SWAN Member Libraries and Information Technology Staff:

Beginning late in the evening of July 3^rd and throughout the day on July 4^th, SWAN will be performing database maintenance on our Symphony server to incorporate new bibliographic updates from MARCIVE. This maintenance will require rebuilding the full catalog index and committing the changes back to the database, a process that can take up to 24 hours.

During this time, there will be no access to Symphony WorkFlows or SIP2-connected hardware. Other external services may experience brief outages during this time, but access to digital media, reference databases, and Enterprise should remain largely accessible.

The work MARCIVE is doing for us has two major aspects: authority control and bibliographic enhancement.

Our entire bibliographic database has been analyzed for access points, and we will receive a fresh batch of name, title, and subject authority records to reflect our combined collection. We are also taking this opportunity to begin collecting authority records for genre terms and medical subject headings (MeSH), which were not previously part of our database.

The bibliographic enhancement includes many small fixes to various fields, but the most compelling of these are:

1. Updated Access Points -- Previously, when name, title, and subject authority headings changed, we would receive updated authority records, but our bibliographic records would not be reflect the new headings. These headings are now being converted to their authoritative forms, which should enhance the searching experience in both WorkFlows and Enterprise.
2. RDA Conversion -- We are also updating all records cataloged according to older rulesets to the current RDA standard. For now changes will be mostly cosmetic for a more uniform user experience, but this conversion opens doors for us to use our database in new ways going forward.

Please note that this new bibliographic processing is also a part of our continuing MARCIVE service, and all newly-cataloged records will receive the same treatment. Therefore, it is not necessary to change your copy cataloging workflow in any way.

As this process requires considerable changes to the Symphony database indexes, some server downtime is required, which will affect most Symphony services. Please see the list below for the specific services impacted.

- Symphony ILS Services – Complete outage after library close Tuesday evening (7/3) through Wednesday (7/4). These services include:

• WorkFlows (staff working on the holiday must use Offline mode for checkout; no check-ins please)
• SIP2 connected hardware (AMH, self-check)
• SIP2 connected library software (PC reservation, print release)

- Symphony Web Services and External Authentication Services – Intermittent outages late Tuesday evening (7/3) through Wednesday (7/4) that will impact the following services:

• Enterprise My Account functions (including payments)
• Enterprise material availability
• Digital media/eRC/reference databases
• BookMyne
• MobileCirc

- BLUEcloud Analytics harvests will be suspended from July 4^th (early morning) until July 6^th (early morning) while the rebuild runs. The BLUEcloud Analytics system will be available, but the July 3^rd-July 5^th transactions will be delayed in loading.

- Important Note: We know that some libraries have staff process items from the book drops on holidays – please know that the system will not be available for checking in those items. Please also refrain from using WorkFlows Offline mode to check in these items, as the items will not process correctly

This downtime will begin Tuesday, July 3^rd at approximately 8:00 p.m. and run through Wednesday evening. SWAN will send a follow-up message when the database maintenance has completed and staff can resume normal work practices. We anticipate the system to be available before business hours on Thursday, July 5^th. We'll also be posting a banner on Enterprise to inform our patrons of the potential for intermittent outages.

Please email help@swanlibraries.net if you have any questions or concerns about the upcoming system maintenance.

Thank you.

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SWAN Library Services

800 Quail Ridge Drive - Westmont, IL 60559

Email: help@swanlibraries.net

Phone: 844-SWANLIB (844-792-6542)

https://support.swanlibraries.net/