Page 2681 - Week 08 - Friday, 1 July 2005

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .


Public Library’s online system
(Question No 414)

Mr Pratt asked the Minister for Urban Services, upon notice, on 23 June 2005:

(1) Has the ACT Library online system been out of use for the past week and possibly longer; if so, what is the reason for this down time in the use of the library web site;

(2) If the reason is in relation to web site maintenance or upgrade, what exactly is being done;

(3) How long has or will this online system be unavailable to users;

(4) How many users have or will be affected;

(5) What is the cost to the ACT Government of this maintenance or upgrade;

(6) When was notification given to users and the public that this maintenance or upgrade would occur and how were users notified;

(7) Why is the online system unable to be kept online during business hours with maintenance to occur after hours;

(8) Who is contracted to manage the ACT Library’s online system and how long is that contract for.

Mr Hargreaves: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:

(1) Yes, the online system was unavailable to users from Wednesday morning 16 June until COB Wednesday 23 June 2005. Horizon, the ACT Public Library’s Library Management System (LMS) was routinely scheduled for upgrading on 16th & 17th June 2005 to accommodate incremental enhancements to customer service. Problems became apparent during upgrade processes, despite successful testing in the test environment.

(2) The system vendor, InTACT and ACT Library and Information Services staff continued to work collaboratively to find a solution to the problem during last week (Monday 20 – Wednesday 22 June), when it became evident that the catalogue could not be restored for the weekend of 18 and 19 June.

(3) The online system was unavailable to users from Wednesday morning 16 June until COB Wednesday 23 June 2005.

(4) It is difficult to measure because of the many different ways customers use the online catalogue. Between 800-1800 customers login to the My Account function per day.

(5) The upgrade is part of the ACT Public Library’s annual maintenance agreement with the system vendor.

(6) Customers were notified from Monday 6 June, 2005 through a media release, notices in the libraries at service desks, a message on the Library’s website and an automated telephone message through the ACT Public Library’s Customer Information Centre.


Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .