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Preview: SELCO Librarian
SELCO LibrarianOccasional thoughts about libraries and technology written by SELCO librarians and staff.
Observed While Running Notices Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:06:25 Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager I’ve had the opportunity to run notices while Corrine has been on vacation and have been watching the number of notices that go out via email this week. I’m curious if the numbers will go down since we have begun running pre-overdue notices. This would only be on the email notices, of course, since pre-overdue notices are only going to people with email addresses. However, I have noticed an interesting thing. Some of our Online Libraries send out more email notices than crash mailers. A year ago, only two of the nineteen libraries with notices on January 1st had more email notices than crash mailers. Of today’s run, seven of the thirteen had at least as many email notices as crash mailers, and three of those Online Libraries have almost three times the email notices as crash mailers. This is a ratio that has gone up significantly this past year and I hope it continues to rise as email notices are free, are delivered to the patron’s email server instantly, and also allow a patron to get pre-overdue notices if the Online Library has decided to have SELCO staff run them. I feel this must add up to a significant savings over a year’s time. I realize local policy about delivering a physical notice to an overdue patron is also in play here, but I thought I would mention the strong increase in email notices during the last year in hopes it might encourage other libraries to make an effort to reduce costs by asking patrons if they could respond to email notices as well as they do for mailed ones.
An Interesting Article Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:16:03 Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian I found an interesting article involving Philadelphia libraries and budget cuts while reading the Rochester Post Bulletin.....check it out! http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=49&a=377631
Catching up with RSS feeds Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:51:22 Rachel Gray, Information Services Librarian During a lull on the Help Desk this afternoon I caught up on a couple blogs I've not had time to read lately. I ran across both inspiring and funny bits I want to share with all of you.
These are just a few blogs out there on librarianship. I'd be very interested to hear what blogs others are reading and what tidbits they find interesting. Please comment on this post and share what peaks your interest.
Again With the Spam Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:15:59 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian Yesterday, Christmas Day, the SELCO email server was deluged with a new wave of spam. Like the one that we had a couple of weeks ago, the messages consisted of a graphic with very little text. This is one of the harder forms of spam to filter, both because there is little text to check for stop words and because many legitimate business use the same kind of email for holiday sale emails. This group of messages was more sexually explicit than the last. The timing of this group of messages was almost certainly not an accident. By sending them out on Christmas day, the spammers ensure that most organizations will not be monitoring their email servers. Many organizations will have systems staff taking time off to travel with family for a few days after the holiday. All this adds up to more time going by before corrective measures can be taken. So, enough excuses. What are we doing about it? Mick Reese, SELCO Systems Manager, and I had a phone meeting today to go over our options (Mick is one of those System Admins who is taking time off to be with family this week). We decided to:
That's it. Please accept my apologies for this offensive batch of unwanted email. Spam fighting is a never ending struggle and we will continue to tackle the problem.
Security Update for Internet Explorer (960714) Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:51:44 Michael Flores, User Technology Manager On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 Microsoft announced that there was a necessary security update for Internet Explorer. According to Microsoft this security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. I have done some research on this update with the standard staff and public library setup in mind. While this is an update that we do recommend doing, it is not as critical of an emergency as originally believed. This vulnerability will have less of an impact on library systems as the staff and patron user ids are users, not administrators. However we do recommend updating your computers. Public computers running the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit or Microsoft Steady State will download this update automatically as part of its weekly update. Staff systems are not normally setup to automatic windows updates, and will require this update be done manually. This can be done by simply running Windows Updates, this update will be downloaded and installed. We have chosen not to do automatic updates on staff systems due to the problems that can be caused with the local software. If you have any questions or concerns about this update, or would like help in running windows update please call the SELCO Help Desk for assistance.
