Wise v7.1.0 release notes
Release Date: August 2024
Introduction
This release of Wise provides new features in addition to numerous bug fixes. These features will help you manage more complex workflows, including:
- Customer search experience
- Customer administration and service
- Cataloging in the Console
Many of these enhancements are the direct result of your feedback.
Recommended actions
For this release, we recommend that you review the following checklists and complete the relevant tasks so that you can adjust your policies and workflows and train your staff. These checklists identify updates that we have determined as significant for most institutions. We encourage you to review all of the items in the release notes to determine whether there are other items that might require additional action or follow up by your institution.
Administrative actions
These items require immediate action or decisions.
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New features and enhancements
Improve relevancy of search results
The Wise OPAC search engine has been updated to provide better and more relevant search results in the Wise OPAC catalog search. The keyword matching criteria have been improved to find better matches for search terms in the catalog. Various new boost factors have been implemented to bring more relevant titles to the top of the search results. Additionally, a few boost factors can be configured in Wise Manager.
Improved keyword Matching
Finding matching titles in the catalog for the search query is improved with following additions:
- Punctuation/Trailing ‘s and Special Characters – The search is now more forgiving by returning improved results regardless of whether the user has used proper punctuation or delimiters in the search query.
- Example: When you search for “winemakers wife,” the system will return “The winemaker's wife” in the results.
- Pluralization – Changes have been made to ensure that plural forms and other linguistic variations are handled effectively to provide better search results.
- Example: When you search for “Cats on a hot tin roof,” the system will also return “Cat on a hot tin roof” in the results.
Boost factors
The Wise catalog search now have an improved calculation of search relevancy scores for titles. In addition to the existing calculations, the following boost factors have been added to make the catalog search results more relevant to the query. These factors will be used to calculate the relevancy score of a title, and titles will be displayed in the results based on their overall relevancy score. The higher the relevancy score of a title, the higher it will be positioned in the search results.
Boost by position and exactness of field match
Titles will be boosted based on where the search query matches on the field and how exact the match is. For example, a title will be boosted slightly higher if the search query matches the start of a field compared to another title where the search query matches towards the end of the same field. The following are some of the factors we use to apply weightage to the matched titles:
- Exact phrase match of the search query at the start of the field
- Exact phrase match of the search query anywhere in the field
- Exact match of individual terms in the query
- Partial match of the search query
Boost by Popularity
The popularity of a title is now considered in Wise to calculate the relevancy score of a title. We use the WorldShare ILL request count over the lifetime of a title to calculate its popularity.
Note: The WorldShare ILL request count will be updated in Wise titles with every release.
Boost by Category
In Wise Manager, you can define the search relevancy boost for media type and language. The weightage will be applied to the matched titles in the search result based on the boost defined for the category to which the title belongs. Based on circulation data from the last year, the following boost values are defined as defaults. These will be applied to the search results by default unless changed in Wise Manager.
Media Type
- Book – Very High
- DVD – High
- Large Print – High
Language
- English – Very High
Configure Boost factors in Wise Manager
Some of the category boost factors can be configured by users with the “Catalog Management” role in Wise Manager.
Configuration options are available at: Wise Manager > Catalog > Catalog Definitions > Search Relevancy.
View the Boost Factors
-
Select the Library Organization
Select the Library Organization from the list by clicking ‘Open’ button.
2. Select the Category
Select one of the categories from the list by clicking ‘Open’ button.
Note: The Audience category option is a placeholder for now and will be functional in the future
- View the Boost Factors
Boost factors currently applied are listed with their assigned boost scores.
Boost Score
There are 5 levels of boost scores available to apply:
- Very high and High – These are positive boosts. This will add a positive boost to the titles belonging to the selected category.
- Default – This is the default boost. It behaves as if no boost is applied. All categories not defined in this table will have a default boost.
- Low & Very low – These are negative boosts. Titles with these boost scores will receive a negative boost compared to default, High or very high boosts and may be pushed further down in the search results. Use these carefully and use it only if you do not want certain category titles to appear at the top of the search results.
Add a new Boost Factor
- Navigate to the screen where you can see all the boost factors of the category for which you want to add new one.
- Click the ‘New’ button on the top menu bar.
- On the pop-up screen, select the ‘Option’ from the dropdown menu for the category.
