At 8:30 AM on Saturday, June 22 the Association of Specialized Government and Cooperative Libraries held their annual Achievement Awards Breakfast at the Grand Hyatt Washington as part of the American Library Association Annual Conference. Keystone is a proud sponsor of the breakfast and the ASGCLA / KLAS / NOD (National Organization on Disability) Award. This year two members of the KLAS Users' Community were honored at the breakfast, and I was excited to be there to see them recognized for their hard work to promote accessible libraries and inclusive library services.

Kim Charlson, Executive Director, Perkins Library, received the 2019 Francis Joseph Campbell Award citation and medal for "her strong commitment to inclusion and empowerment, her tireless efforts on the passage of the Marrakesh Treaty for the Visually Impaired, and her life-long passion for bringing the joy of reading to all."

• ASGCLA 2019 Francis Joseph Campbell Award Press Release

South Carolina State Library Talking Book Services received the 2019 ASGCLA / KLAS / NOD Award for its Assistive Technology Petting Zoo. "The Zoo was developed as a new outreach initiative in 2015 to raise awareness for Assistive Technology and its ability to make public libraries more accessible and inclusive. ... One of the most significant contributions the Zoo has made has been allowing South Carolina’s public librarians hands-on experience with Assistive Technology, creating a desire for the library to offer these tools on a daily basis."

• 2019 ASGCLA / KLAS / NOD Award Press Release

Below are a few photos I took during Saturday morning's Award Breakfast. You can see all of them in an album on Keystone's Facebook Page.

Kim Charlson poses for photos with 2 ASGCLA representatives after being recognized as the 2019 Francis Joseph Campbell Award Winner.

Kim shows off the citation she received as the 2019 Francis Joseph Campbell Award Recipient.

 Members of the South Carolina State Library staff gather around a table before the ASGCLA Awards Breakfast begins.

 ASGCLA representatives and South Carolina State Library staff pose with me for a photo after being presented with the 2019 ASGCLA / KLAS / NOD Award.

The certificate presented to the South Carolina State Library Talking Books Services as part of the 2019 ASGCLA / KLAS / NOD Award. They also receive $1000 from Keystone Systems as part of their recognition.

You can see the rest of the photos I took in the 2019 ASGCLA Awards Breakfast album on Keystone's Facebook page.

Hello, KLAS users! If you were able to join us for the 2019 KLAS Users’ Conference earlier this month, you heard a very exciting announcement from James Burts, Executive Vice President of Keystone Systems, Inc.

Now that we’re back in the office and the Version 7.7 rollout is fully underway, here he is with the news for all NLS Network libraries using KLAS:

We are here to support you, and we fully understand the need to move to a duplication service model. Over the past year, we have put the browser-based KLAS Version 8 on hold to revamp the duplication process, to build in full integration with NLS’ Gutenberg Bespoke device, and to further develop the Scribe appliance debuted at UC2018.

Now, KLAS Version 7.7 is ready for full-fledged duplication service using the hardware of your choice. There has been a lot of excitement for Gutenberg—and understandably so—but NLS’ deployment schedule cannot support getting everyone who wants one of their devices up and running right away. Additionally, we have a lot of confidence in Scribe’s optimized workflow (whether you choose PCC mode, exclusive to Scribe, or Cartridge-recycle mode, now available on either hardware) and other features.

We want to make sure that all of our users who are moving to a duplication service model have the opportunity to implement the hardware that is the best fit for their library, on a schedule that works for them.

To achieve this goal, we have optimized the components used for the Scribe, crunched the numbers, and determined that we can provide one Scribe appliance per KLAS contract at no additional cost.

We pledge to work with you to ensure that you can get up to speed with duplication on the hardware of your choice, whether that means getting you a place in line for a Gutenberg, or getting a Scribe unit heading your way ASAP.

There you have it!

To help you determine whether a Gutenberg Bespoke device or the Scribe appliance is a better fit for you, we will be posting more information about Scribe's cartridge recycle mode and what each hardware option has to offer over the coming weeks. We will also be hosting a duplication-focused Q&A webinar in a few months (date to be announced soon). In the meantime, if you have questions about this exciting news, KLAS version 7.7, or moving to a duplication service model, give us a call or email

For questions about the Gutenberg device itself or NLS’ deployment schedule, please contact NLS directly.

Note: KLAS Version 7.7 for self-hosted Windows Server users should be available in August, and for IRC customers soon. All other users can request a preview database whenever they choose and, once they have gone through the preview checklist, schedule their conversion whenever they are ready. If you have requested a preview database and have not yet gotten your welcome packet and authorization key: keep an eye out! We’re working through the list and we’ll be getting to your library soon!

This brand-new feature for KLAS version 7.7 was debuted at the uc2019 pre-conference as part of the hands-on Effective Search Strategies session.

Queries in KLAS make it easy to find records that meet certain criteria. Unfortunately, it can be harder to search by what isn't there. Computer logic is just not very good at that kind of thinking... but now, there is a way to combine two queries in KLAS, allowing you to:

• Combine the lists of records that meet two different sets of criteria (i.e. match X and/or Y)
• Find records that are included in two different query sets (i.e. match X and Y)
• Subtract one Query from another (i.e. match X but do not match Y)

This feature is available in the Patron module in the version 7.7.8 preview databases, and will be available in the Catalog module later this week when the preview databases are updated to build 7.7.9

So... what's this about "subtracting" a query?

Queries have the option to search for fields that “do not equal” a certain value. However, this will only function correctly if that field can only occur once in the record, otherwise, it will find any occurrence where the field does not equal that value.

For example, you can query for Patrons whose “Main Status does not equal Active,” because patron records can only have one Main Status. On the other hand, if you query for “Patron Medium does not equal DB,” it will return all records that have another medium in addition to DB, because that medium does not equal DB. Furthermore, it will not return records without any Patron Mediums, because there is nothing for it to compare to the search value.

This is a matter of computer logic not working quite like human logic. To get the computer to understand what you’re looking for, break it down a little further to “find Active Patrons, then subtract all patrons with an Active DB Medium.”

Other times you may wish to use this tool include:

• Checking for Patron records with an Active Cassette medium but no Active DB medium.
• Checking for Catalog records by a certain narrator that do not have the “Foreign Accent” subject heading.

Ready to learn more?

Download this How-to document for step-by-step instructions, more information, and more examples. As always, if you have questions or need additional help, just let us know.

(And remember, this feature is available in version 7.7 only, so if you have not yet requested a preview database, be sure to get in touch! If you have requested a preview, you should be receiving a welcome packet and activation key shortly--we are quickly moving through the list of requests.)

• HowTo MergeQueries - docx
• HowTo MergeQueries - pdf

Last week the Palm Beach County Talking Books Service and the Friends of the Palm Beach County Library hosted the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference in West Palm Beach, FL. Attendees were offered hands-on training during the one-day pre-conference and then participated in three days of general and breakout sessions including workshops, seminars, and informal birds-of-a-feather discussions. Opportunities for networking with Keystone staff and other KLAS library staff beyond the official conference sessions occurred during breaks, lunches, the Welcome Reception, and our Thursday afternoon excursion to the Morkiami Japanese Gardens and Museum. Here are some of our favorite photos from the conference. To see more, you can check out our 2019 KLAS Users' Conference Photo Album on Keystone's Facebook page. If you want to share your own conference photos, feel free to upload them to this album on Keystone's Google Drive.

Below is the welcome slide we used throughout the conference. Drea took this photo from the second-floor balcony of the hotel on Sunday before the conference started--the rainbow seemed like a very lucky way to start the conference!

Keynote Speaker Carmencita Mitchell talks about the Waves of Change in inclusive library service.

Katy shares Tips & Tricks for Readers Advisors during a workshop on Tuesday.

Attendees loved the view from the balcony of the Lake Worth Casino during Tuesday evening's Welcome Reception.

We offered a choice of a seafood or a vegetarian paella option for attendees of Tuesday evening's Welcome Reception.

The cooks add shrimp to the paella just before it is served.

Drea and Chandra enjoying the Welcome Reception.

Nancy and Mitake answer the accumulated "Parking Lot Questions" attendees posted throughout the conference.

James and Chandra got the same wardrobe memo on Thursday. Like minds and such...

