System Alerts
Answer
System Alerts
What is it?
You can follow up with errors in ILLiad 8.x by checking the System box (on the lower right of your ILLiad screen unless it's been moved) for red stop signs. Possible problems in Borrowing and Lending include:
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Connection Manager Errors
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Flagged Requests
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Outgoing Emails
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Odyssey Sending Errors
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Unmatched Odyssey Items
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Some may also see Users to Clear (but that's not a problem!)
How does it help?
By looking at these errors, you can make sure requests have been updated correctly in OCLC and ILLiad and that all transactions are moving through the system as they should be. It also ensures that emails and Odyssey documents are properly sent and received without long delays.
Connection Manager and Flagged Requests
Connection Manager
The ILLiad Connection Manager is what keeps your ILLiad transactions in sync with their OCLC requests in the WorldShare system. Occasionally, if ILLiad tries to update an OCLC status in error (for example, trying to mark a request “Received” if it has not yet been “Shipped”) then you will receive an alert in the System group.
Other errors may occur that are very specific to your server -- for instance, you may see DOM Tree errors or other such statuses. Consult your systems administrator or OCLC support to determine if these are issues related to your server hardware, software, or firewall.
To clear these errors, double click on the Connection Manager row in the System group. You will then be displayed a list of affected requests, grouped by error type. You can clear errors individually by opening a request, or you can clear errors in batch by selecting multiple requests and clicking the “Clear Selected Errors” button.
In the table below, you will find common errors and how to resolve them.
|
Error |
What it means |
How to fix it |
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Record Not Found |
You tried to update an OCLC request that no longer exists. |
There’s not much you can do about these and they are typically harmless. Make quick work of these by selecting them (SHIFT+Click) and clicking the Clear Selected Errors button. |
|
Received Not Allowed Here |
You tried to update an OCLC request to “Received” that was not in the “Shipped” status. |
Use an email routing to ask the library to update the request to Shipped in OCLC. Keep an eye on these, as you will need to delete the OCLC request if it ages to the next lender. Only clear the error once the request is resolved or you’ll lose track of it. |
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Renewal Not Allowed Here |
You tried to request a renewal when the OCLC request was not in the “Received” or “Renewal OK” status. |
This typically means the library already denied renewals, or recalled the item. Occasionally, this occurs if you tried to renew an item that had already been returned or not properly updated to Received. Either way, the only way to resolve this is to request a new copy of the item from another lender, or try to negotiate a new due date outside of WorldShare. |
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Complete Not Allowed Here |
You tried to update a lending request to “Complete” when it was not in the “Returned” or “Recalled” status. |
You can either recall the item and then update it to complete, or contact the library and ask them to properly update the request to Returned. |
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Update Error |
These tend to occur if the Connection Manager times out twice while trying to update a request. |
In many instances, these errors are already corrected by the time you view the request. However, it may require you to try to manually update the OCLC status yourself. Because many of these are caused by temporary issues, this usually works. |
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Alert |
This indicates that the other library sent you an alert message through OCLC. |
These alerts appear in the Notes field. Sometimes action is required so respond accordingly before clearing the error. |
Flagged Requests
Flagged requests occur specifically when ILLiad receives multiple “Shipped” messages from OCLC for the same transaction. This often occurs when a library lets a request age to the next lender, but both libraries end up shipping the item.
For article requests, the easiest thing to do is to clear the error -- no harm is done since you don’t have to return any items to the lending libraries.
For loan requests, however, you need to be careful. Because ILLiad lists the Lending Library as the one who first updated the request to Shipped, you need to pay attention to which library’s book you receive first. Otherwise, you risk sending the book back to the wrong library.
Once you spot a flagged loan request, you may want to consider changing the Lending Library to a custom address called “CHECK BOOK” before clearing the flag. You can then put a message in the address fields of the Lender Address record, such as “Check paperwork for proper owner. Update Lending Library with correct symbol.” This is an easy way to flag the request for your staff (often student assistants) so they do not check the book in without selecting the right lender.
Outgoing Email
These errors are usually straightforward and are caused when you send an email to an invalid email address. (For example, a user incorrectly puts “,edu” instead of “.edu” at the end of their address; or the email address line is so long it gets truncated.) All you typically need to do is change the “To” line so that the email address is properly displayed. Then simply resend the email. (If a typo caused the error, you may also want to update the user or library’s email address so that it does not happen again.)
Errors can also occur if ILLiad is unable to send emails, either because your SMTP server is down or your email credentials and ports are not properly configured in the Customization Manager. If this is the case, double check the following Customization Manager keys for accuracy (all located under the System | Email group):
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EMailSMTPPort (i.e. 25)
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EMailSMTPServer (i.e smtp.college.edu)
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SMTPPassword (your email password)
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SMTPUserID (your email username)
If these values are correct and you are still receiving SMTP errors, consult your systems administrator or OCLC support.
Odyssey Manager and Unmatched Odyssey Documents
Odyssey Manager
As with Outgoing Email alerts, the Odyssey Manager indicates problems with your outgoing Odyssey documents. In many cases, the problem arises when Odyssey is unable to connect to the recipient’s server -- either due to a bad IP address in the library’s lender address record or possible server issues.
To rule out possible IP address issues, open the request and check what’s listed in your Lender Address record with what’s listed in the Imported Request and/or the OCLC Policies Directory. If your IP address on record is correct, then you now need to rule out possible server issues on your end.
This is easier than it sounds, as you likely would have encountered numerous Sending Failed errors already. Click on the Log tab in the Odyssey manager window just to double check for specific errors. If these are errors related to your server, contact your systems administrator or OCLC support.
If things are clean on your server, then the best thing to do is send the article to the borrowing library by alternative means -- either an email routing that points to the PDF on your server, or use Article Exchange.
Unmatched Odyssey Documents
These alerts appear if Odyssey receives documents, but cannot match them to an ILLiad transaction or a lending library. Double-clicking the Unmatched Odyssey Documents row opens the Electronic Delivery window, at which point you can assign the document to the proper ILLiad transaction and/or lending library.
More Information
ILLiad documentation: System Logs and Alerts
https://prometheus.atlas-sys.com/display/illiad83/System+Logs+and+Alerts