to come from another Cardinal library across the state);
• Optimize hold targeting system,
• Producing an algorithm that will allow a requested item to come from a patron's home library before coming from Timbuktu.
• Pulling books from other libraries with the closest library and libraries who ship more often listed first
• Targeting request from resource sharing closer to the targeted library
• Holds targeted to local area
• To maximize efficiency, holds should be pulled from the locations closest to the branch requesting material, not the branch currently open at the time of the request.
• When placing holds, sometimes the zip code field appears so that the closest library can be chosen, which is VERY convenient, but other times it does not.

Our response:

We are on the cusp of rolling out changes that will begin altering Evergreen’s default mechanism for choosing which copy at another library is chosen to fill a hold. This should speed things up a bit, hopefully reduce costs and make the logic a bit more reasonable to a human. 

POLICIES

Some comments expressed concerns about damaged items:

• Better communication on how to handle damaged books from out of county libraries.
• Changes in loaning libraries accountability to lending library in regards to damaged/lost items.

To provide a response, we need a little more context:

Do you mean the libraries themselves being held accountable when their patrons lose items rather than just the patrons themselves?

Some comments requested shipping policies:

• Provide more concrete guidance on shipping. To save on shipping costs we tend to hold items when there are four or fewer going to a location. Once they have been on the shipping shelf for a week we send them regardless of how many items there are.
• Having Libraries send out items at least once a week.

Our response:

We currently recommend that libraries ship out at least once a week if they don’t have much going to a specific library. Perhaps it is time to review and update our recommendations in the Knowledge Books and publicize them a bit more.

Comment:

• I would like to be able to request from specific libraries for holds as before and not from every library listed

Response:

Do you mean from within your county or regional system, or to be able to pick from a list of potential libraries?

Requests for more frequent status checks:

• Some kind of system to keep items from languishing in "In transit" limbo for weeks at a time - alerts for shipping staff?
• Making sure that all Cardinal libraries know the importance of checking their hold shelf, transit list, etc.

Response:

We’re happy to emphasize this more.

Suggestions for best practices:

• Sometimes other systems keep books beyond their patron's check out period and give it to other patrons they have when our branch's hold should be priority.
• Everyone placing slips in books so slip is visible to read destination without having to open item
• Improving shipping by shippers putting correct shipping labels on packages and excess tape removed before packing boxes
• There are boxes that come in where there is not enough packing to keep the books, DVDs and audios safe during shipping. Other boxes come in that do not have anything over the top of books and those books are in danger of getting cut with the boxcutter when trying to open a package. DVDs and audios are not wrapped with anything extra and are just placed inside the box to rattle around during shipping. There should be some sort of training videos that may keep these matters from happening in the future.

Response:

I think in general we need to do some work this year to emphasize our resource sharing best practices and make sure everyone is operating from the same expectations.

Comment:

• Indicate distance from our library to library in which we are requesting,

Response:

Generally the way holds work is the system is constantly fishing around for available copies and adapting if an item isn’t pulled. So, it can be hard to know how far away something will be coming from at the time of placing the hold. 

Comment:

• I know the answer is no, but it would be WONDERFUL if Cardinal could look at our County's (Moore) holdings first before pulling from the other 4 counties in our Region (SRLS) to satisfy patron holds.

Response:

That’s completely logical. We’ve made a small tweak that should make this happen. We’d be interested to know if you see any change.  

DELIVERY SERVICE

Several respondents wanted to return to UPS:

• It would be great if we could switch to UPS again. FedEx is unreliable and they are not careful with our materials.
• It would be wonderful to have UPS back.
• Return to UPS
• SWITCH BACK TO UPS

Our response:

We’re investigating the possibility of returning to UPS. We’ll let you know more when we know more! 

A couple of comments were related to delivery windows:

• I would like to see Resource Sharing come in before noon so we have time to get the items checked in before 5:00 p.m. or before we close on a Friday at 6:00 p.m.
• Working on FedEx delivering on the same time each day

Our response:

We have some ability to adjust delivery and pickup windows, but it is a range of time rather than a scheduled time. If you reach out to help@nccardinasupport.org we can tell you what your current window is and adjust it if needed.  

TRANSITS

Several respondents requested more detailed transit information:

• In addition, it would be very helpful to know where in the transit process an item may be when it says "in transit". If more information could be provided we would then be able to provide better answers to our patrons. For example, has FedEx picked up the books or have they been received at the branch that does processing for that county.
• It would also be neat if we could somehow get a tracking number when books are shipped so we could give patrons a better idea of how long it would take for their books to arrive.
• Status of Items that are in transit from another library.

Our response:

I like this idea! Some systems keep more detailed tracking by scanning the items in their packages and associating them with a FedEx tracking number. Implementing this broadly might be daunting because of the amount of additional item level scanning needed. There are templates for using Excel or Google Sheets to track more robustly, which you can find on this page: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=357

Policies and Administration

GENERAL

Comment:

• Promoting involvement with the Evergreen community at large

Our response:

This is a favorite topic of Benjamin’s. Its a great way to know what’s happening and to be a part of the design decisions while they’re happening, rather than just when we upgrade. A great place to start is the Evergreen community mailing lists: https://evergreen-ils.org/communicate/mailing-lists/

Comment:

• Adding an Easy Graphic Novel in the catalog

Response:

Do you mean a new shelving location or format icon?

Some comments about growing the consortium:

• It's always nice to add new libraries for patrons' access to more items. I can't really think of anything else.
• Convincing the NC library systems holding out on joining Cardinal to join the "Nest."

Our response:

We’re happy to welcome anyone that is interested.

Comment:

• Removal of legacy fines

Our response:

We’re happy to do this for any library that requests it. Contact us at help@nccardinalsupport.org

Comment:

• It would be great if "home school" was a permission group.

Our response:

If it were to functionally behave differently than a typical Juvenile or Young Adult account, and was broadly supported across the consortium we’d consider it.

Comment:

• Accountability

Our response:

Its a privilege to support your library. We want to be responsive to your needs and accountable for the things we’re responsible for. One of the reasons we started publicly responding to the staff survey is that we wanted to be accountable for the responses that you share with us.  

MULTI-CARD POLICY

There were a few comments specifically about the multi-card policy:

• Consortium-wide decision about multiple cards - yay or nay.
• More streamlined card policies,
• A cohesive system on how to deal with fines/fees for other libraries.

Our response:

This is a topic we’re discussing in the User Experience Committee now. We’d like to make sure we have a clear, consistent and functional policy across Cardinal. 

PERMISSIONS

Comments related to permissions are below:

• Staff permissions for circulation transits, purges, etc.
• More empowerment and training as well as higher permissions and expectations for local system admins. This will require training, communication, and some community building. In my experience, the only time there has been any sense of community among the local system admins was during the Staff Permissions Project which, ironically, stripped away many permissions admins used to have. I realize this is easier said than done and would require a lot of planning, training, etc. But I would certainly be willing to work on such a project. We are an untapped resource, in my opinion. But I recognize that my perspective is limited in comparison with that of the NC Cardinal staff.

Our response:

We’ve begun offering training to administrators and have been bringing SLAMs more into local administration. In general, if library administrators are more empowered, it can ease the workload of the Cardinal team. It does however require training, documentation and shared up to date knowledge so that we’re all working well together. Some things like circ and hold policies function as an integrated system and so we need to administer those centrally with an eye towards making them consistent and cooperative.  

Support

Comment:

• More support for troubleshooting in lower contact positions

Response:

We’re open to ideas on how we can help. We’re planning on having regional in-person training and networking sessions this year, and hope that it will be an opportunity to learn more about ways we can support your needs.  

