• Article Type: General
• Product: Aleph
• Product Version: 19.01

Description:
In version 18 we have multiple course reserve libraries attached to a single ADM library.
This configuration does not seem to be supported in version 19.

The first problem I see is that upgrade express (18->19) step 1013 copies the z108 table from crs library to adm library, one library at a time. The final result is a z108 in the adm library from whatever crs library happened to be processed last. While it might be possible to combine the table rather than overwriting it, I see no field in z108 to identify the crs library associated with the course.

Second, it seems that the circ/reserves client is run connected to the adm library, and I see no place to specify a particular crs library.

Finally, routine get_adm_crs_lib, which is called from many pc_course_cxxxx routines looks like it expects to use the CRS entries in library_relation to translate from adm to crs library. The corresponding lines in our library relation are
CRS ABC50 ABC34
CRS ABC50 ABC37
etc., so this will always yield the same result.

Resolution:
Merging of the ABC3n libraries into an ABC30 library is the only option. There can be only one CRS per ADM.

In regard to this merged abc30:

1. In the OPAC, searches could be limited to a particular campus (by base), so there shouldn't be any problem. (See KB 16384-22577 in regard to the pros and cons of Union View in Course Reserves.)

2. Similarly, in the GUI, searches in the abc30 library using the binoculars search function could be limited to a particular campus (by base).

3. I see the main issue as the GUI "List of Courses" screen, where one can display the courses sorted by Course Number,
Course Name, Instructor, Dept, or "Unit".

The z108_unit is a new 20-byte column which was added with v19. It is initialized to blanks in the upgrade. I'm thinking
that you could populate this field some value representing the campus, followed by the course number. The staff would put
the campus code in the "Enter starting point" box and then would see the courses for their campus.

In the case of the Course Names, Instructor, and Dept, you may want to add the campus code as a prefix (-- or suffix?).

4. The items are linked to specific courses, so that should not be a problem.

• Article last edited: 10/8/2013