I like Pharos. I've used to work for a place that wrote all of the internet bookings on a big arsed piece of paper and then took money at the desk for each printout. If someone claimed they hadn't had their allocated internet time then they would bitch and moan and generally annoy others.
Enter Pharos.
Pharos allows patrons to make their own internet bookings. Currently they can do it from our internal catalogue (looks the same as our external catalogue but doesn't show web results) but not our external catalogue. I think that the reason it's not external yet is due to the fear that it might not work and then people will expect us to make it work (bad excuse I know).
Pharos controls the length of time a person can use the computer (you can have a maximum of an hour service-wide, that means you can have 60 one minute sessions or one hour session) and gives warning when time is nearly up. It also allows us to specify which computers have which length (multimedia PC = one hour, quick internet = 15 minutes) and lets patrons book their own session or just hop on to a free PC.
Pharos also controls the printing. Patrons can put money onto their card via a coin loader (or we can do it at the desk for them) and then, when they print, it subtracts money based on what we tell it. It stores the print jobs in a queue that the patron has to release themself (they scan their barcode on a machine next to the photocopier and enter their pin number). This also means that Pharos controls photocopies, you just scan the card and tada, you can photocopy.
Bad things from my point of view - it doesn't allow you to set limits for branches currently. ie if we set an hour limit, it is service wide. I cannot set an hour limit at Deer Park and then a two hour limit for the Word Processor and have them seperate. It also means we have no coin boxes at our photocopiers so that we have to put money on to a card every time someone wants to photocopy. Similarly, there's no 'guest' login for tourists (although we have a bunch of 'guest' card numbers that we give to patrons on a little slip of paper).
I know there's a whole bunch of these out there, some are better than others. I quite like Pharos (although I find the interface to actually book a computer a bit confusing).
That's all til next week!
Monday, December 3, 2007
LibraryThing for Libraries
Whilst doing statistics in Amlib (my Library's management system), I found some data corruption and decided to fix it. Deciding to update the 50,000 borrowers listed as belonging to Sunshine all at once was probably not my smartest ever idea. Due to this, I now have quite a bit of time to kill whilst the system does its thang.
I am lucky enough to be in charge of Amlib at Brimbank. I get to do exciting things like running reports, pulling out statistics and deciding whether or not we have the ability to do x, y or z. I also have the lovely task of fixing it when I screw it up (not if). Due to this, I went to an Amlib usergroup meeting last week at Cheltenham Library.
One of the items I was fascinated with was integrating LibraryThing data into our online catalogue. The demonstration by Kingston Library was VERY impressive. For quite a low cost, LibraryThing will show various 'user-created' items such as tags and links to similar items. This wasn't that impressive (Global Books in Print will do that). What was impressive is that it will only show similar books that are already held by the library. I honestly can't remember if it did this by searching the catalogue for the books (z39.50 protocol) or by uploading a list of the books each week. If it's a list of the books then I might have to get off my arse and get the LibrariesAustralia deletions working (don't ask, LibAust irritate me sometimes).
If you're interested in having a look, head to the Kingston Library Catalogue and perform a title search for the book jPod. If you click on the title of the book, you will be taken to the full catalogue record which SHOULD load the LibraryThing data. Unfortunately Kingston's catalogue is rather slow so it may take you a while to get there (and then, today, it wouldn't load the LibraryThing data). Impressive nonetheless.
I am lucky enough to be in charge of Amlib at Brimbank. I get to do exciting things like running reports, pulling out statistics and deciding whether or not we have the ability to do x, y or z. I also have the lovely task of fixing it when I screw it up (not if). Due to this, I went to an Amlib usergroup meeting last week at Cheltenham Library.
One of the items I was fascinated with was integrating LibraryThing data into our online catalogue. The demonstration by Kingston Library was VERY impressive. For quite a low cost, LibraryThing will show various 'user-created' items such as tags and links to similar items. This wasn't that impressive (Global Books in Print will do that). What was impressive is that it will only show similar books that are already held by the library. I honestly can't remember if it did this by searching the catalogue for the books (z39.50 protocol) or by uploading a list of the books each week. If it's a list of the books then I might have to get off my arse and get the LibrariesAustralia deletions working (don't ask, LibAust irritate me sometimes).
If you're interested in having a look, head to the Kingston Library Catalogue and perform a title search for the book jPod. If you click on the title of the book, you will be taken to the full catalogue record which SHOULD load the LibraryThing data. Unfortunately Kingston's catalogue is rather slow so it may take you a while to get there (and then, today, it wouldn't load the LibraryThing data). Impressive nonetheless.
Monday, November 26, 2007
I won!!!!!
I won! I won!
فزت!
我赢了!
Ooh, and the page even does non-Roman script. How good is today?
Just to gloat a bit further, I just won a joystick, dual controls and steering wheel control set from the Learning 2.0 program. I have not a clue what that really means and I think I may possibly have to 'acquire' some kind of computer game to play it (not that I am condoning piracy of course). I'll take a pic and post it when I get it :)
فزت!
我赢了!
Ooh, and the page even does non-Roman script. How good is today?
