1. Go-Live and Offline Circulation

Question:

What do I need to know for offline circulation Apr 28-30 and go-live on May 1?

Answer:

Additional details will be added as we get closer to May 1.

• We recommend only using the Checkout tab while in offline mode. Using any other function will result in delays in your offline data being uploaded.

• If possible for your library, limit circulation to one staff computer. This will ease your library’s go-live process on May 1.

• Patrons will not be able to renew items, place holds, register for a card, or replace barcode numbers during this time.

• Follow the Offline Circulation in Evergreen guide for how to check out items in offline mode. Click Save Transactions after every patron to save your work.

• If you need to export, import, or process offline transactions, follow the Offline Circulation in Evergreen for Admins guide.

• The Resource Roadmap for Evergreen contains links to additional resources, including go-live quick reference manuals.

Added: April 23, 2025

Updated: April 23, 2025

2. Bibliographic Records

Question: 

Horizon Bib numbers are not the same/have not been imported.

Answer:

Any control number is a number assigned by accession in that specific database. Horizon bib numbers are unique to Horizon and will not be moving into Evergreen - Evergreen's records will have their own Title Control Number (TCN). Horizon assigned bib numbers are already not a constant, they change in Horizon through merging bibs, item re-linking, and other cleanup efforts.

Added: April 7, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

The wrong format icon displays on a record, ex. Vox books are displaying different format types.

Answer:

Often, these issues are caused by incorrect or inconsistent MARC data. Place the record in a record bucket and ensure that you share it with the entire consortium. Report it to your library’s point of contact so the migration team can view.

We will address most of these items after go-live.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

3. Circulation

Question:

I need help with basic circulation: checking in, checking out, marking items lost/missing, creating/paying bills, and running the pull list.

Answer:

Circulation 1-2-3: Check In

Circulation 1-2-3: Check Out

Circulation 1-2-3: Mark an Item Lost by Patron Account

Circulation 1-2-3: Mark an Item Missing from Item Status

Circulation 1-2-3: Renew Items Out

Circulation 1-2-3: Run Hold Pull List and Capture Holds

Circulation 1-2-3: Create and Pay a Bill

Equinox Circulation Short Videos

Added: April 21, 2025

Updated: April 21, 2025

4. General

Question:

Can I customize a print template for the pull list?

Answer:

There are no print templates to customize the pull list. From the Evergreen documentation on Printing the Holds Pull List, you can either Print Full List (which prints the Title, Author, Shelving Location, Call Number and Item Barcode), or you can convert the list to CSV to customize in your spreadsheet software of choice. 

Added: April 21, 2025

Updated: April 21, 2025

Question:

How will Evergreen work with my receipt printer?

Answer:

We have a separate guide for configuring printer settings in Evergreen. Some of this info will change as we gather more information. We currently don’t have instructions for label printers.

Evergreen Printer Settings

Added: April 8, 2025

Updated: April 8, 2025

Question:

I need help understanding Evergreen-specific terms.

Answer:

A Horizon to Evergreen glossary is available. If a term needs added or clarified, let the Help Desk know.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

5. Item Records

Question:

I need to add a new item to an existing bibliographic record.

Answer:

Follow the Equinox instructions for adding a new item to the catalog. 

Added: April 23, 2025

Updated: April 23, 2025

Question: 

What should I do if my items have age hold protection?

Answer: 

Initially, all items were loaded with 6 months of age hold protection. Age hold protection, once set, will appear on the item for its life. However, age hold protection will expire 6 months after the item becomes active (when it is checked in for the first time). You can choose to manually remove age hold protection from items.

As of March 21, 2025, age hold protection was removed from most items. If the item had a Horizon itype of 'newmlr', 'al14dlr',' al14dlr', 'fn10dlr', 'fn20dlr', 'fn25dlr', 'fn50dlr', or 'fndollr', it now has 3 months of age hold protection.

The Circulation & RSS Task Force will offer guidance on best practices for age hold protection.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

How will magazines be added in Evergreen?

Answer:

We won’t have the serials module when we go live, so our only (realistic) option is adding issues as monographic parts. Monographic parts were covered in Cataloging Part 1.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

Question:

Where are our magazines?

Answer:

Fun fact: The record for People is so corrupted that it kills our entire magazine export in Horizon! There are other issues with our magazine data, too. You can find most titles in Evergreen now.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

I am missing shelving locations, or my shelving locations are different than expected.

Answer:

The Circulation & RSS task force consolidated hundreds of collection codes so that they could migrate to Evergreen. Some of these collections might not reflect where your materials actually live. Report these issues when you see them in your collections.

Some library staff may obtain local admin access to add their own shelving locations to their collections. Details on this are to be determined.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: April 15, 2025

Question:

I have items I want to have permanently restricted to local checkouts. How can I ensure this happens?

Answer:

Cheryl will reach out to each library’s points of contact to double check if your library collections work as intended. Bring all concerns with special collections to your points of contact so they can be shared with Cheryl.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

I am not seeing copy statements on my items in Evergreen.

Answer:

Copy statements were not migrated over to the test server. Libraries use copy statements in different ways, which makes for a messy data problem. 

Our solution to preserve this data for the libraries that need it is by adding the copy statement to the call number field. This will be a target for post-migration clean-up.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

I have items that are holdable but cannot check out.

Answer:

Cheryl added the Non Circ circulation modifier to the hold policies. Anything that cannot circulate should not be holdable now.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

6. Patrons

Question:

What fields are required for patron registration?

Answer:

The Creating a New Patron Account document lists the registration fields in Evergreen. Required fields are marked in red.

Added: April 23, 2025

Updated: April 23, 2025 

Question:

Some people migrated with parents/guardians, even though that information is not in Horizon.

Answer:

Parent/Guardian used to be a custom field in Horizon, but later became a standard field. The information migrated over to the standard field, but the custom field was not deleted. Our final patron load will not contain this custom data.

Added: April 15, 2025

Updated: April 15, 2025

Question:

Dollar amounts of bills/fines migrated over, but cent amounts did not.

Answer:

Equinox identified the bug causing this. Our production server will have appropriate cent amounts.

Added: April 7, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

Patron phone numbers are not showing up in Daytime Phone Number. Phone numbers are not listed for the patron.

Answer:

Initially, SMS phone numbers didn’t display due to a setting issue. Once that was fixed, patrons with a cell phone number in Horizon had their number appear in the SMS number field. Horizon and Evergreen have differing phone number management options, which makes this difficult to do programmatically.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

Question:

I am not finding the patron's PIN in Evergreen. Did this migrate from Horizon correctly?

Answer:

Yes, the patron’s PIN is still connected to the record. Evergreen prioritizes privacy by masking PINs. You can test if the PIN is correct by:

1. Navigating to the patron record

2. Selecting the Other dropdown

3. Selecting Test Password from the menu that appears

4. Copying the PIN from Horizon

5. Clicking Verify to ensure the PIN works

If the password is correct, Evergreen will show “Success testing credentials.”

If the password is incorrect, Evergreen will show “Failure testing credentials.”

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

Question:

The borrower types don’t seem to be right or match Horizon’s data.

Answer:

Borrower types changed in Evergreen to consolidate options and standardize usage. The Circulation & RSS Task Force decided on many of these changes.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

Question:

Patrons in the test database have the “In City Limits” box checked even if they are not within city limits.

Answer:

This box is checked by default. It will not be checked by default in the production system. In production, anyone with a ci- code in Horizon should have a selected checkbox.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

Question:

Internet access levels are required in patron registration.

Answer:

This is a default setting that, at present, controls nothing. The Circ & RSS Task Force decided the default will be Filtered for all libraries since almost all libraries in the region get filtered internet from ERATE.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

Question:

Patrons’ default pickup locations aren’t selected.

Answer:

The default is blank in the patron record, but when placing a request in Evergreen or Aspen Discovery, this defaults to the patron's home library (or selected pickup location). Verified it's working as intended on 3/13.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

Zip codes don’t load the city and state automatically.

Answer:

SELCO/Equinox needs to add files to make this function work. This may not be present at go-live depending on time constraints.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

Question:

Both phone and email are selected for notices.

Answer:

Horizon and Evergreen handle notices in different ways. For example, Evergreen does not have standard/mail notification types.

Notices are more straightforward in Evergreen. What we lose in granularity of notices, we make up for in how much simpler they’ve become. A more detailed document will be provided soon to detail the differences in notices.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

Someone with a credit in Horizon doesn’t have one in Evergreen.

Answer:

Credits were not exported. Credits won’t be generated in Evergreen by default, so we didn’t want to cause more accounting issues than necessary. A cleanup report of patron credits will be sent to libraries after go-live. This is a candidate for post migration cleanup.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

Lost items are not connected to the patron.

Answer:

The links between lost items and the patrons who lost them don't get migrated. We will investigate ways to work around this issue.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

Question:

Non-residents aren’t clear in Evergreen.

Answer:

Multiple issues are in play here depending on how the patron record was filled out. For example, some libraries use Address Line 4 in Horizon for out of state addresses, and others use Address Line 2. Some libraries requested location codes, and others made workarounds. These discrepancies mean that there’s a higher chance of this data not looking right in Evergreen, and it will result in post-migration clean up.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

7. Settings

Question:

How long do I have after signing in before Evergreen makes me log in again?

Answer:

The default inactivity time is 60 minutes. 

Added: April 7, 2025

Updated: April 7, 2025

Question:

What are our circulation modifiers (circ mods)?

Answer:

Circulation modifiers are still being adjusted. Currently, the list includes:

• MNLINK

• Standard

• Audio-Enabled Book

• Computer/Chromebook

• Equipment

• Hotspot

• Kit

• Non Circ 

• Non Holdable 

• Object

• Park Pass

• Best Seller

• Magazine

• Other

Many of these are subject to change before go-live as we adjust circ modifiers (and the behavior of those items) for each library.

Added: April 7, 2025

Updated: April 21, 2025

8. Sign-in and Workstations

Question:

I am having trouble singing into the test database.

Answer:

Use the correct link with our testing data: SELCO Evergreen Test Server

Ensure your username and password are correct. Test logins were provided to each library’s point of contact.

Register your workstation.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

Question:

I need to change my workstation on the test database.

Answer:

Sign into Evergreen with the workstation you’re currently on.

Once you’ve signed in, click on Administration.

Select Workstation.

Select Registered Workstations

Change your library and workstation name appropriately, and click Register.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

9. Testing

1. Display

Question: 

The header image is too big for some screens.

Answer: 

The header image was a temporary choice for our test system. In production, we will modify the header to accommodate smaller devices and zoomed in screens.

Added: March 20, 2025

Updated: March 20, 2025

2. Patron