Staff,

With the retirement of Jim Welch, there will be some reorganization within the IT department. Anne Fischer will be assuming the position of Deputy Executive Director of MLS/Technology as of July 1, 2013. While she will retain some of her current duties, she will also be working with vendors as we go through the process of purchasing new ILS software as well as all other software that will be needed and assume the role of administrator for the new software.

John Wood will be adding management of the Physical Security Systems (IP Security cameras), assisting with management of the new software, and will take over the duties of planning the technology replacement cycle which includes budgeting and purchasing of the computers each year. He will also retain all of his current duties.

John Utley will have responsibilities added to his current job duties. He will be the primary E-mail Administrator, manage the web filtering server, and take care of all system backups including managing the server that will be used for backups.

The position of Director of IT will no longer exist but in addition to the duties that will be assumed by John Wood and John Utley, a new position is being created that will handle most of the network related duties including the routers and switches, firewall, phones and voicemail, Wireless controller, DMM (Digital Media Management) and Ironport which is the appliance that works with our e-mail to reduce the amount of spam you receive. This person will be required to have at least a CCNA certification and will be spending a lot of time learning all of these various systems.

We are excited that Anne will be assuming a senior administrative position within our system. Anne worked for MLS for three years as a page before leaving to become a dental hygienist. She decided that she liked the library better and returned as a Circulation Clerk at the Belle Isle Library. While at Belle Isle, she also served as a System Trainer for the new “online” computer system that was under development by Jimmy Welch. She started the position of Night Computer Operator on July 1, 1985, the day the system went online for all libraries. While working as the Computer Operator, she returned to school and obtained a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Central Oklahoma. Anne later participated in the Library Scholarship program and obtained a MBA from the University of Oklahoma.

We will miss Jim a great deal; but he has promised to help us transition to our new system and so we will continue to see him as a contractural employee for MLS. We are lucky that we have such a capable person as Anne to assume oversight of the IT department.