librarything

I've used librarything in the past. This cover came from a book I added about 2 years ago when I listed a few. I only did a few because I don't have a book truck at home. It would make it soooo much easier.

geeksugar

On the list of 27 things, I found a reference to geeksugar (and 2 other sites). The name was interesting enough that I checked it out first. What a cool site! The entire "onsugar" family of sites looks like it's mostly for grrrls. Lots of fashion & beauty blogs and techie stuff too. You can start and maintain a blog and/or website too. Think savvysugar, petsugar, etc., etc.



In geeksugar itself, there's a list of tech stuff to consider when planning a wedding, a rundown of being a green techie and 10 reasons to subscribe to RSS feeds. ...and that's just for today.



For us grrrls, this is one to follow.

New Software Makes Its Debut

We recently rolled out new software to manage the public access computers. It's pretty slick. The computers are more available and easier to manage. ...at least staff thinks so. The public isn't so sure, since it's very different from our previous system. For one thing, it requires a PIN, which most of the computer users haven't needed until now.

For me, the big problem is how the public perceives computer availability. Previously, when all the computers were in use, the system read "booked." Now if there is a short time slot available between reservations the software will offer that to the user. Instead of getting no time, the user may get 15 or 20 minutes. I guess our users haven't yet figured this out.

iphones ....

This week the assignment was to write about matters technical. The trouble is the only thing I can think about for the moment is my son's new iphone. Frankly, I'm jealous.

Fully Engaged Customer Service

OK, so I was told to go to this workshop "Fully Engaged Customer Service." I wasn't too thrilled, after all I've done this kind of work since I was a kid.

However, after participating with my colleagues for the day, I've completely changed my mind. Best workshop I've been to. Period.

We were "fully engaged" all day - learning by doing. Interacting and learning to read and use body language, voice tone, all of that. It went fast.

Cheryl Gould was the facilitator for Infopeople; I would recommend her to anyone!

Frustration

I've published the post about the Perry Library, but I'm not happy with it. (For starters I'm not the best writer in the world.) My main problem is/was the images. Uploading was very easy, but manipulating them was not. I could really use some help.

HELP!!

Perry Library, Gilbert, AZ

I've got the email and blog accounts. What I really want to do is write about my visit to the Perry Library in Gilbert, AZ; and here's my son walking in the front door.










Like Natomas and Franklin the Perry Library shares a campus with a high school, but is in a separate building. It's really a very nice, airy area and though it was pretty quiet when we went, it's big enough to be comfortable for a lot of users at one time. It's also very famous for NOT using Dewey Decimal Classification. That seems to work really well in the small, pop literature environment here in Gilbert. As you can see there are
faceouts, and attractive graphics throughout. Some of the shelving units were wheeled, but mostly stayed put. The openness and light gave the library an inviting feel.







I was able to visit with the branch manager Jennifer for a while. She took a few minutes to show me around and let me know some of the quirks of their building and patrons. For example, she really liked RFID systems, but felt their own installation was rather inaccurate and undetailed. It had only 5 bins to sort into. Four were labeled for library areas, one was labeled exceptions [There were a lot of exceptions]. By the way, their bar codes were on the back of the books - I really liked being able to see the entire front cover. Five self checks take care of most of the materials and are usually busy.

What the Perry Library is really famous for ( really famous ) is the lack of DDC numbers. Jennifer explained that the subject labeling system they use works very well in their small facility. I looked at the pet books - labeled pets, of course. There were 3 shelves more specifically labelled; dog, cat, horse. I was suprised how few horse books I saw there, since there are horses all over the area. Maybe the books were mostly checked out.






The book collection is oriented to the popular and current. Patrons are encouraged to request books from other branches (the Maricopa County Library District has 17 branches in total). There were about 8-12 shelves of requested books which I thought a lot for the size of the branch. They do deliveries much like SPL does.

Signage was visible and lively. The Teen Oasis is a separate room off the main area and well within sight of the desk (multi function, circ and reference) and the Newstand (periodical room) is right across from that desk. The FICTION sign is visible from the entry door clear across the room.

No title yet.

Two days and already behind! Help!

Day 1, Task 1

OK folks, here I go! I'm Blogging for the first time.