View Changes Since the Horizon Upgrade Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:29:17 Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager The Horizon upgrade over-wrote some of the customized view changes we have made to the system, so when you go into Horizon you do not always see the screens you are used to seeing. Fortunately, no changes were made to the views such as ‘Notices for Review’ or ‘Edit Item for Bib#’ which allows each location on the system to see only their own notices or to have certain fields automatically filled in. What was over-written is within the views themselves, such as columns displaying or not and the number of characters for a field in that column. SELCO staff are rebuilding those views as quickly as possible but we still have some to go through and to test. It has been very helpful to see the emails coming into the Help Desk regarding what people have noticed and want to bring to our attention. Please continue to do so. Two changes that are in the queue and do not need to be reported are the absence of the "request date" from the Request Pull List, and the order of the fields in the "Edit item for Bib#’ view. Additionally, some locations had modified their Pull List columns and those changes will be restored as soon as possible. Another blog post will go out when we have completely worked through the outstanding view change tickets. Thank you for your patience! It is appreciated.
MILE 2009: Discover Your Inner Leader Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:16:27 Rachel Gray - Information Services Librarian I had the opportunity to attend the second MLA Institute for Leadership Excellence (MILE) in Spring 2007. This bi-annual conference brings together people in Minnesota libraries who are interested in becoming leaders in our state library community. I learned a lot about myself as a leader through a variety of speakers and also with a mentorship with a more experienced librarian. Since MILE 2007, I have learned a lot about opportunities I have in the MLA with helping plan this year's conference and in helping out with other behind-the-scenes jobs. I am pleased to announce that the MILE Institute is being offered for the third time next spring from April 28-May 1, 2009. I am on the planning committee for MILE 2009, and would like to extend a personal invitation to all members of MLA interested in becoming a leader and work in a library to join us - no matter your current position in the library world, or the years of experience you may have. More information can be found on the MLA website, including the application form. Applications are due on January 15, 2009 - the deadline has been extended from the December 15 date on the brochure.
Update on Web Reporter Issues Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:27:33 Mick Reese, Systems Manager
Over the last few days, there have been lingering issues running reports in Web Reporter. Some users are getting an error when running a report, and the error that appears can be rather cryptic and alarming when seen, because it returns some code that includes an SQL error. Because of the cryptic nature of the messages, it has been hard to diagnose and repair these errors. Some of the errors have been caused by a simple timeout error, which we have seen in the past. Others, however, require some work in Web Reporter to update the report. I have been working with SirsiDynix to improve the way the Web Reporter software is running the reports, and I believe the frequency of these errors is decreasing. Many reports are now running properly. That being said, there are still some reports that are not running, and need to be looked into further, and possibly updated. If you encounter an error like this, please contact mreese@selco.info with the specific report that you’re unable to run. We will look into why that report is still not running correctly.
Horizon Day End issue 12/12/08 Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:04:08 Mick Reese, Systems Manager We've become aware of an issue in Horizon where some blocks were duplicated, caused by an error in Day End. This issue is not related to the upgrade. When trying to check in an item with a block, Horizon will give an error, and not allow the checkin. Because there is a duplicate block on the item, Horizon is not able to resolve both blocks. All checkouts are working fine, and most checkin will work as well, it only affects certain items in which a duplicate block was generated. We are working with SirsiDynix to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible.
Libraries and the economy Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:04:20 Carla Johnson, Cataloging Services Librarian The other night, I turned on the NBC 6 o'clock news and caught a story on how libraries are gaining in popularity due to the poor economy. Just when people are flocking to libraries, not only are budgets being cut, but libraries are being closed. This is nothing new or surprising in the library world, but I thought it was interesting that this story was shown on national news. Perhaps it will trigger some input from library users with their local governments. (link to news video below)
Horizon upgrade issue that's a "real" problem! Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:51:11 Mick Reese, Systems Manager On Tuesday, Donovan pointed out a few of the problems
that we have been working on since the upgrade. I want to give a
status update on one particular problem, originally reported by
Owatonna Public Library. The issue has to do
with marking an item as "staff only" after checkin. This also has been
reported by Red Wing Public Library, and has been reproduced by by
myself. SirsiDynix has been contacted regarding this issue, and it appears to be an actual programming bug. At this time, their programmers are looking into the issue, and we await a solution from them. Although most issues
raised have been correctable by Automation staff by altering Horizon
views, this issue will take more effort, and possibly a bit more time.
We'll be sure to post an update on the blog when this issue has been resolved.
