Wednesday 10 August 2011

SOLO update: what's now working, what's still not quite!

The various bugs and glitches with the new library system and SOLO are gradually getting sorted out.  Here's an update on things that have been fixed and things that are still problematic:
  • Hold (stack) request notifications: You should now receive emails when your stack requests arrive at the reading room. This should help with the problem of knowing when to expect things, as SOLO no longer gives you an expected arrival date/time. In general, the standard advice is that requests take 24-48 hours to arrive, but with the notifications you will now know as soon as they do, whether they take longer or (hopefully usually!) shorter than that.
  • VHL stack requests: These are still not fully working, but progress has been made and I'm hopeful you will be able to put in requests 'properly' via SOLO soon.  In the meantime, we will continue to fetch things up using the manual request slips.
  • VHL stack location - "remote store": All stack books from all libraries, regardless of location, are listed as being "remote store" on SOLO. Please be reassured that if you see "remote store" for a VHL book, it is not remote at all, but is in fact in our stack here on-site. 
  • Hold (stack) requests for multivolume works: It is not currently possible to request more than one volume of a multivolume work via SOLO.  We can override this from the staff side, so if you want more than one volume of a work let us know and we will place the request for you.
  • e-shelf data: This has now been migrated, however there are reports of a few people who still can't see their old data as the systems failed to match properly.  If this applies to you, then please let a member of library staff know and we will ask for your data to be migrated to you.
Otherwise, things are working ever more smoothly. If you do come across problems using SOLO/placing hold requests etc, please let us know or report them using the feedback link on SOLO itself.  If you're having difficulty finding your way around SOLO in the first place, then take a look at the online guide or ask us for help.

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