Praise

• Overall Cardinal is functional and the Tech Team are phenomenal!
• Overall, I think the NC Cardinal team is amazing, very helpful, well-informed, and supportive.
• Cardinal is an incredible resource with a great team leading it!
• Cardinal is fantastic, it is a wonderful resource for our patrons. If someway library staff could see a patron's reading list.
• Every interaction I've had with the NC Cardinal team has been very nice. You all are very competent and fair. Whenever the answer is not prompt, it is very well thought out and answers all questions. Dealing with this many libraries and personalities of people running these libraries can make mediating difficult, but I think you do splendidly.
• "Happy the Marcive update only lasts a few days, instead of 2 weeks.
• Love the map showing member systems. We display this for patrons to get a better understanding of where their materials are coming from."
• I appreciated the email sent out about overlaying records. I find this happens quite often that good records are overlaid. 
• I enjoy being a member of the Cardinal system! It gives a lot more options to our patrons! 
• I have enjoyed working with Cardinal
• I have only been a part of this system for a month, but it has been a smooth process.
• I love our linked libraries project, and want to know more about how we can support member systems in the Consortium who are facing unsupportive administrations - particularly throughout western NC.
• I think the most recent upgrade actually made the system more user friendly for staff and patrons. We are working hard to get our patrons more independent in searches and placing holds. Thanks for the many hours you put in to development. 
• I thoroughly enjoy using Cardinal; it's easy to use, easy to navigate, and it makes my job so much easier.
• Thank you for all you do!
• Thank you for all your hard work! We love NC Cardinal and the ability to give our patrons access to more items. Herding squirrels is always hard, but your team keeps us all going in the same direction year after year!
• Thank you for allowing us to provide annual feedback.
• Thank you for providing the opportunity to respond. 
• Thank you to the Cardinal Team for all you do.
• Thanks for all the work the NC Cardinal team does for our libraries! I appreciate the effort and energy from all of you.
• Thanks for all you do! I know I gripe about the communication thing a lot but overall you guys are fantastic and you all make this a great organization to be a part of. Thank you for that!
• Thanks for all you do! It is greatly appreciated by staff and patrons.
• Thanks for continuing to make things better!
• The Cardinal team is wonderful. They are so very helpful, always!
• The Help Desk assistance is top-notch!
• Very happy
• "You should have asked what NC Cardinal is doing well! I think you've asked that in the past, so maybe you all didn't get as much value from it as I think you might have. But I'll tell you anyway:
• To me, NC Cardinal staff are pretty engaged in Basecamp discussions. This is very helpful to those of us who put questions out to the community because your input usually carries more weight and authority. This is especially true when performance issues are occurring. It gives comfort to staff at member libraries when NC Cardinal staff and sometimes even MOBIUS staff confirm that reported issues are being heard and dealt with. Further, I've always been particularly impressed with Benjamin's hands-on approach to supporting our use and understanding of Evergreen. He regularly chimes in on Basecamp discussions with valuable input. Given the demands he must face as Program Director, I don't know where he finds the time or the bandwidth. 
• Additionally, I've always appreciated your approach to the ticketing system. You all are responsive and helpful. I know that it takes time to explain things to us, but please know that any time you take the time to do that, I'm taking the time to listen and learn so I don't have to ask you again. These explanations serve to further my understanding of the issue I'm writing to you about or the help I'm requesting. Getting explanations in context (that is, learning more about the problem at hand and providing me with the ""why"") is one of the best ways to learn. I do understand that you all are working with folks of all levels of understanding and proficiency with Evergreen, so this is a pretty significant achievement in my opinion. 
• Thanks for all you do. 

Thank you everyone for your kind words, helpful suggestions and thoughtful critique. We strive to provide excellent customer service and a professional service to meet the needs of your library and your patrons. 

5.4. 2023-2024 Annual Survey Responses

Annual Survey Comments and Responses

Each year in our Annual Staff Survey, we have a few open-ended questions we ask to solicit your thoughts. 

• What are the top three improvements, changes or additions you'd like to see the NC Cardinal team focus on? 
• Please share any other feedback you have.

This has been a great opportunity to get your feedback and figure out what we need to focus on. Some comments we can reply to with solutions or links to documentation that may help. Some suggestions may take some planning, so we’ve added them to our "To Do" list. Other times, we may ask for more information or clarification on what your thoughts are. We may think you're saying one thing when you're really saying something else, so forgive us if our reply misses the point. We appreciate the feedback, so if you're able to offer more detail or point us in the right direction, feel free to email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org

For changes to the Evergreen software that are out of our direct control, we’ve created a wishlist or bug report in the Evergreen community’s LaunchPad tool. (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen) This is the tool that the Evergreen development community uses to discuss and track software updates. If we found an existing Launchpad request that matched your suggestion, we've shared a link to it, otherwise we added your suggestion to Launchpad and shared a link to it. We encourage you to review those links, comment, “add heat”, or follow the progress of addressing the issue. (You will need to create a free account on Launchpad in order to comment or add heat to something.)

In general, if you want to submit further details or follow up on a suggestion the best way is to email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org Generally, screenshots of error messages, barcodes for patrons or items, TCNs and other such details may help us understand what you’re encountering. 

We really appreciate the thoughtful feedback everyone has offered. We want to be accountable to your input and transparent in our responses, so we've tried to respond to everything as best we can.

Benjamin Murphy, NC Cardinal Program Manager

 