Just to gloat a bit further, I just won a joystick, dual controls and steering wheel control set from the Learning 2.0 program. I have not a clue what that really means and I think I may possibly have to 'acquire' some kind of computer game to play it (not that I am condoning piracy of course). I'll take a pic and post it when I get it :)
Are you free Mrs Slocombe?
In my last post, someone left a comment about libraries having Mrs Slocombe type people. For those of you who don't know, Mrs Slocombe was woman in a show called Are You Being Served? (and it's crappy sequel, Grace and Favour). She was rude and rather arrogant and always thought she knew better than the customers.
Unfortunately this seems to be a common stereotype of librarians. Imagine a tiny little old woman with her hair in a bun. A nice calming stereotype. Then ensure that she's a Nazi sadist and that's what some people think of librarians.
When I tell people that I'm a librarian they somehow feel guilty. It is as if, by telling them I'm a librarian, I am secretly saying "YOU DON'T READ AND I CAN TELL BECAUSE I KNOW ALL OF YOUR DIRTY SECRETS YOU EVIL LITTLE NON-READER". I'll often get the 'oh I last went to a library in 1942 and still have the book out' or 'oh I never go to a library, I like to buy my books' or, worst of all, 'oh, a librarian, do you know the book Life as a Vapor as it changed my life and of course you've read it because you're a librarian and...what? You don't know it? How come? It won the Mumphmudge Prize for Literature' thus making me feel as if I've failed in my many years of librarianing because I haven't read some obscure book on the development of my soul.
Oops, lost my point...stereotypes. I wonder if we're the only profession with our panties in a twist over the stereotype of us? As a whole I don't think it's TOO bad (a helpful little old woman is a nice stereotype...of course the evil school librarian stereotype isn't so good, nor is the stereotype that because you have an overdue book we are going to beat you with encyclopædias if you ever step into our library).
Anyways, what does everyone think about our stereotypes?
Unfortunately this seems to be a common stereotype of librarians. Imagine a tiny little old woman with her hair in a bun. A nice calming stereotype. Then ensure that she's a Nazi sadist and that's what some people think of librarians.
When I tell people that I'm a librarian they somehow feel guilty. It is as if, by telling them I'm a librarian, I am secretly saying "YOU DON'T READ AND I CAN TELL BECAUSE I KNOW ALL OF YOUR DIRTY SECRETS YOU EVIL LITTLE NON-READER". I'll often get the 'oh I last went to a library in 1942 and still have the book out' or 'oh I never go to a library, I like to buy my books' or, worst of all, 'oh, a librarian, do you know the book Life as a Vapor as it changed my life and of course you've read it because you're a librarian and...what? You don't know it? How come? It won the Mumphmudge Prize for Literature' thus making me feel as if I've failed in my many years of librarianing because I haven't read some obscure book on the development of my soul.
Oops, lost my point...stereotypes. I wonder if we're the only profession with our panties in a twist over the stereotype of us? As a whole I don't think it's TOO bad (a helpful little old woman is a nice stereotype...of course the evil school librarian stereotype isn't so good, nor is the stereotype that because you have an overdue book we are going to beat you with encyclopædias if you ever step into our library).
Anyways, what does everyone think about our stereotypes?
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Non-Learning 2.0 posts!
Well I've finished Learning 2.0 and I'm going to try and post semi-regularly (unlike Zoya who is posting daily).
This post is actually going to be along the same lines as what Zoya has been posting this week on her blog Zoyasstuff, it is going to be about getting patrons to serve themselves instead of being chained to us.
At Sydenham Library we have implemented self-check units so that patrons can issue items to themselves. This isn't a new concept, I've worked with them at a few libraries (from Narre Warren library where it was a computer in the line at the circulation desk and people had to queue past it, to a private library in Sydney which is unstaffed and had 100% self checkouts). What seems to be the new concept is moving away from the idea of forcing our customers to come to us to be served. Staff seem to be very resistant to this. And it's not that they're resistant to self-checkout, they're resistant to making the customers use it at the cost of using us.
I see both sides of the argument. I've worked in customer service. I liked working in customer service. In fact I take pride on the fact that I can converse with pretty much anyone whilst working in a library (apart from Evil Gypsy Woman of course).
Arguments against forcing patrons to do self-checkout.
- Not everyone wants to do it. Some people are very resistant to the technology and would rather go to the desk. Some just would like a chat.
- We lose the personal touch of physically eyeballing all of our patrons.
- The technology doesn't always work.
Arguments for forcing patrons to do self-checkout.
- It reduces queues. It is cheaper to have 6 self-checkout machines than 6 staff members. In fact, it's cheaper to have 6 self-checkout machines for a year than 3 staff members.
- It gives people more autonomy in what they are borrowing. Although we encourage people to borrow anything, how many people really want a librarian seeing that they are borrowing a book on erectile dysfunction or divorce?
- The staff are not always as approachable as we make ourselves out to be.
See, my three points play off against each other.
Not everyone wants to do it, but most people don't want queues. We lost the personal touch but people don't always want that (and I'll comment on the personal thing below). The technology doesn't always work but, then again, neither do the staff.