- Assign the boost score<hyperlink to Boost Score section> you want to apply to the selected Option.
- Click ‘Ok’.
Change Boost Score
- Navigate to the screen where you can see all the boost factors of the category for which you want to change the boost score.
- Click ‘Detail’ button on the boost factor you want to change.
- On the pop-up screen, select the “Change” radio button.
- Choose the Boost score from the dropdown menu.
- Click “Ok’ to save the change.
Remove a Boost Factor
1. Navigate to the screen where you can see all the boost factors of the category for which you want to remove a boost factor.
2. Click the ‘Detail’ button on the boost factor you want to remove.
3. On the pop-up screen, select the “Remove” radio button.
4. Click ‘Ok’ to save.
5. Click ‘Ok’ on the confirmation dialog.
Reset to default
The ‘Reset’ option allows you to reset all the boost factors to their default settings.
- Select the Library Organization to navigate where you can see all the categories.
- Click the ‘Reset’ button on the category you want to reset.
- Confirm the reset by clicking ‘Ok’ on the confirmation dialog.
Financials point-of-sale
The new Point of sale function is available through the top-level menu of the Console. Sub-menus within Point of sale are Selling, Cash handling, and Reports. Selling is the default screen when opening Point of sale.
To enable Point of Sale in the Console, enable system option POSCONS.
Selling
The Point of sale Selling screen displays items available to sell and a cart view of the items selected to sell. This view features:
- Familiar consumer-style shopping cart behavior
- Supports anonymous and customer-specific sales
- Includes store sales, other revenue and refunds
Inventory
Cart
Reports
Three reports are included as part of the initial reports offering for Console Point of sale – Cash drawer details, Financial overview, and Daily overview per cash drawer group.
For each report:
- Select the desired report from the “Report type” drop down list
- Enter the required parameter values (optional fields are marked) - default parameter values provided match the existing defaults in the Client
- Press the “Create report” button
All reports are presented as BIRT reports in a new browser tab – and match the existing Client reports.
Cash drawer details parameters
Financial overview parameters
Daily overview per cash drawer group parameters
Copy customer record
The copy customer record functionality in the console will allow library staff users to create new customer records using specific details from an existing customer. This feature is useful when the new customer whose customer ID is being created is related to, or associated with an existing library user, with the same address, and the same family name or last name.
The Wise Client as well as Console cannot validate the 'Card number' field. Hence using an existing card number to create a new customer record, along with a 'Copy' function will not lead to the creation of a new customer record as the Card Number field will not be overwritten or reset to a new unique card number even after copying customer records details from an existing customer using copy function, if the card number entered in the field at the beginning is an existing one.
With this additional functionality, the customer registration screen was streamlined to a single page form. This allows for faster navigation and fewer clicks, both when copying a customer record and when registering a new customer.
Copy Customer can be performed using the Wise console in two ways. The first approach is using a Create New Customer path. The second approach is by navigating to an existing customer’s profile.
Method -1: Using Create new customer route
- Navigate to Menu -> Customers -> New Customer -> Click Copy Customer
- Search Customer record of the customer to copy from.
- Search the customer using First name and/or Last name; or using the customer number.
- On selecting the customer, the details from the existing customer will get copied to the new customer account being created.
Method – 2: Using existing customer profile route
- Navigate to Menu -> Customers -> Search Customer
- Search for the customer to copy details from and open their customer profile.
- Click on the ‘Copy Customer’ button on the left margin section of the profile.
The details that will be copied over from an existing customer account as soon as the staff member selects any existing customer:
- Last Name (can be modified if last name is not same)
- Home branch
- Preferred Language
- Country
- ZIP code
- Street number
- Street name
- City
- State
- Phone
Access previously viewed customer records
Library staff performing customer administration in Wise can now easily navigate back to previously accessed records in both the Console and the Client. This allows staff to better and more quickly serve customers without having to re-execute a search or ask for repeated information.
Only records that the logged-in user has opened will appear. The patron information is freshly updated upon loading the records; they do not necessarily reflect the state of a record at the time it was accessed.
In the Console:
The list of previously viewed customer records in the console is in a separate area from the customer tab. This allows staff to look up a previously viewed customer record while in any area of the Console.
Up to 999 records per day will display, for up to 7 days.
