Notes of the IMT Reporting WG Meeting, Jan. 7, 2000

Present: Susan Currie, John Saylor, Linda Westlake, Ed Weissman, Lydia Pettis, Karen Calhoun, Bill Kara

1. John, Linda and Lydia discussed their meetings with the Humanities and Social Sciences teams. John had posted a helpful summary prior to our WG meeting. His notes can serve as a model for others who are setting up meetings with their stakeholders.

Prior to the meetings, they distributed some documentation prepared by Lydia and Linda. This document lays out very clearly the Voyager reporting options, staffing/training requirements, hardware/software requirements, and who will do what. We agreed it should be distributed and discussed at each meeting we have with our various functional groups. It is appended to this message.

At the meetings, they described the distinction between the Voyager reporting options:

Reporter Client -- most daily reporting (e.g., purchase orders, circulation notices)
Pre-packaged reports -- generally management reports (e.g., journals for which issues have been received, item status reports, fund snapshot reports)
Local custom reports -- the reports we develop here at Cornell

They presented the following TO DO list for those needing to use Voyager reports and notices:

*identifying staff to be included in the first round of training for (a) the Reporter Client and (b) the pre-packaged reports
*assessing the equipment and software status of those who will be using (a) the Reporting Client and (b) the pre-packaged reports
*having report/notice users (a) review what reports they are getting from NOTIS now, (b) identify the ones they use, and (c) prioritize the importance of the ones they use

John stressed to us that the most important planning issues are assuring that selectors have appropriate hardware for utilizing the Voyager clients and setting up the fund structure. John proposes that CDExec (with Linda Westlake) be charged with suggesting a prototype fund structure that could be presented to selectors and other fund account stakeholders for their reaction and comment.

With respect to the fund structure, John asked Linda for examples of Penn's and Northwestern's fund structures. Linda announced she is assembling an accounting group from the statutory units to talk about the fund structure and reports.

2. John will lead a meeting with the Science Team on Friday, Jan. 14.

3. Lydia attended the Dec. 21 meeeting of the Access Services Program Committee. She distributed a handout outline batch jobs and pre-packaged reports and noted that each unit will need someone (plus a backup) who has access to the Reporter Client and a networked printer for the batch jobs, which should be run on a daily basis. The important workflow change is that printing of notices and reports will be decentralized and units will be responsible for producing what they need. Decisions need to be made in each unit on what staff should receive training.

4. We discussed what the WG needs to accomplish vis a vis the 99.1 upgrade. Lydia agreed to evaluate what reporting documentation Endeavor has supplied, to make sure we have the latest information. We will all need to get new entity-relationship diagrams. The 99.1 clients include the Voyager Reports database (an MS Access database of tables, queries, and reports). Be sure to download this when you FTP your 99.1 clients.

5. Lydia gave a progress report on getting the ODBC drivers installed on WG members' PCs. She and Amy Blumenthal have been working on this. The drivers are installed in room 106 Olin as well. We are hoping the ODBC drivers work across the 98.1/99.1 release; Lydia will check on this and work with Amy to make sure we have what we need.

6. Karen and Lydia discussed progress on the reporting portion of Voyager training. They have worked with Pamela Rothbard and Tricia Edgecomb (an outside trainer and consultant) to tailor an "Intro to Access" class to optimize its usefulness for users of Voyager reports and notices. However it will be general in nature (i.e., Voyager data will not be used in the instruction and examples). Two sessions will be offered--Karen is trying to confirm the dates--we think in February and March. Karen emphasized that Reporting WG members need to arrange and hold their meetings with potential Voyager report users in their functional groups, so that library managers can soon identify staff to be included in the first round of training. She noted again that library staff who will use only the Reporter Client (to produce daily notices like overdues, fine bills, etc.) will not need to know Access, but library staff who will use the Voyager pre-packaged reports will need a basic understanding of Access. Those who will be regular users of the pre-packaged reports are the individuals who should sign up for the Intro. to Access.

Karen announced that two trainers have been identified by IMT and the Steering Committee to provide training specific to the Voyager Reports database. This training will follow on the Intro to Access classes. Thus, Library Systems will not be providing the Voyager-specific training, as we initially thought.

7. Ed asked whether the MyLibrary current awareness extract and data sets like it (e.g., the extract of MARC records for Marcadia processing) can be considered Voyager reports within the purview of our WG's responsibility. Lydia noted that library systems will be handling this work separately. Ed also noted the existence of Allen Riedy's Echols accessions list; we agreed to follow up to learn more about it.

8. Lydia agreed to give a demonstration of the Voyager Reports database at our next WG meeting, which is Friday, January 21, in Olin 106, from --it's an important one, and we will need1:30 to 2:30. Please note the room change, and PLEASE BE ON TIME FOR THIS MEETING--IT'S AN IMPORTANT ONE, AND WE WILL NEED THE WHOLE HOUR.

