Tech Support Meeting Minutes for July 2007

Tech Support Meeting Minutes

Date: July 24, 2007

Attendance: Kay Bauman, Janet Brooks, Kathy Dunn, Anne Fischer, Teresa Goggins, Buddy Johnson, Aaron Killough, Karen Marriott, Donna Morris, Kim Terry, Jimmy Welch, and Deb Willis

1. Update on Action Items
1. Deb Willis reported over her findings from the Library Managers’ on the text to include in the FAQ handout and simple search screen (Appendix 2).
1. Kim Terry will review the FAQ questions and answer them with the assistance of a Tech Use group member and report back at the next committee meeting.
2. After review of the simple search screen text, Tech Support Group discussed established a subcommittee to further investigate simplifying the Simple Search Screen. Committee members will include Janet Brooks, Kathy Dunn, Teresa Goggins, Buddy Johnson, and Kim Terry.  The committee will meet and discuss their findings at the next Tech Support Group meeting.
2. New Business
1. Jimmy Welch gave a presentation on the cyberMARS shopping cart & printable bibliographies. Buddy Johnson submitted research from six different libraries that use bibliographies in their systems. CyberMARS’ shopping cart and bibliographies update was modeled after the research found from those six different libraries. The update will allow customers to print or email formatted bibliographic information from cyberMARS and can contain 500 materials at one time.
1. IT will email Planning to see if training will need to be conducted for this new update and will allow staff to test the updates before going live on September 10, 2007.
2. Planning Services announced the updates on cyberMARS on August 7 th , 2007 to allow for questions and time for possible
   debugging.
3. Standing Topics
1. Internet— Teresa Goggins asked everyone in the group for feedback and input. The commission page has been updated to include upcoming meetings and she also presented a preview of the Donate Now page that will provide information for customers who wish to donate to the Endowment, Friends, or their time to the library system.
1. Buddy Johnson suggested adding information for customers who wish to donate photographs or diaries for the Oklahoma Images
   and Folklore Collection.
2. Buddy Johnson will work on a write up to add to the Donate Now page for donating photographs or diaries.
2. Intranet—Teresa Goggins announced the positive feedback she has received from the Paws for Recognition page on the Intranet.
4. ILS Issues (Appendix 1)
1. Tech Support received an email suggestion from a customer over having a button similar to the Magazine button on cyberMARS for Music CDs.
1. Tech Support discussed this item and possible ways of incorporating RSS feeds. More research is needed before making a decision. Deb Willis will conduct research to see what other libraries are doing over RSS feeds announcing new materials or updated lists.
2. Tech Support received a suggestion to change the word PENDING on overdue notices sent to customers to have the TOTAL amount due.
1. Information Technology will be working on designing new notices and will address this issue closer to the first of the year.
3. Tech Support received a suggestion to remove lost card records from the VCIRC database.
1. Tech Support stated there are occasions when this information is needed and should keep a record for future reference to notice for
   commonalities or patterns.
4. Tech Support received a suggestion to add a “staff” category in VCIRC.
1. Tech Support announced there already is a “staff” category in cyberMARS that is good for record keeping.
5. Tech Support received a suggestion over how reserves are checkedout.
   This suggestion also asked for a prompt when mismatched reserves are about to be checkedout.
1. Tech Support announced that the new system may even remove these concerns so at this time, Tech Support decided to wait until the new system is in place before making any decision on this tech suggestion.
6. Tech Support received a suggestion to add something on the reserves screen on cyberMARS so customers could enter a range of dates the computer could skip them for the reserved item.
1. While this is highly desirable for cyberMARS, Tech Support suggested to place this item on wish list. Tech Support reminds committee members to inform staff of the comment line when customer asks for additional hold time.
7. Tech Support received a suggestion for changing the shelf number designation for Young Adult books in the library catalog.
1. Tech Support announced that this suggestion would not work because Young Adult books do not have a classification code, only a location code. Young Adult books are in a location and some libraries may have the same book in different locations.
8. Tech Support received a suggestion over public computers. The suggestion called for a security screen saver for the public PCs and the use could return back to the main screen by entering the library card number. Another suggestion was to have a splash screen with information about the fiveminute waiting idle rule and how many pages customers can print for free.
1. This suggestion was forwarded to the Computer Use Group for further examination.
9. Tech Support received suggestion to allow mlsBudget to export Expenditures to an excel spreadsheet.
1. After discussion, IT announced it would update this function to allow exporting of Expenditures to excel spreadsheet.
2. i. On August 1 st , 2007, IT sent an announcement that stated the mlsBudget application has been enhanced to export the
   expenditure report to Excel.
10. Tech Support received a suggestion for programmers to add their own .jpeg or .gif to the event calendar in the event that an illustration cannot be found that is suitable for their desired program.
1. Teresa Goggins stated she would send an email to all programmers informing them of the process of getting a new .jpeg or .gif.
1. i. On July 26 th , 2007, Planning Services sent the following email: Good morning, We received an inquiry in reference to adding
   your own jpeg or gif on the event calendar. Kellie Bradford or I (Teresa) currently add the graphics to the calendar graphic
   files in order to keep size of the graphics consistent. All library programmers that have access to the calendar folder, which
   has access to the graphic files. If there is a graphic that you would like added, but do not see in the graphics folder, feel free
   to send an email and I will send a couple of version of the graphic requested. We normally respond within 8 hours or
   same business day. We have access to thousands of graphics that can be placed on our calendar graphic folder. This saves
   you and staff time from searching for graphics. Please feel to share this information for future reference. Remember, we are
   here to help you!
11. Tech Support received a suggestion to examine the current rules for visitor access. Kay Bauman discussed an email over issuing library cards and returned mail (Appendix 3).
1. Tech Support will forward this item to Computer Use Group and Library Managers.
12. Tech Support received a suggestion to allow the staff log on to the public computers to have adult access.
1. Tech Support announced that there is very little difference between the filters and staff may require different levels of access.
13. Tech Support received a suggestion to examine the time gap between the time the reserve is received and the time the email notification has been sent to the customer.
1. Tech Support announced that the internal process used by a particular library should be evaluated to determine if the time gap can be reduced between those two times. The new updates to system reserves may also help alleviate this problem.
5. Action Items
1. Kim Terry will review the FAQ questions and answer them with the assistance of a Tech Use group member and report back at the next committee meeting.
2. The simple search screen subcommittee will meet and discuss their findings at the next Tech Group meeting.
3. Buddy Johnson will work on a write up to add to the Donate Now page for donating photographs or diaries.
4. Deb Willis will conduct research to see what other libraries are doing over RSS feeds announcing new materials or updated lists.
5. IT will update this function to allow exporting of Expenditures to excel spreadsheet.
6. Teresa Goggins stated she would send an email to all programmers informing them of the process of getting a new .jpeg or .gif.
7. Forward two items to Computer Use Group for review:
1. Tech Support received a suggestion over public computers. The suggestion called for a security screen saver for the public PCs and the use could return back to the main screen by entering the library card number. Another suggestion was to have a splash screen with information about the fiveminute waiting idle rule and how many pages customers can print for free.
2. Tech Support received a suggestion to examine the current rules for visitor access.