Search functionality A more "Search Friendly" catalog Better patron side search Catalog searches seem glitchy. Improve title search technology Catalog search improvement Easier catalog searching Catalog search, make it more intuitive More user-friendly catalog Improved catalog results based on the way patrons search for items Searching often offers up different results with the same search criteria. Catalog search functions are sometimes inconsistent The search functionality is really at the core of Evergreen and one of the most important parts of the effectiveness of the software. We have made some tweaks in the last year, like adding MARC fields to search indexes to try to improve our results. Due to how integrated it is into the software, Cardinal generally has to rely on the larger Evergreen development community for improvements to search.  Improving search functions (more able to handle misspellings etc....we know it's being worked on, and we APPRECIATE it SO much) Is there anyway we could make the Cardinal catalog less specific when it comes to searching for titles? Often, if you are off by even one word, no search results will come up. Maybe we could have an optional suggestion mode that would mimic Google's "Did you mean this?" feature. Patrons often misquote book titles, modify the catalog search to allow for partial, incorrect, or incomplete titles to provide results that may be what the patron meant. Although it does permit a variation of this, it doesn't entirely meet the need. It can be difficult to find a book if you don't type the EXACT title in Improved search engine - instead of an empty return, show items outside of search range, ie: "No results w/in your search range, but here are some results further away." The "search the catalog" feature could be more intuitive to include results that are similar to what was searched for. Have Spell check options for searching in Evergreen Making search easier when you do not have EXACT title of an item Smart searching: Evergreen users must be exact on their searches as Evergreen does not take into consideration misspellings or offer suggestions. Patrons often don't know they exact titles, so we must first google their requests to ensure we have the correct spellings, then go back to Evergreen to search. Patrons themselves wouldn't do this, so any at-home usage would return no results. We'd also like to see some more modern search behavior in Evergreen, which helps users get closer to what they're looking for if they aren't precise in what they search for. Many of these sorts of core elements of the software take time for such big changes. As mentioned last year, we've been talking about how we might be able to support the implementation of Elasticsearch (https://www.elastic.co/elasticsearch) We'll keep on pushing for improvements. Search results come back with most relevant first This should be the case when you have Sort by Relevance chosen in the search options. That being said, the process of assigning relevance is part of the inner workings of the search process may have unexpected conclusions about what is relevant. If you see any unexpected results, we're happy to investigate. Better subject searching. Better keyword and subject search functionality -- occasionally throws back erroneous results We'd be interested to learn more details that we can investigate or suggestions you may have for improvements. To have the ability to easily click on subject headings in the MARC record. On the staff side, subject headings are clickable in the Staff View tab of the bib record. Would it be helpful for them to be links as well in the MARC View tab? And why can't I find "Through the Mountains" by John E. Ross when I search by author "John E. Ross" "John E Ross" "John Ross" "Ross, John" "Ross, John E" ?? Due to the way an author search performs currently, if you include additional information that is not included in the author field of the MARC record (=100 field), then you will not receive results for that author. Using John E. Ross as an example, the =100 field includes the information "Ross, John, 1946-" with no E. So if you search for "Through the Mountains" with "Ross, John" or "John Ross," you will get a result (though you may need to click through a page or two of results to see it). However, if you search for "John E. Ross" or "John E Ross" or "Ross, John E," you will get no results, because the "E" is throwing the search off. There is an active bug report for just this type of situation (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2059911) that will hopefully allow for searching of alternate versions of authors' names in the future. I frequently use split screen to make book lists or look between reading lists and searching the catalog. If possible, it would be helpful to make the left column (with quick links to authors, topics, etc.) In the catalog search collapsible so I don't have to scroll an entire page to get to the books when using a window smaller than the standard screen. Thanks for your suggestion. We're working on making this possible. Please add heat to this launchpad wishlist bug to get the community's attention onto the issue. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073988 Ability to export and import save search templates between terminals. I want to set up useful searches and share them with colleagues across my system to make it easy to quickly choose frequently used search parameters, but it's frustrating to have to set it up from scratch on each machine. We've added this suggestion to Launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1028663 More accurate filters (it often filters too much or not enough) More search filters for the catalog. Also, a more detailed search to narrow down items we are looking for, especially being able to select the age of readers. Search facets and filters are configurable, but also rely on existing data in the cataloging records to work. We've added this topic as one to discuss with our catalogers to figure out what's feasible based on the data we have. We can look into reader age filters specifically. Searching by Genre for books This can be done now by performing a Subject search for the genre. You can find more information regarding this in the Knowledge Book. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=48 Staff Catalog: When using the filters, you cannot see the entire listing (ex, the are four listing for Adult Large Print Fic...but this all I can see, even if I hover over it. This is extremely frustrating). We had that same issue in the public facing OPAC and made modifications to how the filters are displayed to address it. We'll investigate how we can fix it in the staff client.  I would also like to know why when doing a title search the system goes to a different screen where then in order to place a hold you need to click on Place a hold or patron view in order to gain any information. Sounds like you're referring to the staff search? Its hard to say why someone designed it one way or another. Recently, there was a new tab added labeled Staff View which shows more details about the item without requiring you to click through to the Patron View. We're happy to hear suggestions on ways to make it more efficient or simple. Hiding missing/lost on PAC when searching for an item Lost & Missing don't show up in the public OPAC, so we presume you mean the staff search. There is a Limit to Available checkbox on the search form, but that doesn't obscure lost and missing once you go to the item table for a record. I submitted a wishlist bug for this suggestion: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073989 Just a minor thing on my "wish list". When searching the staff catalog the default is the keyword search. I almost always click over to a search template. Would it be possible to have the search template on a machine just come up as a default? Makes sense. There's an active Launchpad bug for this request: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1028663 Smarter browsing. We're interested to hear more about what you mean by this. It would be helpful if series/volume numbers could be listed in the title when searching. If the series number is in the 245$n, it should be showing up in the public OPAC and the staff view. This might be a cataloging issue. We'd be interested in seeing examples of what you mean.  I also miss when we had the option of applying filters as to which reader's section we were looking for. Example: Imagine if I wanted to search for books on circuses, but I ONLY wanted material located in adult fiction. With our current model, you'd have to sift through a lot of children's books and non fiction to find what you're looking for. This should be possible by expanding the three dot menu in the staff search (to the right of the Search Terms field). It is also available in the advanced search page in the OPAC. Remove large print materials as a "genre" when initial search results are rendered -- doesn't make sense to list it there when it's ultimately a "form"; This is a result of cataloging items with a 655 tag of large print, clickable genre headings are populated through 655. When looking for a title, just put them all up and not just 25, 50, 100. If there are more than 100, we can't see them. If I'm understanding you correctly, there should be options on those results pages (usually in the top right of the search results) to click through to the other pages. Another short term workaround we use is to replace "&limit=10" in the web address to something like "&limit=250" to see more results on one page.  Ability to restrict searches to home library, in-house items a bit easier Not sure if you're referring to the public or staff search, but the typical path we use is to click on the "Library:" field of the search form. It drops down some options and you can start typing the branch name to see it on the list. In the staff search, the box at the top right also allows you to target a branch by starting to type the name. If you click on the Search Preferences link under the library name on the staff search, you can set your default search library, which may help to keep your searches scoped to what you're interested in seeing. E-resources in search More easily hide online or e materials Electronic Resources show up in catalog search results, even when you click to exclude them It would be nice if there were a better way to filter search results (for example, filtering out electronic resources when searching for physical items). If exclude electronic resources is selected then it should not show electronic resources on the search results. We've recently updated the "Exclude electronic resources" criteria so that it should exclude everything that has an item Form of Electronic or Online, or a format icon of e-book, e-audio, e-video or e-serials. We've found that some of the cataloging records we get from vendors aren't properly cataloged to be caught by these filters. If you come across examples of electronic records that are bypassing the e-resource filter, please let us know the TCN so that we can figure out what the problem is, find the other records that have the same problem and fix it in bulk. Automatically exclude electronic resources unless requested Automate "exclude electronic materials" because no one looks for electronic materials through a librarian On the patron side of the catalog, please make "Exclude electronic resources" the default search setting. We are constantly telling patrons that items are electronic and not physical items in our library. If you'd like to make this "Exclude electronic resources" checkbox checked by default on your patron facing OPAC search, we can do that. If you'd like, your library system also has the option of making electronic resources in the catalog not findable at all in your OPAC search results. Please submit a ticket if your library would like to completely remove these hits from your search results.  Include the Exclude Electronic Resources option in the Staff catalog. It was extremely useful. Don't understand why it was removed. This option is still available, but moved to the "Search Preferences" link shown on the right hand side when you're doing a catalog search in the Staff catalog. Server Speed issues Faster servers Less slowdown Platform stability System speed I feel like evergreen is freezing on searches and saves more than it used to. We struggle a lot with the system running slowly, so faster systems so things don't end up not working. Preventing slow-downs. As usual, I think the overall performance of Evergreen's system could be better, though I realize their are limitations in achieving consistent performance on a large system as this. I say this knowing you try your best, but I really wish Cardinal didn't go down/slow down so often. It has seemed a little better this year, but it still tends to be a bit unreliable. I do appreciate how hard yall work to get things up and running again when it goes down. This is something we're always working to monitor and address. If you're experiencing slowness, its helpful for you to post on the Incidents Basecamp list so that we can investigate the health of the servers at the moment and address anything that's happening. OPAC interface User self service (simple data changes, passwords, etc.) Could use an overhaul. Mobile-Friendly Site. I think an investment needs to be made for making the website mobile-friendly for patrons. Patrons find the website difficult to navigate and don't understand why there are multiple records with the same title. They would like to manage their own accounts, but get bogged down with the site functionality and records, especially those without any images to reference. In the last few years, we've made a variety of updates to the mobile view of our catalog. We'd love to hear suggestions on other things we can work on. (We have some thoughts on images and deduplication shared elsewhere in our responses.) Mobile friendly catalog or app Mobile friendly patron facing version &/or an app. More user-friendly public catalog Mobile app. Cardinal has looked into pricing of commercial apps, but we found that it was cost prohibitive to implement consortia-wide. Some member libraries have a choice to implemented an app called MyLibro and we're happy to help if you'd like to do this. The patron-facing user interface is both confusing and its search is either buggy or its algorithms need serious adjustments so that it returns fewer false positives. I should not search simply for "title includes tabernacle" and get several pages of items for which that is not true. When you perform a title search, you are also going to get results where the title appears in a MARC record in a =246 field, =505$t field, =730 field, etc., even if the title you are searching for does not actually appear in the =245 field. This is why it may seem like you are receiving results that having to do with the title for which you searched. Also in the patron side of the catalog if there could be a change in the page design to make the records more distinguishable from each other. When there are multiple records patrons sometimes think the item table refers to the item listed below it. We'll investigate adding more space below the item table or making the line between titles more prominent. Have simpler OPAC searching for patrons using only the features offered in Advanced view (Basic view is confusing) We're interested to learn more about what your ideas are. Something like a basic form that has a title and author field and the ability to add other filters? User-centric interface and experience I would like to see a more user-friendly patron view The catalog needs to be more user-friendly for patrons We're open to suggestions on things that could be done to make the interface more user friendly. More consistency between the search interface for patrons and staff. I recognize there are some things that general users shouldn't have access to, but I feel like the interface is different enough that staff who primarily engage with the staff client may not realize what their patrons may not be able to help We will pass this suggestion on to the Evergreen developer community. Ability to update webpage to opt-out of online payment button appearing for patrons Would this be for an individual patron to be able to opt out of seeing that option, or for a specific location? This is generally set at a library system level. Our best suggestion might be to have you submit a ticket so we can see what we can do to meet your needs. A kids library OPAC (that a child can use) A more kid-friendly version of the patron catalog. Evergreen has an option called KPAC which is a kid friendly OPAC, but we haven't invested much time customizing it for any of our libraries. You can see it by replacing the /eg/opac in your library's web address with /eg/kpac. If you're interested in developing it, send us a ticket. Interface--General Fix the problem that one has to click on submit after scanning the patron barcode in order to get into the patron account. This may be something that is configurable in your barcode scanner. Its possible to set it up so that it sends an "enter" character after scanning a barcode Allow the item status function to go directly to an out-of-county item scanned. We are not quite sure what you mean here. When you scan an out-of-county item in Item Status, does the item not appear in the list? Or are you asking if there is a way to make the Detail View appear immediately instead of having to click the button? Or do you want Item Status to take you directly to the item record? The functionality is the same for in-county and out-of-county items. Making it easier to reset columns after system upgrade. We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073774). We recommend library staff add heat to it so that it will garner more attention. Another slight annoyance I have is that after the recent updates (last year or so), whenever loading up Evergreen in any web browser, the screen has to refresh randomly before you can do anything. Not sure of the cause though, but no other website/service does this on our machines. That refresh behavior occurs when you log into the staff client using a web address that ends in 'nccardinal.org/eg/staff' Instead, we recommend updating your staff client link to end with 'nccardinal.org/eg2/en-US/staff' Your link should look like: https://yourlibrarysystemname.nccardinal.org/eg2/en-US/staff Tool tips would be wonderful (hover the cursor over and get a text that explains what a particular tool does.) Streamline the user interface of the software. If I could right-click and get further information and features in this fashion, that would be great. This is something we've been working on in the public facing catalog this year. On the patron facing OPAC, in the top left where it says Search the Catalog, we added a little question mark icon that takes you to a video on search basics. Within the staff interface, some of the MARC editor fields have this sort of functionality where you can right click and get a list of options, but we'd love to see more of this as well. We're all for suggestions for places tooltips and hints would be useful. Ease of returning back to a record you were just on. (*Placing a hold on an account from the catalog only, if the Patron requests something else you need to regain their card in order to fulfill that request. I should be able to do a follow-up request once that request is completed.) We found a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad. You can find it at the following link, and we recommend adding heat to it so that it gains more attention. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2009725 Easier way to search the catalog, place a hold and navigate back to patron record We found a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad. You can find it at the following link, and we recommend adding heat to it so that it gains more attention. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2009726 More staff/user friendly interface, We're open to any suggestions you have on how to make the staff/user interface more friendly. Column management: in all places: list choices in alpha order This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but we added a Launchpad bug for better organization of the available columns in the grid column selector: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073995 There are a couple of tweaks I would like to see in Evergreen as far as showing different information in different screens (I think it would be easiest to ask in person). Other than that it all seems to be working just fine. We're always open to suggestions! The UI in general is a bit difficult to use and clunky to navigate. A more intuitive UI would be ideal. Cardinal interface (more modern) User-friendliness. Ease of use for staff and patrons, More user friendly overall. Does not flow very well compared to other circulation systems. We're always open to suggestions on improving the usability and function of the software. Some of the elements we have control of, others are designed by the larger Evergreen community, but we can make suggestions and advocate for what we want to see. Error messages Inaccurate error messages, For instance, patrons attempting to place a hold on a new book get a confusing message - “Hold was not successfully placed" There are a few existing bug reports on Launchpad related to this. We recommend adding heat to them so that they will get more attention. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1576754 https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1974469 https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2017306 Circulation Interface More built-in shortcuts at circ (slow computers mean the fewer screens I have to go through, the better) There are several keyboard shortcuts that could make navigation more efficient. A  list is available in the Knowledge Books (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=452). Additionally, it's possible to configure the Splash Page to include more direct links to commonly used circulation functions. If you are interested in this, have your library's System Administrator submit a help desk ticket. Circulation needs to be more user-friendly for staff; User friendly circulation We're open to suggestions on how to make circulation more user friendly. Once a book is marked as lost it sometimes stays on the patrons account even after they have brought it back for check in. That's a issue we have that needs improvement A lost-then-returned item will disappear from the Items Out screen only when all bills linked to this particular circulation have been resolved. If there are still bills associated with the circulation, then the item will remain in the Other/Special Circulations tab of the patron account. Once the bills have been resolved, the item will be removed from the Other/Special Circulations tab and no longer appear on the patron's account. If you wish to have the item removed immediately upon check in, you may want to consider adjusting your library's void lost max interval, which is the period of time in which lost fees will be removed from a patron's account upon returning a lost item. If they return the item after the interval has passed, then the fees will still remain on their account. Patron accounts Group Accounts Another suggestion is to have allow the group leader see their group within the same account. Parents are having to login and out of multiple accounts to manage their children's accounts. They would like to see everyone within their own account to renew items and see any fines. Launchpad Bug 1791760 describes the need to allow group lead accounts to view all grouped accounts to pay bills. I've added heat to this bug and included your comment in the comments section of the bug. Feel free to add heat at https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1791760 by selecting the "Does the bug affect you?" option.  When creating multiple new patron cards at once (e.g. For a family with kiddos) it would be great if there was a "copy" function so that a new registration form could pop up pre-filled with certain information. I've worked in other systems where a "copy registration" option would automatically fill in phone, address, email, and patron status, etc...while leaving the name and date of birth fields blank. It just made the process easier and more streamlined when the same information is entered multiple times. Patron record, improve the cloning features for the ALL information to apply to new record. You should be able to clone a patron's contact information and home library automatically to use in multiple accounts by clicking on the "Save & Clone" button found in the top right corner of the Patron Registration and Patron Edit Screens. The Daytime Phone, Evening Phone, Home Library, and Mailing Address should be replicated into this new record. We'll investigate whether we can configure this process to include more fields.  It would be nice to have the patron photo option that we had in Polaris. This is possible by using the "Photo URL" field in the Patron Account edit screen. You will need to have an online repository where the photos are stored in order to link out to them. If this feature is used, the photos will show up at the top of the left hand column of patron information in their account. In general, the Evergreen community chose this solution to avoid having pictures stored in the database.  Library Browsing for patrons. Many patrons have the same name and it can be a pain to try and find one when their home library is both a) small and b) far down the list. If we understand you correctly, you should be able to limit your search to a specific library in the patron search field, by choosing the name of the patron's branch or system in the field that generally has a default of CARDINAL. If you're not seeing this field, click on the down arrow next to the Search button on the patron search form to see more options.  Improved/smarter patron search so that it's easier to locate duplicate records etc We agree! Right now its possible to search by DOB, name, etc. but we don't know of a good way to have a little looser of a search to find potential duplicates or matches that aren't strictly the same. We're open to ideas on what we could suggest to the community. Notes in patron accounts--would like to see "This Branch" the default depth level (vs. "Everywhere"). We've submitted a wishlist request to make this field sticky, so that if you choose System or Branch, it would default to that next time: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073999 Reducing the number of fields found under Registering a Patron. It seems so many of these fields we don't use. Streamline creation of new patron account by allowing us to hide unneeded fields Fields displayed on the Patron Registration form can be altered with library settings. Feel free to email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org and we can assist you in removing the needed fields from being displayed on the Patron Registration Form for your system Family account access There currently is the option of grouping accounts together so that you can see fines and overdues for all group members, if you pull up one of the member accounts. (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=493) Are there other things you'd like to be able to do? Add some sort of icon/color-coding to accounts which are members of a group so that it is clear and obvious they are grouped. We have created a wishlist bug report on Launchpad for this request. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2074010 Circulation history Our patrons continue to complain that they are not able to keep their reading history for longer than 1 year. I'm currently unable to locate any settings that control the amount of reading history a patron can see from the OPAC. We will investigate whether its an issue with the amount of data that is attempting to be retrieve in the patron's reading history verse the length of time. Past reading records of patrons Ability to see patron checkout history Reading history automatic keep for the patron - We can understand how this would be useful, but Evergreen developers made an intentional design decision to let patrons choose to opt-in to history tracking via the My Account section of the OPAC, so that patrons know about and manage the information available about their activity.  Billing and Payments It could be that I just don't have enough practice with this yet, but when looking into patron billing matters, history of payments, etc. It is not always the easiest to determine whether the patron made an actual payment toward a balance or if the fees were waived or adjusted by the system itself unless you do a bit of digging. Initially, in the transaction history it just says "paid" for everything. The billing actions are the most challenging for my staff. I can usually figure things out, but wouldn't say that it's intuitive. Any simplification would be helpful. I would love to see an easier way to find past fines for patrons Billing and refunding of overdue/lost material (the billing page/history/details page ) is all so hard to understand. We're planning on offering training this upcoming year on billing and payments. We'll make an announcement about it on Basecamp and would welcome any questions or issues you can suggest for us to cover. Change the system overrides of fines from reflecting that the fines were paid to reflect that the fines were forgiven. Are you referring to when we waive fines in bulk like when a library has an amnesty period, or something that the software does when it is accounting for things like returns of lost materials? If its something we're doing in our procedures for bulk changes, we can alter how we do bulk waivers. If its part of the way the software functions by default, we'd have to pursue it with the Evergreen developer community. Better fine system We'd be interested to hear more about what suggestions you have or what things you'd like to see improvements on. Also would like to opt out of fines/billing as my library doesn't charge fines. Some libraries do not charge overdue fees, so being able to set this in the system would save some patrons a bit of stress, especially if the fees catch up on them. We're happy to set this up for you. Email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org and we can update your circulation policies to be fine free. Means to collect on damaged materials. Right now, we have the normal processes of adding fines and notifying the patrons. If the fines aren't paid, some libraries use debt collection or debt setoff options that are available. We'd be interested to hear more about your ideas.  Credit Card Payments There are a few ways to receive credit card payments, such as AuthorizeNet, PayPal, PayflowPro, or Stripe. (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=386) Some self check machines also have the ability to receive and process credit card payments. Email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org if you'd like help setting this up. Cataloging Interface Making scratch bib cataloging a little easier. We have several MARC templates in the Knowledge Book that we recommend catalogers use as references when having to create bibliographic records from scratch. They can be found at the following link. We will be adding more templates in the near future based on specific item recommendations from catalogers, like graphic novels. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=32 Genre tags - Subject line in MARC records is too inconsistent to be useful Subject and genre headings are pulled from a number of different sources like Library of Congress, Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, Etc., Homosaurus Thesaurus, and so on, so some inconsistencies may arise, but we have a list of approved subject and genre heading codes we recommend catalogers use in the Knowledge Book. They can be found at https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=47. Additionally, the Marcive process reviews and updates subject and genre headings as necessary, though it may occasionally miss some as it only looks at records that have been edited within the past three months each time it is run. We are continually looking at ways to try and standardize different elements and fields on MARC records.  Please do not take away the "traditional" cataloging option; the new (and hardly improved) option is tedious at best. This is something that the community that develops Evergreen may eventually remove, and unfortunately its not something we have much control over. It's a big ask, but a more human-readable version of the MARC editor would be the second item on my list. It's well and good that the data is stored in a flat text format but it's visually noisy and unnecessarily difficult to manipulate in its raw form. If you typically use the Flat Text Editor, we would recommend trying out the Enhanced MARC Editor, as it more clearly separates out the individual fields in the MARC Edit screen, and you can make edits to each field in much the same way as you would in the Flat Text Editor. Some of the fields also have labels you can right click on to see options. If, however, you are already using the Enhanced MARC Editor and still find it difficult to use, accessibility-related changes are coming to the Enhanced MARC Editor with future Evergreen upgrades that should hopefully make it a bit easier to read/view. We're open to ideas and suggestions. Cataloging Standards Consistency with records creation General rules for how materials are catalogued so that most if not all systems enter records in the same way so it makes searching for items easier Over the years we've developed our Cataloging Best Practices with this goal in mind. One part of addressing this is figuring out what the norm should be and documenting it. The other part of the challenge is getting everyone that is working with records to know and follow the guidelines. Lately we've been approaching this by doing batch edits to MARC records to clean up easily correctable issues, but not every problem is fixable by these broad changes. More consistency cataloging graphic novels, We've spent some time discussing and updating our guidelines for graphic novels and manga recently. We've also recently done a mini-project to make them more consistently cataloged. Part of the challenge is making sure that everyone is aware of the updated guidance and following the guidelines. It would be nice to have clear/definitive rules for punctuation that are up to date so that items are cataloged uniformly, and records don't have to be unnecessarily changed based on differing opinions. We can work on defining this with our Cataloging Committee and publishing some guidelines. This may also be something we can fix in batch once we know what we're striving for. Documentation for templates/standards We'd be interested to learn more about what you mean. Are you referring to more content on our MARC templates pages? https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=32 I'd like to see more cataloging templates for each type of material with clear examples. More detailed templates for specific item categories in the Cataloging Knowledge book (having a board book template or a graphic novel template that includes the information in the appendixes instead of having to know to look for that information); This is something that we will begin working on, and we welcome any additional suggestions for specific items or materials that catalogers feel would benefit most from having their own item templates. Add an option for bilingual books -- as an example, it would be nice to more easily differentiate Spanish books from ones with both English and Spanish, especially as it pertains to children's literature This is something catalogers can do by adding 'Bilingual books' in the 655 field. Access to the RDA Toolkit We subscribed to access to the RDA toolkit for a few years but stopped the subscription due to low usage. More support for cataloging We're open to suggestions or ideas on ways we can improve support for cataloging. Catalog Cleanup "Cleaning up" the catalog - there are still too many separate entries for the same materials and I'd prefer to not be able to see records of items that are marked lost, stolen or missing. Cataloging clean-up/consolidation of records. Continuation of deduplication. Continue deduplication of MARC records (especially with migrations), Record merging More merging of records Make the titles of books in one "batch". One regular print title can be found in mulitiple locations/libraries. Get rid of old/duplicate records more often. Up until now we have only been able to schedule the automated deduplication process for once a year because it takes a significant amount of time and we have to coordinate the work with our hosting vendor Mobius. However, as we have continued to streamline the process and really hone in on the necessary criteria for a successful deduplication, less and less time will be required for reviewing and studying the results, making tweaks to the process, and performing tests. This may allow us in the future to schedule more automated deduplications throughout the year. For example, because we had such a successful run earlier this year, we felt confident enough to move forward with creating a new deduplication process that would focus on video materials, which have not been previously covered by the deduplication. Additionally, we have developed a new system for catalogers to review the "Needs Humans" lists and perform manual deduplications. We encourage consortium catalogers, as they have time, to continue to review the records we shared with them in buckets and to manually merge as much as possible. This will help further the success of future automated deduplications, as well as help to keep the catalog clean and orderly. Dedup process for other formats (dvds, audiobooks, technology, etc.) Our current deduplication process includes Audiobooks. We're currently in the midst of a process to deduplicate DVDs and other video content. Cover Images Pictures for books need to be added. Sometimes titles alone are not enough. Covers of books more consistently I would like to see more descriptions and book covers. What has been done so far is great. Have the library to put picture with the book items on the card catalog so patron know what book cover looks like Get more images uploaded to catalog items On a basic level, we rely on the free Open Library service for book covers. If an image is missing there, its possible to add it (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=353) Evergreen also has an option to upload cover images (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=818) In general, this is something we rely on catalogers throughout Cardinal to do as they see a title is missing a cover image. Seek out a vendor for better cover images. We've talked to several vendors over the years and are keeping our eyes open for other options. Part of the challenge is cost for a consortium of our size. Shelving locations More options for location (i.e. Easy Reader, etc.) More detailed shelving locations offered (i.e. Graphic novels) There currently are Graphic Novel and Easy Reader shelving locations. (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=99) Perhaps your library isn't using them? Being able to add more personalized categories to accurately reflect our shelving system in the catalog This is a balancing act we're always trying to figure out. Having Cardinal-wide shelving locations makes administration and policy configuration much easier. In a resource sharing environment, having shelving locations others aren't using can result in strange behavior when the book is checked out elsewhere. Its possible to add unique local shelving locations if you send us a ticket. Our general guidelines are here: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=99 There are too many shelving locations. I would like to hide the ones not used by my library. A substantial reduction in the number of Shelving Locations used for cataloging, OR ability to filter the Shelving Locations displayed locally. For example, our branch has only 31 Shelving Locations we use to catalog books, but the Advanced Search tool displays roughly 160 shelving locations. This makes it overwhelming to look at and use meaningfully for users. See for example the list at https://buncombe.nccardinal.org/eg/opac/advanced We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073976). We recommend library staff add heat to it so that it will garner more attention. Work to establish Graphic Novels as a *format* that can be filtered for, like Large Print, not just a shelving location. We can investigate ways for how best to accomplish this. Item editing Make 'put item into repair' part of the drop down menu under 'actions', no need to manually go in and change it under item holdings. Under Item Status, and under Actions, it would be nice to have a Mark Item As In Repair option. Add "put into repair" onto the drop down menu for item status instead of having to go in and manually change it, it would save a lot of time and efforts on circulation staffs end if that were the case. Being able to mark items as "in repair" at checkin; There is an existing wishlist Launchpad bug for this. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1862982 Baskets/Buckets/Lists Improve Buckets - make them two-way shareable, so others don't have to type the number in every dang time, but can 'save to favorites' or something. We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073771).  Buckets: please add "Author" as a category Buckets (and many other grids in the angular interfaces) allow users to add and remove columns. We have created new documentation in the KB illustrating the process of adding columns in buckets specifically. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=937 Buckets and Baskets: I am confused about the difference between buckets and baskets and how they work. I have tried using them to create lists of books to pull for displays, but after some time they timed out and emptied, so I stopped trying to use them. Is there a way to create permanent lists on your personal account, and permanent lists on the staff account so anyone can view them? Can you change the shelving location to all items in a bucket/basket at once? This would save us time when creating displays. Baskets will time out eventually. Buckets are permanent until you remove items from them. You can turn a basket into a bucket, or add items in a basket to an existing bucket. Offline mode Easier use of offline mode We will offer training in Offline Mode in October. Printing Duplicate receipt printing option of paid bills, etc. (I could be doing this wrong and that's why I can't get 2 copies of a paid bill receipt). When paying a bill, you can select the number of copies of the receipt to print by changing the number in the box labeled #Copies underneath the bills grid. Novelist Stronger integration with Novelist, in which when you search in Novelist it only displays items held by my library. We've made some changes recently with EBSCO that added specific information for libraries that were seeing generic availability. Have a look and see if this is still an issue. If so, let us know. Notifications-General HTML notices with direct links for renewals This is possible. A handful of libraries use HTML notices. If your library would like to set this up, please submit a ticket. Notifications-SMS Better approach for texting notices (less bounces) SMS notifications for holds on patron accounts (making it more consistent and reliable) Resolving text and email notification issues within Evergreen - consider moving to a 3rd party provider for this service. This is something we're actively working on deploying. We have a new contract for a service called MessageBee that we're working to implement. Moving towards a 3rd party patron notification system In addition to the upcoming changes with MessageBee, libraries are welcome to use 3rd party vendors for notices if they wish. At this point we generate daily exports for a few member libraries that use other tolls to notify patrons. Text notifications when items successfully renew. These notifications seem to only come via email. With us moving to an SMS