Tech Support Meeting Minutes for April 2005

Tech Support Meeting Minutes

Date: April 26, 2005

Attendance: Anne Fischer, Randy Wayland, Teresa Goggins, Kay Bauman, Denyvetta Davis, Lloyd Lovely, Janet Brooks, Karen Marriott, Clyde Herrod, Donna Morris and Traci Jinkens

Special Guests: Tim Fisher and Deborah Willis, representing the System Reserve Task Force Committee

Update on Action Items

1. Kay and Denyvetta will meet to discuss exactly what is needed, in the way of forms, in the MLS Room Manager and the pros and cons.
   It was decided that this is not a Tech Support issue. Kay and Denyvetta will meet to discuss.
2. Teresa will be having an “open house” for all supervisors to drop by and work with the revised Intranet.
   Teresa did not have an “open house” due to scheduling, therefore she went to the April Library Manager’s meeting to get input from managers on the revised Intranet.
3. Teresa will create two designs for the Internet and send to Tech Support members for input.
   Due to updating various items on the revised Intranet, Teresa is still working on the Internet project.
4. IT will investigate problem with the staff catalog tab in the Materials Selection program which mysteriously goes away.
   Anne reported that this is now working.
5. IT will work on possibly changing the icon label “CyberMARS” making it more easily identifiable for customers.
   IT is still working on this.
6. Janet will investigate request sent in about having the ability to export replacement lists from the Materials Selection program into Excel.
   Janet sent out a survey to Library Managers regarding the Materials Selection program. Discussion followed regarding results of survey. It was decided that Janet will follow-up with Library Managers that have not responded to the survey. IT will review the survey and will come back to the next Tech Support meeting with additional ideas.
7. Kay will investigate a customer request for a “wish list.”
   Kay hasn’t done anything with this issue. She will look into it further.
8. IT will investigate the feasibility of allowing USB drives in public computers.
   before IT can pursue this issue, we need to keep customers from executing files.
1. Current Topics
2. Transit – Kay Bauman
   Kay discussed an “in transit” code that would alert customers and staff that materials are currently not on the shelf, however are “moving.” The transit code will:
• Allow inventory to be more accurate
• Increase accuracy
• Reduce morning search list
3. Staff, not already doing so, will need to double-clear materials upon receipt. Information Technology will be performing a study after implementation of the new transit code. The data collected will be used for a delivery route study. Denyvetta will send an e-mail out alerting staff of the “Transit” code and double-clearing.
4. mlsHRPay – Clyde Herrod
   Clyde asked if it was possible to have the Leave Permission function in mlsHRPay be modified to allow the user to select which entries to print, defaulting to the last entry added. Discussion followed. Supervisors find the Leave Permission to be very important, as is. Anne will discuss with Jimmy to find out other options.
5. Standing Topics
6. Internet/Intranet – Teresa Goggins
   Intranet:
• With assistance of Traci, began to market Intranet launch with an announcement card stating coming soon to a computer near you. It was sent to all staff the last week in March.
• With the assistance of Jim Welch, Traci Jinkens, Kay Bauman, Clyde Herrod, and Tech Support, we were able to launch the new Intranet on Monday, April 11, 2005.
• Thanks to everyone for your assistance, guidance and consistent feedback. Thanks to Clyde for assisting with the development of the PowerPoint presentation. It is an excellent tool in describing the changes from the old Intranet to the new one.
  As staff began to use the new Intranet, Teresa received several comments and feedback from staff. If there is a concern, she has been trying to address their concerns unless it is an item that needs to come to Tech Support.
• New pages and updates are consistently being added to the Intranet.
1. Feedback/Comments received:
• Positive:
• The look and layout is great.
• Love the dropdowns.
• Overall likeit.
• Some didn’t care for:
• Staff Catalog opening in new window.
• Drop downs were confusing.
• Most common concern – Unaware of tabs across the tops are links.
• She solicited feedback from Library Managers and the most common concern on new and old Intranet is the Forms page.
• Tech Support discussed the comments regarding the Forms page and determined to leave the Forms page as is, because there is no consensus on how to best categorize the forms.
