Hit =>help needed & thanks circ/cat crash

[Kay Peterson <ckpeters@TELEPORT.COM>]

LM_NET is the best... but you already know that.
Thank you, all 25 of you, that gave me suggestions and support during our
recent crisis/ database crash. I am pleased to tell you that we are back up
and will be fully operational by tomorrow.  Only 1 week without our system...
(One week was enough. :-}

Most people suggested keeping a record on paper of all transactions.  The
key element for keeping checkout and checkins from becoming a muddled
mess was to be sure that all transactions are listed **in the order they
occur** on ONE continuous list. When you are back up be sure to reenter
each transaction, in order, back into the computer.  No problems with
recheckouts, etc.  This worked beautifully for us.  The columns we used were

STUDENT NAME    STUD. BARCODE    CHECKOUT  CHECKIN  ITEM BARCODE     TITLE

We only needed to fill in the last three columns for a checkin.  For
checkout, all columns (except checkin) were filled.

Many people suggested simply holding all returns until we were back up.   We
have a very active Battle of the Books program in
progress and kids needed those titles turned around quickly.  (I also
don't think we could have easily stored the 300 or  400 returns we had in
that time.) So we elected to get them back to the shelves as soon as
possible. But for short term or small collections holding off would work
well.

A couple of people created an alternative database on a different computer.
A few far-sighted people had retained pockets and cards in all of their
books and simply reverted to their earlier systems.

Again, thanks to all.  We will each probably have to face this problem
sometime in our careers.  It pays to be prepared.  Thank goodness I had
backups!

Kay Peterson, Media Specialist
Fowler Middle School
Tigard, OR    ckpeters@teleport.com