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Booth & Dimock Memorial Library
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In mid-March, Booth & Dimock presented the Auto-Graphics implementation team with both a patron and bibliographic file to review in anticipation of a phased implementation approach scheduled for the coming months. When the Auto- Graphics implementation team arrived at the library in mid-April to meet with Library Director Sharon Pacholski, they discovered that the current system had experienced catastrophic failure.
"When the Auto-Graphics team came into the library on Thursday morning, our ILS server had crashed, with both drives failing. Our server was literally in pieces on the floor, and we were running the library on paper, taking down names, barcodes and titles," said Pacholski. "From there we learned that the system that we thought had been performing back-ups had also failed, leaving us without a system and no access to our patron or bibliographic records."
"My main goal was to minimize the downtime at the library and to get them up and operating as quickly as possible. Once the standalone circulation systems were put into place, the library was business as usual from the patron's perspective," said Mark Hewes, Auto-Graphics' customer service manager responsible for the Booth & Dimock implementation. "Having received the library's patron and bibliographic databases prior to the system crash also meant that -- if the data couldn't be recovered from the server -- we would still be able to go live with AGent VERSO with all but three weeks of lost transactions."
Luckily the database files were successfully recovered from the crashed server and the Booth & Dimock team delivered the most current patron and bibliographic files for the AGent VERSO implementation by Friday afternoon. The Auto-Graphics implementation team worked diligently over the weekend to process the records from the recovered files, as well as the records from the standalone AGent circulation system that had been put into place as a stop gap.
By Monday morning, Pacholski approved the loading of data into the AGent VERSO web-based system. That evening, the Auto- Graphics implementation team worked to load the data and during the next several days proceeded with the set-up and configuration of the AGent VERSO system to Booth & Dimock's specifications. On Thursday morning, just one week from the date of the server crash, Auto-Graphics' Hewes held the first of two training sessions for the Booth & Dimock library staff before opening hours. "This was a great example of the Booth & Dimock library community coming together -- from the part-time IT resource to the entire library staff -- with Sharon leading the team and maintaining a level-head through the technical difficulties," commented Hewes. "The Auto- Graphics team was ecstatic that we could get the library up and running in such a short time after what could have been a catastrophic failure."
"While we have been a little shell-shocked with the quick implementation of the new system after having utilized the same system for over 20 years, we are truly enjoying the functionality of the AGent VERSO system," said Pacholski. "Our catalogers have found that cataloging through AGent VERSO is seamless, and the library staff likes having all the patron information on one tab with the ability to easily renew, reserve and delete reserves in one fell swoop. AGent VERSO also provides detailed statistics about circulation activity in an easy to understand graphical format that we use regularly for town council meetings."
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