News

We have sent out a survey directly to all of our current library directors/administrators with the following introduction and link to the survey. This survey requires a login to complete and only one submission per library is requested. The survey is now closed.

The SWAN-branded instance of Aspen LiDA, the SWAN Libraries + app, is live and available to download in the iOS and Android/Google Play stores. Note: We're not yet seeing the app appear when searching the Google Play store, but you can access it through the direct link. SWAN recommends a public announcement date of December 26th for patrons. Prior to this, library staff can get acquainted with the app. Staff webinar dates SWAN is offering two dates for a demo and Q&A for the new app. The first session will be recorded and posted on the SWAN support site. Tuesday, December 19th at 10:00AM...

We presented at the Quarterly meeting for library directors and administrators our recommendation to move forward with Aspen Library Discovery App (LiDA). The SWAN Board met afterward and approved that recommendation with ByWater Solutions, the company supporting the LiDA app. We have a recording of the presentation about Aspen LiDA available. This recording is the SWAN Quarterly presentation that includes other updates: SWAN Quarterly Meeting (YouTube) Here is a basic timeline for the Aspen LiDA roll-out. December 7th Apple & Google App store submission App appears in app stores as soon as...

SirsiDynix and Solus, the vendor that provided support and development for BLUEcloud Mobile, have been unable to come to an agreement that would continue functionality of the current BLUEcloud Mobile app. The current BLUEcloud Mobile app is not expected to be restored. SWAN has been in the process of researching and preparing for a pilot of a new app. Unfortunately, this development with BLUEcloud Mobile means we need to move to a new app much sooner, and the transition will not be as smooth as we would have liked. We're in discussions with SirsiDynix and other vendors to find the best path...

The rebuild process concluded late Thursday Staff may resume all activities in WorkFlows. We will be rebuilding our indexes over Thanksgiving Day. Please refrain from accessing Workflows after close of day today. We anticipate that this will have little to no impact on service since it is occurring over the holiday. We will send an all clear message when you can resume normal work functions. Absolutely no cataloging may occur during reindexing, including: updating, adding, or deleting of bibliographic and item records. We will provide updates on this post as they become available.

SWAN staff will be unavailable on Thursday, November 22 and Friday, November 23 due to the holiday. On-call staff will monitor for emergencies. When to Call 844-792-6542 (844-SWAN-LIB): A service is down Circulation is impacted Unable to perform key job functions When to open a ticket: Questions and troubleshooting Report request Aspen Discovery changes Integrating new services Track Known Issues on the SWAN Support Site SWAN Staff Contact Details

Update 5:00 PM - Scheduled reports have caught up. Update 12:04 PM - The overnight indexing report was terminated due to a large number of records. Subsequent maintenance reports are now running, but it will take time for the schedule to catch up where it needs to be. Item records should no longer be locked. One of our nightly index maintenance reports is running longer than anticipated. Other scheduled reports are delayed as a result and there may be slight delays in morning reports as well. While the system catches up, please refrain from scheduling any unnecessary reports. You may also...

Kanopy is having a great end of the year promotion for any libraries interested our flagship Pay-Per-Use (PPU) streaming video service, which includes over 31,000 films and tv shows. From November 13 – December 22, any library that comes on board will receive their first full month of usage for free. Libraries would just need to agree to receiving their launch email with live link on or before January 15, 2024. The current SWAN discount for Kanopy is 10%. The discount increases as more libraries purchase Kanopy! The next discount is 15%. Paula Roman will be hosting a virtual session for any...

The Aspen 23.11 release is now live. This release includes: A bug fix for an issue with non-public notes showing for some multi-volume Symphony records Additional updates for Aspen self registration to make this tool compatible with Symphony Email function to send automated emails when a patron self registers The Aspen self registration tool is not yet available for use by SWAN libraries. We are still investigating additional bug fixes as well as an integration with the USPS APIs to validate addresses.

The Addison Public Library data migration is complete! The library ran offline circulation over the weekend and today the library is circulating in SWAN. We have updated the membership map on the Support site and have posted a listing of all libraries three-letter codes and barcode prefixes. Addison's code in SWAN is ADD. Per our go-live approach for new members, Addison will operate in a limited resource sharing mode for several weeks. The library's materials will not fulfill holds for other patrons, but libraries will supply material requested to Addison. Any items patrons wish to obtain...

Unique has launched a beta version of their new and improved MessageBee portal. This new version contains new reporting aspects of MessageBee. There is now the ability to view communication statistics in various ways-by channel, then by day, week, or month. Please look at the beta version and bring questions to either of our office hours listed below. MessageBee Office Hours, December 12 th @ 10 AM. Register on L2 MessageBee Office Hours, December 14 th @1:30 PM. Register on L2 *Documentation will be updated once the beta version is live.

Update 12PM - Our report schedule has caught up. Reports may be scheduled as needed. Update 11/5 - Sunday’s reports are also delayed due to a long-running overnight maintenance report. Please refrain from scheduling any unnecessary reports while the report schedule catches up. Update: 3:00PM - The report schedule has caught up. Staff may resume scheduling reports as needed. Thanks for your patience! Update:12:20PM - The long-running report concluded around 9:30AM - The system is proceeding with the subsequent reports and we'll continue to monitor the report server's status. Updates to follow...

The Addison Public Library bibliographic data load has begun. This is the process in which SirsiDynix will load Addison's bibliographic and item records into our production database. These items will be findable in the Aspen catalog this weekend. For Symphony Workflows, however, reindexing of the records needs to occur. In lieu of performing a full rebuild and requiring offline time of our entire membership, we have opted to perform the indexing gradually over the course of the next week and a half. During this time, there may be occasional searching anomalies in Workflows. We hope this will...

The Illinois State Library requires RAILS to do a quarterly physical count of all items picked up in a week. This process is outlined on the RAILS delivery count webpage, and begins Friday, October 27th. See the RAILS instructions for details. Any questions should be directed at RAILS delivery via its contact railsdelivery@railslibraries.info

The Aspen 23.10 release is now live. This release includes: Custom images for Explore More in search results Aspen administrators can add custom images for their Explore More section of search results. Note that some icons only appear if you have the integration in Aspen, e.g. events or digital archives. Updates to self registration Aspen has a self registration or online registration feature built in, but it was not previously usable with Symphony. Over the next few releases we will see updates to self registration in Aspen that may make this a viable option for SWAN libraries to use in lieu...

The Circulation Advisory election is now open. The Circulation Manager should make the selections, and there should be only one vote per library. Please follow the instructions on the form and vote for 5 people. The election will close on November 3rd at 5:00 PM, so please make all selections by then. Election Form

The October, 2023 (July- September, 2023) Quarterly Billing is complete, and the invoices and checks will be mailed shortly. Documentation is available to help guide member library staff through the Billing Summary workbook as well as the detail statement reports folder accessible in BlueCloud Analytics Shared Reports. Library Directors have been provided with BCA login credentials. If you are a Director and do not have access to the BCA reports, please open a ticket at help@swanlibraries.net. Feel free to email help@swanlibraries.net if you have any questions about your billing. Please wait...

We are happy to announce we now have a weekly delivery option for the List ONLINE Users Report. This report is delivered to libraries that use the SWAN Online Patron Registration tool. The daily delivery of the report will remain the default option. Please send an email to help@swanlibraries.net to open a ticket if you would prefer to receive the report on a weekly basis.

We are excited to announce an automated non-SWAN Interlibrary Loan brief record cleanup process. Over time, we have found that brief ILL records remain in our database. Most member staff delete these records manually as ILL items are returned, but some fall through the cracks. This process will clean up those old, unused records. Candidates for deletion must have all of the following item attributes: Home Location: ILL or ILL_IN Date Created: Over two years ago Last Activity Date: Over two years ago OR never The cleanup reports will run on the 19th of every month starting in October. Please...

All participating eRead Illinois libraries will switch to Boundless on either September 26 or 27th. Once the transition is complete, patrons will be prompted to download the Boundless app and redirects from Axis 360 to Boundless will be in place. Visit the Boundless Resource Center to access marketing materials, the library migration checklist, and FAQs.