Want Pre-Overdue Email Notices for your Online Library? Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:19:17 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian We are hearing from Online Libraries that did not initially sign up for Pre-Overdue Email Notices but are interested in proceeding. Therefore, we are adding new libraries on Friday, 12-12-2008. So far, we have heard from:
If you wish to add your Online Library to this list, please send email to preoverdues@selco.info no later than 12:00 Noon on Friday, 12-12-2008. We will run the scripts on Friday afternoon and the first notices will come out for you on Monday, 12-15-2008. Please do not send email to individual SELCO staff to make your request. The preoverdues email address helps us coordinate this task between the various people involved so that no one falls through the cracks. If you have any questions on Pre-Overdue Email Notices, please contact the SELCO Help Desk.
Upgrade Status Report--WebReporter Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:24:43 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian The WebReporter upgrade has been finished since yesterday but we have gotten a little bogged down making some required changes to the reports and software. I am happy to report that all reports are now available for use with the exception of Pharos-related reports. We plan to have those up sometime on Thursday; an update will be posted as soon as they are ready. We apologize for the delay in getting reports up.
Pre-Overdue Email Notices Leave the Nest Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:13:49 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian Our first batch of Pre-Overdue Notices went out today! 684 patrons in the SELCO region have been informed that they have items that are due in two days. It'll be interesting to see what impact this has on overdue statistics for the Online Libraries involved. Three notices were not sent because the email address in the patron record was invalid. Corrine Welle, Data Entry Technician, is contacting the libraries of those three patrons to let them know of the error. We simply print out other types of notices for patrons with invalid email addresses; the short turnaround time for Pre-Overdues makes that process a non-starter. Why did the first batch go out today and not yesterday, the day after the upgrade? Good question! Monday, the day we did the upgrade, was a very long day for Mick Reese, Systems Manager, and he ended up running the scripts that turned on Pre-Overdues after Day End had already started (11:59 PM, Monday). Since all notices are created by the previous night's Day End process, that meant that no Pre-Overdues were created for Tuesday. While we're talking about numbers, you may be interested to know that Pre-Overdue Email Notices have been turned on for a total of 31,939 patrons registered at thirteen Online Libraries. In addition to the twelve Online Libraries listed in my previous post, Who is Planning to Use Pre-Overdue Email Notices? , Owatonna PL has been added. Two more Online Libraries, Chatfield PL and Red Wing PL, have also expressed interest and we'll add them later this week. In our initial reading of the SirsiDynix release notes, we got the impression that the Day Setting for Pre-Overdues (i.e. how many days before the due date a notice is generated) could be set by Location. That was incorrect. I can't blame the documentation; we just got it wrong. The Day Setting can be customized by BTYPE but is global for all Locations. Right now, it is set for the default: two days. At next week's ILS Operations and Technology Policy joint meeting, we are asking for a recommendation on whether to change the setting and, if so, to what. I would like to encourage the Online Libraries using Pre-Overdues to provide input to their committee representatives on this question.
Upgrade Status Report--12-09-2008 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:15:09 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian A quick update on where we are with things. The WebReporter upgrade is complete but we have to make a few changes on the server before it is ready to use. Please continue holding off on running reports until we complete this task; an update will go out just as soon as reports are ready. We're addressing isolated issues as they come in. It hasn't been too bad but there is a steady stream of issues keeping the Help Desk occupied. I'll list them here. if you are experiencing similar issues, please contact the Help Desk:
There may be other issues that have come in as I write this. We'll keep you updated via the blog and email to DIRPUB, DIRSCH, CONPUB, and CONSCH, just as we did yesterday.
CKI View Problem Resolved Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:56:03 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian It took a call to SirsiDynix and some intense troubleshooting, but the problem with the CKI view has now been fixed. You will need to restart Horizon in order to see the new view.
A Few Upgrade Wrinkles--Missing Columns in CKI Revisited Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:16:35 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian The issue discussed earlier with the CKI window is proving more difficult to fix than originally thought. We'll send out an update as soon as the missing columns are restored.
A Few Upgrade Wrinkles--In Transit Receipts Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:42:39 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian We've learned that the new version of Horizon handles In Transit receipts a bit differently from what we're used to. As a result, Online Libraries using In Transit receipts will need to make a change in their Launcher settings. This a change that is made user by user, so we cannot simply make it for you in Citrix. To use In Transit receipts, click on the Tools menu in the client. On this menu, click on Change Reciept Options. The following window will come up: Make sure that both In transit slip and In hold transit slip are checked. This will cause all In Transit slips to print normally. If you have questions about this procedure, please feel free to contact the SELCO Help Desk.
A Few Upgrade Wrinkles--Missing Columns in CKI Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:29:51 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian Oops! We missed a view change. As a result, several columns we previously added to the CKI window are now missing. Jonya is putting them back in and they should be available shortly. Once she is finished, you will have to restart Horizon. I suggest giving us about 15 minutes (i.e. about 3:45) to fix this before restarting. Apologies for the oversight.
A Few Upgrade Wrinkles--Alert Sounds Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:10:55 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian As Online Libraries start using Horizon again, a new wrinkle has emerged. The new version of Horizon uses Windows to manage alert sounds like the beeps you hear when checking in an overdue item. This has several advantages to the old method of using the built-in PC speaker. Unfortunately, not every Horizon PC in the region has external speakers, which are required to hear Windows sounds. Therefore, I've made a snap decision to roll this feature back and have Horizon resume using the PC speaker, just like before the upgrade. Since we are running Horizon on a few Citrix servers, this was fairly easy to change. Online Libraries using the client locally installed will be unaffected by this rollback. If you are using Horizon locally and wish to go back to using the built-in PC speaker for alert sounds, please contact the SELCO Help Desk. After the dust settles a bit, we'll survey the Online Libraries to determine if there are enough PCs without external speakers to justify leaving this new feature deactivated.
To Be Billed in 2008 or 2009? Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:35:23 Michael Flores, User Technology Manager As we have been receiving orders for the Winter 2009 PC Purchase, a lot of libraries are asking to be billed for their equipment in 2008. Once we get an order form, we can send out an invoice for those libraries who still wish to be billed in 2008. Otherwise all of the other orders will be billed in 2009 as deployments will happen after January. So if you would like to use up the last of your 2008 budget, send in your PC Purchase Order Form and let us know that you would like the billing to happen in 2008.
Yes, Horizon Is Up! Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:26:16 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian The upgrade is almost finished. All Horizon subsystems have been upgraded save WebReporter, which is still in progress and expected to finish in the next couple of hours. SELCO-created customizations and views have been restored. A fairly recent view change to the Pull List for a handful of Online Libraries is not functioning properly; Jonya is contacting those libraries to discuss the situation. Other than that, Horizon is functioning normally. You may login and begin normal operations. We'll continue posting updates as the WebReporter upgrade finishes and other information comes to light. Please do not attempt to use WebReporter until we send out an "all finished" update. If you have any questions or have PC Reliance files to be processed, please contact the SELCO Help Desk.
Faribault Public PC Deployment Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:03:12 Michael Flores, User Technology Manager On Wednesday, December 3rd I went out to Faribault Buckham Memorial Library to help Lisa Reuvers setup some of the new Dell computer equipment the library had purchased. We had originally planned to only replace their Pharos SignUp server and re-image four of their existing public PCs. However Lisa had given me a heads up a couple of weeks before hand, and we had an image all ready to go. This is largely due to the fact that the new public computers were of the same model as the existing ones, so we were able to use our existing image. Due to this and all of Lisa’s hard work on site, we were able to setup five of their new public computers in addition to what was originally planned. While there are still some staff, Pharos, and iPac systems needing to be setup, the Public PC part of the project went well thanks to some good computer planning from Lisa and the staff at Faribault Buckham Memorial Library.
Upgrade Status Report--1:05 PM Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:29:57 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian As of now, 1:05 PM, the production database upgrade is complete. Jonya and Mick are creating new customized views. The iPac upgrade is still in progress and the WebReporter upgrade has begun. Things are going very well but, no, Horizon is not up yet.
Who is Planning to Use Pre-Overdue Email Notices? Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:43:47 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian Just thought you might be interested in knowing which Online Libraries have elected to try out Pre-Overdue Email Notices after today's upgrade:
Please see this previous post for more information on Pre-Overdue Email Notices.
