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!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Improvements
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!
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!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Drill Team Update
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.
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.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
August already
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.
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.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Drill Team Time!
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!
Friday, July 3, 2009
It's almost summer here
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!
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!
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