An April 28 computer error damaged files on a centralized system that provides circulation data to 24 libraries in the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago. After the crash, Cooperative Computer Services (CCS), the consortium that created the database, which serves some 700,000 patrons, attempted to restart the system using a backup tape. However, they soon discovered that the most recent tapes were crinkled and unusable due to a defective tape drive.
At first, the prognosis for recovery was bleak. Failure to recover the lost data would mean that the member libraries would have to either require all their patrons to reregister or at least rekey patron data from manual records, if any exist.
However, after a week of confusion and a visit from a Minnesota-based data-retrieval company, CCS system administrator Richard Shurman told American Libraries he was confident that a fully recovered system would be in place sometime this week.
Posted May 11, 1998.