Upgrade Status Report--10:30 AM Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:26:32 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian As of now, 10:30 AM, the upgrade to the Horizon production database is nearly complete. SirsiDynix still needs to run the upgrade for the comres (newspaper database maintained by some public libraries) and new_site (our sandbox for adding new libraries to Horizon). The iPac upgrade is in progress. With the production database upgrade nearly complete, Jonya and Mick have begun work on recreating customizations and SELCO-created views. We'll keep in touch.
The Upgrade is Underway! Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:03:53 Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian--As posted to the SELCO News page, our Horizon upgrade is underway. There's nothing too interesting to report yet; SirsiDynix staff are performing a number of pre-upgrade tasks. The Horizon staff client is unavailable, but iPac will continue to work for a short while yet (maybe 20 minutes). I thought you might be interested in what is going on behind the scenes here at SELCO as we get underway. Mick Reese, Systems Manager, is in communication with the SirsiDynix technicians performing the upgrade and is answering their questions as needed. His main job is to generally keep an eye on things and be there for SirsiDynix. Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager, is keeping an eye out for anything unusual at the Help Desk. She probably won't have to do much there, as the Help Desk is being staffed today (at different times) by three very good team members:
Later on today, after SirsiDynix completes the upgrade, Jonya will be working hard with support from Mick to update all the customizations and views SELCO has created over the years. These local changes are mostly lost when we do an upgrade and have to be recreated manually. SirsiDynix does provide tools to help with this process, which helps a lot, but it's still a big job. Dave Stenman, Network Manager, is standing by to lend assistance should we have any issues with Citrix or thin clients. He is also helping out by providing support for the handful of Online Libraries still using Horizon locally (i.e. not through Citrix). Those sites have to run an upgrade CD on their Horizon PCs to update the client software. Online Libraries that have been migrated to Citrix don't have to worry about this step; their upgrade is performed by Dave here on our Citrix servers. I am mostly serving to keep the communication lines open via email and the blog, so that the folks listed above can focus on their jobs. Everyone else here at SELCO are providing great support for the upgrade team as we work through this busy day. Stay tuned. I'll post more as the day progresses.
Visit to Preston Public Library Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:18:18 Michael Scott, Assistant Director
On November 7, 2008, I had the opportunity to visit the Preston Public Library during my marathon day of library visits. For those keeping score, this was the 3rd of 3 organizations and 4th of 5 libraries/media centers I visited that day. I had a great visit with Beth Anderson, the Library Director for Preston Public Library. The day I was visiting was a "counting" week where the library counts people visiting the library, questions asked, and so on in prepartion for the annual public library survey that Preston Public Library participates. On the day I visited, the library was a busy place. Nearly all of the public access computers were in use and people were coming in return books and/or check more out. School was out on November 7th so there were a number of kids coming into the library to check out materials from the library and use the computers earlier. It certainly was great to see them in the library! Speaking of kids, a grandmother in the community called and asked if the library could pull some "Thomas the Train" videos for her as her grandson was coming to visit that weekend. Though maybe not a big deal to most, I was just so impressed that Beth quickly pulled together some videos for her and yes, the grandmother showed up soon after calling to pick them up What a great example of customer service! Check out photos from my visit on the SELCO Flickr site. While you're there, you can check out photos from other visits to the library by SELCO staff, including pictures from the Library's recent centennial celebration! Thanks to Beth for allowing me to visit the Preston Public Library!
Visit to Fillmore Central Elementary & Middle Schools Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:35:45 Michael Scott, Assistant Director
On November 7th, during a marathon day of visiting libraries, I had the privilege of visiting the Fillmore Central Elementary and Middle School media centers. Both schools are located in a connected building in Preston, MN. Jill Eerdmans, the media specialist for Fillmore Central Schools, gave me a tour of the two media centers (check out photos from my visit on SELCO's Flickr site). Both media centers have fairly large spaces devoted to them as well as sizeable book collections. There are computers (both Macs and PCs) available in each media center for students to use. Though these two media centers are not on the SELCO ILS, they are both on an automated system (Follett) and this is available for students to search as well. With regard to staffing, Jill spends a large amount of her time in the elementary media center as she is without a support staff person. However, in the middle school media center, Jill has a support staff person, Mary Hatfield. Unfortunately, Mary wasn't in the media center that day but I did get to see some of her nice display of fossils. Check out the photo of Mary's display of fossils on the SELCO Flickr site. In addition, on the day that I visited, I saw a familiar face volunteering in the elementary media center: Paula Michel, the former Harmony Public Library Director! Paula is assisting Jill with a major weeding project in the elementary media center. It was great to see Paula again as she was Harmony Public's Director when I worked at SELCO the first time (1997-1999.) I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Fillmore Central Elementary and Middle Schools and want to thank Jill Eerdmans for the opportunity.