vendor that charges per message sent, I don't expect us to expand the types of notices we send SMSes for this year. The cell carriers option for patron text updates needs to be updated to reflect the newer carriers that many patrons have been using in the past few years. We're happy to make updates. Please submit a ticket if you come across a carrier that is not listed. Resource Sharing More support with resource sharing, Open to suggestions or ideas on how we can help. Several libraries are taking a month to ship out and patrons are not happy. Based on your comment we've run some reports to look at how long things sit between the time they're captured and when they're checked in at the requesting branch. We found some instances where things took much longer than you'd expect, but the average time is a little over a week. If you encounter this situation, we're happy to look into it in the moment. Please contact Will, who takes the lead on Resource Sharing issues william.szwagiel@dncr.nc.gov Nonspecific Resource sharing improvements. It could be better, but I don't know how exactly. We're open to suggestions. Condition of items sent The mishandling of cds and dvds has been addressed recently. That was my biggest complaint and packing does seem to have improved. Resource sharing, making sure all libraries are aware of all that they should be doing. Some way to improve the quality/consistency of resource sharing staff shipping practices. This is something we're trying to address in our Resource Sharing Basecamp group. We've been publishing how to guides and expect to release our Resource Sharing Best Practices soon. Maybe shipping video and AV materials separately. I think it would cut down on damaged cases coming back from other Libraries. I'm not sure that this would be feasible financially. Every package has a built in cost before you take into consideration what it weighs and where its going. This could be possible for libraries sending multiple packages to one destination. Receiving items faster FedEx has a fairly consistent delivery time, but the delays tend to happen between when something is pulled and the time it takes to make it through delivery to hubs and branches. Resource Sharing Management (lowering or attempting to limit the number of items shipped to each location. We'd be interested to learn more about this. Is the idea to limit the number of items a patron can request? Limit the number of hold requests overall? Reduce the amount of things being shipped? A resource for all libraries to be able to access actual useful packing materials. In the past, Cardinal supplied a basic level of shipping materials but we found we were spending as much money splitting up the materials and shipping out to libraries. After discussions with our Governance Committee, we elected to discontinue distributing shipping materials and rely on libraries to source materials through recycling and local sources. Maybe videos on the dos and don'ts of RS, If you haven't seen it, check out the video Johnston county put together for us recently: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=903 Mandatory resource sharing training (whether in person or virtual), We've considered having assessments like catalogers have, but are primarily focusing on improving our training resources and communication about resource sharing best practices and guidelines. Hold targeting New target confirmation alert. Are you referring to an alert in the staff view if you retarget a hold? If so, there should be a green pop up in the bottom right of the screen that momentarily shows "Successfully Retargeted Hold" If you're referring to something else, we welcome clarification. Quicker system response when retargeting holds. I believe what you're seeing is the holds targeter process running in real time. It has to process the hold rules, look at the available copies, rank them and then try to target a new item. We will however see if there's anything we can do to speed the process up. Figuring out the holds re-targeting after 24 hours We're interested to hear more details of what you're thinking. Changes in proximity holds We're interested to hear more details of what you're thinking. Go back to pulling holds from 1st library not from the closest vicinity. We don't expect to return to the random process of grabbing a book from any library. All of those copies are still accessible, but the one that's closest is favored for efficiency and cost sake. Are there difficulties you've encountered with the closest proximity change? Retargetting when book is lost or missing at my library but won't retarget This sounds like this might be a case where there are not other available copies on that bib record? If you have a record for a book and the one it targeted is not available, you may need to redirect the target of the hold if there is another Cardinal record that is a duplicate of your record. The easiest way to do this is to merge your bib with the Cardinal record with more copies. Information on Retargeting Holds can be found here: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=528 If there isn't another bib with copies of the same title, this may be a situation where it is a Hopeless Hold. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=668 Hold pull list On the holds lists, it would be extremely helpful to have the option of printing a small selection from the list, ie. Check all Children's books requested, and then be able to select "Print selected holds" from the drop-down selection, instead of the current "Print entire holds list" option that we have currently. Another option is to go to the gear icon in the top right of the list and choose "download csv" This allows you to work with the list as a spreadsheet and delete any rows you're not interested in, or target the list to specific shelving locations or areas of your library. Finding where a patron is in the queue to get an item. It's clunky now. A way for patrons to see number on hold list The best suggestion we have at the moment is to show the Queue Position column in the Open Hold Requests grid on the patron account. You can add this column by clicking on the down arrow at the top right of that list. Be sure to then go back to that down arrow and choose Save Columns so that it shows up on your Hold Requests screen in the future. This will at least give you a sense of where their request is. In regards to holds, sometimes it would be more beneficial for a recently checked in item to go to the next person in the overall queue rather than the next person in queue at the check-in branch. This is particularly true when certain branches have fewer of an item circulating, like hot spots. Patrons at the branches with fewer hot spots would be left waiting weeks longer despite being higher in the overall queue. Opportunistic holds has some benefits to keeping things from bouncing around branches unnecessarily, but it also means that things can get siloed at the branch they get checked in at if they're popular there. As we continue to work with the holds targeter, we'll see if we can improve this behavior. Hold functionality and interface Placing holds even if 6-month protection. As we understand the behavior right now, patrons can not place holds on materials under six month age hold protection if their library does not also have a copy in a holdable status (including On Order or In Process.) There's not a setting that defines this behavior, so we will investigate what it would take to change this and the implications it might have for resource sharing holds. On the patron catalog, hold protection does not come up anywhere. This can make it difficult for patrons to place holds, and cause issues for staff that need to tell them about hold protection. There may be a slight misunderstanding, but the six months where books stay within their system- as I understand it works- should be mentioned somewhere on the patron side of the catalog for sure! Upon investigation, we're surprised to see this isn't explained anywhere on the patron side. Another comment suggests improvement to the Age-Hold error message, so we'll approach these two together. Fix the error message and find a way to refer patrons to details on what's happening with Age Hold behavior. In researching this, we came across this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1869893 Problem: All available copies are temporarily unavailable at your pickup library. Placing this hold could result in longer wait times.” Can't that just say "This is a new item and can't be placed on hold for 6 months" instead? "All available copies are unavailable" doesn't make any sense. This message can easily be updated once a consensus has been reached across NC Cardinal. We'll work on figuring out a better message. Records that are unholdable say so in catalogue We can investigate the options for showing more than Available or Checked Out in the public facing catalog. The challenge is that it may be difficult for the system to make sense of all of the reasons an item may be unholdable for the person viewing the record. Without logging in, the Evergreen knows certain shelving locations or branch collections may be unholdable, its hard to know if the item is or isn't holdable by the person seeing the catalog record. Once they log in, their home library, patron type and other information makes it easier to tell the viewer if that item is holdable by them. Make it possible to go directly to an Item Table for an item on hold in a patron account when we don't own the item instead of having to search for the item all over again in order to see where the patron is in line for the item. From the Holds tab in the patron's account, click on the title in the grid to navigate into the Bibliographic Record for the title on hold. From there, you can click on the "View Holds" tab to see a list of all holds on the item, and check where your patron is in that list. Alternatively, you can add the column "Queue Position" to the Patron Holds grid in their account by clicking on the down arrow to open the grid management menu. This will show you their place in the queue directly in the holds screen. Improvement to hold function We're open to suggestions or details of issues you've encountered. More flexibility within holds management to recognize when a closer item has become available after hold has been placed In general, the holds targeter is constantly running and looking for available copies. After a period of time, it resets and looks to see if a better, in this case closer, copy is available. This is configured to happen though only after about 36 hours, to give libraries a chance to pull the things that are on their holds lists. We'd be interested to hear more of what you're thinking.  Make it possible to change a copy level hold to a title level hold if necessary without having to make another hold further down in the list. A wishlist bug for this feature currently exists (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1738021), and the feature is currently in development. We recommend adding heat to the bug report. The Holds function is lacking when it comes to patron cancelled holds. They stay on the "clearable" holds list forever. When you try and delete it, it doesn't happen. The Holds Shelf does not want items to disappear from the list until a library staff member has physically pulled the item from the hold shelf and processed it accordingly. It acts as a kind of safety mechanism to make sure things are not left lingering on the physical hold shelf that are no longer on hold. In the case of cancelled holds, similar to expired holds, the recommended course of action is to check the items in the Checkin Items screen using the Clear Holds Shelf checkin modifier instead of using the button to clear them from the Holds Shelf screen. Allow the ability to place holds after searching for the item by looking up the patron name. Currently, the sequence takes one to the patron's account and the search for the item has to be done all over again. You may be clicking on the patron barcode after performing a search for the patron when going to place a hold on an item. If you do this, you will be taken to the patron's account and will indeed have to search for the item again from that screen to place the hold. Instead of clicking on the patron barcode, you need to check the box next to the patron barcode and then click the green "Select" button. This will take you back to the hold screen with the patron's information filled out so you can place the hold. Placing holds on books that are branch libraries and not having to force holds for patrons. We are not entirely certain what you mean by this. Are you encountering a situation where, when a hold is placed, the hold is captured by an out-of-county library rather than a local, branch library that also has the item? Also, you should not have to force a hold for a patron unless you are attempting to place a hold on an item that is not actually holdable or may otherwise not be available for holds (such as an out-of-county item with a six month hold protection on it). Combine records or permit users to place holds on multiple records and allow for grouped holds. This is possible using the Metarecord Hold function. You can find detailed instructions for using this function in the staff client and the OPAC in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=471 Making it easier to put multiple copies of the same item on hold (for book clubs). This is possible using the Hold Groups function. You can find detailed instructions on setting up hold groups for book clubs and other groups, and instructions for placing holds for these groups in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=819 A Netflix-like queue system for holds would be immensely helpful. That is, if you have a list of 20 books you want to read in a specific order, then as soon as you return one it puts the next in the queue on hold for you. If not available, it waits until it is rather than pull a different book in the queue. We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073773). We recommend library staff add heat to it so that it will garner more attention. Transits Better tracker for 'in transit' items - we could better inform patrons on expected arrival times. If you're not aware of it, one of the tools you may find helpful is the Transit List, which is available under the menu Administration > Local Administration. It lets you see everything that is in transit to or from your system, sort by the send date, shelving location, destination library, etc. That being said, while things are in transit it can be hard to know where they are at the moment. FedEx has its own tracking, but that's not at the item level. We're considering changing to a courier and the tracking options would be a key consideration for