Excited attendees waiting on the Molley Trolley to head to the Morikami Japanese Gardens & Museum for an afternoon of networking with Keystone staff and other KLAS Users.

To see more, you can check out our 2019 KLAS Users' Conference Photo Album on Keystone's Facebook page. If you want to share your own conference photos, feel free to upload them to this album on Keystone's Google Drive.

Thank you for to all our attendees, speakers, and local hosts, and we look forward to seeing more photos and sharing more info from last week's conference in the near future.

I have some great news, and I couldn’t wait until next Tuesday to post it! Our hard-working development team has gotten fixes in place, wrangled the new server, and generally addressed the various issues discussed in the last update.

This means that 7.7 Preview Databases are now available by request to all Keystone-hosted and all Linux-based self-hosted customers!

(Deployment for Windows-based self-hosted customers is still being ironed out; we hope to be able to offer Preview Databases to you soon.)

These demo databases will allow you to spot-check your data and settings to ensure that everything migrated correctly to the new version, train staff, and practice using the new features and duplication workflows. It will also allow us to do some load-testing of the new server to make sure that connection issues don’t crop back up, and that nothing new decides to go sideways on us.

Having a demo database in place also puts you on the fast-track to getting a live version. We will be bringing customers up live one every week or two, starting right away after the KLAS Users’ Conference (and maybe even sooner, if the demo roll-out goes well).

For more information on version 7.7, check out the New Release Webinar! (Note: you must be logged in to KLASusers.com to access that link.)

Future Updates

The wait for 7.7 has been longer than anyone had expected, but once you're upgraded to 7.7, future updates will come along much quicker! Instead of needing a large bundle of updates to be ready all at once, incremental updates will be applied to 7.7 about every two weeks. Fixes and improvements will go out steadily over time, rather than in a large batch after a long wait.

Even better, these updates will occur smoothly and easily, without any need to download and apply an update through your browser. For more information on how updates will work in version 7.7, see the Installation and Upgrades Post.

Duplication on Demand

Our new Duplication on Demand workflows are included in version 7.7, including full Gutenberg integration. NLS is in their final testing phases of this integration, but it is in place, and will continue to be refined and improved.

The Gutenberg device itself will of course come from NLS, and does require custom set-up per customer. We will work with them to fast-track our customers as much as possible, but there is a high demand, and only so many people at NLS who are able to do the set-up and testing needed. At the NLS Western / Southern Regional Conference, they indicated that they expect a pace of about 2 Gutenberg set-ups per month. Who gets one of these devices, and when, is entirely their decision; we can only work with them to get each device’s connection to KLAS in place ASAP.

For those who are considering a Scribe instead, we are pleased to announce that it now supports both the Patron-Centric Cartridge model and the Cartridge Recycling model! We were able to get this in place because the Cartridge Recycling workflow had already been developed to support Gutenberg—we just did a little tweaking and testing to make sure that it worked with the other hardware as well.

Final Thoughts

Thank you all so much for your patience!

We have heard loud and clear that Duplication (and particularly Gutenberg integration) is the priority that the Users’ Group has set for us, and have been hard at work on it since last year. We believe that the results are robust, flexible, reliable, and efficient; everything that we hope you can expect from a Keystone Systems product.

We know that the process has taken much longer than we initially announced, but we think that the final product will be worth the wait. We will continue to do everything we can to get those of you under a time crunch (or who are just eager to get started) up and running on a Duplication on Demand workflow of your choice as soon as possible.

For those libraries not racing to transition to a Duplication workflow, you haven’t been forgotten! With the bulk of the work finished for Duplication, we will be able to integrate improvements that will benefit you as well back into our development cycle.

Our "Stars of Keystone's Staff" series includes some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

With KLAS 7.7 on the verge of general release and just a month until the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference, we thought it was a perfect time to let you learn more about Kyle Honeycutt, Keystone's Manager of Software Development in this instalment of our "Stars of Keystone" blog series.

Basic Stats:

Name: Kyle Honeycutt

Year Hired: 1994

Current Job Title: Manager of Software Development

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Hearing of a need from customers, designing and programming a solution to that problem, and seeing the customers put that solution to use.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: I was a student. This is my first job out of school. In school I did work as a lab assistant, helping other students debug their Assembly, C and Pascal programs.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: I'm very active in my church, both working in teaching ministries, and working with the technology needs of the church. I am also the Secretary/Treasurer of a non-profit cemetery association, so I am actively involved in the management and operation of the cemetery. Otherwise, I do yard work, odd jobs, and garden work at our home in Raleigh and my home-place in Benson. We always had a large vegetable garden, and my Dad and I raised collards, a tradition I carried on after my Dad passed. I stopped most of that recent years, but hope to get back on my tractors in the near future.

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Home. I don't get to spend as much time at either of the places that I call home as I would like. Otherwise, I'd just like to spend a while traveling across the country, seeing the sights I've never seen and seeing how agriculture is done across our land.

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: We have four cats – Maggie, Wendy, Teddy, and Stanley. We had not intended on adopting a fourth cat, but Stanley just showed up as a skinny stray a few days after Teddy got out. He's now a plump, happy part of the family.

Wendy is a sweet calico.

 Teddy is a black and white tuxedo kitty. He like lounging on laps.

Maggie is a grey tabby.

Stanley is a light orange tabby.

Our "Stars of Keystone's Staff" series includes some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

With the upcoming release of KLAS 7.7, we thought it is good time to bring you our latest "Stars of Keystone Staff" so we can highlight our staff member who has helped to coordinate, support, and install many versions of KLAS in his time at Keystone. He is also the person our staff calls when we can't get on the VPN, we need our email account unlocked, or need to be reminded of how to log onto a customer's database after a change in IP address.

Basic Stats:

Name: Mark Gardner

Year Hired: 1985

Current Job Title: Manager of Systems and Networking

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Solving problems, working on different projects, working with others

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: Programmer, Piedmont Microsystems

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: Country Music Concerts, Photography, Fantasy Basketball, Fishing, Anything blue (Doctor Who, M&M’s, etc)

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Austin Texas, Australia

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: No pets, just occasional visits from our rabbits

Here’s the latest Notes from The Scribe for April 2019.

We are now Live on Version 7.7 and into a couple of upgrades.

When we last left you were just on to the Live Version of 7.7. Now we've had some updates and some issues were addressed. We are into at least our 4th iteration of updates and we've been live with full service to patrons since March 18.

First off, I'm happy to report that if you run into an issue it gets corrected pretty fast!!! There are some new tools for more accurate tracking of issues as they occur which allow Keystone to go right in and fix them. It's pretty impressive how fast some things can get resolved. I will tell you that the more detail you can provide, including screenshots, time of day and what you were doing when things happened makes things go much better.

Now onto the patrons and their experience...

From what we've gathered, so far, the patrons we have put on the new service, which we now call Books On Demand or BOD, have been impressed and enjoying the experience. What was once 12 patrons is now nearly 300 patrons as of this writing. We've been averaging adding 6-10 patrons a day. Our strategy has been to put all new patrons on the service, because this is all they will know and there will be no "bad" habits to break.

The other part has been adding transfer-in patrons and anyone who volunteers. Overall it's been a good experience. The other part now is adding existing (non-voluntary) patrons. This first batch of these patrons is a group of around 800 who use advanced digital talking book players (DA1), are not on BARD and have some form of automated (or Nightly) service type. To build a well-running service queue for patrons they have to be on a Nightly service type in order to serve them properly.

One caveat to this smooth running of nightly service types is in the Nightly List Only patrons. These are patrons who wish to be mainly served using their own lists of requests and reserves. The one preference that can also be used is a favorite authors, which should help supplement a list when it's empty. What we ran into initially were new patrons wishing to pick their own books but not offering up a list with anything on it. Also in many cased these patrons didn't give an authors to supplement requests. So this would cause a delay in getting their cartridges out to them while we backtracked or waited to get books. We want patrons, especially when they are new to the service, to be able to experience all of the advantages of this new system. Without any books to offer it will delay our ability to serve them in a timely manner and show them what things look like. As a solution to this issue we developed a curated list of books to offer up to patrons as a kind of sampler so they can see what we can offer them and so they can become familiar with their new digital talking book player and how things like the bookshelf work. This also offers staff a simple means of setting up patrons, as needed. Overall this has helped smooth out some of the initial wrinkles.

On another topic, in the last Notes from The Scribe we talked about tuning the number of books per turn per series takes some time to get adjusted just right. Our tuning of series to pull 2 books from series per turn has worked well. One additional area we needed to adjust was the number of reserves and requests per turn so that more of them will get turned over onto the patron service queue at a time. Along with this, we had some more seasoned patrons that we discovered were getting some newer books from favorite authors, since the system defaults to latest selections first, and they wanted to pull more of the back catalog of these items. So we adjusted the rules to pull oldest works first by Author just to see if this might help. So far so good. Things are working well. One other thing we tried out on 2 of our more particular patrons was setting up nightly auto-selection rules for them specifically and adjusting specific portions of their selections to tune them better and serve them more individually. In these cases, we have been successful in that they are much more satisfied with the individualized attention. This is a nice feature set to use in creating a more personalized experience.

On a final note, I have talked about putting into place good processes. What I would encourage beyond this is to allow these processes to adjust based on the people doing the job. The first part of a good process is seeing the bigger picture, but the second important part is to allow that bigger picture to account for the smaller parts that encompass the task by the people that are doing the task. One of the many benefits I have seen firsthand from this approach is having the people who are impacted the most become champions of the system and step up as teachers and trainers. Watching a process you have laid out being improved is quite satisfying. Seeing all of the things you envisioned at the beginning without being able to see it firsthand, is awesome. A couple of the following recent photos show a bit of staff interacting with the process. The way it looks in these photos is a little bit different than the original vision, but that's just fine.

Here's a couple of recent photos:

 A patron digital cartridge

 Inspection and inventory of BOD cartridges

Staff running BOD duplication

That's all for this edition of Notes From The Scribe. The next edition will come out with the next round of major updates and new features.

Hello, KLAS Users! This week, I am very pleased to introduce: the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference app!

A lot of work was put into the app this year to make it easier, better, and more useful. We hope it'll be a valuable tool for you as you attend UC2019. And even if you can't join us, the app will allow you to browse through the sessions, download presentations, or find out how to contact the user who presented that session you really wished you could go to!

You can download the app now (or any time) from either the Google Play store or the Apple App store - just search for "KLAS Users Conference". It should be among the first results, with a green "K" icon.

The app was designed to be magnification-friendly and screen-reader accessible. If you encounter any accessibility problems, please let us know as soon as possible so we can work on a fix! It should be compatible with all Apple and Android devices, including both phones and tablets.

Hopefully, everything will be intuitive and easy-to-find while exploring the app on your own. Just in case, and for those who don't have their phones handy to check it out right away, let's take a tour...

The Home screen of the app allows you to navigate quickly to whatever you need. Open the Menu for useful links, or select one of the options from the bottom navigation tray to open one of the app's "tabs." You can also swipe your screen left and right to move between tabs that way!

Updates, available from either the menu or the navigation tray, contains the latest information from us and will continue to be updated through the conference with any last-minute changes or useful information. The Updates page itself will include brief headlines, which you can tap to view more information (this format is repeated through the app).

The latest updates are pulled in every time you open the app, so make sure to close the app when you are done with it.

Other menu items include Resources, where you'll shortcut links to some of the most useful KLASusers.com articles and a downloadable PDF version of the agenda, Keystone Contact info, and a link to the feedback Survey (so you can let us know about your experience after the conference).

The Sessions tab lists the full conference agenda by day. Tap any session to view details, including a download link to the slides or handout!

NOTE: For now, all download links point to a placeholder, to show where the download links are located and allow you to test downloading and opening slides on your device. Once we start receiving presentations from our speaker, the placeholder links will be removed until they can be replaced with the presentation.

The Speakers tab has information on all of our presenters, including both Keystone staff and user presenters. Again, tap any entry to view more information. We hope this will be a great way for (especially newer) attendees to get to know our speakers and enable you to reach out to a presenter if you have questions about their session after the fact.

Finally, the Map has an embedded Google map with pins on various points of interest, to help you navigate the area.

ConfI hope you enjoyed this look at everything the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference app has to offer!

Be sure to download it to your device(s) so it's on hand and ready to go when you arrive in Palm Beach. We look forward to seeing you there!

Just over a week or so ago we published an updated overview schedule and full agenda for the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference. Now that you've had a chance to read it, we'd like to talk about some of the new session offerings for this year that you might have noticed including:

• Cards & Connections
• Keystone Answers Your Parking Lot Questions
• Choose Your Own Adventure

Confused? Well, today I'm going to take a minute to share some info about each.

Cards & Connections

Do you want an informal way to meet other conference attendees?

Do you like card or board games?

Well, on Monday night we plan to meet up in the lobby of the hotel for just this purpose. Some Keystone staff are planning to bring versions of their favorite games and invite you to as well. I've already committed to making sure there's at least one Quiddler deck there. We're also planning to have some traditional playing cards available in accessible formats. So, after you grab some dinner Monday night, come meet us in the lobby of the hotel for some fun.

And if you have fun, be sure to let us know! We can always add another session on Wednesday evening.

Here's the official description from the conference agenda:

Join us for an informal gathering where we encourage you to try a new game (or teach others an old favorite) & meet a new colleague. Braille, high contrast, and large print options will be available.

Keystone Answers Your Parking Lot Questions

This is a new idea from the Conference Program Committee. There are always times throughout the conference when a question comes up during a session or informal conversation, but either Keystone staff aren't available to answer it right away or the session presenter is pressed for time. In situations like this, we encourage you to write your question down on one of the provided sticky notes and add it to the "parking lot" to wait for an answer. We will review all submitted questions and try to identify and prioritize those we can answer during Thursday morning's session.

If we don't get to your answer during the session, or it's very detailed and specific to your organization, we will provide you an answer once we're back in the office--so be sure to put your name and email address on the back of your question.

Choose Your Own Adventure

You can blame me for this session, which will be held on Thursday afternoon. For a couple of years, we offered an Unconference session where we allowed attendees to identify 4-5 topics that then became the basis for conversation at a designated table. Attendees were able to move between tables and learn more about any topic they might be interested in. This format had its benefits, but we were also concerned that we were spreading things too thin trying to cover all of them. Some tables would sit empty, and some attendees would worry that by sitting in on one conversation, they'd be missing out on another. So this year, I suggested we try a new approach.

Instead of presenting 4-5 "Unconference" topics, this year we're narrowing the number of topics: we will be seeding some options, then inviting attendees to suggest others, and vote on which will ultimately be discussed during this session. So, like in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book, the topic(s) to be addressed during this session will be up to you. Be on the lookout for a link to vote, submit your own topic suggestions, and help choose the kind of adventure we will all go on together!

It's almost time... after years of entering only five digits for your book numbers, NLS is nearly ready to roll over to DB100000. Wow!

Good news: this is not a Y2k situation. KLAS has always been capable of handling six-digit book numbers. In fact, that's why you've been entering them as DB0 all this time.

However, there will still likely be a few hiccups, and a lot of old habits, as you start entering those "DB1"s. Here are a few things to look at and think about...

Nightly ranges (Administrators)

Check your Nightly setup! The NSSubject program allows for a range to be entered, allowing you to force newer books to be selected first; make sure yours don't stop at 99999 (or even just 90000!). If you are in a system with branch libraries, check NSSubject-All as well.

Since this doesn't impact any staff workflows, we recommend you do this sooner rather than later. Check the attached screenshot for an example, and if you find this in your settings, update that DB099999 to DB199999 (or even DB999999).

If you feel any trepidation about updating your nightly settings, Keystone Customer Support will be happy to help!

Quick Requests

On the Quick Requests screen, you can use the Change Prefix button to switch from DB0 to just DB. However, it will go back to the default every time you log into KLAS. Never fear! You can change the default!

This change means you will need to type in the full six digits, starting with either 0 or 1. As a bonus: this will also help accommodate DBCs and DBFs, which may be more commonly requested if you transition to a high-volume duplication service model! It'll be a habit change for sure, but hopefully it won't slow you don't too much.