New European Digital Library Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:04:48 Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian I was catching up with my Post-Bulletin reading the other day when an article really caught my eye. A new digital library called Europeana has been created that is set to rival Google, focusing on European art, history, and literature. Thousands of items from over 1,000 museums, national libraries, galleries and archives (including the Rijksmuseum and the Louvre) have been collected. The project was started over two years ago, and most of the information is free to download. For more information, check out the article by clicking here.
Ballot counts for public library representatives to SELS Advisory Committee Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:07:10 Michael Scott, Assistant Director The election for several representative positions on the SELS Advisory Committee was recently completed and reported in a December 2, 2008 news item. There has been a request for a reporting of the numbers each nominee for the public library representative. Here is that information.
Helping our Neighbors to the South Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:03:35 Mollie Pherson, Regional Librarian In June, the Cedar Rapids Public Library was completely destroyed due to massive flooding in the Cedar Valley. Not only was the library destroyed, but the majority of downtown businesses and homes. Although the town is slowly rebuilding, some people are still without homes and jobless. According to the Cedar Rapids Public Library Website, "the destruction at the 85,000 square foot library, which occupies a square block in the city's central business district, is believed to be the largest public library disaster in the U.S." On June 20, 2008, I put a call out to all SELCO and SELS members and SELCO staff asking for donations, and the response was overwhelming. People around the region donated fiction, nonfiction, children's books, DVDs, etc. I don't know how many boxes I had stacked in my office labeled "CR FLOOD," but it was a lot! I was back in the Cedar Rapids area two weekends ago, and I helped sort each and every box and counted every item you donated to the library in need. Overall, the SELCO/SELS region donated just under 1,000 items! It's a time for giving thanks, and I just wanted to let you know how much I am thankful for working in such a wonderful and giving region. You have truly helped out your neighbors to the South! Hats off to you all! Happy Thanksgiving!
Visit to Kingsland Schools Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:19:33 Michael Scott, Assistant Director
On November 7th, I had the opportunity to visit the Kingsland Schools. The school district includes the cities of Wykoff and Spring Valley, Minnesota. I started the day at 6:30 AM at the Middle School in Wykoff. There I met Laura Gudmundson, the media specialist for the school district. Laura begins her day at 6 AM at the Kingsland Middle School, preparing for the school day, helping students check out library materials, and teaching computer course to middle school students. Students at the middle school are in grades 5th - 8th. The middle school media center is a fairly large space with seating and public access computers for students as well as a collection of books and journals. Strengths of the collection include a strong historical fiction and "country" books (books about a particular country.) Laura stated that the country books can be difficult to find, especially about certain areas of the world. Accelerated Reader is used in the school district as well and these materials are clearly marked in the collection to be easily found. Kingsland Schools is not a SELCO Online Library but the media centers are on a shared ILS system, Destiny from Follett. Connected to the library is a computer lab where Laura teaches computer and techology courses, including courses in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as well as keyboarding. Later in the day, after visits to other libraries in Preston, I arrived at the Kingsland Elementary and High Schools in Spring Valley. The elementary school was added to the high school and opened in the fall of 2008. The media center is a shared space with the high school and elementary parts located at opposite ends of a large room. During my visit, the staff was preparing for a Scholastic Book Fair and were busy setting up displays of books and other materials. The high school portion of the media center had a large number of computers for students' use as well as a collection of fiction and nonfiction books. The elementary portion was still being assembled (waiting on shelving) but does have a storytime/reading area for students and a centrally located information desk. Oh, and for a bit of nostalgia, I even saw a collection of filmstrips, complete with CASSETTES for sound. Just to be fair, Laura has tried to get rid of the filmstrips but teachers still use them (plus, it is difficult to find them in another media format.) I wanted to say a special thank you to Laura and her staff at Kingsland for welcoming me to their media centers.[...]
