A few words about recent catalogue and account issues
We have been working hard to resolve the recent problems with the library catalogue and access to customer accounts.
What’s the problem?
Over the past several weeks, the two servers we were using for the catalogue were having trouble meeting demand. We added a third server, but unfortunately it didn’t perform well and ended up making the problems worse. Last Friday, we introduced another new server to replace it, which seems to have addressed the access and response issues that you experienced.
Why is it so hard to get it right?
Some of the challenges with our catalogue arise from the fact that Toronto Public Library is so much larger than most other libraries. System configurations that have worked for other libraries do not always translate well when scaled for Toronto’s size. We're also coping with a recent increase in traffic to our website.
What has been fixed?
Problems with extreme slowness, timeouts, and error messages when trying to search or access your account should now be resolved. We continue to monitor this very closely, so please tell us if you are still experiencing timeouts or extreme slowness.
What still needs fixing?
We still have work to do to address usability issues with the catalogue. Some of the high-priority issues to be addressed include:
- After clicking “Your Account” and signing in, you are taken to the search screen instead of the account screen. You have to click on “Your Account” a second time.
- After placing a hold, you are returned to the “Place Hold” form rather than to your search results.
- It’s not currently possible to delete the list of missed holds that display in your account.
We continue to work with our vendor to improve the stability and responsiveness of the catalogue. We are also in the process of implementing a new search engine that will significantly enhance the usability, accessibility, and openness of our online services. In the meantime, we recognize the importance of the catalogue and are working to resolve the issues as quickly as possible. We appreciate your continued feedback.
30 thoughts on “A few words about recent catalogue and account issues”
Thanks for the update. Is it possible to host the system in a more elastic environment in order to be able to grow to meet the demand without having to deploy your own physical servers? (If not, then who wasn’t asking that during the RFP phase?)
Thanks for the update. Is it possible to host the system in a more elastic environment in order to be able to grow to meet the demand without having to deploy your own physical servers? (If not, then who wasn’t asking that during the RFP phase?)
I’m a loyal patron of Toronto’s libraries and I appreciate the TPL’s transparency, but I do agree with the previous comment – that the library is not making use of the elastic environments available to them through cloud computing.
Because the TPL’s databases and outward facing website are both mission-critical and Web-intensive, I’m surprised that there are only three servers running them. There are many outsourcing options that can guarantee the integrity of your data and the privacy of your users – or you could migrate your data to servers hosted in a Toronto data center, use VMware vSphere OS to turn make them into a secure cloud, giving you a simple, highly available computing framework.
There are lots of options out there that don’t necessarily mean losing control over your servers and/or data.
Best of luck!
I’m a loyal patron of Toronto’s libraries and I appreciate the TPL’s transparency, but I do agree with the previous comment – that the library is not making use of the elastic environments available to them through cloud computing.
Because the TPL’s databases and outward facing website are both mission-critical and Web-intensive, I’m surprised that there are only three servers running them. There are many outsourcing options that can guarantee the integrity of your data and the privacy of your users – or you could migrate your data to servers hosted in a Toronto data center, use VMware vSphere OS to turn make them into a secure cloud, giving you a simple, highly available computing framework.
There are lots of options out there that don’t necessarily mean losing control over your servers and/or data.
Best of luck!
Does this mean my question about who is responsible has gone unanswered?
I’ll ask another. Is the library serious about accountability?
I would also like to second Sandy Kemsley’s question about who didn’t ask the question during the RFP phase.
Does anyone else thing we should be asking for names? Do any of my fellow posters agree?
Does this mean my question about who is responsible has gone unanswered?
I’ll ask another. Is the library serious about accountability?
I would also like to second Sandy Kemsley’s question about who didn’t ask the question during the RFP phase.
Does anyone else thing we should be asking for names? Do any of my fellow posters agree?
Hi Sandy/David/Ivan:
In response to your recent questions and comments, I’ve asked Ron Dyck, our Director of Information Technology and Facilities, to provide his thoughts.
“Thanks for your comments and suggestions. As already mentioned in an earlier blog post, the web catalogue is the public face of a larger system that enables nearly all the of library’s processes, including acquisition of materials, cataloguing, inventory control, distribution, check in and check out, holds, etc. The system and the environment in which it operates (from both a business and technology perspective) is large and multi-faceted, and has a number of constraints and complexities that can have an impact on the performance of our web-based catalogue services. From reading your comments, it seems that our reference to a few servers running part of this system has given the impression that our performance and stability issues are related to the size and elasticity of our computing environment, which really isn’t the case.
Having said that, we continue to work with the vendor of our current system to take advantage of advances in infrastructure and web technology, and as mentioned in previous blog posts, we are working on major enhancements to our website and web-based services to open up the data in our catalogue and other databases to improve usability and performance.
As always, we really appreciate your input, and look forward to your continued feedback.”
Thanks. Dara
Hi Sandy/David/Ivan:
In response to your recent questions and comments, I’ve asked Ron Dyck, our Director of Information Technology and Facilities, to provide his thoughts.