The other option, of course, is to backspace before entering a DB number over 100000. However, remember that these numbers will get more and more common. Eventually, you will want to either remove the 0 or advance the prefix to DB1 and backspace for the back catalog.

This default setting will apply to your entire branch, so you'll need to get everyone on board with one of these approaches. When you are ready to change the default, you'll find it in your Control Maintenance files: k7-CC - sequence 08 - Quick Request Prefix.

And again, this is a setting we are happy to adjust for you--just make sure that everyone in your branch is ready for the default to change!

Batch Add Items

Similar to the above, libraries that use the Batch Add Items function (mostly not copy-specific libraries) can update the default prefix in that tool. The location for that setting is Control Maintenance : k7-CT - sequence 07 - Batch Item Prefix.

...And what else?

As you go about your work for the next week or two, keep an eye out for "DB0" or anything you think could cause problems when DB100000 comes around.

If you find something or have a question, swing by the discussion post on the forum to let us know! Even if it seems obvious or if you aren't sure--your fellow libraries will appreciate the help as we all make this transition together.

And when that first six-digit book comes out, be sure to let me know what it is!

...until the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference! It's been a while since I shared a conference planning update, so I thought I'd use today's post to let you know about some of the work your planning committees, local hosts, and Keystone staff have been doing to help make this a great conference for all our attendees.

First...

Q: What's the easiest way to see all the information on klasusers.com about the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference?

A: Direct your browser to klasusers.com/UC2019

This url will automatically take you the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference page with ALL the latest articles about this year's conference. You can sort the list by "Title" or "Modified Date. Also, be sure to filter for ALL articles (from the default 10) to make sure you don't miss something from the second page.

So, what have our Program and Logistics Committees and the Keystone Staff been working to bring you?

Pre-Conference

• Updated the Conference Overview Schedule to list our scheduled pre-conference sessions
• Published the pre-conference sessions titles and descriptions followed by the link to register

Conference Sessions

• Finalized all planned sessions and updated the Overview Schedule
• Selected our Keynote Speaker

Ongoing:

• Communicating with presenters and moderators about expectations and timelines
• Creating the PowerPoint template for presentations
• Finishing the last few session descriptions
• Discussing technical setup for various sessions
• Working to open Breakout Session registration in the near future
• Pushing to complete our full Conference Agenda, listing all session titles, descriptions, locations, speakers, and moderators

Transportation, Reception, Meals & More:

• Published an article about Getting Around West Palm Beach during the conference
• Selected a caterer and entertainer for the Welcome Reception

Ongoing:

• Choosing menus for other provided meals
• Making travel plans for the Keystone staff attending the conference
• Creating a list of restaurant recommendations
• Putting together a Google Map listing local businesses, points of interest, and restaurants, etc.

But wait, there's more...

The conference app has been completely redesigned to present more info on an easier-to-navigate platform. Plus, it can be updated during the conference to include all the latest! Be on the lookout for an announcement when it is available, but some things we'd like to highlight from the redesign include:

• Speakers List & Information Pages
• Announcements
• Sessions Listing filtered by Day
• Information about Getting Around while at the conference

And here is a sneak preview:

We keep talking about all of the great new features in KLAS version 7.7 so... where is it? We wish this post was a release announcement, but unfortunately the timeline has been pushed back a bit.

The initial, controlled 7.7 release has rolled out as planned, and we were pushing to start a wider release in March. However, the controlled release uncovered a number of issues that have required additional development time and resources to address. None of them were critical, but added together, it was not the user experience we want to provide.

Additionally, in working with NLS to test Gutenberg integration, we have found several changes that need to be made there as well. Even though this integration is not required for version 7.7's release, it is a high priority and has taken a fairly large amount of development time.

While we do want to get this upgrade to you as soon as possible, we want to be sure that you will have a stable, reliable connection and no service interruptions. Right now, it's looking like it will be at least another month before we can promise that for our Keystone-hosted customers. For self-hosted customers it will be a bit longer (probably May) before we can get you Live on 7.7, though we should be able to get you started with a preview database prior to launch.

If you're interested in more of the technical details, read on! Otherwise, thank you for your patience as we polish up this major release, and keep an eye on the KLASusers email list for more information next month.

So why is this taking so long?

We've made a ton of back-end changes to KLAS that will result in a smoother, faster, better experience... but that also changes how it's deployed to the server, how it communicates with the server, where all of the little programs that run KLAS are located... pretty much everything.

We have been working through a long list of fixes as we nail down how some of our changes have jostled the system, both in the KLAS program itself and even more in the various processes that communicate between your user interface and the data on the server.

We've also been tracking down issues with the hardware itself, including moving our brave first-adopters back off of the new server while we track down an intermittent connection issue. We've even had our internet provider out to assist with testing our various connection points and switches.

In sum: we've been making a lot of minor tweaks, plus chasing some stubborn issues through the system from the staff client to the server and everywhere in between. We are making progress, but it's going to be just a little longer while we test all of our fixes to make sure they don't cause problems of their own.

Why are self-hosted customers going to take even longer?

Again, with all of those back-end changes, deployment of KLAS to the server is a very different process than it was for version 7.6.

With our hosted customers, we have control of all of the variables. Self-hosted customers, however, can have any combination of different hardware and operating systems in place. So for those customers, we are working on a process to ensure that we can get you up-and-running reliably on any system. Most likely, this will make use of a virtual machine.

We will need to work with your IT group to make sure they are prepared and comfortable with the new virtual machine installation process before going live. As we have more information about our new deployment process, we will communicate with you about a timeline for setting up a Preview database, which you and your IT group can use for testing.

And what about Gutenberg?

With the Gutenberg integration, there have been a few points where NLS's testing have uncovered a problem or potential problem, and several as well where we are simply approaching things from a different viewpoint. There are also some sticky points in-between, and some things that have come up on the Gutenberg side of the equation.

Again, however, we are making great progress at solving these issues as they are found, and our latest round of fixes is out for more testing even now.

We are really thankful for NLS pitching in to help us test this integration with their equipment; we're closing in on it together.

Training your new staff on KLAS and / or getting refresher training for staff who have been using KLAS awhile is a topic that comes up in conversations with our customers on a regular basis. Back in May of 2018, Katy posted "Training Support", a Key Notes blog post asking for input on ideas for how Keystone can support your staff training goals. Please take a few minutes to go back and review this post again and share your feedback about the proposed Keystone training ideas on the linked "Training: How do you do it and how can we help?" forum post.

But, also please take a few minutes to look at the questions she asked for your input on including:

1. How do you train your staff?
2. What materials do you already use or what materials would you like to have?
3. What are your needs or wants in terms of evaluation, continuing education, certification?

In addition, I would like to continue the conversation with these questions:

1. What are your favorite KLAS training resources and methods?
2. What have you found to be the most effective resource to train new staff? What challenges have you had?
3. How do you keep established employees up to date on new features and functionality in KLAS? What keeps you from doing continuing KLAS training?

Please take some time to share your thoughts and ideas on the "Training: How do you do it and how can we help?" forum post. I'd love for this thread to turn into a valuable place other KLAS Users' looking for KLAS training hints and resources can turn to.

Hello, KLASusers! This week I thought I'd try something just a little different... let's talk about reporting, and specifically, what do you need to know?

KLAS has a lot of powerful options for finding information, from reports (there are some great ones featured in the Snapshot Reports blog post) to queries (and there are some good query tips on the Forum... check out the KLAS Core section of the Best of the Forum 2018 page). You can even combine queries and excel to search for information that isn't there.

But sometimes it's hard to know just where to look, and sometimes a piece of data you need can remain tantalizingly just out of reach.

So I'd like you to tell us what reporting information you're searching for!

Drop into the Forum Q&A: Let's Talk Reporting thread and see if you can stump us on:

• "Where do I find how many..."
• or "Is there a report that shows..."
• or even "Can I tell who..."

Bring all your reporting and data-finding questions and we'll do our best to bring you an answer!

There are a lot of exciting new features included in the KLAS 7.7 release, and they begin with a simplified installation process.

As part of the simplification, there will no longer be any external programs to install. Everything has been put into one installer so there are no longer separate steps to install a web client, support files, or XPrint. If you are currently using KLAS with Open VPN, this will be going away too. KLAS no longer needs a VPN connection to run, it instead will use https to establish a secure connection.

