Quick reminder on offline

You do have to select the Offline Wizard when you go into this mode. The regular circulation wizards will not work:

Record your screencast online

Directors Station- how to export

This function is not as obvious as it was in the older version. Here is a screencast of where to find the relevant icon and how to use it.

Capture your screen in seconds

Here's another two minute tutorial- how to create, export, and print an item list from a report. The example used here is from the Monthly Added Items report, but you can do the same with a variety of other reports for circulation, cataloging and users.

Capture your screen in seconds

Symphony upgrade update

Libraries opened yesterday to the new Symphony ILS. Software updates went smoothly but there are a couple of persistent problems that will take a varying amount of time to fix.

• The most urgent problem is with the onshelf holds report. Item titles are no longer showing up in the report and staff only have the item call # to locate the item- which is not specific enough to make this process as efficient as it needs to be. Resolving this issue requires some back-end programming by Sirsi, and I am pressing them to assign someone to do the work ASAP.
  UPDATE (10/7): This morning's onshelf holds report are listing the item titles- someone at Sirsi had a bright idea for a workaround.
  UPDATE (10/10): The fix appears to be holding- no-one has reported additional issues with the report since Weds.
  
• Several libraries are reporting that staff cannot override the holds block when an on-hold item is checked out to another patron- usually a parent or spouse doing pick-up duty. This is another glitch that Sirsi is investigating, although this may be back to normal by tomorrow. The available workarounds are to check the item out to the card of the patron with the hold- alternatively it appears that if you try to override with CIRCOK and then try to check the item out again once the override fails, it will check out anyway most of the time.
  UPDATE (10/7): Holds blocks appear to be working now. Apparently the issue about items checking out anyway once an override fails is a known bug that will be fixed in an upcoming software patch.
  UPDATE (10/10): Once again, no further reports of problems.
  
• Directors Station isn't getting data from after October 4th. This is being looked into and will certainly be fixed before October data is needed by most libraries.
  UPDATE (10/10): Sirsi made some adjustments over the last couple of days and the system is once again adding data. Please remember to connect using the updated bookmarks that Ben sent out this week- I am still getting the occasional question that suggests some people are still connecting to the old version, which will be removed from the network on Oct. 31st. If you need help in recreating your custom reports in your new account, let us know.
  
• NEW ISSUE 10/10: Several users and library staff reported that library elf was no longer working for their patrons. This is a third party service that we do contract with, but I contacted them to notify them of the problem and it looks like the service is working again. For those of you who do not know what library elf is, click here.
  
• Some bibload reports need an additional entry that was not required when the original templates were set up. Jane will be following up with catalogers and making the necessary adjustments to the templates.
  UPDATE (10/10): Jane has updated templates and contacted the catalogers.
  
• Modifying holds is a slightly different process after the upgrade. Instead of making the adjustment directly in the item list using the widget, you now need to check the items you need to adjust in the modify column, check "apply same due date" and use the due date selector window to set the new date.
  
• If you are using the trap holds wizard for receiving incoming holds from transit, you will receive a set of confusing error messages. This use of trap holds was a workaround needed at some points because of problems with older peripherals. You shouldn't see it if you use the in-transit wizard options to receive incoming material, and use the trap holds wizard for items that are collected through the onshelf holds report.
  UPDATE (10/10): Libraries that have switched from trapping incoming holds are no longer experiencing this problem.
  
• Finally (so far) you will see some odd user name formatting for the time being. Symphony allows user names to be recorded in three fields- first, middle, and last name rather than a single field, and there is a report that needs to be run to convert the existing records to the three-field format. I'm doing some testing first because so many of our records are not formatted in a way that the report will recognize and i want to be sure they won't be corrupted. When you register new patrons you will be given the new fields, and it appears that it is still possible to search by patron name and locate people accurately, so this shouldn't have any effect other than looking odd.
  UPDATE (10/10): I will probably do this over the weekend because it will take a substantial amount of time to run.
  

I'm sure that other things will come up, although they will probably be of diminishing impact- but please let me know of any new problems you encounter, via email to sirsi.support or give the Division of Libraries a call and ask to speak to one of us.
Thanks for bearing with us during the migration!

COSLINE afternoon session part II

Summary of common web 2.0 applications and how they are used by libraries to enhance the user experience of library services. Good overview of hive-mind participation, the cloud, et. al.

Great mashup hypothetical: if only i could find the price of cat food along my bus route, correlate it with pension day weather and see it on a map....with today's technology, it's entirely feasible

And don't forget that RSS and bookmark sharing are still tremendously useful tools for resource and knowledge sharing.\

Time for a break

meeting community needs: COSLINE afternoon session

more this afternoon on how to use tech to meet user/community needs.
What's next?
A new generation of library leaders is emerging, and they are learning and accommodating new methods of communication and service.
Reinventing libraries (again)
Enhancing the user experience- online and inhouse. take the library out of the library website and library walls. Make the library available to the user wherever they are- their own websites (facebook/google/yahoo), their phones, their browsers.
Of course, the users still need to enjoy a quality service and experience when they physically visit the library to access services.
Need a seamless way of delivering continuing/lifelong learning
Customizing services to meet generational expectations
Need to create "nostalgia moments" to engage future patrons
Need to make the library a desirable destination not an inconvenient chore.
Schools may be central place where gadgets can be used to engage in learning- the carnegie libraries allowed gaming (chess)
Become a participatory community center serving the community's needs- the goal should be to create great lives in the people served by the library

Sharing Time at COSLINE

Each state gets three minutes to talk about projects from their institutions that follow the theme of the conference:

Vermont: Blog- and Wiki-based staff communication tools have been emphasized this year.
Pennsylvania: new vision statement for technology- comprehensive technology-based library services geared toward the end-user
New York: blending Summer Reading and Novel databases- developed a quiz to encourage participation and use of databases
New Jersey: Snapshot day- capture impact of NJ libraries at one moment on Feb 19th. Brought out a lot of great statistics, a lot of community and activity photographs through Flickr (snapshot.njlibraries.org) Will do it again this year with ALA support- used the photos taken by libraries to create posters for legislators featuring impact of libraries. Have also emphasized economic downturn resources- recovery.njlibraries.org on a PBWiki platform
New Hampshire: publishing state documents in a statewide electronic document repository
Massachusetts: federated search in Mass. breaking down barriers between end users and electronic content from all libraries- bolting on user-friendly authentication through an InfoCard login using OpenID, geographic authentication, and other ways of access without forcing library card login. Creating a massive library events calendar.
Maryland: distance education for staff as a focus using Wimba (synchronous) and Skillsoft (asynchronous,24/7). 66 courses offered in FY2009. Also using screencasts for patron elearning: http://www.slrc.info/index.aspx?id=13254
Maine: MentorME program to link librarians. Emphasis on reinvigorating readers advisory services
Delaware: Wooo! Joe Biden!

And that's it for tonight!

COSLINE Conference: Keynote

Topic of the address. Library technology- remember how librarians organized their materials before technology? Librarians have now lost their edge because of concentrating on technology as an end in itself. Many are faddists.

What's a professional? Someone who can save a life- and librarians are in that group for a reason, because every day someones life is saved or improved by information they receive through a library.

The end goal is NOT the delivery of technology- it's the coupling of tools and services to improve people's lives. Marrying the passion and inspiration of librarians WITH technological tools and services to create better outcomes for users.

Crafting the vision of library services of the future without losing sight of the key element- people served. The newest challenge to libraries is leadership, not technology- managing a generational transition with attention to philosophy and advocacy, technical proficiency with a keen focus on serving the public and getting resources to people to allow them to improve their lives.

Historical model of railroads- US rail followed British, British rail was laid on post roads, post roads lain on Roman Roads which were designed to accommodate the width of two horses.

First decision decided by two horses asses. Technology, similiary is a series of improvements on an initially arbitrary platfrom.

Cannot rely on tech as a crutch to deliver quality library services- most of the core architecture of our services are adaptations from commercial products that are not oriented to library services.

COSLINE Conference: Post 1

Meeting for the next two days at the Gideon-Putnam hotel in Saratoga Springs, NY. COSLINE is an annual professional development event for the State Libraries of the North-East, and the theme for this event if providing 21st Century library services, with an emphasis on technology innovation.
Tonights events include an address by former Boston Public Library head, now New York State Librarian Bernard Margolis, and a sharing session from the 30 or so participants who will discuss current technology projects and interests.

Keynote is starting now.

Memorandum of Understanding Revisions

The most recent Directors Meeting succeeded in overhauling and updating the DLC Memorandum of Understanding. The Consortium web site has been updated with the new version in .pdf and MS Word format.

New Libraries? Not Really...

If you were working in WorkFlows today, you might have noticed that several new "libraries" appeared in the available menus- there are now policies for Appoquinimink, Corbit-Calloway, Delaware City, North Wilmington and Wilmington.

This is part of the preparation for bringing in the new libraries, and over the next week or so you will see the rest of the NCCo and Wilmington libraries appear in the lists. These options are NOT displaying in the OPAC- so patrons can't select them as a pickup library, and neither should any staff! The system will not staff from selecting one of these locations in WorkFlows, but obviously, this will be very confusing for the library that pulls the item for transit!