“Thanks for your comments and suggestions. As already mentioned in an earlier blog post, the web catalogue is the public face of a larger system that enables nearly all the of library’s processes, including acquisition of materials, cataloguing, inventory control, distribution, check in and check out, holds, etc. The system and the environment in which it operates (from both a business and technology perspective) is large and multi-faceted, and has a number of constraints and complexities that can have an impact on the performance of our web-based catalogue services. From reading your comments, it seems that our reference to a few servers running part of this system has given the impression that our performance and stability issues are related to the size and elasticity of our computing environment, which really isn’t the case.
Having said that, we continue to work with the vendor of our current system to take advantage of advances in infrastructure and web technology, and as mentioned in previous blog posts, we are working on major enhancements to our website and web-based services to open up the data in our catalogue and other databases to improve usability and performance.
As always, we really appreciate your input, and look forward to your continued feedback.”
Thanks. Dara
Thank you for all the work that’s been put in during the last year. It’s been such a blessing to have such a convenient system in place. I’ve borrowed more now than ever just because it’s so easy.
Keep it up, when things are going well, the backbone of the system often gets ignored but it doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you for all the work that’s been put in during the last year. It’s been such a blessing to have such a convenient system in place. I’ve borrowed more now than ever just because it’s so easy.
Keep it up, when things are going well, the backbone of the system often gets ignored but it doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I’d like to add to the vote-of-thanks side of things.
Your system has sometimes seemed a little slow to me, and some of the issues that you have identified earlier are unnecessarily annoying, but I have not been seriously inconvenienced and find it a very useful tool for my life. I appreciate having some explanations about how things are going, and look forward to things getting better still.
Cheers, Ted
I’d like to add to the vote-of-thanks side of things.
Your system has sometimes seemed a little slow to me, and some of the issues that you have identified earlier are unnecessarily annoying, but I have not been seriously inconvenienced and find it a very useful tool for my life. I appreciate having some explanations about how things are going, and look forward to things getting better still.
Cheers, Ted
Hello,
Since TPL is in the process of updating thier catalogue system, now might be a good idea to install a few new features. One thing which I think would be really helpful is if the NAMES of the libraries under the HOLDINGS tab when we do a search, could be a link to their google map location or simply even provide the major intersection. THis would eliminate the need to keep going back to see where a particular library is located.
Hello,
Since TPL is in the process of updating thier catalogue system, now might be a good idea to install a few new features. One thing which I think would be really helpful is if the NAMES of the libraries under the HOLDINGS tab when we do a search, could be a link to their google map location or simply even provide the major intersection. THis would eliminate the need to keep going back to see where a particular library is located.
Hi Alfiya,
That’s an excellent suggestion. We will definitely try to do something like what you describe in a future release.
Thanks for the feedback.
Sandra
Hi Alfiya,
That’s an excellent suggestion. We will definitely try to do something like what you describe in a future release.
Thanks for the feedback.
Sandra
Hello, thanks for keeping us uptodate regarding the systems situation.
I have a little complaint regarding the notification system in the new technical setup. I just got an email informing me of two overdue books except that it was about a week late. So I’m docked with $1.80 each for two books.
I support public libraries and support more money going to the TPL because it is providing such an awesome service, but I’m starting to get the feeling that TPL is trying to make some extra cash by not informing people AHEAD of time instead of ONE WEEK LATE.
Obviously, there is NO technical reason that you can’t send the notices out 3 days in advance. You just have to change a few lines of code in the relative report, but TPL chooses to annoy its patrons by intentionally sending out late notices.
I used to use another service, but thanks to the recent “improvements” the library owl service doesn’t work and I’m back to paying BOGUS charges that are completely avoidable if TPL exhibits some customer friendliness and sends out a notice BEFORE a book is overdue.
Also, there is NO TRANSPARENCY regarding the monies that are being earned in this (I’d say “shady”) manner. Can someone in the hierarchy inform us riff-raff as to where we can find information about Monies collected through over-due charges?
I have a feeling this is almost a scam that no-one is saying anything about “because we’re supposed to support the libraries”..
Yes we are, and I vehemently support public funding for TPL, but not when they try to weasle extra cash out of people when they could be a LITTLE MORE COURTEOUS.
Be nice to us, and we’ll be your strength instead of being apathetic come funding time.
Thanks for your time,
A.M.
Hello, thanks for keeping us uptodate regarding the systems situation.
I have a little complaint regarding the notification system in the new technical setup. I just got an email informing me of two overdue books except that it was about a week late. So I’m docked with $1.80 each for two books.
I support public libraries and support more money going to the TPL because it is providing such an awesome service, but I’m starting to get the feeling that TPL is trying to make some extra cash by not informing people AHEAD of time instead of ONE WEEK LATE.
Obviously, there is NO technical reason that you can’t send the notices out 3 days in advance. You just have to change a few lines of code in the relative report, but TPL chooses to annoy its patrons by intentionally sending out late notices.