To access records previously opened in the Console:
- Click the down-arrow in the top right corner of the screen, next to the username.
- From the drop-down menu, select Record History. A Record History tab opens, the list is organized chronologically, displaying the most recently viewed records at the top of the page. The information displayed includes:
- Customer name
- Timestamp of when the record was last accessed
- Home branch
- Barcode
- Date of Birth
- Membership type
- Click on a record in the list to open it.
In the Client:
The list of previously viewed customer records in the Client is located in the customer administration screen.
In the client, the customer records for the current day are displayed. There is no limit to the number of records per day that will display.
To access records previously opened in the Client:
- Go to Customers > Customer administration.
- From the Customer administration menu, choose Customer > Search customer (recently viewed). A Recently viewed window opens. A list of recently viewed records displays. The following details are included:
- Barcode
- the patron’s library card number
- Name
- Fm – Family Relationship
- K = Child, H = Head of Family, D = Invalid subscription
- Birth – date of birth
- At – Attention
- J indicates that there is a report with this customer.
- Status – membership status
- Rg – Registrations
- How many open registrations does this customer have
- Rs – Reservations
- Number of reservations not yet processed; in brackets the number of reservations received.
- Ex – number of borrowed item (in parentheses, the number of overdue items)
- Customer ID
- Time – what time the record was last viewed
- Barcode
- Click on the record you want to open and click OK. The record is opened.
Holds picklist items not found
When using the Picklist in the Console, staff can now mark an item Not Found if they are unable to locate the item in their location. Items marked Not Found within a location will be filtered into the Not Found tab. This makes it easy for staff to search for all Not Found items and, if needed, to link to the item record to mark it Missing.
The Not Found feature only marks items Not Found for your local branch (the branch you’re generating the picklist for). They will not appear as Not Found at other locations. This lets other locations continue searching for the item to fulfill the hold request.
Mark/un-mark an item Not Found
A new “Not Found” option is now available from the Picklist. From the hold request, click the down arrow next to “found”. The “Not Found” option appears.
Clicking “Not Found” marks the hold Not Found for anyone who views the picklist at your location. The hold immediately moves from the “Available” tab to the “Not found” tab.
Note: A confirmation will appear at the bottom-left corner of the screen. You have a few seconds to undo the action if necessary.
The holds will stay on the Not Found tab until the hold is fulfilled at another location, the item at your location is checked in or marked Missing, the hold is marked Found, or the hold request is canceled.
Note: if you accidentally mark a hold Not Found, you can undo the action by navigating to the Not Found tab, marking the hold Found, and then moving the hold back to “available” from the Found tab.
View and manage customer item requests
Patron item requests may now be created and managed directly in their customer record. Staff can directly assist patrons with their item requests without logging in as a patron through the OPAC. A patron’s item requests are found under the Requests tab within the Activity tab of their customer record.
Sorting and filtering of requests in the customer record works as it does in the Item Request Manager. Filtering options include pickup location (based on the patron’s LO if applicable), material type, and library status. Sorting is available on any of the columns.
To enter a new item request:
- Click the “New” button; an item request record opens
- Enter the required fields (Title, Pick-up location, Material type, and Library status) and any desired optional fields (marked optional)
- Press the Save button to save the record; press Cancel to abandon the item.
To modify an existing item request:
- Click the arrow/chevron next to the record’s request ID to open it
- Make the desired changes to the fields (the Save button will appear once the record has been changed)
- Press the Save button to save the record; press Cancel to abandon the changes
All item requests, entered by staff through the customer record or entered by patrons through their My Account access, will be available and accessible through the existing Item record manager function.
Integration with Events platform configuration
When your library implements the Wise events platform, you will be able to easily navigate to the administrative dashboard directly from the Wise Console.
Configure events management for Console
To display an Events tab in your Console interface:
- Enable the system option.
- In the Wise Manager, go to systemWise > systemWise > System options and set the option EVNTCON – Activate Wise events management in Console to Yes.
- Clear your system cache via systemWise > systemWise > Clean SysCache.
- Configure the link to your Events dashboard.
- In the Wise Manager, go to Management organizations > External systems > Events.
- Click New at the top of the screen to create a link.
- Select the institution for which you want to add an events tab from the drop-down list and enter the URL for your events dashboard in the Hyperlink to Wise Events field.
