It's Getting Closer!

We're in the middle of testing the search function! Yea! Clap, clap, cheer, cheer (can i embed a audio file here?) Once search is complete we're about 3/4 done with the developer work and ........only 1/4 done with content work. Maybe i should rescind the clapping part until further notice.........

Our website is only as good as the technology that it runs on........ Our apologies for the downtime you may have experienced this 3 day weekend with our websites. Due to difficulties beyond our control, our sites were down. As of this writing we're back up (more cheering, please, for John and Austin) while continuing to ensure we stay up and running. On a more personal level, i have found my cell phone becoming a ...... timepiece ...... It quit ringing so while i can access voice messages it does not quite work in the manner intended. We do have every intention of the new website working as intended - access to materials, suggestions for you as well as the ability to easily find locations or policies.

Are you a book bagger?

Heigh ho, heigh ho - it's off to work we go. Our website work for the last week looked at the cart function, maybe more popularly known as the book bag. Do you use this feature? It allows you to place titles in a holding area and check them out at once instead of title by title. I'd be interested to know for you voracious readers out there. Me? I don't take advantage of the book bag because I can't read as quickly as the titles come in!

Other website work includes the breadcrumb function and starting some basic content inputting work.

On another front, more physical, is the building on the new Southglenn facility. My daughter and I toured last Friday and had the opportunity to envision the great space it will be for library users. If you are interested in a sneak peak, follow this tours link or browse our flickr pics.

Following Ants

We share the space we live in with ants.....as much as we try to decimate them they are always around come spring ....scrounging for the seemingly invisible pieces of popcorn left on the rug after movie night. When you look more closely they gather their crumb of food and off they scurry with it back to their nest (den? hill?) only to return again for another particle.

This is what website work is feeling like....gathering an iota of content and gathering it in a safe place and then scurrying back out to find another bit of information to add to our pile. If I was a pessimist I would say our stash looks pretty dismal but you probably know by now that I tend to think on the sunny side of things.....so my view is that we're being thorough and complete in our gathering of information so that the content can be loaded quickly when the backend is ready. Right now, we're gathering the information in the footer - the About Us kind of particles which need to carry over from the current site to the new one. We are also working on the Research & Business area - considering the slivers which make for solid content.

In the meantime, I offer you a link to healthfinder.gov - a new health website brought to us by the government. Packed full of quality health information, it's a great starting point!

When was the last time YOU felt like a superhero?

I just finished reading Amazing Powers - a junior nonfiction book which describes the Super Heroes and their unique super powers. I did not grow up with these characters so this book was a good introduction....... but then my mind started to race - why couldn't your experience on websites make you feel like a superhero? What if you could burn a virus with powers like The Human Torch? Be able to use flexibility skills like Mr. Fantastic to grab new apps to apply to a website that is frustrating? Or use the sticky powers of Spiderman to keep bookmarks, links, photos, etc easily in one place?

I would hope our new website is going to make you feel like a Super Hero - that there will be features which are appealing and functions which will be intuitive. We are working on the search function and finishing up functions on certain pages such as the individual item page. We are starting the process of downloading catalog records for testing against the search function and will begin work on collecting the content for input later this month!

In the meantime, have you found websites that make You feel like a Super Hero? Why? Share here!