MLA: 2008 Best Projects by Library Friends Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:42:10 Ann B. Hutton, Executive Director In honor of longtime library supporter, Evy Nordley, The Minnesota Association of Library Friends, recognizes "best" projects by Friends each year at the Library Friends & Advocates Day held during the annual Minnesota Library Association Conference. This year's top Evy Nordley Award for Best Project by Friends went to the Friends of the Rogers Public Library. Friends of the Detroit Lakes and the Wayzata Public Libraries received honorary recognition. Senior Tech Day @ Rogers Library The Friends of the Rogers Public Library sponsored Senior Tech Day offered an opportunity for seniors interested in technology to learn how it can be used for lifelong learning and family connectedness. The Friends partnered with Best Buy of Rogers to demo five items seniors are serious about using; MP3 players, digital cameras, cell phones, high definition TVs and laptops.
Used Cookbook Sale Hosted by Becker County Friends of the Library The Friends raised funds for the Detroit Lakes Public Library and created a way for cookbook collectors to reduce the size of their personal collections by hosting a used cookbook sale. The Friends collected and sorted over 1,500 cookbooks, selling over 500 and raising nearly $1,000. Picnic at Wayzata Library: Monarchs, Mariposa y Mexico The third annual summer picnic in celebration of the Wayzata Children's Garden boasted over over 500 attendees of all ages. Monachs, Mariposa y Mexico included arts activities and educational exercises about butterflies all amid songs and dancing. The Wayzata Library has been selected as an official monarch butterfly way station. Monarchs summer in Wayzata then return to Mexico, which gives the picnic its theme.
Inspired by 23 Things on a Stick presentation at MLA Conference Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:38:06 Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager This is the kind of experiment that can't be easily undone. So it's more like a change or a decision, I guess. It involves FaceBook and something I heard at MLA. One of the sessions, about 23 Things on a Stick, contained a presentation by a Ramsey County librarian who joined FaceBook with six of her coworkers at other branches, as they could use this as a tool to communicate. The premise is to both build community and to tap into each other's knowledge when doing reference work and similar library tasks. Shortly after the presenter created her account, her family found and friended her - all 30 of them. I found that a great story. I'm already a member of the MLA group on FaceBook, and used that to start friending the professional people I already know. I am exploring the friends' lists of library-involved people I already have friended, looking for those connections in the network. I had to think first about mixing my professional life with the rest of what I do, including the times I get whiney about working out, and decided that just about everything I do on FaceBook is mirrored on some other Web 2.0 venue. Anyone in the library community could have found my casual adventures in living via my blogs or my LiveJournal acccounts, or googled me, or looked for me on flick'r. And soon - LibraryThing. During these few days, however, it has changed my update postings. Already, I am more thoughtful as to what I tell people; I don't know how long that will last but I believe I will never be unaware of the entirety of my audience. But I've always been aware of the real people on the other side of the screen. The experiment comes from fully embracing the opportunity to network and build community - that's the advertising, isn't it? That my network intermingles with other people's networks and as snippets of information are shared, usefulness happens. People find jobs, find new friends, find answers. The next step is to move the intellectual nature of my network to face-to-face meetings, to tap into web-based friendliness and support in real time. But maybe that is organic and impossible to predict. I will find out. See you online! Crossposted to my personal blogs.