The new installer lets you choose how KLAS should be installed: For everyone who uses a computer – a process that would require admin access, or install for the current user only – which can typically be done without admin access even in secured environments.

The New Installation Process

To install KLAS 7.7, Keystone will provide you with two pieces – the KLAS installer and an Activation Code. This new installer (klas.exe) is digitally signed and will be used by all KLAS libraries. This will ensure that the version of KLAS installed is exactly the same version that was tested and verified at Keystone.

Double clicking the klas.exe icon launches a set-up wizard, similar to how KLAS installations has always worked but with a couple new options.

1. The first step is to specify your Activation Code. The code will be a long string of seemingly random characters, so copying the code from an email or text file is the best way to ensure the code is complete and correct.

2. The next screen allows you to choose how you want KLAS to install: either for anyone using the computer (which could require admin access in restricted environments) or for just your own user (which in many restricted environments is still allowed without admin access).

 After making this selection, the rest of the set-up process is pretty standard and the default options can be kept to complete the installation.

Why do we need an Active Code?

Since the same installer will be used by everyone, the Activation Code will ensure that you are connecting to the correct instance of the KLAS database for your library.

What does it mean to connect to an “instance” of KLAS? Historically you are used to seeing these as “live” and “training”. In KLAS 7.7, one KLAS installation will no longer set up both “live” and “training” shortcuts at the same time. Instead, the Activation Code will specify not only the KLAS library, but also which type of KLAS instance is being installed. Because of this, a unique Activation Code for “live” and a unique Activation Code for “training” will be provided to your library. The Activation Codes are not unique per user, but they are unique to your library. To install both live and training, two separate installs will need to be done using the same klas.exe installer but two different Activation Codes.

Updates

We will notify your organization when an update is available. Upgrades will most often be applied over-night and will be applied to the user workstations the next time KLAS is launched.

When you next open KLAS, you will be notified that there is an update that needs to be applied. Press the Update button and KLAS will automatically download and apply the upgrade to your workstation for you. Once the update is complete, the KLAS log in screen will display allowing you to log in to the now updated version of KLAS.

We are excited to roll out the KLAS 7.7 release. When it comes time for you to upgrade, we will provide you step-by-step installation instructions, the KLAS installer, and your Activation Codes to get you up and running smoothly and quickly!

Here’s the latest Notes from The Scribe for February 2019.

Where we're Live, Live, Live (on version 7.7)!!!

What we've noticed so far, after some initial stability issues on day of launch, is that the connections are much faster now.

This last month we transitioned from playing around with many more cartridge runs, thanks to having all 25 staff on the service now and our 12 pilot patrons are in full service mode now. Feedback, so far, has been mostly positive. We look to start all new patron on Books On Demand Service some time in March.

Staff have test driven the release notes for Version 7.7 and issues have been addressed and corrected. We're in a pretty good place right now.

With the latest update (Version 7.7.2), no more cross assignment of copies, which was an issue we initially had with the system assigning individual books available on the shelves even though someone was setup for duplication service. This doesn't happen anymore.

The service queue and orders tabs work well. They are a good team. One thing we've been able to use them for is some testing to make sure things like the Book announcement file is added and to make sure that the correct number of books are added to the cartridge in the order specified. We are thankful that this is here because prior to this we had to go in by a more back door method to see what's happening.

A recent article by Katy talked about series assignment and duplication service. I will tell you that, since having Nightly now being able to do series assignments as part of the duplication service, there are a couple of things to watch when you initially launch Version 7.7. First off, this way of assigning series books is new and was adapted from another type of Nightly process. We did discover something that will probably be addressed, but something to still check at first. Make sure that in your Nightly Setup you have the check box for Has Hads checked off. Otherwise, as we found out with our pilot patrons, they will probably be issued books they've had in a series before. Check the box and this goes away.

Secondly, tuning the number of books per turn per series takes some time to get adjusted just right. We currently have chosen to make 2 turns per run on Series. This allows for 2 books per series to be run per service queue. We do have one or two patrons that will be binge people. For these you can go in to Nightly and adjust on a per patron basis just this rule. Which is pretty cool when you put it into practice.

On a final note, I will say that you want to make sure you put good processes in place before you start using this system on a wider scale. Seeing how things will fit together and such is a good chance to update and take a closer look at how you serve patrons across your service. In our case we have a nice set of processes that we can look at for reference. The library's books on demand committee will be meeting again soon to talk about our steps of putting all new patrons on the service and moving forward with adding existing patrons. One area that looks good for this is our ILL patrons. I'm actually going through a list right now.

That's all for this edition of Notes From The Scribe. The next edition will come out with the next round of major updates and new features.

I have another 7.7 preview for you today!

As part of our continuing efforts to support the high-volume duplication service model, we have been working on another new tab for the Patron Module: the Orders tab.

Right now, both the cartridge itself and each of the titles loaded on it are listed individually on the Items tab, and it can be difficult to tell which titles were on which cartridge, or to tell which were pre-existing cartridges vs which were duplicated for the patron. Well, in KLAS version 7.7 and onwards, they will continue to be listed there, allowing you to continue using the tab you are already familiar with to quickly check whether a patron has had a certain title, what was the last thing sent, and so on.

However, when you need more detailed information or to see which titles were on which cartridge... now, you'll have the Orders tab.

For right now, this is a Read-Only tab, meaning that nothing can be changed or modified from this screen. However, you will be able to browse each duplication order sent to that patron in the top browse, and view all of the Titles from a specific order (and only the Titles from that order) in the bottom browse.

Using this tab, you'll be able to easily answer patron questions like "I accidentally sent the wrong one back! What was on the last cartridge you sent me?" or "Oh, what was that book I read right after the new Nora Roberts? It was the last one on the cartridge and I forgot to write the name down..." and even "Why did you send me that awful book?"

Here's a preview of what it looks like right now:

And there's more! While we think this will be a useful starting point, we have more development planned for the Orders tab, including:

More filtering options - such as Circ Status (Assigned, Out, Returned), date sent, and date returned

Functions - such as resend order (great for those "I didn't mean to send that one back!" patrons)

So what do you think? Is there something you'd like to find on this tab that isn't there yet? Any functions you want us to build in? Let us know!

Now that we've been doing this for a year, it's been great to take a step back, look at how it's going, and figure out places where we need to make adjustments. You may have already noticed some format changes in the weekly wrap-ups, trying to make it quicker and easier to scan through these and quickly spot any topics you may want to read up on. I will also be re-doubling my efforts to bring you great technical content (how-to's and development updates), but first: a look at the survey results.

First, I want to take a look at the question I felt had the most interesting responses! After the read more link, I'll go through the rest in order. (Note: questions are listed in heading 3 for easy browsing)

Would you like to see comments or tips from your fellow users? How comfortable do you feel commenting on the forums?
The second part of this question saw the full range or responses, from people who are confident and comfortable with replying, to those who are not at all. However: everyone who answered the first part of the question wanted to see tips or comments from other users!

I would encourage all of you to keep that in mind... even if you feel like you're newer to KLAS or if you suspect your comment might be too basic or even wrong... your fellow users want to hear from you! I promise, if I spot something that could use some correction or clarification, I will provide the extra info with respect.

Also, don't feel like you need to wait for me to post a topic that applies to you--you can post comments, tips, or questions any time, anywhere on the forums. They're here for you!

Do you read Key Notes blog posts?

• 45.8% Often
• 33.3% Once / Occasionally
• 12.5% Always
• 8.3% Nope

I think this is great! I'm so happy that so many of you are reading these posts often--and that others are dropping in occassionally for the topics that interest them.

And to the devoted "always" readers: you're awesome. Thank you so much for trusting us with your time and following along with us. That's exactly how I hope for this to work.

What are your favorite types of blog post?

• 91.3% Technical content
• 43.5% Users' Group content
• 34.8% Behind-the-Scenes at Keystone

We hear you! We will continue all types of content, but I will do my best to bring you the technical content you really, really want. And if there's a particular topic you want a "how-to" of or a feature you want a closer look at... let us know!

Do you like having a new post each week or would you prefer less to keep up with?