Notes prepared by KSC 1/12/00

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Implementation and Reporting plan:

With Voyager we will be moving from a centralized reporting environment to a decentralized environment. In NOTIS, all reports must be requested from LTD, and programming staff write the program and set up the schedule so that the reports are run by CIT on a prearranged schedule. CIT runs the jobs at night, and distributes them. Then they magically show up on your doorstep. In Voyager, each unit will be responsible for printing their own daily reports (i.e. circ notices and purchase orders). Selected staff (you decide, not LTD) will be able to query the Voyager database at any time and print reports (pre-packaged or locally developed) as needed. In many instances, staff will be able, with minimal training, to devise their own queries and reports which can then be executed at any time. While providing increased flexibility and freedom in viewing data and generating reports, Voyager reporting does mean that unit staff will be responsible for participating in training programs, viewing time sensitive data in a timely manner, and for maintaining printing supplies.

Over the spring the library will be offering a number of reporting training programs, focusing primarily on the use of the Reporter client and the pre-packaged reports that come with version 99.1. These will be used to introduce staff to the essentials of the Voyager data, querying the database, and Access. After our installation is complete, we will plan custom reporting workshops for those staff who want to design and create their own reports and queries.

Equipment and software requirements:

In order to work with the Voyager pre-packaged reports you must have a PC running MS Access, with the ODBC drivers installed (these provide the link to the underlying Oracle tables where the data resides), and networked access to a laser printer. Macintosh computers are not supported. File Maker is not supported. At this time Endeavor supports and recommends Access '97. They have remained noncommittal about their plans for implementing Access 2000. Until Endeavor moves to Access 2000 we will run Access 97 here. This may mean that we train a small group initially, and then move to a broader base when Access 2000 is implemented. For more information consult the document appended to this message.

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Voyager Reporting

Voyager Reporting Options
· Reporter Client: most 'daily' reporting
· Pre-packaged reports (99.1): first set of management reports
· Local custom reporting: our locally developed reports

Voyager Reporting Differences
· Local users will be responsible for printing standard reports
· Users, with appropriate training, may choose to develop own queries and reports
· Greater flexibility… and responsibility

Voyager Reporter Client

· Creates reports and notices from Voyager Acquisitions, Cataloging, Circulation and Media Scheduling modules. Generally speaking, these reports/notices are essential to the daily operation of the library: purchase orders, vouchers, overdue notices, fine bills, etc.
· Circulation desks and technical processing units will be the primary users

Staffing / training requirements:
· Two or more staff people from each library / unit will be trained in use of the Reporter client in early spring
· Spring testing will require that assigned staff run the Reporter module on a regular basis
· Administrative assistants can appropriately be assigned this responsibility
· Supervisors will be invited to training so they know what is involved

Hardware/software requirements:
· Intel Pentium PC, 90Mhz +, 32 mb + memory, Windows 95, 98 or NT
· Voyager Reporter client
· MS Access '97
· Note: while Access must be installed on the PC with the Reporter client, knowledge of Access is not required for Reporter operation. Access works 'behind the scenes'.

Who will do what:
· Implementation teams will identify who will be performing Reporter functions
· D-LIT staff will install and customize Voyager Reporter client on specified PC's
· IMT functional trainers will provide Reporter client training. Department / unit heads and the Reporting WG will identify who should be trained.

Objective:
· Day 1 of the Voyager installation will be just another day for printing out notices!

Voyager Pre-Packaged Reports

· An Endeavor-supplied MS Access database will provide many pre-defined queries and reports. Using MS Access, the queries and reports will link to our 'live' library data, giving up-to-date information and statistics. In general, these queries and reports provide management level information.
· Supervisors, managers and administrators will be the primary users of these queries and reports. In some instances, a supervisor may decide one or more reports should be produced on a regular basis and delegate this to appropriate staff.
· Users will be able to customize these reports, and unit heads may want to ask employees who are 'computer-capable' and familiar with MS Access to perform some of these tasks.

Staffing / training requirements:
· A general 'Introduction to Access' class is recommended if unfamiliar with Access
· IMT functional trainers will provide spring training programs for the pre-packaged reports. Department/unit heads and the Reporting WG will identify who should be trained.
· Training in the use of the pre-packaged reports will continue throughout 00/01
· Advanced training (after implementation) will include customizing these queries and reports

Hardware/software requirements:
· Intel Pentium PC, 200Mhz +, 64 mb + memory, Windows 95, 98 or NT
· MS Access '97
· MS database file provided by Endeavor
· ODBC drivers (allow the user to link directly to our data in the Voyager tables)

Who will do what:
· The 'Reports Committee' will identify staff interested in working with this package
· D-LIT staff will install the ODBC drivers
· Library Systems will provide training specific to the Voyager Reports database
· An independent consultant will offer introductory-level Access classes