Bozeman Techie

Busy times

2011-11-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

Laptops in the library are hugely popular - who knew? The 5 we got set up last month are used every day, and there haven't been any problems with them (except not having enough!). We could have another 5 or 10, and I bet they would be used constantly too. Sometimes it's people who want more computer time than the 1 hour in the lab, other times it's people just wanting to sit in a more comfortable area or curious about how laptops are different from PCs. Whatever the reason, it seems to be a much-appreciated addition to our library services.

No one has figured out the bizarre update problem in the Express group, so next week it's time to start from scratch: re-install Windows and proceed from there. Maybe this will help pinpoint the issue, or just solve the problem; at this point, it doesn't really matter to me, I just want it to stop. All the other groups updated last week and are still working just fine, which is something I am extremely grateful for!

It's getting close to Finals Week: I can tell by the number of students working in the library all day. Only a few weeks until days start getting longer again - if we can make it through the "dark time" everything will be OK!

Back to work

2011-10-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

September disappeared (well, not really - I was on vacation and removed from constant internet access!) but now it's fall and time to get back to work.

We'll have our new director soon (Susan Gregory from Oklahoma), and some staff members have moved on to new positions in Helena with the State library, so there are lots of changes!

We also have 5 new laptops we'll set up and have available for the public to check out and use in the library. We haven't decided if we need some security software on it, in case it "walks away" but we might try something - I've found an affordable option.

One express computer insists on installing updates, even after I've un-installed them, and told it to NOT check for updates. These cause some problems, and I can't figure out how they are installing since DeepFreeze should ignore any changes that occur. I have to conclude it's being haunted by gremlins.

August Already!

2011-08-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

The Library was present in the Sweet Pea Parade after all - a "Get On Board" train, with members wearing different "costumes" to represent a variety of countries. Two book carts were converted to engine and caboose, and I got to be Engineer with cap and bandanna, while others had train whistles. We just meandered down the street, looping around when the bus behind us was WAY BEHIND and leaving a gap. It was a fun morning.

Back to other issues: the computer with hardware problems took 3 tries, but finally ended up working (the processor was finally determined to be the culprit). Windows Updates had messed up the entire Express group last month, which I forgot about once I restored them all to before the update. So this month's updates did the same thing! Since I'll be gone next month, it would be a good idea to get this solved, so Mike from the City has started looking at it. All the other machines are fine, and they all started with the Express image when we set them up, so it's quite a quandary.
Our donated scanner has been getting a lot of use, and I have a second one to try. This one might even print, which would be very convenient - people seem to always ask about printing after they scan. I'll see how it works.

This week the 3 Director candidates will visit. We can have meals with them just for some social time, but they will also have time to wander around the library and visit with staff between interviews. There is also a public session later where they will introduce themselves. It will be an exciting day, and (possibly!) my final director search experience!

We've had 2 staff members depart: retirement and relocation. So people are filling in while these positions are advertised - a busy time! We've been looking at reorganizing schedules and staffing, but this might be something the new director could look at as well.

Next month I'll be away but I think things are set to run fairly smoothly without me!

Summertime

2011-07-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

Summer means visitors (can I print my boarding pass? check my email?) and the summer reading program (both kids and adults!). Hot weather (we thought it would never get here!) means people at the pool, who then stop over at the library - it's amazing the attire that comes in. This summer has seen a lot of resume-related work, too. So we are still a popular place. The typewriter is also popular (are we the only one in town any more?) and the document scanner, which has developed a problem when scanning photos. So I asked around other City departments, and surprisingly received 2 possibilities! Recycling at its best.

I've had the opportunity to do some hardware-related work, which doesn't come along very often (and I'm not very experienced at!). One out-of-warranty computer stopped connecting to the network, so a new system board was needed. Luckily IT come to my rescue when it still didn't work (and I learned a few extra steps were needed to complete the job!). Next, one of our new machines decided not to turn on. Since it's under warranty, a technician comes out after the initial phone call and troubleshooting. Unfortunately, there was still a problem -he suspected the power supply, which (in theory) the Customer should be able to replace. So I did that this morning, and still have a dead computer. The technician should be dispatched again, and I'll be very happy if he tells me it was just one minor detail I overlooked. Still, these are interesting learning experiences!

It's Sweet Pea Festival time, but the Library may not be in the parade this year - we missed the registration deadline (never a problem before but there is a new Festival director this year). Protests have been voiced, so we'll see the outcome! Speaking of Directors, we will be meeting the 3 Library Director candidates in August. One day, public and staff meetings, and official interviews. Should be exciting!

End of the Year!

2011-06-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well, end of the Fiscal year anyway! That often means a mad scramble to make sure all money is spent, but not overspending - a fine line. Today we received one more table in the computer area, to replace a very outdated and small typewriter table. Now all the furniture matches. I'm waiting for one of the "typing regulars" to try it out. Software is a little trickier: previous rules were everything had to be In The Building on June 30, but how do you tell with software? Installed but not used? Paid for but not tried? We've got some software that will allow us to extend computer time for people in certain circumstances (I'm working on guidelines so everyone is consistent), and some new scheduling software for the meeting rooms.

We're getting anxious to meet a few of the candidates for library director - rumor has it we might see some soon! Skype phone interviews have already taken place, and reference are being contacted to narrow the field down to 3 possibilities. Maybe by the end of summer we'll have things settled!

Evaluating

2011-06-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's that time again: evaluations! I suspected we might be doing these, so started my list of accomplishments and goals right away. Often I'm trying to come up with something at the last minute. I'd also been clever and kept a list inside the cabinet in my office - when a big project was completed, I noted it there. A great help in trying to remember everything that went on during the past year! Of course, this blog is also a nice way to recall things.

The Library Director search is moving along - there will be preliminary Skype interviews in a few weeks. It will be nice to get the position filled and see what kind of new direction the library might go in. Change can be a good thing.

May Already?

2011-05-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you're away from the library! First there was the fun MLA conference in Billings (3 days, and what should be my last event as MPLA representative). Then a quick week to prepare for my 2-week spring vacation. I had a morning of mild panic my last Saturday: all the public computers began restarting themselves, installing updates. That was supposed to have been scheduled a few days earlier, during the night, so this was a shock. Now that we're using DeepFreeze, the restart just wiped out the updates, so it was a never-ending cycle. I spent a few hours taking care of that - I realized this had been the first week of available updates since we'd put the new machines out. So I left for vacation optimistic things were OK, since the next round would come up after my return. Things seemed to be fine - whew! We'll see how things go next week...

Although the BTOP computers are out, there is still more to be done. We've also received 2 ADA workstations (just the software) so I'll be getting familiar with JAWS, MAGic, some magnifying software, etc. We plan to have one station downstairs (converting a catalog station - I can't believe we've gone all this time without one!) and a second on an hour computer in the lab. There probably will be some training on using this software too - I'm anxious to try it out.

Rumor has it the library roof will have to be completely replaced this summer. Staff might be able to work, but we would have to be closed to the public. I wonder if 2 weeks off without pay would be an option? I can think of lots of ways to use that kind of time!

MIssion Accomplished!

2011-04-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

I met my goal of having all 28 BTOP computers out for public use by March 31. Woohoo! The transition has gone so well it's almost a bit of a let-down (but I'm not complaining!). Most comments from the public (and there haven't been that many) have been asking about the old equipment. Of course there are changes that could be made already: Firefox 4 has just been released! So the work is on-going. We plan a celebration in a week or so, after the MLA conference is done. Balloons, a little fan-fare just so everyone knows about the project.

Now that I had some free time I went to work on our "toddler" computer - just an old CPU running an entertaining screensaver, with unattached keyboard and mouse for the under-2 set to play with. Recently the CPU we were using started making some noise, so it seemed time to replace it (it didn't even have USB ports, that's how old it was!). The City sent over a newer CPU set up with just a basic user account, and I tried transferring some screensavers we'd downloaded on the other machine. Apparently I didn't have all necessary the files, because only one would install. But it looked wonderful on a newer machine that could handle the 3-D graphics! That was until the machine started freezing up with the dreaded Blue Screen. Restarting was easy but annoying for the Children's staff. Friday morning I started working on it, trying to get other screen savers downloaded directly on to it, but all had the same problem - Blue Screens after a short time. All day, and Saturday morning I tried a variety of ideas. Finally, after a discussion with the Saturday person working in Children's, we decided a basic Windows screensaver (the 3-D pipes) would be a good idea. Hopefully that will just run and run.

On to Billings and MLA!

Maybe look at a book?

2011-03-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

Some days things are just a bit different, and often there seems to be a bit of a pattern to it. Today was "Use the Internet even if a print source would work better" Day. I happened to answer the phone this morning, and was talking with a woman who needed information on cooking sausage. This almost seemed to be a Reference Desk question, but since I wasn't busy or at a public desk, I figured I'd handle it. She couldn't get to the library and didn't have internet so wanted me to look up instructions. "What do they say about cooking sausage?" she asked, as if the internet was a specific entity I could ask. So we did a little reference interview: what kind of sausage? Links or patties? Beef was the reply. Her phone connection wasn't the best, either, so I was only getting 75% of the conversation. I started with allrecipes.com but only got recipes including sausage (and some sounded great!) but this was beyond what she was looking for. So back to Google and "sausage cooking instructions" which got me more specific information. I read the various methods (which, thankfully, corresponded to what I had already told her off the top of my head). She hung up after a bit, so I have to assume she got what she needed. But I wondered if there wasn't a cookbook around somewhere?

A co-worker had the phone call asking for "phone numbers of all bookstores in Bozeman." That's a case where a phone book would be more efficient, and that's what we'd use to answer the question. It's hard to know the actual reason for this so maybe the phone book wouldn't be the best source, but I always wonder. People often think the internet is the ultimate source when it's really just one of many.

Progress!

2011-03-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Things are moving along quickly with the new computers - children's and teens are both out and seem to be working fine. The Adult image has been made, and in the morning I'll send it out to 3 machines. Tuesday morning those get moved out and 3 more prepared, and so on until all 12 are out. The hardest part now is the physical moving and set-up!

My goal was to have this done by the end of the month, and it looks like that's going to be accomplished. Then it's on the the MLA/MPLA conference in Billings! I've agreed to be part of the MPLA Communications committee, and we're starting to take advantage of the many social networking options. Facebook, Twitter, and a few others are being added to the MPLA home page.

At a recent staff meeting we spent some time discussing specific issues at each service desk, and trying to come up with one concrete solution. The Computer Services group agreed that giving out guest passes repeatedly to the same people (who can't get library cards, since they are just visiting or don't have a physical address, just PO Boxes on their ID, for example) was time-consuming. We decided to try having these folks keep their guest pass. We already know them by name (since we've seen their ID over and over), and the cards are already set to not allow checking out materials. So far we've allowed several regulars to keep the cards, and they have all been thrilled! My next goal is to add some software that would allow us to extend time on specific computers when people ask. We get that request frequently enough that I think this could be a good customer-service move. Right now we can't make that happen.

Computers Are Coming!

2011-03-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

I've been working on setting up the first of the new computers for the past 2 weeks: installing necessary programs and software, adding printers, working with CybraryN to make sure the new system works with their software (that was an obstacle we had to work through with a few online sessions!) but finally things are ready! Four of the Express group computers are out and being used, with 3 more getting imaged this afternoon and one more in the morning. Then it's on to the other groups - children's, teens, and finally adult. We're using DeepFreeze, which should make things easier too: restarting the computer sets it back to the original configuration. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks to see how that all works.

While I was working on the computers, the City also was holding its first IT Week - lots of good sessions dealing with various technology topics. I was able to attend several: ADA issues, using the city phones and Outlook, a discussion on social media. I wish it hadn't been scheduled for last week, but it's all worked out. My original goal was to have the Express group completed by March 15, so I'm only a few days off.

Next month: MLA/MPLA in Billings! My last conference as Montana's rep to MPLA - a position I've enjoyed but will pass along to someone else. Then some vacation time...

Get Ready for BTOP!

2011-02-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

We are one of 29 (I think) libraries receiving new computers as part of a state-wide grant to increase access to technology. I don't remember what BTOP stands for but it's a catchy acronym, and we've been working on this for several months. While at Offline earlier this month I went to a session explaining more of the process, and now we're starting to receive the equipment! Earlier this week 28 monitors arrived, and next week we'll see 28 CPU's. Then it's time to get them ready - install the printers, set up CybraryN, add whatever programs the public is used to having available (chats, Google Earth and SketchUp, etc). We've given up our imaging plan (which was OK to a point but not as effective as we'd hoped) so will start using DeepFreeze, software that resets computers each time they get restarted. Something new for me to learn! So I expect to be a bit busy for a few weeks...

Offline was fun, as always, and Bozeman offered to host it next year. We'll be busy planning that in a few months.

The MLA conference comes up next month too, in Billings. This will be my final conference as MPLA representative, which has been a fun office. I've been able to go to several out-of-state conferences but will be glad to stay home next year so others can go (and maybe have the chance to attend something different, like Computers in Libraries again!).

Thinking Spring while we experience sub-zero temps for a few days....

Groundhog Day!

2011-02-02T13:21:00.001-08:00

Although it's a beautiful sunny day here (but still cold, at a chilly 20 degrees!)I heard Punxsatwny Phil didn't see his shadow so at least the East should have an early spring! Ironic, considering they are having their worst winter in years, as far as snowfall goes. It doesn't really matter in Montana, since we can have snow any time; spring just means wet slushy snow and gray skies. I'd rather have the nice snow and blue skies!

Lots of new staff at the library now. There was a glitch in getting some of them set up on all computers. They would log on a computer and go through the process of entering settings in the catalog software (which has to be done on each machine!), then ambitious and helpful staff would also log them in on a second computer to get started. This caused the network to go a little crazy, since the first log-in hadn't been logged off to actually save. So at a subsequent log-in dire error messages would appear, and all the previous work was lost! Once again confirming my tendency to be methodical and do things step-by-step. So a few people had to start over, but now that we've figured it out we'll do better in the future.

Last week I taught the Computer and Online Safety class. There is so much information that could be discussed, so I try to keep it simple. There were 8 "mature" women, so we had a great time and they all seemed very pleased (and not too overwhelmed!) with what we covered. I enjoy teaching, and some day hope to get responsibility for the classes back to Computer Services and a small consistent group of instructors. I think that would result in better continuity throughout the classes.

Offline next weekend! I'm bringing my recently-purchased Sony e-reader to go along with a session on other gadgets. I have downloaded a title on to it using my laptop but haven't used the netbook, and don't know if I'll be able to connect those two - there are "authorization" issues with the Adobe DRM software. At least that's been the experience with the Nook. I think it will take a little getting used to reading on the e-reader. It's not difficult, just different than holding a book. But using a cell phone was different than earlier phones at first, and now seems perfectly normal.

Something unrelated to library work but fun: there are now several of us who knit, so the idea of meeting on occasional Sunday afternoons for some knitting (and other crafts) time away from work seemed fun. One staff member mentioned the Scarves for Special Olympics project back in December, so we decided to work on that. This week we'll pack up the scarves (at least 20!) and ship them off. We're already looking forward to making more next year.

New Year, New Stuff

2011-01-05T15:28:00.000-08:00

We've started the new year without Alice, and although we're not floundering it does feel strange to not have a director sitting in that office. Terri and Lois are interim directors and will do fine, but it has added to their already full work-load, as well as Nancy's. Hopefully things will move quickly in the hiring of a new leader!

Even if we don't have a new director, lots of other new people are coming on board. I'm training 2 new substitutes, and have also trained another staff person to start working at Computer Services. This will help with our workload - right now we're juggling schedules when someone is sick. There are 2 others who eventually will also be available, and 4 more for Circulation/Information desks. Whew!

Today I had a dad (I assume) with a young toddler (less than a year old, I'd guess) headed to the computer lab for. I suggested he could use the children's library or student computers downstairs - we don't have children (especially that young) in the lab, just because they get noisy and the other users complain. He was surprised he couldn't use the lab; I explained why, and pointed out he already had a noisy toy going off in the diaper bag. He said the toy wouldn't be going off, and his little boy wouldn't make much noise. I just laughed and said they can't help it - that's what babies do! And this little guy was just smiling and laughing - so cute. But Dad went downstairs, and it wasn't long before I could hear the noise confirming what I expected: once Dad's attention was on the computer, Little Guy wasn't happy!

Next month: Offline, my favorite techie conference!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

It's not as quiet in the computer area as I'd expected this week. Students are done, holidays are almost here - I figured we wouldn't see so many visitors. What do I know? All the visitors using guest cards sometimes gives me the opportunity to play Santa: people will want to add money for printing; when I check, we discover money already on the card from a previous user. It's a nice little surprise, and usually very much appreciated. Just one of the more fun aspects of working this desk...

A recent upgrade at the shared catalog level didn't go well, so we've been muddling through while they work to fix the new problems created. I can sympathize, and will continue to expect the worst anytime someone says "upgrade."

This is our final week with Alice, our retiring director. It's been an exciting 13 years! I'm wondering what the next director will bring to the library - we've come to expect a lot but there will always be opportunities for positive changes too.

Marry Christmas!

Holiday Time

2010-12-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

Holidays are always an interesting time in the library, probably a combination of the cold bringing more people in, and holiday stress aggravating whatever problems are already there. We're trying to stay agreeable, but have to sometimes resort to less-than-friendly interaction when some lonely individuals start hanging around for extended periods, trying to get involved in conversations about (occasionally) rather bizarre topics. Working a public desk begins to feel like a sitting duck - no escape!

We're planning a Gadget Fair this weekend, so people can come see some new things they may not be familiar with - Nook, Kindle, Flip Camera, etc. We've also gotten local stores to come in with some gadgets too, like the iPad. We're not going as in-depth as we would for staff training, or even a conference session; just an informal "this is what it looks like and some things you might be able to use it for" gathering.

My favorite thing about the holidays this year? With Christmas Eve and Christmas on Friday and Saturday (and we'll be closed) I get a 4-day weekend! Followed by a 3-day weekend for New Year's. That will seem like quite a vacation!

Silly me...

2010-09-07T15:51:00.001-07:00

I really should learn but am always optimistic! Many computers have been updated, but three of the teen and all four children's still need to be done. So this morning I figured it was time to get to the teens - just 3 computers, how hard could that be? I installed both the new print and time management programs, tested all three (yes, I found a little glitch but was able to fix it - a file path I should have found right off) so figured things were great.

The CybraryN people receive error messages if things aren't quite right, so I was surprised to get an email from them asking if everything was OK this morning. I explained what I'd done, and reported everything seemed fine. A few more messages back and forth, with suggestions of what might be wrong and how to fix it in the morning followed. Later in the afternoon I did start to see a few problems (reservations were there but others could log in anyway, things didn't look quite right in our screen) so mentioned that in a message too. In the morning I'll take care of the little file problems that might be occurring, and maybe then things will be great!

I really should know better than to expect an upgrade to be right the first time.

From the I Can't Believe It File...

2010-07-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

We've had a nice large flat-screen TV for about a year - we bought it with the idea that eventually it might be an event monitor, and in the meantime it was in the storage room with the Wii. Since the Wii has been used all year for programs, this TV was just waiting - this month we finally brought it out, hooked up the laptop and ran an PowerPoint presentation showing weekly events in the library. To start, this was on a cart next to the circulation desk until we could decide where to permanently place it. A wall in the lobby was the likely choice.

Yesterday someone noticed there was no monitor on the cart. How a huge TV (48" maybe?) can just unhook itself from the laptop and walk off is a mystery. Oh, and open the lobby doors too since they should have been locked - we are closed Sundays. There was the Friends book sale going on so things were probably crowded, but really - didn't anyone notice a TV leaving the library?

Summertime...

2010-06-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

We're seeing evidence of summer, gradually - and not just outside where the grass is still incredibly green, the cottonwood trees haven't really been shedding cotton yet, and the hanging baskets on Main Street have only just appeared. We got tired of all the rain, but it really was a good thing.

So, our summer season is starting: a few Yellowstone Park workers, some snowbirds (what are they called when they come north for summer?) and some foreign students. The Mail.RU program that shows up on public computers is one of the first signs - students seem to have that promoted as the program to use to keep in touch, and it likes to automatically install on our computers. This year hasn't been quite as difficult - so far I'm not seeing the home page consistently hijacked by this as in past years. I made screen shots of removal instructions, so everyone is able to remove it, since none of us read Russian very well!

If we had the imaging system working this wouldn't be an issue, but that has sometimes caused more problems than it solved. I'm still making updated images for each group, so we can restore a computer if something happens, but that takes some time also. Still not sure what the answer is to keep all machines identical all the time!

Highlight of the day: a patron brought his own typewriter and sat upstairs in a study carrel, typing away, bell ringing on the carriage return and keys clacking. No one complained about the noise - maybe people were surprised to see the antique technology?

It's Easy to Forget

2010-05-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

I was reminded recently to not assume that 20-somethings are automatically tech-savvy. We tend to group younger folks (especially those still in their 2nd decade, plus or minus a few years) into the "knows everything about technology" category. It's easy to do, since we all know of someone who has had help with something (computer, cell phone, fill in your own item) from a teenage relative or neighbor. And, they must be learning this stuff in schools, too, right?

Recently a young woman approached the Computer Services desk late one afternoon. Late teens, early 20's - I really don't know. She was extremely frustrated, because she'd spend most of her hour on a teen computer composing a document and needed to email it as an attachment to her instructor (so I'm thinking she wasn't college since that session is over, but perhaps she's attending a summer school course?). She complained that none of the library computers would send an attachment, and she'd just wasted her time trying to get this homework submitted. I explained that all the computers could do that, but people do need to be in their own email program - often someone will try to respond to a CraigsList add, which opens Outlook on the computers but won't actually do anything. We've been able to help people through that, too.

Someone else had already signed in to the computer she'd used, so I couldn't get back to her document. I asked if she could get it done on an Express computer, and she went to work. I checked on her when I thought her time might be getting short, and found she'd saved the document to the desktop, opened her email and addressed the message. This is where she ran into trouble. I showed her how to find the document to attach it, and could almost see the light bulb go off over her head. I left her to write her message, and when I passed by a little later she smiled and said "It worked!"

Another lesson in technology; one more person who will be able to pass the knowledge along to friends! That's what makes this job so fun.

Conference Season

2010-04-28T14:47:00.001-07:00

What have I been doing? Preparing for conferences, attending conferences, recovering from conferences!

MLA was held in Bozeman earlier this month. We were involved in supplying some equipment at the conference hotels, and being available in case problems developed. Luckily, everything worked well. I was also a "vendor" with a booth promoting MPLA, so it worked well for me to be at the conference most of the time. I didn't get to attend many sessions, though, and there were some really good ones from what I've heard.

A week in Texas to relax, then on to MPLA in Oklahoma City. It was interesting to be back there after 20 years! Also, there was quite a bit of media coverage of the 15th anniversary of the bombing there. We went to the memorial site later in the week - it really is beautiful, full of symbolism. I presented a session on technology training for staff, which was well-attended. There was also an event at the downtown library - a beautiful new building that I enjoyed touring.

Next year it will be a joint MLA/MPLA conference in Billings so I won't have far to travel!

It must be spring...

2010-03-13T15:04:00.000-08:00

Snow is melting - we have almost all the parking spaces in the lot available again! This week is spring break, and we may see beautiful weather. For the Library, it means preparing for the upcoming MLA conference next month, since Bozeman is hosting. We also have a group presentation on fun technology gadgets. For me, I need to get my presentation ready for MPLA. I'll be away for 2 weeks, so getting the computers ready to run smoothly during that time is also a priority.

The Technology Plan is coming along; we've got everything on a wiki for easy access. I'm concerned it might not be totally private; I need to research that to make sure it isn't accessible to the whole world.

There have been several library director positions opening lately - retirements or moving. It will be fun to see who fills these - great opportunities!

February?

2010-02-06T13:01:00.000-08:00

Well, January slipped by too quickly. It does every year; some day maybe I'll be prepared for that. I taught the laptop class to a variety of users (Windows 7, Vista and XP). The frustrating part was having one person arrive late, with a brand new laptop that hadn't been turned on at all. There is an enormous amount of set-up necessary the first time, so he was a constant interruption whenever we moved on to something new. Later this spring I'll do Computer Safety again.

The RFID tagging has begun, and miraculously doesn't involve me! Teams are working in pairs, both in fiction and non-fiction, with a few other people tagging returned items before they get reshelved. Then the security gates get installed, and we figure out how to use the neat gadget that reads tags as you walk down the stacks.

Sadly we've had an express computer out of service for a few weeks, a result (I suspect) of the imaging software gone bad. Luckily it only affected one machine, but I shudder to think what could have happened if we'd used that on all the adult computers! I'm not too excited about expanding the imaging idea unless we find something more reliable.

The big project (for me) is updating the Technology Plan! We prepared one a few years before moving to the new library, so it's been interesting to re-read that. Not everything we planned on actually happened with the move to a new building. It will be hard to predict what might develop in the next several years, too.

Conference season is upon us: Offline, Broad Valleys meeting, PLA, MLA, MPLA, and others, I'm sure. I have to attend MLA and MPLA; I wish I could go to PLA and Offline; I may get to go to an afternoon session of Broad Valleys. I'm trying something new next week: on online conference through WebJunction. I can't go to all the sessions I'd like, but am curious how this will work. Lois and I really enjoy Computers in Libraries - we hope to attend that in 2 more years.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T14:28:00.001-08:00

Biggest surprise for me: Windows7 Professional! Jon-Erik is installing it on my laptop today (it's so convenient having a live-in technician around, even if it is temporary). I'm SOOOO looking forward to this and won't miss Vista at all. I was still nervous with each log on even though we'd created a fourth, emergency, profile on the laptop in case the family account I was using went the way of my personal profile. But really - 4 profiles for one user? That's pushing things, I think.

So my post-holiday activity will be playing with what should feel like a new laptop. My Christmas Eve activity? Uploading my first video to YouTube - something I think I should be familiar with by now. It really was dual purpose: I've recorded video on the Flip camera but hadn't gone any farther, and what's the point if you don't do something with those? So I uploaded a short video of my dad's Christmas trains when we were helping set up his tree. I'm taking the "private" route and only sharing with a select group (family, just to see how the process works. But the video looks good (you'll have to take my word on that!). Another notch in my technology belt!

Today was Audiobook Question Day at the library. A patron with a new Zune had audiobooks she wanted to remove, and it wasn't obvious to us how that would be done. Some searching finally turned up an answer, and she was able to clear her device to make room for more. Judging by the forum discussion she wasn't the first person with the question. Then a patron with an iPod came up with a more difficult question: he has a audiobook in iTunes but when it transfers to the iPod, the chapters get arranged alphabetically! Most books have numbered chapters, so this doesn't happen often, but is definitely a problem. Not sure how to overcome this.

New Year's Projects: learn Windows7 and update my laptop class by mid-January (the next time we're offering it). Then it's time to prepare my presentation on staff technology learning ("Taking the Oh No! Out of 2.0") for MPLA in April. An ongoing project is making tutorials on placing holds and renewing items in our catalog. I'd done one in Jing, but think maybe the Flip Camera might be a way to go. That way we can have narration and explain the process a little better.

It was a Wii Christmas in my family: a brother, cousin, and my parents all got systems! My folks spent the afternoon learning how to use the controllers, and Mom beat Dad at bowling!

Deep Freeze

2009-12-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

It's December, so we're preparing for the annual Deep Freeze weather event! We had a brief episode a while back, but now it's going to get serious. We should have a week of very cold temperatures, which can mean either no one comes to the library or everyone does! Already we've had a few cases of dogs tied up outside the library for longer than would seem prudent. I've started closing my office door, too, to keep the cool draft from escaping to the public desk area.

Last Saturday was the "Get to Know Your Laptop" class. I had done something similar last winter for a local school Adult Ed program, so thought it would be something good to offer at the library too. I was surprised: 2 people came with new Windows 7 laptops. I've only read a little about that, but from what I could tell it looks pretty good. My handout was written for XP, but the new computers were able to follow along too. Seeing it in action makes me more likely to consider an upgrade for my Vista laptop too - that has always been a bit of an annoyance. The XP netbook is still fine, although I've heard of a few brave people upgrading those to 7 also.

No word from the City about upgrading; I suspect we'll wait for new computers. We've extended the warranty for another year on the public machines, but things are starting to die off: a mouse here, a monitor there. The black & white printer is due for maintenance, but even though several of us are Dell certified, no one (me included!)wants to replace the fuser! The cost of the parts alone is high, and a service call would make it cost more than a new printer. So we're ignoring it for now. It will probably go for a while longer, since the fuser was replaced not long ago when a serious paper jam developed. That technician had a terrible time, which is why I think the rest of us are hesitant to tackle that job.

Only 3 weeks until the days start getting longer again!

Keeping Healthy

2009-11-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

Flu is the big topic these days, seasonal as well as H1N1 ("swine" to the average person). When a few co-workers were out, everyone was concerned, but they turned out to just have regular colds, nothing too serious. The Health department ran out of vaccine in October, so those of us who waited are out of luck. They have received some of the nasal spray vaccine, but some of us are too old for that! So I'm just trying to stay healthy, and we've got WetOnes and hand sanitizer all around for everyone to use. It seems to help. I did have a patron today wearing plastic (cellophane-type) gloves in the computer lab, but that's the most extreme behavior I've seen.

The City has recommended developing a plan for the possibility of lots of sick staff - how would services be staffed, etc. The Library came up with ideas of how we could cover some desks, or reduce services, so I think we'll be OK. Being prepared usually means the situation never develops!

The challenge will be to remain healthy as I travel next week for a little vacation.

2009-10-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

The laptop issue last month (at my own class - very humiliating!)was really a battery pack/laptop issue, not at all related to the projector. Apparently these laptops are very fussy about their power supplies! But everything is working now - we should probably mark each power supply and laptop combo to avoid this in the future.

Now we are planning our "mini tech fair" for staff in a few weeks. We'll be showing the digital camera, flip camera, Kindle, iPod, netbook, and laptop/docking station. I hope the rest of the staff is at least somewhat curious about these! Not everyone will have a use for them, but at least they will know what things are and how people might use them. We're arranging for CE credit from the state library too. People who do a project using one of these gadgets can get an extra hour of credit.

We've trained another person to work at Computer Services, so we have options when people take vacation. So far we don't seem to have any flu going around here but we're prepared!

The Joys of Technology

2009-09-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought I had a handle on technology, something comes along to remind me I don't! Saturday was the Computer Safety class, and I was prepared with handouts of my PowerPoint presentation. Good thing, since the projector and laptop decided not to cooperate! We'd used this laptop for classes all spring, (although we did have a few issues at first - mostly because I was trying to project when it wasn't plugged in - we learned that doesn't work) so I can't figure out why it wouldn't continue to behave. We have a second laptop now, so I'll give that one a chance before calling in the Projector Guys.

We also have a projector in the board room that isn't projecting, just flashing (we think of it as a strobe light!). I tried both laptops so this might involve the Projector Guys to figure it out.

But the class was good, and hopefully a few more people will be a little safer on line! When someone says they always refuse automatic updates, I have to think this was a necessary class!

2009-09-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

Several staff people went to the state library's Fall Workshop in Great Falls this weekend. I reminded everyone about the library's netbook - a handy way to take notes and get a report written while at a gathering like this (instead of having to write it later!). Happily, someone asked to use it - I'd like to think this will catch on for other meetings and conferences. The library's cell phone also went along; unbelievably one carload of folks didn't have a cell phone among them!

The document scanner we made available to the public has been getting quite a workout. People seem to be able to do pretty well on their own, or at least following the instructions posted. Maybe we should add this to our list of Technology Fair items so the rest of the staff would be familiar with it too.

Before last week's staff meeting we were asked to post a list of 15 of our favorite books. It's been fun to read everyone's list and see the wide variety! And, we each received 5 "Staff Pick" stickers to put on books from our list. Amazingly, a lot of my titles were checked out! I finally found 5, though.

Imaging Update: I made the new children's computer image (there had been one, but it needed updating) and managed to schedule the process all on my own, so now those computers start "fresh" each morning. I want to try the 4 teen computers next just to see how difficult the process is with our time-print management system. I'm considering making an OPAC image too - it couldn't hurt to clean those up, since I know people sometimes use those for the internet event though we don't want them to!

Next week is our first computer class: Computer Safety. I suggested this, after watching so many people leave themselves "exposed" on our computers. And I recently read a great article in Smart Computing magazine that had lots of good ideas. Hopefully this will help a few people be a little safer on line.

Almost Labor Day

2009-09-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

It finally feels like summer, now that the calendar says it's almost over. Tourists seem to be gone for the most part, and students are back, so that's close enough to fall for me.

Not much progress on imaging, since I realized the reservation system is not going to go along easily. I'm afraid it adds a complication we can't overcome. So it's on to Children's! We could eliminate reservations, but I don't think that's an idea that would be popular - it's too convenient for people to even consider giving that up.

A minor hitch in our fabulous new internet: for some reason the router needs to be reset periodically. We didn't know this, and yesterday suddenly just lost all public internet. But now I know how to reset it, so it shouldn't be a major disaster, just a small annoyance.

We're planning a small Technology Fair at our library to help staff learn some of the new toys we bought recently. We have a flip camera, a netbook, a Kindle, amd iPod and a new digital camera. We'll have a morning when people can come and see how each works, then if they want extra credit they can do a project with one or two. Even if they don't use it for anything else, at least they'll be familiar with what they are. We keep trying to get everyone to not fear technology!

Improvements

2009-08-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

The imaging project continues, and actually seems to be working! I can see that life will be absolutely wonderful once all public internet computers are re-imaging themselves each night. Four express stations are complete; I added 3 more this morning. I think I'll move to the teen computers next. There are just 4 of those but they are part of the reservation system, which adds a little complication. These will be an easier test than the 12 adult computers.

Even more exciting this week: our internet service has been upgraded! We've been living with a nightmare for months: sometimes the network would run along smoothly, then suddenly slow to a crawl. We suspected it was one or more wireless users hogging the bandwidth but had no way to determine this. Our service was a donation so we didn't have much power. But now the router has been upgraded, and service is incredibly fast. It will amount to a $200/month cost, but I'd be willing to sacrifice that much from my salary for dependable service. We've joked about putting a tip jar at Computer Services ("did you enjoy the internet? make a contribution!").

Of course, now school has started and we aren't as overwhelmingly busy as we have been, so it really isn't a fair comparison. But I'm not complaining!

Drill Team Update

2009-08-08T14:50:00.000-07:00

The Drill Team marched in the parade this morning. It wasn't too hot, and it didn't rain, so we were pleased! We started out slow but by the end of the route were moving along a quite a clip. Crowds loved us, as usual, even without the book carts. I had hoped we'd get some video on the library's Flip camera, but when it was returned to me I didn't see any video.

The Library was fairly quiet most of the day, until an incredible thunderstorm moved in. Then we became the safe haven for the festival crowd - we expect that will really run our numbers up for the day! The sun is out now, and things are quiet again.

August already

2009-08-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

So glad I mentioned the heat in my last post - it's been a little on the chilly side ever since, and we're afraid we've missed summer completely. I'm holding out for a warmer August.

Just when you think it will be a dull, ordinary day things happen. This morning we had a man with a dog wanting to come in the library. Service dogs are perfectly fine, but this one had no paperwork or tag to verify the owner's claim. I'm afraid some staff may have over-reacted: for some reason police were called. As the ADA coordinator for the building, I checked on regulations and found that service animals (and their owners) aren't required to have documentation with them. I visited with the patron and police officer, who suggested it might be a good idea to have that available in the future. Two more officers arrived - we had to suspect it was a slow day for law enforcement, especially since the first officer had already reported everything was fine!

Not long after we saw a long (really long!) black limo parked outside the Library, with a red carpet extended. This turned out to be a 65th birthday celebration for a woman, who had planned a day with friends (10 of them, who all showed up for pictures). They had champagne and looked like it was going to be a fun time.

My feel-good moment of the week: a young British tourist asked why the iPhone doesn't work in Montana? He was traveling the US, had just come from Idaho, and needed to call the person in town he planned to stay with. He asked about a pay phone, and I directed him to the one in the lobby. He returned a little later saying he couldn't hear on that one, and that's when I realized he was watching my lips carefully and had hearing aids; he did have the speech associated with deaf people who learn to talk but I thought it was just his British accent. The cell phone number he had for his local contact was a long distance number. It seemed like he was out of options, so I called the local person - we don't usually make calls for people, and long distance requires a special code. But the person on the other end was happy to hear he was in town, and came right over. He was very pleasant to visit with, and we had a discussion about how the At&T network isn't everywhere like you think! Every so often we have stranded travelers, and it feels good to help.

MLA board retreat this weekend - guess that will count as my summer vacation this year.

2009-07-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

Summer is heating up now - 90 degrees more or less for a few days. Just enough to remind everyone why we like it here the rest of the time, and don't want to go to warmer places like Arizona or Florida just yet.

At the Library we have a fair amount of tourists, which is fun. I know I appreciate being able to access the internet when I've been other places, and these guests are no different. Lots of boarding passes being printed, and many digital photos being uploaded! Also an increased number of patrons who show up without their library card. I'm always tempted to make them do some kind of song and dance in return for me looking up their number, but in the end I ask for their ID (which is only available about 50% of the time - those are the people I really want to make work for it!) or name, and some kind of verifying information (for those anonymous ones) and write down their number. We have the first part already prepared - we quickly got tired of writing the same thing down repeatedly. We try to be agreeable...

The next phase of our "imaging" project has begun. We're testing the automatic imaging process where the server wakes up each computer, sends the image to it, and restarts. Two of them should go through this tonight. We're not sure how many the server can handle, and if we'll be able to eventually have all 27 machines do this every night. But this is a great start!

Quick trip to Denver Saturday for the MPLA board meeting. I was able to get an early flight down and a not-too-late flight back so it's just one day. Woohoo!

Drill Team Time!

2009-07-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

Sweet Pea Festival is the next big thing and the Library is going to reprise our Drill Team after a few years' hiatus. But we won't be pushing book carts this time; instead, we're thinking of something more like an actual drill team - marching in formations but we want to add books (of course!). Probably some variety of stomping, rhythm group. To make it effective we need a few more than our usual 8 bodies; hopefully we interest some new participants. I love the parade - the crowd always cheers!

It's almost summer here

2009-07-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Once again, a month has disappeared - there is no good explanation other than busy busy busy! July 4th always sounds like summer should be half over, but we're only just beginning to see warm temperatures. We are getting the usual influx of tourists, so that verifies the calendar, even if the weather doesn't.

The big project? Imaging! And the first round is done! Of course, as soon as I did one group, I realized I'd forgotten something. So I fixed that in the next group, but the power settings didn't get done as I'd thought. The third group had that done correctly, but there didn't seem to be an Java installed. The final group was just done this week, but it was the Children's group, and has it's own unique issues. People are suggesting that there is a Flash update, which is strange, because they should all have the latest. But soon we'll probably redo the image, and I'll take care of all the little things on my list! Eventually we should be able to push the image out to all computers frequently, possibly each week. I'm not in charge of that, and understand there are difficulties in getting that to work. But it is a nice goal.

The end of the fiscal year brought great shopping opportunities when extra money was anticipated. So we've purchased a netbook, Kindle, flip camera, 2 digital cameras, a Wii system and a TV or two. I'd like to arrange a few staff "playtime" sessions so everyone can try out the new stuff. There are people who can't wait, and others who are intimidated by any technology.

Happy Summer!

It's June?

2009-06-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

May disappeared - I don't know where it went. There was Mother's Day, of course. I picked out a new MP3 player (instead of waiting for Jon-Erik to sell me his used cast-off when he buys a new one!). The library has subscribed to a new program allowing people to download audiobooks, so I felt it was my duty to try it too! I figure it will come in handy when I travel to meetings for MPLA, and well as providing the incentive to spend more time on the treadmill.

Also for Mother's Day Jon-Erik gave me Animal Crossing:City Folk for the Wii, accompanied by the WiiSpeak - a microphone that works in conjunction with some Wii games. We'd thought it might work with some other online Wii titles we like (Tetris Party and Dr. Mario) but sadly there are only a few specific games it goes along with. This works just fine for us - we can visit each other's towns in Animal Crossing. It's hilarious to see Jon-Erik show up in my town: one day his "character" was wearing a diving helmet; yesterday he changed to a wrestling mask. It's quite the entertaining experience.

Jon-Erik had a birthday too - the first one where we weren't actually with him! Hard to believe it took 26 years for that to happen.

Tom and I went to Las Vegas early this month (who goes there in June? That explains why we got a good deal). Yes, things are air conditioned, but 95 degrees is still hot, even in a dry heat! We had fun, although the hotel charged $15 each day for internet access (so I just pretended to disappear for the week!) and didn't have very generous slot machines.

Sadly, we decided to euthanize our cats last month too. They were 15 and 11; one was rapidly declining, the other seemed to be developing problems (limping, digestive issues). I had discussed this with our vet several months ago, and she was very understanding and supportive. She explained it isn't illegal in Montana to shoot a pet (sometimes there are horror stories in the paper about people doing this badly), and offered to supply the sedative we'd need. The local ranch supply business also suggested a sedative, and Tom was able to handle the rest (although actually finding his pistol was the biggest challenge!). They are resting peacefully in a nice spot near the creek in our backyard. They had a fun life with us, and we still miss them (but honestly, the cat hair and litter box are not missed!).

One of these days we will actually get summer weather - June has been cold and rainy. Good for knitting, though - I'm working on knitted helmet liners for troops in Afghanistan as part of a project a local Marine mom started. And reading...

Ah, Graduation

2009-05-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

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...

Happy May!

2009-05-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

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!

Preparing for MLA

2009-04-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we're off to Kalispell for a fun conference. So that means a little preparation here, to make sure things run smoothtly in Computer Services while Lois and I are gone - something I'm not as confident about as I used to be, given the current circumstances.

There still is no explanation for why Internet Explorer on some computers just won't open a web page, but Firefox will. Why it will stop working, if it worked earlier. Our City IT department (the whole crew - we felt so special!) spend a morning last week looking at this. I was relieved that they could at least see there was a problem, even though they haven't come up with a solution. They've recommended a few things to clean up the machines (checking Scheduled Tasks, deleting ALL the temp files, defragging) as a start. Those probably are useful, but haven't fixed things.

IT is also very close to having an imaging program that should be able to return everything to an original state each night - something we've wanted to have but haven't had the time to do. I know there are options for this out there, but having the City work on it is helpful - that way they know what's going on with our computers.

There are so many factors involved: each machine, the CybraryN software, the City's network, the connection to the Montana Shared Catalog - any or all of these can cause a problem, and sometimes they do! So it's very difficult to pinpoint an exact reason.

I keep telling myself that's what makes life interesting....

Back to Work

2009-04-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Vacations and conferences are fun, but now it's back to work (until the next conference, MLA in Kalispell in 2 weeks!).

There were a few glitches while I was gone, but hopefully I'll be able to fix those in the morning. People managed very well, in spite of the little problems. They are a resourceful bunch!

More staff are working on the Web 2.0 course now, too. Some of the newer staff are moving right along.

Networks are funny things

2009-03-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

We've still been working through some unusual network problems, and haven't really figured out what is coincidence and what isn't. It probably doesn't matter as long as everything works!

But consider:

1. The anti-virus program hasn't updated on the public computers since the new website went live.

2. The problem of a computer not accessing any webpage (although it still had an internet connection, and was resolved by restarting) disappeared with the launch of the new website.

Now that #1 is fixed, we have #2 back again. Coincidence? I'm starting to think not.

But we can always blame Daylight Savings Time: many of our radio-frequency clocks forgot to change, and the phone system didn't go along, either.

Important things

2009-03-05T10:25:00.001-08:00

We're still working on a few glitches with our new website, mostly database access and how to send newsletters, etc. Minor things. Especially since this morning there was an incredible explosion and the power went out. It wasn't the library (although it felt like it could have been!) but a building several blocks away. The structure is just gone. Not much news is available yet but it's a mess and is still burning.

So our website issues are not so critical just now.

Success!

2009-02-27T13:03:00.000-08:00

This week was the final push to get the new website ready for public viewing: working out more glitches as we found them (what happened to those links that worked before??? why can't I upload this file???) and one final meeting of our committee before the Friday morning roll-over.

Thursday night, after a fun drive home in a blizzard, I was ready and waiting at my computer to see what would happen at 8 p.m. (the time we'd asked for the change to occur). Lois sends an IM: we need to change our DNS servers! Of course we do; we'd asked about that a while ago, but then forgot once we were busy with website content and other details. Can I remember the log-in to that account? Of course not; that information lives in a folder at my desk so I don't need to remember. Really, changing DNS information isn't something I do every day. She finds the file, gives me the log-in info (I probably could have guessed - it seems obvious once you actually have it in front of you!). Strangely, although we have 2 domain names only one shows up. I change those numbers, and we try to figure out how to log in to do the other domain name. I even call tech support (and sadly, am a bit rude to the gentleman on the other end when he tells me Bozeman Public Library is the account holder, and only the account holder can change who has access to things). There is a form that Lois, who is listed on the account, can fax in with her ID and another piece of ID with her address (like a utility bill - it was starting to sound like she would be issued a library card!). Then in a few days she might be authorized.

That didn't sound promising. The other name on the account? Aaron, who is no longer with the City and we have no idea how to contact him. But Lois keeps working, contacting City IT with the hope that they have the information we need. And, these things take 24 hours or more to actually happen, so I go to bed not knowing if the new website will appear or not.

But, at breakfast I check and am able to see our new website! It's a miracle that lasts until I get to work and discover it doesn't seem to appear on computers anywhere in the library. Since the old site still works, we wait to see what will happen. Our web host says the change worked and it's probably our network having an issue with the whole DNS thing. I called my dad - he had the new site, and after lunch the public computers in the library seem to have it too. So it's like one of those images slowly coming in to view - by tomorrow we expect everyone will see it!

Little Glitches

2009-02-13T13:29:00.000-08:00

Or maybe it's just Friday the 13th? Katie spent the week working on the library's new website, preparing to show it to the Reference staff this morning at their meeting. We've been adding content like crazy, troubleshooting various pages and procedures, making sure things work. Many of the problems we've encountered have been minor coding errors that the developer has fixed quickly.

So this morning what happens? When I get to work, Katie tells me our new site is down! We get a "fatal error" message. She had called the developer, I emailed him just to be sure he knew. Later he responded, saying it is a larger server issue; sites are down all over (not sure where this server is, but apparently it hosts many sites, and they were probably live, so our crisis was minor compared to them). Still, it was incredibly frustrating and one of those unbelievable coincidences!

So I have to blame Friday the 13th, even though I'm not that superstitious.

Classes

2009-02-07T06:18:00.000-08:00

Winter, particularly January and beyond, after the holidays are done, seems to be a popular time for classes and learning. At the library we have our usual series of computer classes, from the basic Intro to Computers (how do you log on, use a mouse, et) to Beginning Internet and Word. These are very popular, and this time around are filled with waiting lists.

We've also noticed an increase in the number of people writing resumes (or asking about writing one) so wanted to offer a class for that too. Luckily a local business came along offering to teach a series of job skills classes. Using the Internet for job searching, writing a resume, applying online - these are great topics and I think these will be popular too.

Adult Ed through the schools is another opportunity for learning. This year I'm teaching a "Get to Know Your Laptop" class for a local rural school district. Last year I taught a similar class, with the idea that people could bring their own laptop or use one of the school's. There were 3 people, each with their own equipment. That seemed to work better, since the school has Apple laptops - showing someone how to use that, then sending them home to their own PC didn't seem to be useful. So this year I suggested we rename the course. I have 2 people, which makes for great instruction. We sit in a row, with our laptops, and I can demonstrate and see how they are doing. Last week, the first session, we covered laptop basics and did fun things like changing the desktop image We connected to the wireless network, and discussed internet safety, passwords, anti-virus software and some open source options (AVG and Open Office, for example). Next week we'll do more internet searching and email.

I miss teaching classes at the library; I just don't have the time available but have been able to assist when necessary. So I'm really enjoying the Adult Ed class. It's rewarding to know at least a few more people are able to successfully use the technology that is out there.

Others do this too

2009-01-28T05:53:00.001-08:00

I was very interested to read this blog by a Nebraska librarian - we're not the only ones learning 23 Things and Web 2.0. (Also interesting was the mention of 15 CE credits for doing it!). Our library staff hasn't jumped in to this; only a few have actually completed the entire list, which is surprising - there are just 10 lessons. Maybe we need to provide more constant reminders? Maybe 5 credits isn't enough incentive? I think it's seen as just one more thing to do, when the days are already filled with more than enough, and the value of learning these skills isn't obvious. But it's free! And can be entertaining and rewarding - it just requires a little effort.

I find this lack of interest very disappointing - we should be excited to learn anything new, even if it doesn't seem to have any practical application to our every-day jobs. Otherwise you just end up bored.

Updates should be illegal

2009-01-24T11:25:00.000-08:00

After my relaxing weekend, with the extra day for Martin Luther King day (read the details on the TeamHenley blog)I spent the rest of the week dealing with the latest shared catalog upgrade. Some combination of networks conspired to make any automatic transition impossible - only one computer in the entire library was able to succeed. Apparently the download was traveling through mud - it would time out before completing. I was finally able to download the file (what should have been 2 mintues took 10), save it to a flash drive, and install it on individual machines.

But it's never that simple! Installing the update completely removes any settings. We realized this when the first machine no longer printed date due slips - all the information for the slips had to be re-entered. Luckily we could get all that from an un-updated machine. So we thought real hard to make sure we didn't miss anything. One last setting was discovered this morning, but I think we've finally done it.

But wait! There's more! Recently a volunteer and I installed the latest Adobe Reader (v.9!) on our public internet machines. What could be bad about that? Strangely, people suddenly weren't getting an entire .pdf document when they tried to print, only the first page (or whatever page they selected). Another stroke of luck here - a class was being held in the lab, so those machines didn't get the upgrade and, funny thing - they still worked! So this morning we downgraded Reader to v.8 (and that's a fun experience, trying to find an older version - it takes some real digging to find those!). Problem solved.

I don't know if I can take any more upgrades and updates. When things are working nicely, they should be allowed to continue. Don't tell me a little improvement will make things so much better. Maybe there was a time when that really happened, but I sure can't remember it.

January Update

2009-01-15T13:45:00.000-08:00

It almost feels like spring, and that's a scary thought at this time of year (but not unusual - I remember bulbs popping up in January and thinking it was much too early, but they couldn't be stopped!). MSU is back in session, and more foreign students have arrived. Spring will come eventually.

This morning the City offered a session on communication and dealing with problem customers (patrons, to us library-folk). We first we divided up into groups, based on various adjectives (printed on different colored cards - I ended up with a totally red collection, but there were blue, green and yellow too). It was interesting - the Red group was predominately female, the Blue group had police and firemen; Red was the "touchy-feely" group, Blue was the no-nonsense, practical kind. I'm curious about how other library staff ended up - it would be nice to do something similar with all the staff, because I can see how these characteristics influence our interactions.

The end of the session talked about problems - how to diffuse situations so everyone leaves feeling like their goal was met, rather than one person "winning" and the other backing down. The first step? Keep calm! That's always difficult, but essential, and I've gotten better at it with practice. Realizing it's not personal helps, too.

January

2009-01-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

Just when I think things will slow down after the holidays, events come along to remind me not to think that way! Next week seems to be one of those weeks when all the stars align, or whatever it is that makes everything happen at the same time. At my last dentist appointment six months ago we scheduled the next one for Wednesday morning. Then the MLA Board meeting came along, for Tuesday afternoon in Helena. The MPLA Board meeting is set for Wednesday afternoon - a conference call, so at least I won't be traveling to Denver. Tuesday morning there is a city presentation on the internal staff page, and city home page, that should be informative. I have another city-sponsored seminar Thursday morning - I can't remember what it's about but I'm sure it was important! And Friday, a Marketing Committee meeting. Luckily we have the MLK holiday, and since it's a usual day off for me, I'll take Tuesday too. That comes at just the right time!

To keep work and family news separate, I've started a family blog. It's also linked from our family website, and I don't expect much traffic, but it's another way for people to keep up with us. It's also a way to get more of the family used to some new technologies!

That's the time of year it is: time to try new things.

Ready for the New Year

2008-12-27T14:58:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy few months, but I think it's time to get back to library blogging here - that was the purpose of this, after all.

The Library was able to fill a new position recently, which brings benefits to many of us. Katrina is working at the Information Desk and Computer Services, which frees up some time for other staff. She is jumping right in to lots of projects, and has great ideas for organizing and improving things - like a notebook at the Information Desk with the meeting room confirmations. Why didn't we think of that? She does Saturday mornings for me, and the extra hours away from the desk are an incredible gift! Finally I can do those little things I keep putting off (like updates on catalog computers, which should be done but never seem urgent when I'm turning things on each morning).

I also trained a new substitute in Computer Services, and she was able to fill in several times during the holidays - another great help! The training list we'd developed a while ago certainly came in handy; I could make sure important items didn't get overlooked and the new people were sufficiently prepared.

This winter has brought more international students - groups from Peru and Chile have been using our internet and wireless. We were able to help 2 stranded students before Christmas when they discovered the jobs they'd planned on were no longer available. That's always so heartbreaking - I take the Mom point-of-view and try to imagine how I'd feel if one of my sons was in that predicament. We got them a place to stay, and transportation to where they needed to go. Hopefully things worked out for them.

Next up: Offline! My favorite MLA gathering (maybe the chocolate is a factor?).

That was Christmas...

2008-12-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

So Christmas is over - it was so low-key I almost missed it! It was wonderful not getting caught up in the holiday madness (although I did feel a little guilty, and sorry for anyone who wasn't so lucky - sometimes you can't avoid stress, I know). Every so often I'd think back to the Christmases in years past when the boys were little and we went all out - that was enough to make me glad that's behind me now!

Jon-Erik enjoyed the wonderful snowfall Portland received (and was very glad not to be traveling!). He spent Christmas at a church dinner, volunteering and socializing, with his new friend, Mallory (little is known about her, except she's working on a Fine Arts master's degree with a job as a waitress at Old Chicago in Beaverton, where they met). I try not to interrogate him on this too much. He gave her a jar of MT Huckleberry preserves, and she baked him cookies.

Tom is still in Gainesville, TX hoping for warmer weather - they have been below freezing more than he'd like. He spent the holiday with some friends there. Next month he will go to Alamos, Mexico to work on our house there, and hopefully get it more ready to sell.

James-Philip and I had breakfast with my parents, then he went on to spend the day with more friends. I had a wonderful (quiet!) afternoon watching "Christmas with the Kranks" (not nearly as good as the Grisham "Skipping Christmas" book it's based on, but entertaining anyway). Since it had warmed up nicely I went for a walk and came upon 4 deer on the hill - picture perfect, if I'd only had my camera with me!

Of course, warmer weather often means snow, and this morning was no different: at least 9 inches overnight (other people have said 12), which, added to the accumulation in my driveway, meant my SUV just didn't have the clearance necessary! I ended up high-centered halfway out. Not many options at 7:45 a.m.! Even the roadside assistance on our insurance plan wasn't helpful: they don't come to a place that hasn't been plowed! So it was a call to my neighbors, and their pickup, who were able to drag me out. They get their driveway plowed, and I'm just a branch off that, so I've asked their snowplow person to do mine also (which I wish would just have been done automatically - wouldn't they think I'd also want a clean drive?). But I think it will be OK when I get home tonight. At least I got to use all the 4-wheel drive options on my vehicle!

Happy New Year to all!

Much too fast

2008-11-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

This seems like the fastest month ever! Time seems to speed up around now, but I think this sets a new record.

Vacation in Gainesville was wonderful. We got the former closet-now bathroom almost ready, and I got my fill of painting. We had some lovely crown molding to go around the ceiling (because these are 12' high and need some interest) and quickly discovered that 3 master's degrees (between the 2 of us) obviously is not enough to be able to figure out how to cut it correctly. After several cuts (and shrinking molding supply), we turned to the internet and found a nice video. Unfortunately the tools we had weren't quite the right size to manage the very tall molding. So creativity kicked in and Tom came up with the idea of square boxes for the corners, so we could just make straight cuts on the molding instead of trying to miter them. (Pictures will be on teamhenley.net soon)

My dad had his "procedure" in Billings and is recovering nicely (although much slower than he likes; he wanted to be completely back to normal within a week and was a bit frustrated at first). My 2 brothers decided it was important to see him now (and provide some excellent distraction) so came out for Thanksgiving. Jon-Erik also decided this would be a good time for a visit (and I offered this as a Christmas present) so he arranged his flight to meet up with me in Salt Lake City on my return from Texas Thanksgiving Day. We had a fabulous turkey dinner (Mom tried my suggestion of letting a grocery store do the cooking - great idea!), and incredible laughter. It's a wonder no one choked, we were laughing so hard most of the time. Friday we put up their outside lights and Christmas tree, so they are ready for the holidays.

Tom and I also had LifeLine screenings but no urgent medical conditions were discovered at that time - we get results in a few weeks. It's something I'd recommend for anyone - these are tests that don't seem to be done in usual doctor visits.

A few more days to visit with Jon-Erik (he returns to Beaverton Dec. 3) then it's the big holiday madness. But we'll be relatively low-key in our family, so I plan to just enjoy the season.

Happy November!

2008-11-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

It's my favorite month, for many reasons. My birthday, for one. A bunch of holidays for another (Veteran's Day, which I never appreciated until I realized I was married to one, Thanksgiving Day, and this year, Election Day). The steely gray sky on a fall afternoon when the sun hits the yellow aspen leaves. Or the bright blue sky with golden wheat fields in the valley and the snowy mountain tops in the distance. It only seems to look like that in November.

Tom has already gone to Texas with more furniture for our house there - apparently the yard was completely overgrown with morning glory vines! But he's making headway. I will be there later this month, to rake the leaves (we have pecan trees!) and paint what used to be a closet and has now been transformed in to a bathroom.

It turns out the medical screening group that discovered my dad's aneurysm will be in a town nearby while I'm there, so we've signed up for our own sessions. That seems like a fortunate coincidence to me; an opportunity not to be ignored. While I'm away, Dad will have surgery in Billings to insert a stent - an overnight procedure. They tell him he'll be able to walk out of the hospital the next day, although it may take a few weeks to be totally recovered. He's very optimistic. And then Mom will probably let him drive again. As she said, she didn't want something to happen while he was driving - if she was going to lose him, she didn't want to lose the car too!

So, we'll be counting our blessings this Thanksgiving.

A little rain...

2008-10-20T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things go along so smoothly, and then there come the bumps in the road. Just last weekend I was have a great time with librarians in Denver, at the MPLA board meeting, and at Chico Hot Springs for the ASLD/PLD retreat (in spite of the weather - that's a bump to be expected around here). The weather even cleared up this week and turned back into the gorgeous fall we love.

Then this weekend happened: Saturday my dad called me at work in a panic - at a health screening an aneurism was discovered on his aorta; he was told to go to the emergency room right away. The librarian in me did some research: it turns out this was exactly what my grandmother died from 25 years ago. So it would seem to be a serious condition, and possibly genetic. Dad will be seeing a vascular surgeon soon - hopefully surgery will fix this, and he'll be as good as new.

Sunday morning, making plans to spend the day with James-Philip, he says he has bad news. One never knows what this will bring when JP is involved, so I prepared for the worst, but never expected this: his friend, Joana, a girl I'd met once and heard a lot about, had died Thursday. No apparent reason. She was 32.

Sunday night, checking my email, I see a "Shocking news" message from my dad. I figured he was sending a message about his health news to the family, so began to read and was shocked to learn my mom's best friend, since childhood, had died in her sleep the night before. Her husband got up Sunday morning, made coffee as usual, came back to get Ann and found her dead. I can't even begin to imagine... My folks plan to go visit next month for the memorial service. She was 76, the same as my mom.

So this puts a lot of things into perspective. Really taking care of my health has to be a top priority - high cholesterol and blood pressure seem to be causes of aneurisms (and you can spell it both ways: aneurysm for those purists out there). As James-Philip said when talking about Joana, you can never tell, and when your time is up, it's up. My mom agreed, but said she'd like a little hint: 76? 80? But there are no hints, so make the most of your time.

I'm going for a nice long walk now, on this beautiful fall day.

Another Month

2008-10-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Suddenly it's October! How did that happen?

I'm trying to put together a presentation on Open Office with DeeAnn for next Sunday's retreat at Chico. It's so easy to use, it's almost too simple. I think we'll show the download and installation - maybe there will be a few laptop users who will volunteer to try it out? This is such a friendly group it's easy to be very casual about the whole thing.

Tuesday will see Tom heading south for the winter. A few days in Laramie (not south enough, but we have a friend there). Then on to Gainesville, TX - luckily we found the house keys! He'll be bringing a trailer full of furniture so eventually that house will be completely livable. Right now it's relatively empty, with a basic thrift-store decor. Check it out: http://teamhenley.net/5.html

But first there is Sunday brunch to celebrate Mom's birthday (Gourmet Gas Station) and Monday's annual Firemen's Breakfast at the fairgrounds.

Back to Normal

2008-09-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

Back in Bozeman, and it feels like fall - almost. The trip back from Portland/Astoria was pleasant, and we stopped in Coeur d'Alene. Bette Ammon gave me a nice tour of their beautiful new building (what a view, right on the lake). So now it's back to work! But I have an MPLA board meeting in Denver, followed by the ASLD/PLD retreat at Chico Hot Springs, so there is plenty to look forward to and keep me busy.

Then it's on to November - my favorite month (so many holidays in such a short time, and my birthday!). But there is Halloween before that, and I see it's a Friday - sounds like a possible party...

Portland

2008-09-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

Haven't seen a drop of rain in Portland - it's still summer here (although many locals seem to have checked the calendar and switched to their winter clothes: lots of sweaters and black). Today we visited the zoo.

Jon-Erik's apartment is nice - one last shopping trip tomorrow morning before we head off to Astoria. We were able to leave our car there and just use Portland's great transit system all this week. So much easier! And, one of the stops is right at the library so of course I dragged the boys along. Very busy! Lots of internet computers, and people waiting for reservations on those. We also stopped by Powell's (the book store).

Tom and I went to a performance of Phantom of the Opera last night. I've been waiting 12 years to see it (ever since we were in Germany and tried twice to get tickets to a London performance). So this was a real treat, and it was a great performance.

I hope to spend time in Coeur d'Alene on our way back - Bette Ammon has promised me a tour of their great new library too.

Preparing for Portland

2008-08-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

We are planning a trip to Portland OR in September - Labor Day, to be exact. Jon-Erik thinks he has an apartment lined up, so we'll drive out with a U-Haul trailer filled with furniture and other stuff. We'll have a hotel - staying with Jon-Erik isn't an option! We'll be in Portland, while his apartment should be in Beaverton. I'm sure we can keep ourselves entertained (although I realized football season will start - guess I'll have to find a sports bar to watch the Giants and Colts opening games!). Then we'll go on to Astoria to a B&B for 2 nights. We haven't found anything for the return trip yet, so I'm not sure how that will end up. I'd like to see Couer d'Alene - maybe we can find a place to stay there. But it will be a nice vacation.

Summer moves along

2008-08-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

The Sweet Pea Festival is over, a sure sign that summer is marching on! We're in to the thunderstorm season now - I love it, except when we lose power for extended periods (18 hours a few weeks ago - lots of trees down along the road to our house).

I think tourists are also moving along, and most of the foreign students too. It's almost back to a normal Saturday at the library!

I just spent 3 days at Boulder Hot Springs, at a Montana Library Association board retreat. It's been a few years since I've attended one of these - I enjoy being more involved in the association again (this time as the Montana rep to the Mountain Plains Library Association). It's fun to meet up with old friends and get to know some new faces. I'll travel to Denver in October for an MPLA board meeting - I don't know as many people on this board but am looking forward to making new friends!

Jon-Erik Update: the free wireless internet at his temporary residence is incredibly slow so he's pretty frustrated! I don't want to keep harping on the need for a job when we talk so don't know where he might be in that process. I guess I need to be a little more specific and find out what he plans to do if Aug. 31 comes along with no prospects!

Big Changes

2008-07-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

It's time for a new era in our family - Jon-Erik, the younger son, is moving to Portland, OR this week. No job, no permanent living arrangement, but when you're 25 these things aren't so critical. He's done a lot of research, arranged for a 30-day apartment, looked at the transportation options and applied for a few jobs. So he's all set, and we'll drive out in a month with his small accumulation of household items. I admit to being very envious of his adventure!

Playtime for me too

2008-07-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

Now that lots of staff have created their blogs and are really getting in to the Web 2.0 learning, I made more lessons available. When I first took the course myself I didn't spend as much time playing as I wanted, so this is a good opportunity to go back and do more!

Today I added a Library Thing widget to my blog, to display book titles on my shelf. I found the code easily enough but wasn't sure how to get it into the blog. I finally just decided to look at the Meebo widget, and pasted the Library Thing code in there. It looks like it worked!

If only everything was so easy - I tried to figure out how to add the Google widget Mike Price mentioned from MSC - personalized for our library - but couldn't find that anywhere.

Maybe I'll go make myself a trading card now!

Summer continues

2008-07-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

More blogs from the staff - they are doing great! It's fun to see the learning process, and how they are able to see practical uses for many of the social networking tools in their personal lives.

I read today of a committee, spread out geographically, using Skype for conference calls to plan activities - that sounds like a great use of technology. Our family uses Skype too - it saves cell phone minutes!

Even more fun - my son and I can play some Nintendo Wii games online, just as if we are sitting in the same room. Another favorite of ours - online Scrabble. I won't even consider playing anyone else - we just play for fun.

Fun stuff!

2008-07-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

It's really summer - we are enjoying the heat for sure! All sorts of visitors are here; the Wally Byam caravan folks seem to be gone now. They all appreciate the library and internet access, though.

Tomorrow we'll lose a stubborn computer - it won't shut off at night! So it gets a serious time out with the IT experts.

Staff blogs are coming along - I'm hoping more will start the lessons next week.

Busy Busy!

2008-06-27T14:50:00.001-07:00

I guess the lack of recent posts is a good indicator of how busy this month has been. We are definitely enjoying summer (lilacs are done, peonies are coming) and the foreign exchange students are getting used to our computer system. The time/print system upgrade didn't go well, but we have just about recovered - one little glitch still remains. But without glitches, what fun would we have?

My favorite time of year is coming: the new Fiscal Year! Time to order supplies! Spend money while it's available! Then organize everything so we can find it later.

Some of the staff have started the technology training - there are a few blogs already, and several are using IM around work for quick questions instead of phone calls. Hopefully people will see the value of learning new things and trying new ways of doing things.

Not complaining

2008-06-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

We spend a lot of the summer wishing for rain, so I'm trying to be positive about all the moisture we're having now. The yard never stays this green for so long, and the flowers seem happy (ducks too!). This isn't that unusual - I returned to Bozeman in 1989 for MSU graduation and it was cold and rainy that June, too (MSU was on quarters then so graduation was later). So I pretend this is Seattle (or Ireland, as someone else suggested) and enjoy using my umbrella, which normally is neglected.

Staff training update: hopefully this week we can have people begin the first lesson or two. I will be working on later lessons to get them ready - things like Flickr and YouTube. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's blogs!

It's Summer!

2008-05-31T12:26:00.000-07:00

I can tell it's summer - the Library has been invaded by tourists and foreign exchange students. It's funny to see the different reactions people have to our time system: some people are so grateful to have an hour of free internet access, while others are so indignant to be limited to just one hour! The foreign students are interesting - they don't wait for any explanation of how to use the card I just handed them, so they often run in to problems - computers are already reserved, they don't realize they only get one hour each day. They all seem to use a Russian email program - mail.ru - which likes to hijack our homepage, causing problems to whoever uses the computer next. Or they set the language to something much different than English. But I guess it is good they can easily contact family at home (at least I'd like to think that's what they do with their computer time!). If I had a student studying in a foreign country, I'd be happy to hear from him once in a while.

So, I'll remind everyone how to reset the home page back to the library web site and review the computer use guidelines one more time!

Technology really is great

2008-05-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

Even though we sometimes get frustrated and impatient, I was reminded today how wonderful technology really is these days. A frequent library patron today showed me the color photo of her 12-hour-old granddaughter, born in a state in a different time zone, that she had just printed from her email. How cool is that? How thrilled would my parents have been if I could have emailed them a photo of their just-born first grandchild 28 years ago, instead of having to wait 3 weeks and make an 8 hour drive to see him? I can't even imagine.

When my husband was stationed in Korea 20 years ago we would have been overjoyed at the opportunity to email, or IM, once in a while to get up-to-date contact. Instead we were grateful just to have a 30-minute phone call at a previously arranged time (6 a.m. for me, 11 p.m. for him), and if someone was already on the phone he hoped to use, or long-distance circuits were busy, all I got was a busy signal with no way to find out why we couldn't connect. Very frustrating for both of us!

So when I have to wait a minute for a page to load, or lose a cell phone signal, I think back to those dark ages and and amazed by how far technology has come!

I'm still learning

2008-05-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

We're really getting started with staff technology training! First, we've developed a survey (online, of course, to get everyone comfortable with online activities) using surveymonkey. I've never been on the developing side, only the participant side, of this so it's been fun for me to try something new. I sent the first version to our technology committee, reviewed their comments, made some changes and sent the revised version back to them. Staff should be able to start on it next week.

We've also started a staff technology wiki outlining the planned course, very similar to the MSL Library 2.0 Challenge (thanks to Lauren and everyone else for letting us use your great plan!). We want to have an instant messaging lesson, too, so I'm working on that one. I've got a meebo account now and am including that in the IM lesson. We'd like to use IM at work instead of a lot of the phone calls we make - a few of us do that already and it's so much nicer than having the phone ringing while working with a patron!

Staff Competencies

2008-05-07T15:05:00.001-07:00

We're working on a plan to bring all staff up to a common level, technology-wise. The states' Library 2.0 course was the beginning of this idea, and a presentation at Computers in Libraries last month made us really get thinking about it. We're adapting the North Carolina version of competency levels to fit better with our situation. It's hard to draw a line between "all staff" and "staff who work with the public" here - everyone has some interaction with the public. The hardest part is deciding what to have at each level. There are so many basic skills everyone needs that the list can be overwhelming - that might make some staff give up before even starting! So we're planning some sort of survey: what do they know, what do they need for their jobs, what do they wish they knew. Then we can plan from there.

Then there is the issue of time: when will any needed training take place? But we're just going one step at a time.

It might be spring...

2008-04-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

I got the bicycle out yesterday (and rode 4 miles!) so I think it might really be spring this time. The deer seem to have moved on, leaving only chewed tulip leaves in the front flower beds - I'm going to have to investigate deer-proofing tips out there.

Saturday night I was at the the great Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire concert and guess who was the French horn player? Our very own Greg Notess! There were 10 Bozeman Symphony players making up the MS orchestra, so that was fun to see.

I read this idea yesterday but can't find the link today: a university (I think) is using a hot dog cart for roaming reference work. When I first read it, I thought it was just in the library, but the photo showed the cart (and librarian) outside - using a wireless laptop, and some basic reference tools, they can be providing service where people are. Now that sounds like a really clever way to expand library services! Even if we could only offer that in the summer months here in Montana, it could be interesting.

Twitter

2008-04-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

If Suzanne Reymer can cave in and sign on to Twitter, I can do the same. I've been resisting - even after seeing it in action at CIL a few weeks ago I wasn't sure it was really worthwhile. But maybe if enough of us in libraries start using it, we might come up with something? It is an easy way to keep up with people I wouldn't ordinarily follow, like Michael Sauers (who was in Bozeman a few years ago and astutely pointed out that the ultimate goal of the Reference Desk is to get people to leave). I admit I still haven't watched the video Steve McCann sent out (but did forward it to 2 coworkers who were also trying out Twitter) but plan to, and maybe that will be convincing?

At least this gets Steve some followers (a few years ago at Offline he showed his MySpace page, and sadly had no friends at the time).

I'm not sure I'm going to go for Twitter on my cell phone - there is a limit to how much information, and how often, I want.

Home Again

2008-04-10T13:31:00.000-07:00

We made it home late yesterday and I haven't had a chance to even look at my notes from all the CIL conference sessions. Lots of staff from BPL are in Great Falls now for MLA - I can't find a blog or wiki for this year's conference so I don't know what's going on!

(Here are the InfoTubey Awards mentioned in the earlier post - very clever!).

CIL cont'd

2008-04-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

This was a great conference again, and we still have one more day. Greg Notess was part of a great panel this afternoon promoting lots of web 2.0 technologies (wikis, videocasting, etc) although he played the part of the skeptic: why do we need these (similar to some of my earlier comments on some of these, too!). But after dinner we went to the InfoTubey Awards, where we saw 5 Youtube videos related to libraries - very entertaining! I can see some good uses for videos on library sites, and lots of other good ideas, too.

Time to return to Bozeman and think of ways to implement all the fun stuff we saw here.

Computers in Libraries

2008-04-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

It's that time again - Lois and I are off to Washington DC for the Computers in Libraries conference this week. It's not like this is a regular event for us - we went once 6 years ago - but we had such a great time we've been trying to get back ever since. Thanks to MLA and our Library Foundation we've been able to make it happen this year. There are so many good ideas out there - we know we'll come back really enthused about new ways to use technology in the library.

The down side to this trip is we won't be at the MLA conference this year, so to everyone who is going: have a great time!

Second Life

2008-03-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a chance to get to Second Life before tonight, but had hoped to join the party! I'm patiently waiting for my confirmation email, but don't think it will get here in time. It would be fun to have a few more 2nd Life meetings in the coming months - that's another 2.0 thing I've been curious about but haven't had a chance (or reason) to do anything with. Penelope Perl (that's me!) is looking forward to exploring that new world.

Sorry I couldn't join you tonight (still no email!), and now it's time for the Celebrity Apprentice finale - have to see if Trace Adkins beats the annoying Brit! Hope a fun group showed up and you all had a great time.

Concluding Thoughts

2008-03-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

The funny thing is I thought I'd already posted a concluding thoughts entry but obviously it ended up somewhere in Cyberspace (or I was just dreaming, which may be even more likely).

I thought this was a great way to try out new technologies that I wouldn't have otherwise taken the time to learn, and get more familiar with those I knew a little bit about. I knew there would be someone to help if I got really stuck or confused, which made it easier to jump in.

I liked the format of posted lessons so I knew what was coming and I could get to them on my own time. The fun thing was I discovered I already knew a little about a lot of these topics - I had no idea I was so up-to-date!

Count me in if more courses like this are offered - this is a great opportunity and I'd recommend it to everyone.

WikiWiki!

2008-03-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

Last year I watched a College of DuPage "webinar" (at least I think that's what it was) that introduced PBWiki. We started a staff wiki at our library to help keep everyone informed without having to post notices, send emails, etc. Each department has their own page, and we've linked lots of useful information (staff phones, committees, equipment troubleshooting tips to name a few). It's handy to be able to check on news when I'm on vacation or at home, too.

I really like the Wyoming Authors wiki and the Best Practices wiki - I see there is lots of useful information there (like gaming in the library!). There is always the risk of someone editing incorrectly or posting false information, but overall I think wikis are really handy.

Del.icio.us

2008-03-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

I've heard about this site before but never did set up an account, and even now I'm not sure I'd really use it. I find all the tags and comments to be confusing and overwhelming, and not all that helpful. Possibly I would use it for my own bookmarks, but I've got Foxmarks installed so things automatically get synchronized between my PC and laptop. I do see how the Reference staff could use this to share favorite sites between all staff, especially for those who work at several different desks and computers in our library.

I did find some new and interesting sites: the Penguin books podcast and Juice, an open-source podcast receiver.

I think the Penguin book idea is great - libraries could create similar podcasts with staff discussing new titles (but there is that pesky staff time issue to deal with!) I think I'll subscribe to this - I do have an online book club subscription that arrives daily in my email, but that requires actually reading the chapter! It would be much more convenient to listen to a podcast. This isn't exactly the same: it's not just a chapter, there seems to be discussion too, and it's not daily (these do take time to produce!) but there is a lot of potential here.

I'm wishing I'd found the Juice site earlier, before I installed iTunes on my home computer, just because I like open-source as a matter of principle. I've gotten other software from SourceForge (they have a great PDF creator!).

Video on the Blog

2008-03-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

This should get the Yarn Harlot video in here:

Thank you Michael for explaining the details (I didn't realize the "embed" function was in YouTube; I was looking in the blog posting). Learn something new all the time (which I guess is the whole point of this exercise!).

You-Tube

2008-03-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

I'm always amazed at the number of patrons viewing things in You-Tube as I walk by - it seems to be incredibly popular (although there certainly is a broad spectrum of content and quality!). The Library Dominoes was a great idea. Naturally I had to search my favorite knitter, The Yarn Harlot, and was amazed to watch her knitting without looking - I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do that.
(I haven't figured out how to get a video here - I can't find the Embeddable Player part on the Edit HTML tab, and inserting video wants me to browse to a file). I have seen (and used!) knitting videos demonstrating various stitches and techniques - I think that is a great use of this technology.

I've been trying to come up with practical uses for this on a library website. Certainly short videos of library programs could be posted. I'm not sure about instructional uses (How to turn off your cell phone as you enter the library? How to approach the reference desk with a question? How to use the self-check machine?). I think this is still in the entertainment stage...

A Brand New Month

2008-03-02T12:19:00.000-08:00

Wow - February really did go by fast! But since I was away for 2 weeks, and then had a great Offline weekend, no wonder!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I've become a podcast fan - my favorites involve knitting (because it's so easy to knit while I listen - multi-tasking at its best) but I have also discovered some tech-related ones: the Mike Tech Show and the New York Times Tech Talk (since I'm already subscribed I'm not subscribing here).

I could see using something like this for patrons, describing the latest new books or upcoming programs at the library. It would take a little time to get good at creating these - I can tell the difference between the NYTimes (very professional) and one of the (unprofessional) knitting podcasts. And it would require dedicated staff to keep it current.

There is always the danger of using technology just because it's there, not because you really have a good use for it.

Library Thing

2008-02-11T18:39:00.001-08:00

I realized I had an account at Library Thing already (I'd heard about it at a previous Offine) so this was an easy assignment. The hard part is remembering to add books - I need to continue to do that. I'd like to use this more to help me remember what I've read, and what books we have hiding in our home library.We get to a book sale and can't remember if we've got specific titles or not - at least this would be a handy to way to check!

Conflicting Groundhogs

2008-02-02T15:12:00.001-08:00

Each year I anxiously await the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil (he has his own website!). On less busy years I even celebrate with a viewing of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. So I was shocked to find out Phil is not the only groundhog people listen to - here is an incredible list. Who knew the Canadians use groundhogs to predict spring too? And, amazingly, the various groundhogs don't seem to agree. Although I grew up close to Pennsylvania, and actually met a girl from Punxsutawney in high school, I'm going to go with the Canadians on this one and hope for an early spring.

Besides, it appears that Phil is pulled out of his burrow very early - before the sun comes up! So how can he really tell...

Even more interesting (to me, anyway - it doesn't take much to humor me!) Germany has a similar tradition, involving a specific day in June and rain: if it rains that day, it will rain all summer. When I lived there, it did rain on the required day, and we had a miserable rainy summer. Gray skies for an entire year (winters are cloudy almost all the time). By the following spring we all were a little crazy.

Playtime!

2008-02-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

I've been looking at some of the other blogs - there are some really creative people out there!

I will be away for the next 2 weeks, so my image generator practice involved an airline ticket. This is as close to a first class ticket as I'll ever get.

I will be ready to catch up on the remaining fun when I get back, and look forward to seeing lots of folks at Offline later this month.

More photo stuff

2008-01-28T10:42:00.000-08:00

Some more photo thoughts:

I've been using Snapfish for my digital photo managment. I can upload photos there to an album, and send a message to family and friends for them to view. I really like it, because I make calendars each year for assorted family members. I've also had photos made in to mouse pads and mugs - they have lots of ideas.

Webshots would be handy too (in spite of my accidental posting of photos mentioned above!). I was able to create an album there and make a link to it on our family website, so it was easier to share than going through Snapfish - no registration required to view. And, I love the daily photos - I use those for my desktop on my home computer.

I'm looking forward to trying out the trading card idea at Flickr just for fun.

WOW! Photos!

2008-01-24T13:53:00.000-08:00

I haven't done much with Flickr, although I did post some library photos a while back when we were still under construction (and that was over a year ago...). I'll have to go through the collection of library pix to see if there is anything fun I can post soon.

I have done things on our family website so have a look. I will admit to accidentally posting all my camera photos once on webshots, too - I haven't tagged them, because I really didn't expect anyone else to look at them!

Offline is Coming!

2008-01-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder for anyone who hasn't registered yet - Offline in Missoula sounds like a great time this year (and for anyone who knew I had applied for a job outside the Library World: not to worry, I am staying where I am!)

And if you had your own Book Babes Calendar, you could write it on there to remind yourself! (Notice the nice reduced price - there is still plenty of 2008 left to get your money's worth!).

I'm enjoying reading all the blogs, but wish everyone had a profile so I could figure out who they are!

RSS Feeds

2008-01-03T14:12:00.000-08:00

This is one technology I've not been very comfortable with - it was always just a bit confusing, and I'm not sure why. I understood the basic idea, but didn't quite get the specifics. Then along came iGoogle, where I was able to subscribe to several feeds on my personal homepage. There are so many fun things out there, this at least helps save some time (but now I'm keeping up with things I never knew I'd want, so I'm not sure about the time saving...)

Being a knitter, this is my favorite: http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/

I've also recently become a great podcast fan, but I see that's a lesson for another day...

January 3, 2008

2008-01-03T12:58:00.000-08:00

How fun to be required to create a blog! One of those things I've considered but didn't think I'd have reason to try...

The easiest habit of the 7 1/2? Definitely Play - that's why this class will be a great learning opportunity! Using Technology also seems to be an easy one for me, although I can appreciate the difficulties others have with this - it hasn't always been something I've naturally taken to.

The hardest? Seeing Problems as Challenges - many times an obstacle is just that, and reason enough to give up. This probably goes along with Having Confidence (also sometimes difficult for me): if you have confidence an obstacle can be overcome, often it isn't as overwhelming as it originally appeared.

Can't wait for the next lesson!