• 72.7% Weekly is good
• 27.3% Weekly is too often

I didn't know what to expect from these results, so I'm glad to hear our current format is working for most of you! For the rest: you have our blessing to skim the weekly wrap-ups and skip any weeks when you're too busy.

What do you think of our Notes from the Scribe guest posts?

• 57.1% Good, and I'd like to see more guest posts!
• 23.8% Good, but I'm not interested in other guest posts.
• 19% Not interested

We're so glad most of you are enjoying these! We'll also look for other opportunities to put up a guest post now and then... but if they don't interest you, don't worry. Guest posts will remain an occassional thing, and they'll be clearly marked in the wrap-ups so you can skip them.

Anything else you want us to know about the Key Notes Blog?
(Any topic requests? pet peeves? guest post volunteers?)

All of your comments are noted. In particular, I'd like to respond to one:

"It would be nice to be able to comment directly to a blog post instead of going into the forums."

I agree! Unfortunately, that is not something our current platform can do... but we will keep that feature in mind as we continue working to make this site more useful for you.

Do you read the Thursday Forum Tips?

• 70.8% Once / Occasionally
• 12.5% Often
• 8.3% Always
• 8.3% Nope

Very interesting! Since the tips are always short and sweet, I'd expected them to have a bigger following than the blog, but that doesn't quite seem to be the case!

I will watch for opportunities to make the Thursday forum posts even better, but in the meantime, I hope you'll continue to drop in occasionally for the tips that interest you... and maybe let a co-worker know if you see one that applies to their job duties. I'd appreciate your help in getting this content to the people who will find it useful!

Do you like weekly tips or would you prefer less to keep up with?

• 73.9% Weekly is good
• 26.1% Weekly is too often

Fairly close to the results for the blog... seems like weekly is still good for now, but between the 26 percent who find this too often and fact that most people only read them occasionally, we may decide to post fewer tips in the future. If we do, I'll try to make them twice as good to make up for it ;)

Have any of the tips encouraged you to try a new feature, change a setting, or do something differently in KLAS?

• 52.2% Yes, one or two
• 30.4% No
• 17.4% Yes, several

I thought this, along with the next question, might be a good metric for how useful the posts are. I'll be bearing the results in mind and thank you for the feedback.

If you come across a tip in the future that leads you to try something new or change something up, please reply on the forum or drop me an email to let me know. I'd love, love, love to know which tips strike a chord!

Have any of the tips prompted you to contact Customer Support for help or more information?

• 56.5% No
• 34.8% Yes, one or two
• 8.7% Yes, several

I'm sure Customer Support will be glad to hear I'm not inundating them as much as I could be! They're here any time you need them, but I will continue to strive to make things clear enough on their own that no additional help will be needed.

Anything else you want us to know about forum tips? Any topic suggestions or questions?

All comments are noted! To answer a couple questions:

"I also worry that they get buried on the forums. Maybe cross-post to a separate place on the main menu next to the Key Notes Blog on the left?"

Remember that you can always browse the forum by topic to check for any overlooked threads in areas that interest you--plus, you can subscribe to topics of interest, and hold onto the notification emails until you have time to follow up!

I think a list of everything might get too long to be useful, but I will create a "best of" page to keep track of and direct people to Thursday Tips that I think will remain relevant for longer. Thanks for the suggestion, and watch for this coming up soon!

"Are they moderated for content?"

Individual posts are not moderated--they go up right away. That said, we do moderate user accounts (only people who are confirmed KLAS users have their accounts confirmed) and only logged-in users can post.

Also, I am notified of everything posted to the forums and read it right away. I may occasionally move a post that I think belongs under a different topic, so that other users can find it easier, but I will never delete someone's comment (unless it is completely, objectively inappropriate, but I trust you all not to do that to me).

What prompts you to read content on KLASusers.com?

• 71.4% I read the Weekly Wrap-up email
• 57.1% I check the site on occasion
• 9.5% I read posts when a coworker or supervisor recommends them
• 4.8% I subscribed to the forums I'm interested in
• 4.8% I check the site regularly
• 0% I use an RSS feed

Looks like the wrap-up emails are working as intended! As I've said, we'll try to keep them easy to browse through so you can quickly spot topics that might interest you.

I'm surprised that so few have subscribed to a forum... this is a fantasic and very easy feature that I'd encourage you to consider! If there are one or two topics on the forums that apply to you (maybe NLS and KLAS Core for administrators, Patron Services for RAs?) give it a try. You will receive a clearly marked email with anything that is posted to that forum. And if you decide later that you'd rather not get those emails, you can always un-subscribe.

Conclusion

Anyways, thank you again for your time! I do think this will help us make this site and our other communications better and better. Also, I hope you will all feel free to contact me any time you have requests or specific feedback.

Here's to another great year and to making KLASusers.com the great resource you all deserve!

The KLAS Program Committee has been hard at work and has a new, freshly updated Overview Schedule for the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference ready for you. This is still a draft schedule but has several changes from the version published two weeks ago.

So, how did the committee get here and what do they still have to do?

Here's a brief look at our 2019 KLAS Users' Conference Program Committee Planning Timeframe...

October

• Establish Committee
• Set meeting schedule & expectations
• Begin reviewing feedback from the previous conference

November

• Publish initial Overview Schedule with conference framework with no specific session topics or speakers based on info from the site visit, logistics committee, etc.
• Send out a call for proposals
• Continue reviewing feedback from the previous conference

December

• Continue reviewing feedback from the previous conference
• Review session proposals as they are received
• Identify / discuss other possible session topics

January

• Finalize list of session topics based on conference feedback, proposals received & ideas presented by committee members
• Slate session topics based on the type of session
• Publish updated Overview Schedule with slated session topics

February

• Review & Update Overview Schedule document
• Assign committee member liaison for sessions
• Refine session titles & descriptions
• Recruit additional moderators / presenters

March

• Continue refining session titles & descriptions
• Publish the first draft of the conference agenda
• Communicate deadlines to moderators / presenters

April

• Continue communicating with moderators / presenters
• Review / update Agenda as needed

May

• Publish finalized Agenda document
• Send out presentation template
• Collect presentations for publication

June

• Conference!

The addition of the Service Queue and the transition to duplication service is a huge change to patron services. One thing that it will likely have a big impact on is how we serve Series.

In the new service model, Nightly Duplication functions are used to refill the Service Queue, similar to how Nightly Autoselect works now. Duplication Orders are constructed from this Queue (by pulling Titles in order from the top of the Queue) for use with the old PCC Cartridge Builder program, the Scribe unit, or Gutenberg Bespoke.

One of these functions is dedicated to serving Series. Like all nightly functions, the function is constrained by the nightly setup parameters. There are separate functions for the "old" nightly (termed Physical delivery method in the new setup), and the new Duplication delivery method, used for populating the Service Queue.

Read on or download the attached file for the details of how the Duplication - Series nightly function will work!

Duplication – Series Nightly Function

The Duplication - Series function checks the patron's Series Preferences and applies exclusions as specified in the function setup, and then starts adding the books to the Service Queue in series order until either:

• It reaches the end of that particular series list, or
• It reaches the Max Per Function specified in the function setup.

It is expected that the library-wide Max Per Function for the Duplication - Series function will be set high enough to allow most series to be added in full to the Queue, but low enough to keep lengthy series from completely dominating the queue. However, you can take whatever approach you think will best serve the majority of your patrons.

Determining the best Max Per Function for your library will likely take some trial and error; you can adjust it as needed until you find the right fit.

What about hard-to-serve patrons?

For patrons that strongly prefer to continue receiving their series one book at a time, or who want a whole series in a row no matter how long it is, a patron-specific Max Per Function can be specified. You will be able to set that patron’s Max Per Function to meet their specific needs without affecting service to your other patrons.

Note: As part of our adjustments to Nightly to allow Duplication service, you no longer have to specify every function for a patron if you only want to override one or two. You only need to create a patron-specific function for the ones to override. Other functions will still serve that patron using the library-wide settings.

What if a Series Preference has multiple Media types?

Prior to Version 7.7, KLAS has been able to serve a series in multiple Media. This was particularly helpful during the cassette to digital transition, when parts of a series may have been available on RC while later additions were in DB.

