BLUECloud Analytics is an easy to use, web-based productivity tool used for generating reports on demand. It uses data from the Symphony database (WorkFlows) and delivers reports that can be viewed, exported, saved, and shared.
Click to view and/or download the BLUECloud Analytics user manual.
Click on the link to view the training webinar administered on June 16, 2016.
https://palsplus.adobeconnect.com/p869iyq0uxr/
The User Manual
Table of contents
Access / Logging In
BLUECloud Analytics is easily accessible using any internet browser. If using Internet Explorer 10 or above, you will need to make a small adjustment to your browser settings in order for BLUECloud analytics to properly function.
In Internet Explorer, select Tools > Compatibility View Settings.
Click Add and Close to set the compatibility view. You may refresh your browser if you wish.
Copy/paste the following URL in the browser’s address bar or click on the URL to navigate directly to the site.
https://na1-microstrategy.bc.sirsidynix.net/bcanalytics/asp/Main.aspx?
The BLUECloud Analytics login page will appear.
Each library has been assigned a unique user name and password. Consult with your director for your library’s login credentials. Please note that user names and passwords are case sensitive.
Enter your library’s credentials in the appropriate field and click Login.
Once logged in, click on the BCA PALS icon to enter the main interface of BLUECloud Analytics.
Click on Shared Reports.
In Shared Reports you’ll find ALL the reports which can be run in BLUECloud Analytics.
The reports are organized by categories. For example, reports to retrieve circulation data can be found in the Checkout folder. Click on the PALS-Reportsfolder to access the suite of reports created by PALS Plus. The PALS-Reports are likewise organized by categories. The Patrons folder, for example, contains reports that are useful in obtaining patron or user related data.
The User Interface
Before we begin exploring the various reports, we should become familiar with the navigation and features of BLUECloud Analytics. Customary navigation options are at the top.
The options on the left-hand side provide quick navigation to other locations and functionalities within BLUECloud Analytics.
Be sure to use the navigation options within the BLUECloud Analytics interface as the browser back button will not function as expected.
Selecting Data Elements
Before we can generate a report, we should be familiar with how elements are selected within the interface.
When developing your query to generate data, you will encounter several modes of selection or data entry. Each is specific to the type of data generated by an element. For example, a library name is a simple selection, but a date field will require you to enter a specific date.
Simple selection
To be applied to your query, the element(s) must appear in the Selected window.
To select an element or multiple elements, you can either double click on an entry in the Available window or select the entry and click the single arrow pointing to the right (the double-arrow will select ALL the available elements). You can also select multiple elements by using SHIFT or CTRL to facilitate the selection of ranges.
To remove elements from the Selected window, select the element(s) you wish to remove and click on the single arrow pointing to the left or remove all the elements by clicking on the double arrow pointing to the left.
Search
The Search for: field can be helpful in facilitating your element selection. Be sure that Match case is unchecked to allow for the greatest flexibility in data entry when using the Search feature. You must uncheck the Match case option in order to allow for the flexibility.
Dates
Dates are entered in the form of values. For example, if generating a list of items that have not circulated within the last 3 years, the last activity date would be less than 3 years from today’s date.
Click on the word Value to yield the data entry gadget and enter the date manually [6/1/2013] or by using the calendar gadget.
Unique identifiers
Unique identifiers, such as barcodes or item IDs, are entered manually. Clicking on the Value or ‘3’ in this example will yield the data entry gadget. Type or copy and paste the data in the Enter value field.
Generating a Report
For the purposes of demonstration, we will generate a Weeding Report (Dusty) for the Clifton Public Library for adult print biographies that have not circulated within the last three years.
From the PALS-Reports Collection folder, select Weeding Report (Dusty).
The report workform will appear.
Simply work through the choices selecting elements as needed. It is not necessary to select all the elements to generate a report.
For our report, begin by selecting the library (Clifton Public Library) in the 1. Item Library Desc section.
Next move to 2. Item Collection to select the appropriate collection. In our report, to easily locate the item collections assigned to biographies, it was more efficient to search for ‘bio’ and retrieve all the item collections containing those letters than to sift through the long list of item collections to locate those that would be applied to the report. Please note that Match case is unchecked to allow for truncated searching. Since our report is seeking adult biographies, the J-BIO-COLL and J-BIOGRAPHY item collections were not included. NEW-BIOG was included in case some older titles assigned the NEW-BIOG item collection when originally linked were not changed to BIOGRAPHY when they were no longer new.
Move to option 3. Item Last Activity Date to select the date on which the last activity fell. For our report, we will use a date from three years ago, 6/1/2013. Click on the word Value to yield the date selection gadget.
Move to option 4. Item created date to select the value of the item creation date to be used to generate the report. This date must match the date selected in Item Last Activity Date. If the Item created date is not included, then any item linked after the date of last activity which has not yet circulated would be in your report.
If we were aiming for greater precision in our query, we would add additional elements to refine our search, including item categories, types, and statuses, but, in this case, it isn’t necessary, so we are ready to generate our report.
Click Run Report in the bottom-left corner of the page to execute your search.
Please wait a few moments as BLUECLoud Analytics processes your request.
When finished, the report output will look much like the following:
A sort can be applied by right clicking on the column’s header and selecting Sort. You are then given the options to sort in Ascending or Descending values.
Post-production
Once a report has been generated, you are presented with several options to view and deliver the data.
The Grid option is the default setting and is how the data is viewed through the BLUECloud Analytics interface.
Graph allows you to visualize the data. Not all reports can successfully deliver the data for visualization. The Graph display is best for statistical or count reports, such as the Number of Registered Users report.
Grid and Graph delivers the data in both modes using a split-screen display.
Personal View allows you to save your own custom view of a report subsequently accessible under My Subscriptions.
Share allows you to share the report with colleagues through email. The recipient must log into BLUECloud Analytics in order to view the data.
Print is used to print the report.
Send Now is another means of sharing the report, but can only be sent to contacts created within BLUECloud Analytics. If you wish to email this report to a colleague to be viewed in BLUECloud Analytics, using Share is the best option.
Schedule allows you to schedule the report to be run at specific intervals. The scheduled report will be delivered to your My Subscriptions folder.
Export is used to export the report for off-line viewing, sharing, and manipulation. Excel with plain text (the first choice) is the ideal method of exporting for easy data manipulation using Excel.
PDF is used to export the report as a PDF file.
Reprompt is used to modify your selections and returns you to the selection workform.
Full-screen Mode is used to remove some options from the report result page.
Logging Off
Once you are ready to exit BLUECloud Analytics, click on the sunburst icon near the navigation choices and select Logout.