With the personal touch thing (which, personally, I think is the biggest issue with forcing people to do self check), this can be acheived in other ways. Staff who are not forced to sit at a desk and wait for people to come to them can be utilised in other ways. Firstly, station someone near the self-check machines to talk to people as they use them. It is like the idea of a 'library greeter', someone whose job is to greet people as they enter the library and direct them to places, except that this person would be able to deal with the machines not working and take money for fines. Also, if someone wanted a staff member to issue their items for them, they can walk to the self-check machine and do that.
Why not roster staff to monitor different areas of the library? Instead of being at a desk, staff could wander around offering help to people who look lost and just generally talk to people (it looks like you're borrowing A Wizard of Earthsea, did you know she has a new book out?). We'd have to teach staff to do this well, we don't want them harrassing people! Also, to make staff approachable in this way (and to differentiate them from customers), we'd need some kind of uniform.
Also, just so people know it does work, the private library I mentioned above is in a member's only club in Sydney. The library is open 24 hours a day and is unstaffed. Most of the members are men aged 50+ and are resistant to using computers. Previously the members wrote their membership number and the number of the book in a little booklet and this was used to ensure everyone returned their books. When they went to using a self-checkout system, there was quite a bit of resistance but, after a while, the members saw the benefits of simply scanning a barcode (much easier than writing it in all honesty). Although there are some members who would rather the good old days, in general takeup was good and it did wonders for advertising the library to the rest of the members (look at the wonderful things they are doing, come have a look at their resources, etc etc etc).
There, I think I've written enough for today. Comments are appreciated, like Zoya, I like hearing everyone's opinion.
This post is actually going to be along the same lines as what Zoya has been posting this week on her blog Zoyasstuff, it is going to be about getting patrons to serve themselves instead of being chained to us.
At Sydenham Library we have implemented self-check units so that patrons can issue items to themselves. This isn't a new concept, I've worked with them at a few libraries (from Narre Warren library where it was a computer in the line at the circulation desk and people had to queue past it, to a private library in Sydney which is unstaffed and had 100% self checkouts). What seems to be the new concept is moving away from the idea of forcing our customers to come to us to be served. Staff seem to be very resistant to this. And it's not that they're resistant to self-checkout, they're resistant to making the customers use it at the cost of using us.
I see both sides of the argument. I've worked in customer service. I liked working in customer service. In fact I take pride on the fact that I can converse with pretty much anyone whilst working in a library (apart from Evil Gypsy Woman of course).
Arguments against forcing patrons to do self-checkout.
- Not everyone wants to do it. Some people are very resistant to the technology and would rather go to the desk. Some just would like a chat.
- We lose the personal touch of physically eyeballing all of our patrons.
- The technology doesn't always work.
Arguments for forcing patrons to do self-checkout.
- It reduces queues. It is cheaper to have 6 self-checkout machines than 6 staff members. In fact, it's cheaper to have 6 self-checkout machines for a year than 3 staff members.
- It gives people more autonomy in what they are borrowing. Although we encourage people to borrow anything, how many people really want a librarian seeing that they are borrowing a book on erectile dysfunction or divorce?
- The staff are not always as approachable as we make ourselves out to be.
See, my three points play off against each other.
Not everyone wants to do it, but most people don't want queues. We lost the personal touch but people don't always want that (and I'll comment on the personal thing below). The technology doesn't always work but, then again, neither do the staff.
With the personal touch thing (which, personally, I think is the biggest issue with forcing people to do self check), this can be acheived in other ways. Staff who are not forced to sit at a desk and wait for people to come to them can be utilised in other ways. Firstly, station someone near the self-check machines to talk to people as they use them. It is like the idea of a 'library greeter', someone whose job is to greet people as they enter the library and direct them to places, except that this person would be able to deal with the machines not working and take money for fines. Also, if someone wanted a staff member to issue their items for them, they can walk to the self-check machine and do that.
Why not roster staff to monitor different areas of the library? Instead of being at a desk, staff could wander around offering help to people who look lost and just generally talk to people (it looks like you're borrowing A Wizard of Earthsea, did you know she has a new book out?). We'd have to teach staff to do this well, we don't want them harrassing people! Also, to make staff approachable in this way (and to differentiate them from customers), we'd need some kind of uniform.
Also, just so people know it does work, the private library I mentioned above is in a member's only club in Sydney. The library is open 24 hours a day and is unstaffed. Most of the members are men aged 50+ and are resistant to using computers. Previously the members wrote their membership number and the number of the book in a little booklet and this was used to ensure everyone returned their books. When they went to using a self-checkout system, there was quite a bit of resistance but, after a while, the members saw the benefits of simply scanning a barcode (much easier than writing it in all honesty). Although there are some members who would rather the good old days, in general takeup was good and it did wonders for advertising the library to the rest of the members (look at the wonderful things they are doing, come have a look at their resources, etc etc etc).
There, I think I've written enough for today. Comments are appreciated, like Zoya, I like hearing everyone's opinion.