It was also possible to serve a series in both DB and BR based on which version is available when the prior book is returned—however, this approach is only possible when the different versions are equivalent. The increase in anthology cartridges from NLS (i.e. books 1-3 in a single DB) make this less and less viable.

Moreover, in the duplication service model it is expected that all titles in a series will always be available for duplication. Though there may be exceptions (titles that were never made available on BARD, but which may be acquired in other formats), they should be rare.

Our decision was to restrict series to either duplication or physical circulation—not both.

This will not require you to remove the other Media from existing Series Preferences or to add a new one!

When KLAS serves a series, it will now check to see if any of the Media listed have an associated Service Queue. This happens when the series is first created, when a previous title is checked in, or when a series is restarted.

Example: If a patron has a Series Preference for Patterson’s Alex Cross series in RC or DB media, KLAS will check to see if the patron has a Service Queue. When it finds a DB Service Queue, it will serve the series using the Duplication – Series function instead of physical circulation.

What will happen if I restart a series?

The Restart Series function will now clear the Has-Hads for all titles in the series but not take any other action. In other words, that series will be eligible to be added back into the Service Queue the next time it refills, but it will not be added to the Queue immediately.

This allows you several options:

• Letting the series go back into the Queue after the other titles already on the queue have been sent.
• Using the Fill button on the Service Queue tab to manually refill the Queue right away (according to the rules and maximums set up in Nightly Processing and on the patron’s Profile tab).
• Removing less wanted Titles from the Queue before refilling it, potentially allowing more of the series to be selected right away.
• Manually add a few Titles from the series to the Service Queue, bypassing the Patron’s reserves and requests if your Nightly usually checks for those before checking series.

Final note

As a reminder, while KLAS 7.7 is nearly complete, changes are still being made in response to field testing with the Scribe and internal testing with the Gutenberg.

As we gain experience with the duplication service model, everything is subject to further adjustment, refinement, and re-evaluation to serve you better.

Download this article

DOCX - Duplication Service - Series

PDF - Duplication Service - Series

Hi all,

Here’s the Notes from The Scribe for January 2019.

This last month we played around testing out the limits of the system with many more cartridge runs, thanks to having all 25 staff on the service now. This means we can go much more fully into things and do larger groups of testing. The library’s Duplication on Demand Committee met again so we could prepare to roll out the service for a pilot patron group before everything goes live.

The first big news, is that we have now put 12 patrons on the service who are piloting the service. We had mentioned starting them in Mid-December, but some adjustments had to be made to the system first. This week we'll pair them up with cartridges and set them loose. We'll get feedback and tune things for putting more patrons on this service this early spring. At that time we will begin offering this service to all new patrons and pull from a list of more existing patrons to add to the service. This will grow over time. Currently it stands at 3000 or so.

The other big news is that we're about to get Version 7.7 running live in our library. If any of you attended Katy's webinar on version 7.7 you know that contains a great many improvements and features. We have been treated to experiencing a bunch of these things by being able to test out this new version for use with The Scribe. One notable piece is a button in the patron book search results to add items directly to the Service Queue. The roll-out should happen some time in the next week or so. One noted strength of being a tester of the new software version is our staff's ability to check things out and test some things before we go live. Staff currently is taking release notes for this new version and double-checking things before we go live just to make sure when we flip the switch we'll be good to go. We have learned from past updates that sometimes things do get "broken" in the process of updating things. So this kind of feedback is valuable and helpful, in case something needs to still be adjusted before we go live. It also will help prepare staff for the overall transition in service. As we say around here "this is getting real".

Here are some photos of this month's testing of more cartridges (patron orders) at the same time on a larger scale. The results are promising

 That's all for this edition of Notes From The Scribe. The next edition will come out with the next round of updates and new features.

While the Scribe System already has a lot of great features, we felt that there was still room for improvement. Two issues that we specifically wanted to address were:

Capacity

The NUC computers we were using as the brains of the Scribe System only have capacity for a portion of the Talking Book collection, and we found that not all libraries have the internet speed and bandwidth to reasonably download the books that were not included in the cache. We did everything possible to reduce the amount of downloading needed, but especially when it comes to serving walk-in patrons, it became clear that some libraries just need the whole collection to be stored locally.

Flexibility

We were also aware that not every location would need a 15-slot cartridge tower. Some libraries were interested in having a second duplication station at their front desk for walk-in convenience or even self-service, and the full tower would be much more than was actually needed. Additionally, there was interest in making duplication stations available at outreach centers or even public libraries, but again, these needed to be smaller and as foolproof as possible.

The Scribe Mini answers both of these issues!

An upgrade from the tiny NUC computers, a Scribe Mini is still much smaller than your standard workstation computer but has the capacity to store the full NLS collection plus local titles. On top of that, it has room in the case itself to host four onboard cartridge duplication slots plus LED indicators.

Because of this, the Scribe Mini can be used as a standalone duplication station! If the four cartridge slots aren’t enough, the Scribe Mini can also be used to pilot a 15-slot cartridge tower... or even two towers, for a grand total of 34 cartridge duplication slots!

A complete Scribe System will now include a Scribe Mini (instead of a NUC), a Scribe tower, and a barcode scanner.

The Details

The Scribe Mini still requires internet access, but all book downloads will be performed overnight, keeping its local collection up-to-date automatically. During the day, the connection will be used to communicate with your KLAS database about Duplication Orders, and to receive the occasional software update from Keystone.

The Scribe Monitor web page will still be used to display real-time information about the system and the status of each cartridge slot (including the 4 onboard slots and 15 or 30 tower slots), accessible from wherever you are.

For more details and technical specifications, please review the updated Scribe Specs & Cost document available for download below.

Wait, did this delay...?

While we think this is an awesome new option, we understand that some of you may be concerned that we’ve spent time developing hardware instead of on a new feature you really need, or on getting your organization upgraded to version 7.7. But don’t worry—while we are a small company and projects inevitably cross departmental lines, the new Scribe Mini was developed by different people than the ones working on other high-priority projects. Work on this new Scribe hardware did not delay your upgrade or new feature.

So how do I get one?

One Scribe Mini is included as part of each library’s free Scribe System. (If you have already received a Scribe system with a NUC, you may contact us to discuss whether you need an upgrade.) Additional Scribe Minis, Scribe towers, and complete Scribe Systems may be purchased; please see the latest Scribe Specs & Cost document for pricing information. Note that there is a price increase due to the additional hardware costs.

The Scribe Mini and Scribe towers are assembled in-house, but once ordered, we will build them as quickly as we can get the parts in (and without pulling people off of other projects).

Let us know if we should plan to build a Scribe Mini for your library!

Woo hoo!!

We don't need the "Under Construction" graphic anymore!!!

Yes, we can finally say that all the workmen are gone, our offices are unpacked, and we are settled back into our revamped meeting, training, and other spaces here at 8016 Glenwood Avenue. In fact, we've even rehung wall art and hosted our first KLAS Admin Training with all of the renovations being done.

To celebrate, here's a photo collage showing the Keystone developers' area and the office kitchen before and after the work was completed.

For all of our renovation pictures including all the "Afters" that we uploaded today, check out our 2018 Keystone Construction photo album on our Facebook page.

Whenever someone starts using KLAS with a screen-reader, we offer specialized training to help them get set up, oriented, and working.

However, as we all know, it's tough to really learn KLAS in just a few days. Plus, even for experienced users, it can be tricky going back to a task you haven't done for a while. Both of these can be an even bigger challenge for our users who work with screen-readers, due to the increased amount of memorization required. The Keystone Customer Support team is always happy to help, but for those who just need a little more context to get back on track, we have a specialized Assistive Technology (AT) Reference document that could be just the thing!

This reference is intended as a supplement to the built-in User Guide and our general How-Tos and Quick Tips. For each module in KLAS, the document gives an overview, contextual information, and relevant key commands.

If you or an AT user you know need an update for this document, the download links below have the freshest, up-to-date version. Hot off the press, in a manner of speaking! And we'll be sure to keep it updated, so whenever you get a KLAS upgrade be sure to check the Documents -> Quick Ref page of KLASusers to see if there's a new version!

Hint, hint: KLAS 7.7 will definitely call for an AT Ref update! That version will be posted as soon as it's available.

One last thing -- as you may notice, this thing is a bit of a beast to update. So, if you note any missing or incorrect screens or functions, please drop me a line! It's important to me to provide useful assistance for our users, so I'll appreciate the heads-up and get the correct information into a new version ASAP.

I pulled out my new 2019 calendar and all of a sudden the next KLAS Users' Conference is THIS YEAR and not NEXT. But, there's no reason to panic because the Program and Logistics Committees have been actively meeting on a monthly basis since last fall and have made some great progress in planning for your attendance. Do you know who those people are and what kind of work they do? First, let's introduce you to the people who are bringing you this year's "Waves of Change."

Who are they?

Below are the persons serving on the Planning Committees for the 2019 KLAS User's Conference.

2019 KLAS Users' Conference Program Committee:

• Chandra Thornton, KLAS Users' Group Vice President, Program Committee Chair, 2019 KLAS User's Conference Host, Palm Beach County Library System Talking Books Library
• Erin Pawlus, KLAS Users' Group Secretary, Arizona Braille and Talking Book Library
• Sue Walker, KLAS UC 2018 Host, Idaho Commission for Libraries Talking Book Service
• Vanessa Meadows, KLAS UC 2017 Host, Georgia Library for Accessible Statewide Services
• Cyndi Hammonds, California Department of Education
• Amy Ravenholt, Washington Talking Book and Braille Library
• Katy Patrick, Keystone Systems
• Andrea Callicutt, Keystone Systems

2019 KLAS Users' Conference Logistics Committee:

• Craig Hayward, KLAS Users' Group President, Logistics Committee Chair, North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Sarah Smedley, 2019 KLAS User's Conference Host, Palm Beach County Library System Talking Books Library
• Nancy Reese, KLAS UC 2018 Host, Idaho Commission for Libraries Talking Book Service
• Andrew Shockley, KLAS UC 2015 Host, Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Debbie Martin, Brevard County Talking Books Library
• John Mugford, New Mexico Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Andrea Callicutt, Keystone Systems

What do they do?

The Planning Committees usually meet on a monthly or bi-monthly basis depending on what work is currently needing to be done. The Logistics Committee focuses on planning the conference's transportation, catering, registration, welcome reception, and networking excursion. The Program Committee plans the conference content by identifying topics of interest, seeking out presenters, and creating a schedule all while trying to appeal to the varied job functions, skill sets, and learning styles of our attendees. Both pay close attention to the commentary and ideas that arise from previous year's feedback forms and follow-up surveys as they plan. They also look for new ideas that could benefit our attendees and bounce them off one another.

When an organization offers to host a conference we do ask if a member / members of their staff can serve on each committee the year before, the of, and the year after they host. We also encourage other persons to serve on the committees who have an interest in contributing to the planning of the conference's content or the details of attendees' experiences while there.

At this time, much of the preliminary logistics planning has been completed and that committee is now focusing on more detailed decisions, such as our reception entertainment and which menus to choose for provided meals. At the same time, our Program Committee has now done a thorough review and discussion of session feedback, sent out a call for proposals, created an initial overview schedule, and will soon be contacting additional possible presenters and finalizing session topics with the goal of publishing the next draft of the conference schedule before January 31.

If you have any questions about how these committees operate or they work they do, please feel free to contact anyone serving on them. Or, if you are interested in serving on a committee in the future, contact one of your KLAS Users' Group Officers or the current committee chair.

Happy New Year!

I don't know about you, but I can't believe it's already 2019! For me, that doesn't just mean another resolution to fold my laundry right away, or the end of the holiday baking season (though I will miss all those Christmas cookies). It means we're closing in on the first anniversary of the Key Notes Blog and Thursday Forum Tips!

That's right, we've been doing this every week since last February! To help us review how it's going and adjust course as needed, we put together a quick survey for you. It's only 12 questions long and will be open through the end of the month.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! I'm doing this for all of you, so please chime in to let us know how it's going!

(This survey is closed.)

The snow has melted, the Holidays are rapidly approaching, and it's time for another post in our "Stars of Keystone's Staff" series. Each will include some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

Basic Stats:

Name of Staff Member: John Owen

Year Hired: August 2002

Current Job Title: Senior Support Analyst

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Developing relationships. Of course, helping but always building trust.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: Technical and sales support for a major semiconductor manufacturer and point of sale company.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: My grandchildren, my church and my music, and Alabama Football...Roll Tide!

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Fiji and Vietnam

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: One cat, Belle Belle hired us six years ago.

The grandkids:

John working with kids in Haiti:

 Belle Belle, managing her staff:

 And a throwback to high school basketball--can you tell which of these players is John?

For this week's blog post, we thought you'd enjoy some of our staff's photos of the snow we got in Raleigh over the last couple of days.

Let's start with a .gif of Katy's cat Paws watching the snowfall through the sliding glass door of her townhouse.

Here was Drea's view out her home's front door on Monday.

Also, these two pictures of the table, chairs, and pergola on her upper deck show just how much snow accumulated. We got approximately 7 inches of snow on Sunday and even more fell on Monday morning. Raleigh usually averages 6 inches of snow total per season.

Finally, this is what her backyard looked like blanketed in all the white stuff. Her dogs definitely didn't appreciate it as much as she did. You can see their tracks going off the lower deck and around the firepit.

Nancy shared this picture trees in her backyard covered in snow.

Katy also enjoyed the snow on the tree outside of her window.

And, her kitty, Paws, enjoyed watching it fall through the large sliding glass door.

Hi all,

Here’s the Notes from The Scribe for November 2018.

This will be a shorter version. This month we played around testing some limits of the system itself and some improvements to our own processes as we get ready to roll out this service in full. The library’s Duplication on Demand Committee has met twice and we are shaping how our service will work moving forward with this exciting offering. Let’s go over some brief highlights since I last updated you all.

In November we finally put all staff on to the service as a test group so that we could run larger batches of duplication jobs. What we discovered with this process is that The Scribe is up to the task (so far). The speed of duplication whether you are copying one cartridge or 12 doesn’t really change much. In our sample, one cartridge typically takes 3.5 minutes to put 5 books on one cartridge and 4.5 minutes to put 5 books onto 12 cartridges at the same time, in 2 different locations. I say 12 because that’s all the staff we had up on the system at the time we started the tests. We still need to run the remaining cards for the rest of staff (13 more people) and put together cartridge sets. Once we have that we will look at 15 at a time. We do note that there seems to be a kind of sleep mode from starting out the day running this. There is a little delay when you start up first thing and put everything in motion, which isn’t as pronounced the rest of the time. As we go forward and the units run more throughout the day we will see how this pans out. But if you want to run 12 cartridges (patron orders) at the same time, this device does that well.

The next phase will be to run all cartridge slots on both units at the same time. This should happen in the next week or so once we get all staff setup.

Another thing of major note, the committee decided that rather than calling the service Patron-Centric Cartridge or PCC service, we have adopted the name Books on Demand or BOD. The group decided that this would be easier for the patrons to understand. The term Patron-Centric Cartridge is meaningless from a patron standpoint. The method behind how those books (and magazines) are served doesn’t matter to the patron. While this is a PCC type of Duplication on Demand Service we will refer to it as Books on Demand or BOD for simplicity. Also this leaves open the option of using other types of delivery for patron reading materials.

One final note, a group of 15-20 patrons will begin pilot testing the system in mid-December. We have worked out most of the kinks in the system, but the next step is patron feedback that we’ll get so we can fine tune some things. The hope is to move beyond the pilot by mid-January and roll things forward. We think we’re on target for that to happen. As we say around here "this is getting real".

Here are some photos of this month's testing of more cartridges (patron orders) at the same time on a larger scale.

As cartridges are inserted The Scribe recognizes them each and, if all is well the light turns blue to indicate that the cartridge is seen and ready

All is working well. Cartridge slots filled with cartridges and all are blue indicating that the duplication process is beginning

When a patron duplication job completes, and the cartridge is checked out, the light goes to green that tell you to pull it and send it out in the mail

When a red light comes on it means there’s an issue with the cartridge or the patron account. These red cartridges get pulled and put to the side with the case (not shown) to be dealt with after the run. In this case there weren’t actually any books added to this new patrons service queue by staff.

That's all for this edition of Notes From The Scribe. The next edition will come out with the next round of updates and new features.