- Click OK to save.
Once these settings are configured, when you sign into the Console you will see an Events tab in the navigation bar.
View title records
The title record screen in the Console has been redesigned to allow users to read and locate title details more easily. With input from our library partners and user experience in mind, the details page is arranged in logical groupings.
- Navigate the page using the Jump to Section menu on the left side of the screen.
- Expand and collapse each section so that only the information you need is visible or use the Expand all / Collapse all button at the top of the screen to quickly show or hide all details.
- Use the Show field hints checkbox at the top of the details table to hide or expose field hints. Field hints were added to fields that may be difficult to interpret. This will help users who are less familiar with Wise titles understand what the information means.
In the third release of 2024, users with permission to change title records in Wise can edit title details on this screen in the Console.
Open title record in Record Manager
If your library has an OCLC cataloging subscription and uses Record Manager, you can open titles from the Console directly in Record Manager.
To open a title from the Wise Console directly in Record Manager, make sure you have configured the ability to Navigate to Record Manager. With this option enabled, when you search for a title in the console, if the title has a valid OCN, the number will display as a hyperlink. Click the linked OCN to open the record in Record Manager on a new browser tab.
Navigate to Events management
When your library implements the Wise events platform, you will be able to easily navigate to the administrative dashboard directly from the Wise Console.
Configure events management for Console
To display an Events tab in your Console interface:
1. Enable the system option.
a. In the Wise Manager, go to systemWise > systemWise > System options and set the option EVTCON – Activate Wise events management in Console to Yes.
b. Clear your system cache via systemWise > systemWise > Clean SysCache.
2. Configure the link to your Events dashboard.
a. In the Wise Manager, go to Management organizations > External systems > Events.
b. Click New at the top of the screen to create a link.
c. Select the institution for which you want to add an events tab from the drop-down list and enter the URL for your events dashboard in the Hyperlink to Wise Events field.
d. Click OK to save.
Once these settings are configured, when you sign into the Console you will see an Events tab in the navigation bar.
Exact title link to Record Manager
If your library has an OCLC cataloging subscription and uses Record Manager, you can open titles from the Console directly in Record Manager.
To open a title from the Wise Console directly in Record Manager, make sure you have configured the ability to Navigate to Record Manager. With this option enabled, when you search for a title in the console, if the title has a valid OCN, the number will display as a hyperlink. Click the linked OCN to open the record in Record Manager on a new browser tab.
Bug fixes
Invoice retention period increased to 24 months (about 2 years) for Wise Client
Staff users can now see invoices from as far back as 24 months (about 2 years) ago.
Status message error for items on hold shelf has been resolved
The hold, shelf status for items now displays correctly in accordance with the actual status.
Sorting customer search results works for ‘sort by Column’ setting
If staff users would like to further sort advanced search results by a particular column, then can do so now.
The Shelf Description column in Wise Console for Picklist maintains consistency after soft refresh:
The Shelf description values from the Shelf/call number column were switching to ‘NA’ after a soft refresh of the screen. This has been resolved.
Resolution of ‘Preferred Name’ related issues
- Display preferred name on Customer materials – The library patron's preferred name will now be displayed on customer materials reports instead of the legal name.
- Do not display legal name when preferred name appears on Customer materials - When the customer's preferred name is displayed on customer materials reports instead of the legal name, legal name will no longer be displayed in parentheses.
- Preferred name not displaying on Client Check in screen - When staff user checks in items to a patron with a preferred name stored, the preferred name will display in the customer details on the screen.
- Client - Display preferred name on receipts - When we print receipts from the client, the preferred name must be displayed instead of the legal name.
Keyboard shortcut 'Alt+I' works on both sides of the keyboard in Wise Client
Using the keyboard shortcut of pressing Alt+I to return keyboard focus to the search bar, works for both the left as well as right side keys of the keyboard.
One-time password error message for blocked card translated
Auto-renewal not working for guest customers
Auto-renewals are now processing renewals are now being properly processed by the auto-renewal job for guest customers as well.
Spaces added to subfields in MARC viewer
Whenever an edit was made to a MARC subfield, an extra space corresponding to each edit appeared between the MARC subfields. This has been resolved now.
Important links
Support website(s)
Support information for this product and related products can be found at: