Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Chug, chug, chug


No not the drinking kind of chug but the train kind of chug....as in rolling along! We have stabilized our processes for importing records. For you, it means that you are seeing more complete information when you conduct a search.

What kinds of information you ask? Well, the title's annotation is the main piece where we want to present this sooner than later (if the annotation is not there, you see a standard line which says "this item has limited information but you can still place a hold on it").

We hope this helps; please let us know if there is more information you would like to see when you conduct searches!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Feeling the change?

Amidst the gorgeous fall leaves, the weather is turning. I had to dig for my raincoat this morning and the radio reports snow falling in Loveland. Being a native Coloradoan, I should be used to this by now but I never seem to be prepared for the change to colder weather!

Speaking of changes, a couple of updates to report on the blog.

1. This blog will no longer be posting every week. Changes have not been occurring regularly enough to warrant a blog posting about updates. I will post at least monthly to be able to report any changes made.

2. As of this writing, there are some issues if you are searching for materials. We apologize for the inconvenience this may be causing you and hope to have it resolved yet today. For any searches and holds of materials, feel free to use the Classic Catalog tab.

Happy winter to those who are watching the snowflakes fly!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Voiced your opinion yet?


Have you got a few minutes to spare? Then we are interested in hearing from you - about your experiences and interactions with your library branch. Follow the How Are We Doing link in the Help Footer to the survey. We hope to hear from you as often as you would like to provide input!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Do you feel the power?


Are there times you long to find articles without having to cull through which are good and which are just bunk? Need just an extra 10 minutes to do laundry instead of culling through your search results? Well, PowerSearch to the rescue!

This feature from Gale (one of our research database vendors) now searches all of its resources (those in which we subscribe to, anyway) at the same time and returns results in one list. So now you can just peruse your search results without having to decide if the article may be of dubious quality or whether it may be coming from second cousin Sue's neighbor who likes to write....... Besides the advantage of entering your search term only once, databases also provide quality resources.

Where can you find this awesome tool? In the dropdown next to the search box on the website! Choose All Gale Databases.

So ~ search away and do laundry, too.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Are you transformed? Transfixed?


More than just providing books and movies on the shelves, more than just the buildings which house the materials and the myriad of staff who are there to help you ~ isn't the entire experience and interaction with your library about being transformed or transfixed?

In my childhood, I was Nancy Drew in the penny loafers and skirt set (no snickering for those of you who can guess my age!). From Nancy I moved onto the high literature of Harlequin romances. To this day, my love of reading propels me from the educational (e.g. Winning Scholarships) to the fascinating (e.g. Pope Joan). I have to admit that listening to Pope Joan was like being in a time machine where I was transported to Europe in 855 and had a front row seat to daily life.

You have been seeing our front page stories which are themed "Libraries transform lives." It can happen in big ways, like literacy, but it can happen in smaller ways, too. Have you been transformed? Transfixed? Share your story here!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Your voice, your words


Yes, the new website carries reviews - your reviews! Follow these 5 easy steps to begin writing reviews on the website. Share your reviews with fellow readers/watchers/listeners!

1. Find any title you would like to review and click on the title.
2. Find the box which says REVIEWS and click on Sign in to write a review.
3. Under the Create an account button provide your email and username.
4. With the email we send you, click the link to establish your password.
5. Now, you should be logged in. Next to the cart it should say Hello + username. When you find a title to review, the link will read Write a review instead of Sign in to write a review.


Want to share your reading/watching/listening list with others? Once you've set up an account you will have a unique user number. The easiest way to find this number is to click on your username. This takes you to a page of everything you have reviewed. Share this unique url with friends and family!

Review often and spread the word!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Yellow Means......



back to school, from the #2 pencils we buy to the school buses stopping in our neighborhoods to the school crossing zones which blink yellow lights at us....it all means that our kids are back in school soaking up education.

Are you looking for additional resources to help your child with reading? Look no further than our electronic subscription product, NoveList K-8. With just your library card you have access to a ton of resources! Besides finding book recommendations for your children, you can also find books by Lexile levels or Picture Book Extenders, which can be used as discussion tools for reading comprehension.

Find the More dropdown to locate Picture Book Extenders information. Info about Lexile levels can be found on the right hand side of the page under NoveList Resources.

Happy Back To School!

Monday, August 30, 2010

I don't have time!


When we are shopping in the grocery store are we browsing? Looking for whether the split pea soup might be better than the vegetable beef? When you are online, are you browsing to see what the latest news flash is or are you headed to your favorite news website right away?

I begin to wonder at our ability or our attention span for browsing.......in light of the millions of other things on our to do lists (okay, so maybe I'm the only person who ever makes such lists). Have we lost our ability to just browse, to take a few minutes to enjoy the soup display or the book display and see what the staff have tried to put together to engage us for a few seconds and possibly a few dollars?

Even online, I feel like I don't browse any longer. I go to specific websites for specific reasons. When I need a recipe which has mushrooms and zuccini, I am not browsing and looking at the colorful photos of other recipes. When I want to find a book, I am simply typing it in the search box and off I go. Who has time to look for recommendations? Are we all just too busy? Are there websites or stores which entice you to browse? If so, how do they engage you further?

Monday, August 23, 2010

Interdependency



For the majority of you, I hope Sunday morning's non-access to the catalog was something you did not even notice. Like putting new tires on your car, you are inconvenienced but find it was worth the time and effort. Well, we had to replace the server which runs our catalog Sunday morning. This meant that you did not have access to materials for searching and placing holds. It also meant that access to many of the databases was not accessible.

We thank you for your patience during the morning while we made the switch. Our new server is running smoothly and we appreciate the time it took from your morning.

The catalog is what is running behind the scenes. What happens when you conduct a search from the website? Tt goes to the catalog and returns results. What happens when you want to check the status of holds in your account? The system is going into the catalog/user function. So you can see the interdependence between the website and the catalog and how the "right foot" doesn't dance very well without the "left foot."

Monday, August 9, 2010

Do You DVD?


Living in Colorado means not experiencing things like big rain puddles and the use of galoshes very often.....but last night it rained and rained and rained some more! My garden is so very happy.....does this mean an early winter, though?

We do not have much to report on the website side that is new from last week's post. We hope you are finding the titles you are seeking and that the cart is working for you. I have appreciated being able to search and place titles in my cart, search again and again and then check out all of my goodies with one login.

If you haven't taken the DVD survey yet, please take just 30 seconds to do so now. It's only 3 questions and your input is valuable as decisions are made about this popular collection format.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Welcome August!


Have you begun to hear the sound of leaves rustling....at your feet instead of in the trees? Have you been craving the scent of sharpened pencils? Then you know it's that time of year called back to school.......

Feel free to check out our website presences for great school/homework resources:
  • Homework & Research in the teensite provides relevant databases & website links
  • Homework in Tales Treehouse lists databases for children and subject guides (to some of the more common topics like biographies and biomes)
  • Research & Business on the mainsite is one path to access the database products
Our work on the website continues on the back-end. We continue to work on importing records to have the most up-to-date information available on the website and try to have the covers available, too!

Let us know how your searches and interaction have been going with the new website! In the meantime, it's only 14 days left til school starts at my house!

Monday, July 26, 2010

More, more, more!


As if the covers in the carousels/boxes aren't enough to entice you into more reading, more listening and more watching, we also have lots and lots of newsletters which provide great recommendations, too!

What, haven't heard? Well, here's how to find this treasure:


Newsletters are offered in lots of different topics, from childrens to adults. Interested in business titles? There's a newsletter. Want to keep up on childrens chapter books? You'll find a newsletter! Newsletters are issued at different times during the month so, depending on what you are subscribing to, you may receive more than one a month. Each title also links to our website so you can easily put them in your cart. The easiest way to keep current is to subscribe; you only need an email to get started!

Personally, I really like the Lifestyles newsletter. While I'll admit to not being the most devoted non-fiction reader, I really like the cookbooks!

Take a look and let me know what you think!

Monday, July 19, 2010

More New Stuff!


Is it hot enough outside for you? Thinking of staying indoors just to prevent heat stroke? Then check out the website where we provide all manner of new titles for you to peruse!

As you know, we created more Coming Soon material based on popular demand. The top carousel box on the home page says Coming Soon and its box is filled with titles which will be..... arriving shortly. You can also click on "books," "movies," and "music" inside of the carousel. Where does this take you? To more coming soon in all of these formats!

For instance, the Coming Soon Books provides a list of titles either coming soon or newly arrived. Depending on when we feature it and its arrival date, it could be in your hands quickly! On the left hand side of this page, you will find more lists of interest such as award winners, bestselling, coming soon, recently ordered and new & notable. Under "movies" and "music" you can find coming soon, recently ordered and new & notable.

We're always working to provide you with great reading, listening and watching opportunities and we hope these lists give you further access to parts of the collection via the website.

Let us know how you like these lists or if you have questions about them! In the meantime, check out a good book/movie/cd and stay out of the heat!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Knock, knock


No this isn't quite a game of "who's there?" - but a call to ask you about where you find reading, listening and watching recommendations from....... is your neighbor when you chat at the mailbox, is it the newspaper which provides reviews? We're dying to know! Why? Well, the new website provides for posting recommendations - from staff or from patrons. When you click on Staff Picks in the browse boxes from Books, Movies or Music you see a page of names and reading interests.

  • Is this page useful to you?
  • Do you find recommendations by staff name?
  • Prefer to find interests by reading or movie watching genres instead?

We have lots of questions around recommendations in order to present this page of picks to you better based on your needs.

If you have a few minutes, please take our Getting Recommendations survey. We're happy to hear from you!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Happy Fourth of July!

I don't know about you but I've heard enough fireworks to last me awhile. Lots of noise going on in the neighborhood!

In the world of website work, we are working on import of records and import of covers. We hope you see more covers on items. Just because there is not a cover, you should be able to place the item on hold. Even if you don't see a complete description, you should be able to place the item on hold.

Oh - and because we just celebrated a holiday - you can find our holiday closure information in the footer. Look under the Library heading to find the dates during the year in which our facilities are closed.


Tuesday, June 29, 2010

As we slide towards July


As of this week, all is fairly quiet in the website world. We continue to post new content while back-end changes are being made as we work through our list of these to-do's. Please feel free to provide your input either to this blog or to the Website Feedback link you find in the footer. We're happy to help!

My "in the meantime" post this week takes you to our neighbor blog, Sizzling Showdown. We have been running a weekly contest of titles in which you get to vote for your favorite. Check out the blog. We were running adult mysteries in May (and I'm not giving away the winner!). June features a different set of childrens titles a week. This is your last chance to vote for books about real kids before we move onto teen titles. If nothing else, you can find a great selection of titles you may not have heard about!

Happy reading!

Monday, June 21, 2010

News for the week

You can now see the Classic Catalog tab on the website. Easy access for those who want to search this interface.

Look in the near future for more lists of new materials under the Coming Soon links. We're working on it!

In the meantime, I received a great question from a patron who was looking for ebooks (those which you download and read off of another device). You can find them on our site through a couple of different paths:
1. Books tab > Browse books box > Ebooks
2. OnDemand tab > Browse box > Online books

These paths will take you to our vendor website where you can peruse a number of ebook titles. But then he asked what kind of ereader he should buy. There are many options and more are being brought to market all the time! I suggested a couple of articles from PC Magazine and from Wired Magazine which discuss features. Happy reading - what is your preferred format and why?

Monday, June 14, 2010

Of Incremental Changes


to be made and yet forthcoming is the following:

creating a more prominent link/button/navigation element to the classic catalog. There are search elements within the classic catalog and are not on the website that you may use. Please link to the classic catalog for these features. Among them are the ability to click on a subject heading to find like materials and the ease in choosing titles which are volumes (think travel books, SAT books or tax books). Questions? Ask here!

Besides making changes to the website, we continue to work on data to ensure the most up to date content is on the website.

Summer reading has kicked off in all of our branches and people are really excited about it! Numerous comments have already been posted to the teensite and adults have provided reviews to the mainsite, too! Thank you! If you did not know, Tales Treehouse is also asking for reviews from children. Enjoy the summer!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Enhanced Search Results - The Details

This story provides more detail to the enhanced search results posted in the last two posts.