I used to use another service, but thanks to the recent “improvements” the library owl service doesn’t work and I’m back to paying BOGUS charges that are completely avoidable if TPL exhibits some customer friendliness and sends out a notice BEFORE a book is overdue.
Also, there is NO TRANSPARENCY regarding the monies that are being earned in this (I’d say “shady”) manner. Can someone in the hierarchy inform us riff-raff as to where we can find information about Monies collected through over-due charges?
I have a feeling this is almost a scam that no-one is saying anything about “because we’re supposed to support the libraries”..
Yes we are, and I vehemently support public funding for TPL, but not when they try to weasle extra cash out of people when they could be a LITTLE MORE COURTEOUS.
Be nice to us, and we’ll be your strength instead of being apathetic come funding time.
Thanks for your time,
A.M.
Hi A.M.,
Thanks for your suggestion about reminder notices for due dates. We’ll keep it in mind as a possible future improvement to our service.
Revenues from fines are itemized in the library’s annual report (p. 41). (The most recent information is from 2007.)
We appreciate your feedback.
Sandra
Hi A.M.,
Thanks for your suggestion about reminder notices for due dates. We’ll keep it in mind as a possible future improvement to our service.
Revenues from fines are itemized in the library’s annual report (p. 41). (The most recent information is from 2007.)
We appreciate your feedback.
Sandra
hey, its not up to the TPL to notify people when their books/items are late!
It wasn’t long ago, when all you had was a library slip.
All of the due dates are listed online.
If a return comes in late, that is not the fault of the TPL.
hey, its not up to the TPL to notify people when their books/items are late!
It wasn’t long ago, when all you had was a library slip.
All of the due dates are listed online.
If a return comes in late, that is not the fault of the TPL.
Speaking of reminders, how about some advance warning of card expiry? I’m in my account (sigh, clicking My Account twice) at least once a week placing holds, renewing, etc, and at a branch probably once every two or three weeks. Today, suddenly, online I can’t do anything because my card has expired. So until I can get to a branch, my fines are piling up on books I can probably renew!This too it seems would be simple…
Speaking of reminders, how about some advance warning of card expiry? I’m in my account (sigh, clicking My Account twice) at least once a week placing holds, renewing, etc, and at a branch probably once every two or three weeks. Today, suddenly, online I can’t do anything because my card has expired. So until I can get to a branch, my fines are piling up on books I can probably renew!This too it seems would be simple…
Tofu is right in his or her response to Amr Malik’s comment: patrons should take responsibility to remember when their materials are due back at the library. That said, sending notifications to people before their item is due is the better system.
Page 41 of the 2007 Annual Report shows that “user charges” revenue (including photocopying and room rentals) is around $4 million each year (sadly, almost equalling higher government contributions in that year).
Janet: under the Account Summary tab on your My Acount page it should display a notice that your card will expire soon: it says “Card Expired or Will Expire Shortly” at the bottom of my page right now, for example. Although it doesn’t give me a helpful date, I at least know that I should get to the library soon to renew it.
Finally: on my Checkouts list, recently acquired books that have not yet been catalogued are listed as the generic “TPL Adult Paperback” where the title should be displayed. It’s searchable by title in the catalogue, so the title must be in some db field, just not the one the Checkouts list uses.
Tofu is right in his or her response to Amr Malik’s comment: patrons should take responsibility to remember when their materials are due back at the library. That said, sending notifications to people before their item is due is the better system.
Page 41 of the 2007 Annual Report shows that “user charges” revenue (including photocopying and room rentals) is around $4 million each year (sadly, almost equalling higher government contributions in that year).
Janet: under the Account Summary tab on your My Acount page it should display a notice that your card will expire soon: it says “Card Expired or Will Expire Shortly” at the bottom of my page right now, for example. Although it doesn’t give me a helpful date, I at least know that I should get to the library soon to renew it.
Finally: on my Checkouts list, recently acquired books that have not yet been catalogued are listed as the generic “TPL Adult Paperback” where the title should be displayed. It’s searchable by title in the catalogue, so the title must be in some db field, just not the one the Checkouts list uses.
Oh, I forgot to add that if I click the “TPL adult paperback” link I get a db error.
Oh, I forgot to add that if I click the “TPL adult paperback” link I get a db error.
Hi Andy,
The library doesn’t catalogue all of its books – we find that mass-market paperbacks have a fairly short lifespan, and we can get high-demand titles into customers’ hands faster if we don’t catalogue them. You may see a record in the catalogue for the same title, but it is probably for the hardcover edition of the book, not the paperback.
Hope this makes sense. Thanks for your comments.
Sandra
Hi Andy,
The library doesn’t catalogue all of its books – we find that mass-market paperbacks have a fairly short lifespan, and we can get high-demand titles into customers’ hands faster if we don’t catalogue them. You may see a record in the catalogue for the same title, but it is probably for the hardcover edition of the book, not the paperback.
Hope this makes sense. Thanks for your comments.
Sandra