Saturday, May 9, 2009

Ah, Graduation

If not graduation, at least the end of the semester! Fewer and fewer students were present as the week went on, and today they've disappeared. The gorgeous sunshine is a factor too, I'm sure.

We know it's just the calm before the storm, but at least I have a chance to catch up, and prepare. Two groups have the CybraryN update - the reservation groups will go next week. Things have been working nicely. The express image has been completed, although I've thought of a few tweaks that should be done. Circulation has survived the news that each person will log on with their own name, and not the generic one we've been using. It required some setup from each, but they are doing OK, and it's a good learning process! Not necessarily happy: one person complained "I came to work at the library to shelve books!" That made me smile; was the good old days, I guess.

Waiting for the crowds of tourists...

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Happy May!

If it's May, spring has to be around soon - I just know it.

The Kalispell conference was great although I came home feeling like my brain was fried, and I was grateful to have 2 days to recover! Chrystie Hill from WebJunction and I had a fun visit, and she presented a great program on on-line community building. I'd been a frequent WebJunction user from its early days but faded away with the move to the new library and the subsequent drain on my time. But now I'm ready to get back!

Coming back from a conference always means catch-up, and this week was no exception! The catalog wanted to update, and that didn't go well on the first computer so I expected trouble. But others were successful, and with a little work all were updated. Then the City brought over 6 new computers for staff (more to come) - a nice surprise but not one I really wanted this week when I was trying to finish a few other projects. Thankfully Gaby took charge of swapping those, and things went smoothly. The biggest problem is the new Office 2007 - staff hasn't seen it and there is a learning curve there. But people will manage...

CybraryN was my big project: we wanted to change the way patrons authenticate with the catalog system in Helena. It took a phone call, and a day to get set, but when I changed over everything worked. At the same time, I've been getting a machine ready to give back to the City for setting up imaging software. I've got it set the way we want it but then realized each group has different settings. So this will be an Express machine (once the upgrade file is added). Then I'll have to do an adult machine, teen, and children's. A lot of work at first, but in the long run it should make things so much easier for all Computer Services staff.

We know we're coming up on Tourist Season - we need all the help we can get!