us. Better tracking of outgoing materials. "In transit" doesn't always help with locating items that have been gone a long time... When was the item last check-in? Where was it last checked in? Some libraries use the tracking sheets linked to on this page: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=357 This is an area where I think we could also create some reports to provide details on where the materials in your collection are at the moment. No defined explanation bout "In Transit" for a book on hold Essentially, that means that the material was checked in somewhere and belongs or was needed somewhere else. It can be traveling for a patron request, or coming back to its owning library. Booking module Meeting room system Evergreen does currently offer a booking system that can be used for meeting room reservations. There are detailed instructions on setting up this function in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=130 Patron side meeting room reservation options While the Evergreen Booking Module does allow for meeting rooms reservations, it is currently only functional from the Staff Client. There is a wishlist item to add booking options to the OPAC. If this is something your library could benefit from, please add some heat: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1942097 Updates and upgrades Some of the upgrades are not actually upgrades and make it harder to do our daily activities We can appreciate that perspective. There are a variety of voices involved in the process of designing Evergreen and the changes that are made. Developers may think they're doing something that's help, when in fact it complicates your workflow. Our best suggestion is to give us feedback so that we can relay that back through the Evergreen community Launchpad site. If possible, I'd like to see Evergreen upgrades done more often than just once a year (at least twice a year so we're more up to date with Evergreen additions/fixes). This may be more feasible now that Evergreen is web based, but there is lot that goes into testing and training each time we do an upgrade. We don't know that upgrading more than once a year is feasible at this stage. Training before upgrades occur could be better, and the basecamp email thread is sometimes too technical for me - it does not focus on the activities that we do here on a daily basis. I am not a cataloger. We will continue to hone and work to improve upgrade training webinars. Additionally, this year we will increase our upgrade training to include follow-up training opportunities after the upgrade is live. Better updates We're open to suggestions on how to improve the experience. Reports Reports Clearer failure logs on reports, Clearer reports in general I still find reports very unclear. Improved reports. Reports that are easier to run and receive. Make running reports easier. Making reports easier, Making reports easier/better Making the reports easier to access, Reports Reports Reports, Reports, Reports REPORTS!!! (make them more user friendly) Reports are a total disaster; Reports are cumbersome and incomplete Reports Reports and the format, Reports Reports Make reports easier. Training on how to use reports, Easier to create reports; More report training. Always need more info on Reports. I would love to see reports actually work they way they seem like they should. Half of the template I've used or tried to make sometimes run or sometimes don't. Reports will often generate blank data even if it appears you followed the template to the letter. Some reports work fine, but many do not. I have also had reports disappear (templates I used and modified which were saved in my custom output). This would also lead me to question whether or not circ staff have the ability to ever create our own templates? Reports generally are not the most user friendly, and simple reports do not always have the features we need for more complex uses. We recognize that the reports feature has a steep learning curve. Evergreen 3.13 will include updates to the reporter which may improve it's usability. Once the upgrade to 3.13 is complete, we will continue to offer training on reports, via webinars, at the in-person regional training events, and through asynchronous methods including videos and Niche Academy. Please feel free to reach out to us with requests for content on creating and running specific types of reports, and we will be sure to address those needs in our training materials. When a reports fails, we encourage you to submit a ticket that includes the fail log you received. We understand that these logs are not very clear, but we are always happy to look into them for you. I would also like a document describing different report functions in detail, as I refer back to the video training at times, but it is hard to find the correct timestamps. And more help with reports. Sometimes I can't find the report I'm looking for or I have trouble setting up reports in Simple Reports. I wish that a report didn't require so many steps. Reports are just not user friendly. Clear descriptions of report templates and what exactly the report retrieves. There have been many requests for updated descriptions of reports. We will begin to revisit the Centralized Reports Template after the upgrade and work to improve descriptions. Reports training, preferably in smaller, in-person groups where we can actually create/edit/etc. Reports ourselves. Once the 3.13 upgrade is complete this fall, we will begin offering training (live and pre-recorded) and publish new documentation about the updated interface. Regional trainings will continue to offer reports sessions as well. Reports training videos We have plans for a new batch of reports training videos this fall to reflect the changes coming to the Reporter. Provide ways to see how different genres/call numbers are doing per branch. We've added this to our list of projects and goals for the upcoming year. Streamlining or providing report templates A wide variety of report templates exist in the Centralized Reports Templates folder. You can find information about content and accessing this folder in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=726 Report cleanup (lots of duplicate templates) There have been many requests for updates to the Centralized Reports Templates content. We will begin to revisit the Centralized Reports Template after the upgrade. Get ALL CONOSORTIA together to pool money stop incremental improvements and do one massive overhaul on reports. Forget simple reports and start from scratch. That's an interesting suggestion. We're glad to see some focus on the reporter lately, and though the Simple Reports doesn't meet some people's needs, it and the changes that are coming in our next upgrade are the result of an awareness that Evergreen's reporter needs improvements. We'll keep pushing for progress. Training Continue Basecamp postings and refresher training webinars (especially for cataloging etiquette and best practices), We will continue to announce training opportunities via Basecamp, email, and the State Library's Train Station. We have developed a Knowledge Book Page for upcoming training events: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=930 Offer training specifically for slams. We will be hosting a SLAM training webinar in December. Keep an eye out for more details. I would like to see better training support for migrating libraries, Our next set of migrations has already begun, and we have taken the downtime since our last migration to re-design and hone the training provided to migrating libraries. If you have specific advice based on your own migration experience, please reach out to samantha.oconnor@dncr.nc.gov with ideas and suggestions. More virtual training opportunities, Continuing training sessions across different jobs/modules, More training especially in person and especially step by step basics of underused or time saving topics in evergreen/Cardinal; I would like to attend a class to learn more. More training, More virtual meetings for library systems that are more rural and can't always make it to in person. Have more training opportunities at best available days and times (virtual preferred), Continue to add more training sessions (both in person and virtual). Planning for training opportunities in the 24-25 fiscal year is underway, with 1-2 virtual training opportunities available each month, with both morning and afternoon sessions, and drop-in open training on rotating topics on the third Thursday of each month. Additionally, all webinars will be recorded and made available for those who were not able to attend live. More on-hand training visits, especially when there are updates or upgrades. We have a fresh round of in-person regional trainings planned for this year. We're also planning on increasing our upgrade training this year to include follow up training opportunities after the upgrade is live. More Cataloging based training for catalogers in Technical Services. Offer training on basic cataloging, item and bib, covering topics that are not clear in the Knowledge Books so that hopefully records can be more consistent. More cataloging sessions, More cataloging training webinars, This year we intend to host at least 3 cataloging webinars, and our in-person regional trainings will include cataloging specific sessions. Please make more asynchronous training workshops available, so that staff with widely diverging schedules have the same learning opportunities as daytime & full-time employees. All live webinars and workshops are made available as recordings afterwards. Additionally, this year we will continue to develop video series offering training in individual functions related to various topics in Evergreen. Interactive asynchronous training is available in Niche Academy (https://my.nicheacademy.com/nccardinal) and we will continue to add content there as well. Streamline training on packing resource items, We will continue to add to our resource-sharing training in Niche Academy, as well as through videos, virtual workshops, and in-person at the regional training events. You may find the Video or Step-By-Step guide on this page helpful if you're not familiar with it: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=90 I feel like we rely heavily on outside webinars for item specific cataloging training (graphic novels, magazines/serials, etc.) And I think it would be helpful to have all of that in the certification training or more clear/understandable in the Knowledge Book. We intend to host at least 3 cataloging webinars with content related to the Evergreen software, and our in-person regional trainings will include cataloging specific sessions. This is in addition to the training content provided widely by the State Library on general cataloging rules and best practices. In-services could use a tailored way for small libraries to fit in. What I felt at the Kinston session was libraries with folks that had one or two services they primarily worked in where the smaller libraries have jack of all trades where the staff is 1-2 and they do it all. I do not have time to sit and peruse the Knowledge book at will. The place stays too busy. The session was good but to go back and "work" on anything gleaned was pretty much a no go. As we continue to hone the regional in-person training events, we will try to find new ways to ensure all staff needs are considered. If you have specific suggestions or ideas, please reach out directly to Samantha O'Connor at samantha.oconnor@dncr.nc.gov. Documentation I would like for there to be a revision date on the articles in the KB. At your suggestion, we've added a dynamically generated last update tag to each KB page. Additionally, the KB is not as 'in the weeds' as I would prefer, as I sometimes get very detailed inquiries that I cannot answer and have to consult the support form (which is fine but is an extra step). We try to balance having thorough documentation with not having so much content that its overwhelming. That being said, we're happy to get into the weeds where its useful. We're open to suggestion on what we should add documentation for. Updated information and templates on the Knowledge Books for cataloging. We have received some recommendations for new templates for specific items like graphic novels, and we will be working to create these templates. We are open to suggestions for other templates, that we should focus on. Increased Clarity on processes Making sure knowledge book information is updated. Keeping updated knowledge book. Make instructions easier to understand More documentation would be nice We are continually adding to and updating the Knowledge Books. As we find processes that need to be clarified, or functions that are not fully explained, we make an update to edit, expand, or clarify. Please let us know if there specific pages or processes that need to be revised for clarity or added detail. A new layout for the Knowledge Books - the landing page is a little scattered, We'll see what we can do to simplify the landing page. Communication--Cardinal Communication via emails Some sort of easier communication channel than Basecamp. Basecamp isn't everything we need it to be. We used to use mailing lists and they had different challenges. We're keeping our eyes open for other options, but we also have a lot of history in Basecamp at the moment. More communication on Evergreen outages, card holder policies and updates To keep up to date on outages information, please subscribe to our Incidents Basecamp group. Our updates should be in our General Discussion group. We should have more updates on card holder policies in the upcoming year. Continuing communication We can do that. When updates are made in the knowledge book be sure to share to all platforms, possibly consider also including emails. If staff is out for a week some updates quickly get buried in basecamp. We can do that. The aforementioned letting us know who all is going to be added at once and not a month or so before the systems/libraries are added. We can do that. Continue to inform all users of Evergreen of updates and changes. Notification about Evergreen version upgrades, even the ones we do not partake in. As Evergreen seems to do a large version upgrade twice for every upgrade of ours, some new minute features can slip through the cracks when we upgrade to the new version. We try to keep everyone up to date on when we're preparing for an upgrade and summarize what we expect those changes to be, with a link to the full version notes. For the bigger picture of what's happening with Evergreen, we try to post the interest groups that are happening, but in general we suggest subscribing to Evergreen's General Discussion mailing list to keep up on the software's development https://evergreen-ils.org/communicate/mailing-lists/