Cover Image: The large cover image we used originally was requested by some patrons, but in the context of search results, it took up too much room. The cover image was made smaller to accommodate more information about each search result in a smaller space.

Publication Date: The publication date is now available. For items with more than one date, the first date is shown.

Format: The format was previously available in two places – as an image and as text. The format information is now only an image placed to the right side of the other information. The format image contains a word or words to describe the format. For some newer items, or items with brief bib records, the format may not be available.

Add to Cart: The “Add to Cart” button now has the cart icon on it, is smaller, and is placed to the right of the other information, instead of below the image.

Check Availability: There is now a “Check Availability” button below the “Add to Cart” button. It pulls availability information and holds (if any) directly from the III server. This is the same information available to users of the classic catalog, but is more complete for titles with many items, and requires fewer clicks. This allows patrons to view availability without moving away from the search results.

Shortened description: The description needed to be shortened to shrink the overall size of the search results.

Close link: The “Close” link on the pop-up box won’t wipe out search results any more!

Note: because the search uses the classic catalog to produce results, the number of items per page remains the same, even though the space used by each search result is smaller. You will also see the new format when browsing the “facets” on the Books, Movies and Music pages. The facets are produced by a III product called Feedbuilder, so the information available for new items is somewhat different than the information provided by search results. The newest items may have very little information available, but can still be added to the cart. You will see these changes for the “Coming Soon” lists in the near future.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Enhanced Search Results Live!

When you conduct a search, you will now see the new search results as mentioned earlier this week........

You will see this same presentation when you click on any of the searches in the Browse boxes in Books, Movies and Music!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Enhancing Search Results

We're keeping tabs of the input and comments from y'all and will be shortly releasing our enhanced search results for you.

Among changes being made include decreased white space in search results, smaller covers, linking to item availability, adding the publication date and making the format type more obvious.

We hope these changes will be as appealing to you as they were to us as we worked on revisions! Stay tuned! A special post will be released when these changes are live!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Update for the week


Greetings and Happy Monday to all!

This weekend I witnessed my poppy plant going a'bloom! From one bloom to ten, it was like a birthday present! I hope the wind does not blow them to smithereens before the rest of the pods can open up........

Work on the website for the week included:

  • presenting the staff names in an organized fashion for findability and reading/viewing/listening recommendations! In the Books, Movies and Music carousels you can now find Staff Picks listed. When you click on this link, you are presented with a list of names on the left. On the right you will find select staff with a mini-bio and their specialty areas. We hope you find this useful and will bookmark your favorite recommenders!
  • search results are being worked on to present more information, upon your request. We will add a link in search results to "check availability" and present the format in a clearly defined manner. We are shortening the descriptive information here. Look for these results soon!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Update Work


The more things change, the more things stay the same. Who said that? And how in the world can that apply to the website work?

We have been steadily receiving responses in regards to the new website. Your comments are much appreciated and continue to help us as we work on improvements.

Changes in the works include:
  • modifying the search results presentation. Comments heard include that the search results take up a lot of room and being able to present availability would be nice. Look for changes to search results.
  • more coming soon lists and titles! We realize that you love our coming soon lists! We'll be working on presenting more and better.
  • staff picks. Besides finding staff picks in the bottom carousels, access to any staff person's picks was not the easiest thing to find. We are building a list of staff pick names so that you have easier access to locating your favorite staff's recommends!
And ~ because things change all the time ~ hats off to all high school graduates in Littleton schools! May your futures be blessed with opportunities!

Monday, May 10, 2010

New Changes!


If you have not yet seen the changes to the website, then look now! After hearing that our Coming Soon lists were so popular, we have recreated them on the new website. The top carousels of the Books, Movies and Music pages are titled Coming Soon and feature just that. There are now links next to Coming Soon which take you to the lists of more Coming Soons and bestsellers, too!

Thanks for your great input and feedback to the website. It has been much appreciated.

Monday, May 3, 2010

We're Listening


to your input ~ thx for the input received as we round the corner to week 2 of the new website. Many of you have commented that you miss our Coming Soon lists. We have responded that the Recently Ordered is another version of the list. The difference is that Recently Ordered provides everything that has been ~ well ~ recently ordered. The Coming Soon lists were hand picked titles and more select presentations.

With lots of backroom conversations, we have come up with a presentation of Coming Soon lists. As this blog is being written, work is being done to enhance the website with such lists. Look for it yet this week, barring extreme technical difficulties.

Some have commented in not finding the search box - it is placed in the upper right corner.

Thanks to those who have replied regarding what they want to see in Recently Ordered lists - how they might want them ordered or further sorted.

All of this leads to an appreciation for our public. In rolling with the changes, in providing input and ~ gratifyingly ~ letting us know they love our libraries and our services. Thank You!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Week 1 - Post Launch


Like getting ready to throw a big bash - are the tablecloths ironed? Is there enough food? Are we sure we sent invitations to all the right people? Well, launch happened on Thursday and while we are sure we sent invitations out, maybe all the tablecloths weren't pressed........

Thank you ~ one and all ~ for your input and insights and feedback. They are much appreciated. From you we have learned that you loved our Coming Soon lists on the old website, that you very much use the Prospector link for obtaining materials and seek easy access to the downloadables.

For those of you following or finding the blog, answers to the findability of these three things is provided here:

  • Coming Soon lists have been replaced by Recently Ordered lists. Look for these in the Books, Movies and Music tabs in the Browse boxes
  • Prospector can be found when you are looking at your search results. In the left box labelled Search scroll down to find the Search other libraries using Prospector link. At this time, the search you performed does not carry over to Prospector.
  • Downloadables can be found under the Books tab > Browse box > Audiobooks or the OnDemand tab > Online Books.
Issues we quickly resolved include handling items placed in your cart for ease of checkout. Next on our list ~ this week ~ is improving the loading speed of the site.

Keep your comments coming!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Whoo Hoo - Launch Week!


Our final list of to do's are being worked on this week in anticipation of our launch on Thursday. Thanks for your comments and for your patience during this process. We hope you will enjoy using the new website and the features it provides.

Even as we prepare to launch, we are asking ourselves questions about how you use the library ~ specifically recently ordered materials. We are going to some of the computer classes to ask patrons about recently ordered. If you would like to participate, the questions are provided below.

1. Do you use the "Featured Lists of recently ordered items" in our catalog?
If no, how do you find items to place on hold?

2. How would you like to be able to view recently ordered/new materials?
Newest first
Alphabetically by title
Alphabetically by author
Format
Genre
Subject
Reading level
Other
3. What information would you like to see about each item in a recently ordered list?
Title
Author/actor/artist
Ratings/reading level
Tags
Availability
Summary
Other?
4. How often would you like the new material lists to be updated?

5. Is there any other information you'd like to tell us about finding/viewing recently ordered or coming soon library materials?

Monday, April 12, 2010

Tick tock, tick tock


As the countdown continues for us we hope you are enjoying the look, the feel, the different approach taken for the new website.

We have continued on with our to do list and can now cross off the databases. It takes some internal configuration to have them connect for you - both internally when you are in the libraries using the databases and externally when you are anywhere else connecting to us. What a great deal databases are for us all! Free access to tons of magazine and newspaper articles ~ practice SAT and GRE tests among others ~ free language learning ~ online books for your kiddies to become engaged with reading ~ Consumer Reports full text ~ and tons more! If you haven't had the opportunity to check out these rich resources, try 'em now!

Monday, April 5, 2010

The countdown continues

Til launch date later this month. It's hard to believe we flipped the calendar and it is April already. The weather has been holding out and my daffodils have enjoyed blooming for a few days now without the snow to bother them......until tomorrow........

We have continued to work on making use of the tagging feature on the new website. While the current site does not let us search for tagged items, you can find them once you click on a title (if that item has been tagged) or within someone's Pick page. Clicking on the tag will take you to a list of further discovery.

For instance Diana Gabaldon books have been tagged outlander series and you can find the alex rider series. Other features we have been working on include adding links in staff reviews to more content - like booklists in our fabulous teen and Tales websites.

The preview continues through the next two weeks - keep those comments coming!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Enjoy the spring weather and the website updates!