1. Internet:
• Consistent updates with announcements throughout all libraries.
  With the help of Materials Selection and Traci, the Spotlight On….will be published Monday, May 2, 2005.
• Currently working on new templates designs.
1. ILS Issues
1. A suggestion was sent in asking if it would be possible to integrate the YA NF category into the ANF system reserve list.
   Everybody shelves these materials differently, so we will not be doing this.
2. A suggestion was sent in to have keychain library cards.
   This was previously discussed in a past meeting and Tech Support reaffirmed the previous decision to not pursue this. Most of the vendors require purchasing a keychain and library card and staff would then have to monitor the issuance of both items.
3. A concern was sent in about not being able to find information on Internet regulations, length of access, scheduling, etc. for the Internet computers in the library system.
   The Internet policy is currently changing and the scheduling of Internet access is currently different at several libraries. If we can get to a place where scheduling is more consistent, this could be a possibility.
4. A suggestion was sent in to have the due date on check out receipts be in a larger type.
   To get all of the information to fit on the current receipts, Information Technology needs to use the 7-point type that is currently on the receipt. IT is looking at a different printer, which could possibly allow for receipt type to change.
5. A question was sent in asking if the “Disclaimer and Children’s Use of the Internet” be placed on the website and the Intranet for staff and customer use.
   With the updating of the Internet policy this could be a possibility.
6. A suggestion was sent in asking if it would be possible to change the loan period in the new periodical program without having to go to V-Circ.
   Information Technology will put this item on a desirable list for future enhancement.
7. A question was sent in asking if it was possible to add the “Individual’s Comments on Library Materials and Information Access” form to our website.
   This is not preferable. We want customers to actually have an interaction with a staff member.
8. A suggestion was sent in asking if it would be possible to receive an e-mail notification a day or two before a book is due back.
   Information Technology already works hundreds of returned e-mails; they would need another staff member to handle the increased volume. We will not be doing this.
9. A question was sent in asking if it would be possible to access the training database to determine which employee(s) has completed a particular class.
   This is not doable; having multiple persons accessing the database would confuse it. Traci will contact the employee to find out his/her needs.
10. A suggestion was sent in asking if it would be possible in CyberMARS to show whether a book is on the New Book shelf so that customers can easily find it. Furthermore, s/he wanted to know if there was some way a customer could tell whether a book is checked in and on the shelf or just cleared at a different library and not yet available for pick up.
    As for having CyberMARS indicating whether a book is on the New Book shelf, this requires explaining more than this location code, furthermore every library coding is different. Tech Support feels that there should be interaction with the customer. The “Transit” code, as noted in Current Topics, Item # 1, will help with the second issue.
11. Several suggestions were sent in regarding the revised Intranet:
• Add the MLS Mission Statement and/or the new goal statement to the home page of the Intranet.
  Teresa has done this.
• The Search function did not bring up Lending Library when it is typed in.
  Traci has fixed this.
• The drop-down menus are confusing.
  Supervisors need to be sure that their employees are fully aware of all the pages available to them on the Intranet.
• Add the “Freedom to Read” statement on the Internet.
  The need is infrequent; therefore we will not be doing this.
2. Action Items:
1. IT will work on possibly changing the icon label “CyberMARS” making it more easily identifiable for customers.
2. Janet will follow up with Library Managers who have not responded to her survey re: Materials Selection program.
3. IT will review Janet’s survey results re: managers’ needs with Materials Selection program, and will come up with additional ideas.
4. Kay will investigate customer requests for a “wish list”.
5. Denyvetta will send an e-mail out alerting staff of the “transit” code and double-clearing materials.
6. Anne will discuss with Jimmy options available re: Leave Permission printing in mlsHRPay.