Basecamp

Basecamp needs reformation.

We'd be interested in suggestions of how we should reform it. We're always working to try to find the best way to make it suit the consortium's needs.

Some sort of easier communication channel than Basecamp.

We used to use mailing lists and they had different challenges. We're keeping our eyes open for other options.

Control of number of emails coming from basecamp, less is more. Resource Sharing needs to be a more relaxed environment. Kindness in general is a must for me and some responses from consortia library concern me. I would like to see some tighter Basecamp guidelines (i.e. Enforcing some kind of etiquette on the Resource Sharing page), Listserv communication etiquette guidelines created/enforced.

This year we've been developing some Basecamp Best Practices for posting, responding, etiquette etc. that will also include some tips for how to reduce and avoid extra email traffic.

Improvements on communication within Basecamp is noticeable.

That's encouraging to hear!

And the basecamp email thread is sometimes too technical for me - it does not focus on the activities that we do here on a daily basis. I am not a cataloger.

We've tried to have a variety of Basecamp groups focused on different topics so that library staff can choose the ones most suited to their job and interests. This year, at a librarians suggestion, we added a Tech Discussion group for folks that are interested in a deeper dive into some of the technical and configuration options available. If you'd like to leave a group, there should be an Unsubscribe link in the bottom of the email notification you receive, or contact the Cardinal team and we can remove you.

Permissions

Able to merge records again (at least some people from each branch)

We're not sure if you're referring to bib records or patron records. For bib records, a bib cataloger should be able to merge the records. For patron records, Branch Admins or System Admins should be able to merge the patron records. If you encounter issues with merging, please submit a ticket so we can figure out specifically what's going on.

Passwords

Updates to staff portal (like being able to change the password) The only thing I can think of is subtle quality of life improvements like being able to change staff passwords from the staff side of evergreen (and this is already being worked on if I remember correctly from our training)

This functionality will be rolled out in our next phase of staff password project

Student Access

Student access needs to be up to date.

We rely on the school systems to send us updates. We're happy to receive and process the feeds as often as they provide them.

Migrations

A bit more support for newer libraries in the way of asking about processes and checking in more frequently

We're happy to help however we can as you're getting adjusted and settled. Newly migrated libraries are more than welcome to schedule follow up calls with the Cardinal Team, after the migration has been completed to discuss and resolve specific issues regarding workflows. Migration mentors assigned to migration process are also accessible after Go Live to provide continue support in areas that may be best addressed by library staff member with front line experience.

Consortium growth

I would love to see more libraries being added to NC Cardinal. It's been a good while since we've added a new one, so I wonder if the benefits of being an NC Cardinal library need to be promoted more throughout the state at an administrative level and a patron level.

We're in active conversations with other libraries that are considering joining in the future and are always open to talking to libraries interested in joining Cardinal.

We need a quick link to a list of all the member libraries (Counties, branches, addresses, and contact information) within NC Cardinal; this would be helpful not only for staff to have access to for patron queries, but also for libraries to have as a quick link on their websites.

This information is scattered throughout our Knowledge Book pages, so we made a page that links to all of them: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=939

Other

A different alert sound

We have created a wishlist bug report on Launchpad for this request. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2074009

An ability to print out an itemized list of lost items for patrons that includes title/author.

If you go to the top right of the list of lost items you can choose to add Author to that list (referred to as a grid) Then, you can go back to that down arrow and choose Download Full CSV, which will allow you to look at that same information as a spreadsheet, reorder it and print it. (Don't forget to go to that down arrow and choose Save Columns if you want Author to always show up when you look at that list)

Data-driven decision making

We like the sound of this and are interested in learning more about what you mean

Legacy fines

We're not quite sure what your comment means, but we're interested in learning how we can help with legacy fines.

Support regarding book bans and censorship.

The State Library Department NC Cardinal is a part of, Library Development, is actively engaged in supporting libraries addressing book bans and censorship. If you need support, please reach out to Library Development Director Sarah Gransee at sarah.gransee@dncr.nc.gov We're here to help!

Support

We're open to suggestions

I would like to see more configuration options for the Cardinal catalogue. I would prefer it if our library's catalogue could display our own color scheme and branding rather than a unified Cardinal presentation.

In recent years, we've rolled out a variety of customization options (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=887) if you'd like to make any of these changes, please submit a ticket.

And a clear, finalized multi-card policy.

This is something we've been discussing and are working our way towards an up-to-date policy. Our existing policy was put together about a decade ago, in a time before there were as many Cardinal libraries in adjoining counties.

Checking "in" books that get "lost" in the system until they reach their destination

We'd like to learn more about what you mean.

Bring back fines

This is a decision made by each library individually and not a policy Cardinal sets

If possible, adding the sort by owning library distance to the staff side of the catalog would be greatly helpful when trying to locate the closest available copy of an item.

We'll investigate whether we can do this. Thanks for the idea.

Praise

As of now I'm very pleased with the Cardinal team. I appreciate your focus on improvements throughout the year. I think the team is doing a remarkable job. This is my 3rd year working in NC Cardinal libraries; I have used the Knowledge Book extensively and read Basecamp discussions daily. These resources have been my main source of learning the system. They are much appreciated!

We appreciate the helpful comments, suggestions and feedback from you all!

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NC Cardinal is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.