Updates made to the website:
  • we are working on pulling the number of holds so they appear when you click on "check availability"
  • the pagination works when you click on a facet (those boxes which contain topics in the Books, Movies & Music tabs) and we have included the page numbering at the top of the box for additional convenience
  • we will provide a place and space for the Featured Lists found on the current website to reside on the new website
Keep your comments coming ~ we're listening!

Monday, March 22, 2010

What we know......

Wow - thx for the comments! Your input is much appreciated ~ keep them coming! Here are some of the things we know that is happening during this beta period:
  • the site will be slower loading than it should be. we have not optimized the website and will do so before launch date so that it loads more quickly
  • the site can perform actions more slowly now due to the regular import of catalog items that is happening. in fact you may get error messages on the screen as a result. please bear with us!
Lastly, your comments regarding the Recently Ordered have generated conversations internally - thank you!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Beta Launch Week!


Look for the article on Wednesday's website which directs you to the url to preview the new website. After weeks of blogs and updates, we can finally unveil the website for your live interaction!

We hope you will take the new website for a test drive. Please know that it's still under development and we are still working on improvements. Your input is important to us; use this blog to post your comments and observations.

In the meantime and ahead of the Wednesday article, the new website can be found here. Enjoy!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Updates for the week - progress made



Greetings this second Monday in March to all. This post arrives with the good news that one of our technical details has been resolved. In the testing and searching performed on the new site, we have noticed that some titles have not pulled in complete information. So ~ all you see is the author and title ~ but no description and no MARC record. When we check the catalog this information IS there........

Sleuthing has revealed the problem with non-Latin characters (e.g. the accents over letters) causing a hiccup. It seemed to stick out like a sore thumb with the Harry Potter books! Why? The illustrator is French! Once we rewrote code (yea, John!) then we could start the import process for these items to provide better data to end users.

Another piece of progress is the ability to more quickly see "extras" that have been in the catalog but not originally in the website design. Now clicking on "view extras" can provide professional reviews, series information and table of contents.

Our work continues ~ here's hoping this week brings only rain and not snow. My flower bed is starting to think spring!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Reviews are up and running!


Updates have been made to the website account portion of the new website. Users can now write their reviews directly to the site. This is a great feature for our staff who regularly submit content on all types of materials. We hope to see lots of non-staff input, too.

Since we've announced this update to staff, the Picks carousel (where new reviews are immediately posted) has already turned over new content! The tiny screen shot posted here shows the Picks carousel.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Snow and Progress Made !



I am of the persuasion that spring sports are meant to be played in spring - with warmer weather and none of this white stuff on the ground! With my griping out of the way, I am ready to report on website progress made:

1. Writing reviews - which has been disabled for fixing, is now operational again. There are some cosmetic changes still to be made, but the function is good!

2. We're working on adding content to the OnDemand tab.

3. Some minor fixes have been made in the Spanish page facets to get a couple of these working.

On a related note, I want to share a couple of things reported in a talk by Vanessa Fox, search-engine expert. She says "about a quarter of web searches are one word; another quarter two words; 3% are eight words or more.+" Is it any different when users come to the library website? I'm thinking yes, because many titles are more than two words, right? But if you consider author searches then maybe we're just entering two words.

One of the things we are discovering is that the more specific you can be in the search box, the better your chance of your result rising to the top. Here's a couple of examples:

*The Help by Kathryn Stockett. In the search box "The Help" is a title keyword search and "The" is a throw-away word not being searched so we are left with a myriad of hits based on "Help" in the title. But, try searching "The Help Stockett" and see where you find the title - on the first page of results!

*Here's another example. The movie "Up" is now out in DVD and available in libraries. Again, using a popular word alone in the search box returns way too many results. But ~ if you use "Up Asner" in the search box, you end up with the movie on the first page of results!

At least from a library point-of-view, a little more information will return more satisfying results. Try it and let me know what you find!

+Cited from Joseph Janes, "Info the Woods," American Libraries, January/February 2010, p 34.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Happy Tuesday - A New Tab Is Born!


We continue to chug along with improvements to the website. At this time we have no date to provide you for a beta launch - but please stay tuned!