Final Countdown Day 3 at MLA Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:21:31 Jeanne Steinbrink, SELCO-MLA Scholarship Recipient The Eight Keys to Library Effectiveness: Consultant Sandra Nelson's message targeted what libraries will need to do to survive. While her message was not always what we wanted to hear (Phoenix Library sustained a 42% cut), it is what we needed to hear. Libraries will be making tough choices in the next few years on whether to cut costs or services. With touch economic times library use will increase while resources will decrease. Libraries need to take their focus away from what they think a library should be to focusing on user needs and wants. This means shifting resources to popular items instead of reference materials and difficult to use databases, by making data-based decisions by determining the greatest value for the dollar spent (cost per use). Libraries are becoming America's living room and we need to draw new patrons in b y providing them with what they want, not what we think they need. We need to learn from the competition (Google, Netflix, Amazon). And we need to do this by providing excellent customer service--greeting people, anticipating their needs and not just sitting at the "desk" but having roaming librarians. Collaboration will be another key to survival by coordinating activities with groups such as the Park and Rec., daycare providers, and by enlisting the help and support of advocates. I Can't Understand You! was presented by St. Thomas ESL teacher Karen Batdorf. She noted how Minnesota's population has changed in the past thirty years--with the influx of Vietnamese, Hmong, Russian, Somali and Hispanic. We face not only language barriers, but also cultural differences. Some of these people groups have only just recently developed a written language. While library staff struggle sometimes with trying to understand the limited English when serving these groups, Karen helped us to realize the struggle most of them have gone through to come to the United States as immigrants, refugees from war zones, or asylum seekers who have often been victims of violence or torture. Instead of thinking, "Oh, no, I have to help this patron," think "I choose to help this patron because it may be their only positive interaction today." Empathy will help us overcome our annoyance and fear. Lunch Speaker People mirror behavior. We can choose how we will interact. When you know tough times are coming, plan ahead. Then instead of cutting across the board, you can decide what services are most important and work to provide them. To accomplish this constructively you must plan ahead and simplify by getting rid of the clutter (such as vertical files) and the things we do that have high cost but are of little value. Final Thoughts
Day 3 at MLA Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:33:08 Aimee Lake, SELCO Finance Manager Day 3 of MLA was again an informative one for me. The first session was a presentation of Web Junction by Michael Porter, a Web Junction rep. Michael, aka Libraryman, definitely made it a fun session with his humor and enthusiasm. I had been familiar with Web Junction before, but I had never looked around the site much. It offers some very valuable resources in allowing librarians around the state to talk and share their experiences and ideas. The site also has an array of class offerings for librarians from library management and services to technology and how-to's on application software. By simply becoming a Web Junction Minnesota member, these courses are available free of charge. The second session I attended was Minnesota Library Funding presented by Ken Behringer, Director of the Dakota County Library and Peg Werner, Director of the Viking Library System. As the SELCO Finance Manager, I am pretty much chin-deep in funding on a daily basis. However, that does not necessarily mean I've got the nitty gritty of Minnesota library funding down to a tee. There are several elements that go into the formulas for library funding and with economic and political shifts, those elements have the potential to change dramatically from year to year. Ken Behringer did an excellent job of presenting the background and detail on minimum level of local support and Maintenance of Effort. After his presentation, I definitely feel I have a much firmer grasp of these concepts. Peg Werner then presented state statute language change recommendations by the Minnesota Library Funding Committee. The recommendations address the following:
Overall, I had a great experience at MLA. It was very worthwhile for me and I've brought home a lot to share with my community and apply to my SELCO responsibilities.
MLA Day 2 - Everybody Get on the Bus Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:58:56 Aimee Lake, SELCO Finance Manager Day 2 at MLA was a very full, information-filled day, but I think the most meaningful session for me was Everybody Get on the Bus presented by Jim Connor of the Trustee College. Mr. Connor focused on the importance of all types of libraries working and advocating together as well as working closely with their communities for future sustainability. People do not demand library service as a part of their daily life and that is the challenge to librarians: to change that mentality. Libraries are perceived as a luxury, not a necessity, and Mr. Connor offered several points for libraries to work to change that perception:
The final list Lind left the crowd with was the 8 commandments of Wiki implementation, which are as follows: 1. Make things findable without using the search box Lind's presentation can be found in full here. My final session of the day was "Everyone Get on the Bus" with Jim Connor. The session focused on how librarians needed to be advocates for libraries of all types. Interestingly enough, I couldn't help but comment on the similarity between some of his advice and the recent OCLC From Awareness to Funding report and I found that Connor has worked with OCLC on these funding issues. Some of the most thought provoking things Connor mentioned in the session: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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