[IUG] OPACMSG display

[Leah_Monger at ferris dot edu]

Hi All:
        I'm working on a presentation for the IUG conference on how to use 
the Millennium system to keep track of materials in a new books display. 
If you ever try searching the Innopac archives for this topic, I'm sure 
you'll be surprised how many methods are in use.  One of the options some 
libraries have reported using is the OPACMSG field in the item record.  We 
haven't used this field in our own catalog, and I've found very little 
information in the Millennium user manual about how this field works and 
what the display would look like in the OPAC.  I've been poking around the 
catalogs of libraries that have reported using this field, and it appears 
to me that the text from the OPACMSG usually appears in the opac to the 
right of the call number and is not hyperlinked; however, I did find one 
catalog that displays "[New]" to the left of the call number, and in this 
instance "[New]" is part of the call number hyperlink.  It's possible that 
this library is doing something else besides using the OPACMSG to make the 
"[New]" designation appear to the left of the call number, but I'm not 
sure what.
        Could those of you who do use OPACMSG's please share information 
about how they work?  Is there a maximum number of display characters? 
When you call Innovative to set up an OPACMSG, do you have some options 
about where the text of the message displays in the OPAC?  I'd like to 
include an example of how another library uses the field for new books in 
my presentation, but I want to make sure I pick an appropriate example and 
that I know what I'm talking about. 
        Thanks a bunch for your help!

******************************************
Leah Monger
Head of Library Systems & Operations
FSU Library for Information, Technology and Education (FLITE)
Room 414A
Ferris State University
1010 Campus Dr.
Big Rapids, MI 49307
(231)591-2947
(231)591-3724 (fax)

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