The latest update is the addition of a new tab. It's been awhile since we've posted an image of the home page - here's the top part showing you the tabs. As you remember, we've had the tabs for Books, Movies and Music as our standard navigation by format for browsing. With the addition of more ebooks into our repertoire it makes sense to add a tab called On Demand. Much like you've seen on other websites, On Demand for libraries means access to information electronically. You will be able to find audio books, ebooks, streaming titles and an entry to our research databases. Within research databases you will find e-reference titles, too. Under this tab we will link out out movie and tv show resources as well as music to provide users with a full-bodied experience since we don't have these resources available as part of the collection. Comments or input about this new tab? Would love to hear from you!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Refinements


This past week we worked on and worked on hammering out the basic philosophy of the new website; things you've read here but put all together in one piece. The purpose of this piece is to better understand and then develop what staff need to know about the new website - for themselves and to talk to patrons.

We also consolidated the major work into buckets of work and have attached hours to them. So, onward and upward we progress!

To digress from website work, did you watch the Apple announcement of its new device, the iPad? Being a Mac family at home, we were engaged with about the first half of the presentation. My daughter was excitedly saying, "I want one, I want one!" The jury is still out, rather you can't get your hands on one yet but I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see if this changes the reading community. If you can play games on the iPad with its larger (more senior-friendly?!?!?) screen, then is reading going to be easier and more enjoyable? Publishers are just beginning to create interactive books where you read the print but can follow along on a website for additional content. The iPad might provide a 3-D experience of reading where you see the location or can see the action as it happens. Will the concept of imagination be lost to us?

In the meantime, welcome snow! At least we're not on the East Coast digging it all out!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Website Work Continues/Book My Love Contest!


Website preview parties have been in full swing introducing the new website to staff. Thanks to all staff who have been able to come and preview - interact - ask questions!

We continue our work and prioritization of it so that the major issues can be resolved sooner than later.

In the meantime, please check out our teen Facebook. We're running our Book My Love contest through February 15 to name your favorite teen title! To enter, you only need upload the cover on the wall. Check out other entries on the Fan Photos Wall. Got any bets for which title might win?

Monday, January 25, 2010


It's a great Monday ~ no posting last week due to the libraries being closed.

On the website front, we are working a lot on the internals - technical work that still needs to be accomplished and taking the website to staff for them to discover and interact with the site. I am so very pleased to report that the feedback has been so positive! Staff are interested, are setting up accounts and are posting their reviews on library materials! Wow - it is so intriguing to see what is being posted to the site - I hope you will be as interested as I am when it opens to you - the public - as well! (ps the image is a book cover of From Slave Ship to Freedom Road that I just posted to the new site.)


Monday, January 11, 2010

Progress!


Progress is hearing the sound of the school bus running again after the winter break....

Progress is not seeing the dust on top of the refrigerator, even if you had to get the step stool to reach in the first place.....

Progress is marking off "to-do" items from the website list and that is continuing on an ongoing basis. We made considerable progress in the mystery of "why won't some records import?" - and we think it has to do with accents and other such characters added to letters which somehow became a dam and prevented import. Now that we've got that working, many more records are now in our website. Whew - it did not help when the illustrator of the Harry Potter books became the "stop" because of her name!

On another front, we are updating information on sites such as Librarything Local and even our Google maps presence in order to be in the places where users might anticipate finding us. Should you see Arapahoe Library District in the virtual world with incorrect information, please post the link to this blog - your help is much appreciated!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Happy New Year of the Tiger!


For those of you who follow the Chinese calendar, 2010 is the Year of the Tiger. In our extended family, we celebrate together with special foods (for luck and for health, of course!) and we find out which family members celebrate their "year."

The latest work on the website has been to prioritize our list of to do's. Part of this is based on the input received from our management team and part of it has been an internal list we've been keeping. In getting more organized we are moving away from our multi-tabbed spreadsheet to our internal ticketing system for better process and flow. We still have a number of known issues we are working on and ask for your patience as we continue to work through these. Continue to check the blog and/or the website for the announcement of our beta launch. The website will be previewed for staff during January.

In the meantime, health and happiness to you in the Year of the Tiger.