WWPL DFW – Week 7

This was another week heavy with requests from children and youth. Several kids were looking for books in various series. Geeze, is it ever difficult to search for and identify series books in KOHA. Thank God for Amazon.com! It has been my lifesaver every day I work the information desk, and ever so much this week.

I also had several patrons wanting to place a hold on books. Though I offered to show the patrons how to do it themselves, they all preferred that I do it for them. I had never done it before, but I figured it out. Thankfully, I still have my KOHA staff login.

I sent another follow-up email to Liz and Jane regarding the web form. Liz says she has not received an update. Jane, once again, did not reply. I sent her several other emails in the last couple of weeks regarding computer and equipment problems. I never received a reply from her regarding those either. I realize that lack of communication within the work place is not uncommon, but it is a bit surprising to me to find it within the library workplace world. In not so many words, Liz let me know that I can consider my role in the changes to the web form for the Summer Reading Program as being complete.

In the meantime, I have already shifted my focus and attention to the Camtasia tutorial project. I met with Alexis on Thursday to discuss my various ideas about the plan for the Novelist tutorial and for the tutorials in general. During my time of working the information desk the past several weeks, I have noticed that patrons are generally unaware of the research tools that are available to them. It made me wonder if maybe we should do an introductory tutorial that highlights the availability of the tools. Perhaps we title it, “Did you know…”, and linking it to the home page we do a short, catchy video showing the public what we have to offer. It was just a thought! But, Alexis is of the opinion that a Novelist tutorial should be the top priority, and I respect her opinion. Besides that, I get the impression that the home page is sort of sacred and is not to be messed with.

Moving forward with Novelist, we discussed the fact that the website is soon coming out with a new release that will completely change its look. The last thing I want to do is spend time putting together a tutorial that will be out of date in a matter of weeks. Fortunately, Novelist has made the beta version of the new release available for use. Unfortunately, it does not include the interface that links to the Walnet catalog. This, of course, is one of the features we would like to highlight in the tutorial. I proposed to Alexis that I use the beta version for most of the demo, and then for the Walnet link feature I could use Camtasia to zoom in tight enough that it will probably not be noticeable I am using the old version. Alexis agreed to my plan.

The highlight of my week was when I sat in on the Thursday session of the “Basic Computer Classes”. Four seniors signed up for a series of three classes that were held Wednesday through Friday. Session 1 focused on Word Processing, session 2 on E-mail, and session 3 on The Internet. I had asked Alexis, ahead of time, if it would be ok if I sit in. I am glad she said yes, because that’s the stuff that really floats my boat! I was only able to clear my schedule to attend the Thursday session, but I think it worked out well that I did. As it turned out, one participant already had email experience and was there to ask some specific questions regarding how to manage her folders and how to attach documents. The other three participants were complete beginners, which means that the instructor had her hands full with helping them get started. So, I ended up taking on the role of being the experienced lady’s personal tutor. In the end, it worked out for the best for everyone. I totally had a blast! This is why I want to be a librarian!