End of the Year!

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 Today we received one more table in the computer area, to replace a very outdated and small typewriter table.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

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?

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!

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?

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!

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!

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...