Keeping current with our software makes it possible for us to move quickly when important enhancements are available. It also ensures that we have all fixes in place. We choose to take each upgrade up after the release has had a period of use and vetting.

Sierra 6.1 Upgrade 1/29-30

Export a table of User Permissions

• Exporting user permissions will enable library administrators to easily review and compare the permissions assigned to each user to:
  
  • provide a comprehensive list of permissions to managers for review of roles
  • spot any gaps where a user is missing a permission they should have
  • spot any redundant or inappropriate permissions that have remained from previous roles.

  A new option to “Export Permissions” was added to the Admin App

  Re-bill Patrons for Outstanding Charges

  Libraries want to be able to send follow-up bills to patrons who owe the library money for lost materials and other unpaid charges. This enhancement provides a configurable setting that allows the library to send multiple bills to patrons with outstanding balances. The library can configure how many bills will be sent and how many days apart the bills can be prepared. The new Repeated Bills notices must be configured by the library after upgrade and prior to sending the follow-up bills to patrons.

  Reprint Bills

  Library staff will be able to reprint a previously sent bill from the patron’s notice history. Bills can be reprinted from the Fines tab of the patron display using either a new right-click menu option or the Reprint Bill button. To be eligible to be reprinted, a bill must have been sent after upgrade to Sierra 6.1 and in the last 60 days and must still have a balance due. Bills that are more than 60 days old or have been fully paid or waived are automatically purged from the Sierra database. Staff users must have permission 361 to reprint bills.

  Show Time of Last Status Update Date

  Based on customer requests, the last status update date introduced in Sierra 6.0 has been enhanced to show the date and time the status was last changed.

  Add Last Status Update Date to Create Lists 

  The last status update date field has been added to Create Lists to allow library staff to search for records using this field, and to list, sort, and export data using this field.
  
  Bonus-not published in release notes!

  When an item with a pop-up message is checked in, the message includes Title, Author, Call number and Barcode.
  The example below is a test record, but I think you get the gist of how the message is now appearing

Sierra 6.0 Upgrade 9/14/23

View item status change date:
Starting in Sierra 6.0. Sierra will display the last date an item status was updated when a user hovers over the status field in an item record. The last-status-update field is also included in the SierraDNA Views as part of the item record status view. Note: the last_status_update field will be empty until the item’s status changes after the library as upgraded to Sierra 6.0 or higher

View patron record from Holds screen:
This enhancement allows an authorized staff member to see the patron information when viewing an item, volume or bib-level hold in order to easily identify the correct patron in the holds queue. If the staff user is not authorized to use permission 161 (View patron records), 162 (Create patron records) or 164 (Update patron records), the override permissions pop-up is presented.

Display due date and status in Holds/Bookings view
Sierra will display both the status and the due date of checked-out items when searching the catalog so that staff can easily differentiate between normal checked-out items and those that have additional status information.

Display statistical group name in item record
Sierra will display the descriptive name of the statistical group in the checkout location (OUT LOC) and checkin location (IN LOC) in the item record so that staff can easily interpret the location information without memorizing the Statistical Group Maintenance table.

Sierra 5.6 Upgrade 3/20/23

This release fixes the following bugs

• Keyword searches limited by year do not retrieve results published in that year

  When staff perform a keyword search and then use Tools | Limit to enter Publisher Year, materials published in that year range are not found.

• Compact Browse: Search results display incorrectly for some titles; showing the indexed entry and not the diacritics

  When performing a title search, some re

  Fails to register barcode scanner’s carriage return in Search/Holds box after another index is searched

  Search/Holds and Catalog search function are not registering the barcode scanner’s carriage return (confirmed the scanner uses CR) on random scans, but particularly when the user switches between searching a different index (e.g., title, author, etc.) and the barcode index. As a result, the search is not automatically performed immediately upon scan; the user must initiate the search manually instead. Note: This barcode scanning issue is not replicated in other Circulation functions (e.g., Check-out and Check-in).

• Fails to register barcode scanner’s carriage return in Search/Holds box after another index is searched

  Search/Holds and Catalog search function are not registering the barcode scanner’s carriage return (confirmed the scanner uses CR) on random scans, but particularly when the user switches between searching a different index (e.g., title, author, etc.) and the barcode index. As a result, the search is not automatically performed immediately upon scan; the user must initiate the search manually instead. Note: This barcode scanning issue is not replicated in other Circulation functions (e.g., Check-out and Check-in).

• Holds clear from holdshelf one day early after pickup date modified in Manage Holds

  After staff modify hold pickup dates in Manage Holds, the Clear Holdshelf report clears the hold on the pickup date rather than on the day after the pickup date.  (For example, if the modified pickup date is Feb 17, the item should not appear on the Clear Holdshelf report until Feb 18 but appears on Feb 17.)

• Notice History records “0” for bills via email with Print Templates

  When a library formats Bill notices with Print Templates, Notice History records an entry with “0” count for any bills sent via email.

• No record written to Fines Paid when a billed item is renewed and the bill automatically adjusts to zero

  When staff renew a billed item, and the automatically adjusted charge is zero, no entry is written to Fines Paid.  Sierra should record the removed replacement charge to Fines Paid with a payment status of “no payment,” to indicate that the item had previously been billed but that the bill has been automatically adjusted.  (If the charge adjusts to an amount other than zero, Sierra does write correctly to Fines Paid.)

• Exporting either patron telephone field tag outputs both

  In Create Lists, if staff select either TELEPHONE (t) or TELEPHONE2 (p) field for export from patron records, Sierra includes both fields in the exported file.

 Sierra 5.5 Upgrade 11/16/22

Send an additional courtesy notice

Libraries sometimes want to send patrons multiple reminders when items are coming due soon. With this enhancement, libraries will be able to send patrons one additional courtesy notice on the day before an item is due. Additional courtesy notices can be run manually or as autonotices. Additional courtesy notices will not attempt to auto-renew items that are checked out. In the event that autonotices are configured and set to run multiple times per day, an additional courtesy notice will only be sent once to a patron on any given day.

Send an additional courtesy notice

Libraries sometimes want to send patrons multiple reminders when items are coming due soon. With this enhancement, libraries will be able to send patrons one additional courtesy notice on the day before an item is due. Additional courtesy notices can be run manually or as autonotices. Additional courtesy notices will not attempt to auto-renew items that are checked out. In the event that autonotices are configured and set to run multiple times per day, an additional courtesy notice will only be sent once to a patron on any given day.

• Additional Courtesy Notices are an extension of Courtesy Notices and require the primary Courtesy Notice to be enabled in loan rules in order for the additional notice to be sent.
• Additional Courtesy Notices are a new notice type and require a separate notice job from the Courtesy Notices notice type.
• Like existing Courtesy Notices functionality, an item must receive its Additional Courtesy Notice on the day the notice is scheduled, or the notice will not be sent at all.  Innovative recommends configuring both types of Courtesy Notices to run automatically every day.
• Additional Courtesy Notices do not perform automatic renewal.

Display the location of the holdshelf

In libraries with multiple pickup locations, it can be difficult to determine which holdshelf an item is on. With this enhancement, Sierra will display the location of the holdshelf as part of the status information for an item that is either currently on the holdshelf or was recently canceled and the clear holdshelf process has not been run. Depending on the library’s configuration, the status message will include either the display name from the hold pickup locations table or the branch name. The status message will appear on the View item record screen and in the status bar of the Manage Holds display.

Library staff wants a workflow that makes it easy to mark damaged items and bill for their replacement, similar to the lost item workflow in Sierra. This enhancement adds a new option to the Mark Damaged item workflow that ensures a consistent experience for staff and patrons when managing damaged items. The new option is labeled Mark Damaged And Add Bill and it will be used to mark the item as “Billed” and bill the patron for the replacement of the item.

Windows Snap feature

Library staff members want to be able to easily size and position the Sierra client windows on their workstations when Sierra is one of several applications they use throughout the day. With this enhancement, staff members can use the Windows Snap feature to move and size the Sierra desktop application on their workstations.

By dragging the client with the mouse or using the Windows button in conjunction with specific arrow keys, SDA users can move and position the Sierra client on their desktop. Staff members may also use the Windows Snap commands to maximize or minimize the Sierra client on their desktop.

Because of technical limitations, the Windows Snap feature has no effect on the Sierra login window or on bibliographic and patron windows that appear in the multi-window mode.

New workflow for Mark Damaged Items

Library staff wants a workflow that makes it easy to mark damaged items and bill for their replacement, similar to the lost item workflow in Sierra. This enhancement adds a new option to the Mark Damaged item workflow that ensures a consistent experience for staff and patrons when managing damaged items. The new option is labeled Mark Damaged And Add Bill and it will be used to mark the item as “Billed” and bill the patron for the replacement of the item.

When using this workflow, the item will be checked in when the item is marked damaged and a bill is added. Based on library policies, a processing fee and billing fee will be added automatically, and the damage charge will be linked to the item and the patron. When the fee is paid, the item status automatically updates to damaged. This allows the library to distinguish “damaged and billed” from “lost and billed” in reports.ThisUpgrade