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Technology Readiness for the Millennium: preparing for Y2K

Technology Readiness for the Millennium: preparing for Y2K. Art Rhyno Leddy Library, University of Windsor Jan. 21, 1999. Outline. What is the Y2K Bug ? How does Y2K impact libraries ? First Steps to Dealing with Y2K What to do next Contingency planning “Just in case…”

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Technology Readiness for the Millennium: preparing for Y2K

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  1. Technology Readiness for the Millennium: preparing for Y2K Art Rhyno Leddy Library, University of Windsor Jan. 21, 1999

  2. Outline • What is the Y2K Bug ? • How does Y2K impact libraries ? • First Steps to Dealing with Y2K • What to do next • Contingency planning • “Just in case…” • Where to go for more information

  3. What is the Y2K Bug? • Goes by many names, including the “millennium” bug, not really a bug at all • Y2K generally concerns the almost universal practice over the years of using two digits rather than four to designate the calendar year (e.g., MM/DD/YY) • Representing a year with 2 digits on a computer has always caused problems, they just become more widespread when the century turns. • As of January 1, 2000, many programs, chips, and devices will either interpret the current year as 1900, 1980 or complete gibberish • “On Jan 1st 2000, more than 80,000,000 PCs will think the Berlin wall is still standing and that Trudeau is still the Prime Minister of Canada” - Peter de Jager

  4. How does Y2K impact libraries • Like many other organizations, libraries use systems that can cause havoc if they receive incorrect dates for arithmetic operations, comparisons or sorting involving years later than 1999 • If a patron checks out books in December 1999 to be returned in January, 2000 and the library system interprets the '00' as 1900, how will it react ? • Libraries are a link in a long chain between the creators of content and the community. If any of the links in the chain, e.g. suppliers, have Y2K issues, it can cause problems for the library’s operations

  5. First steps to dealing with Y2K • If you have not begun to prepare for Y2K, you are likely not alone. Begin with common sense and a reasonable amount of panic

  6. What to do next • Generate awareness • Make sure everyone understands the seriousness of the problem • Start using four-digit years in all date entries and correct as many dates as possible that have only 2 digit entries. Buy only products that are Y2K compliant • Conduct a detailed inventory • This should be of all electronic appliances in the library, including everything from timers, security systems, and elevators to fax machines and VCRs. • Prioritize systems • Know what needs to be fixed first • If you don’t have a backup system, get one ! • It may be possible to roll some systems back to December 31, 1999 in order to extract needed data. January 1, 2000 would be a very poor time to find out that this data has never been backed up. • Talk to your vendors, suppliers, and your parent organization(s)

  7. Contingency planning • Try to develop a strategy for dealing with the failure of mission-critical systems. Can you process circulation requests manually ? Does your ILS vendor offer off-line modules ? • Verify all backup systems. • Testing is the key for replacement systems but backups are still important • “We test these things for months but every once in a while they get by you” - Wendy Porter, V.P. for the Bank of Montreal’s merchant services after the bank’s electronic fund transfer system went down for 3 hours in the middle of the day disrupting credit, debit and automatic teller machines.

  8. ”Just in case…” • In preparation for January, 2000, stocking your fridge, avoiding air travel, and having facilities that would cover a month’s camping trip are not bad ideas.

  9. Where to go for more information • http://www.info2000.gc.ca/Welcome/Welcome.asp - Canadian Government Site on Y2K • http://www.royalbank.com/year2000/ - Royal Bank Year 2000 Site • http://www.yahoo.ca/Computers_and_Internet/Year_2000_Problem/ - Yahoo Page on Y2K • http://www.highspin.com/highspin/main.htm - Year 2000 Kit available from Highspin and distributed by CLA

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