Presentations from Manager Boot Camp

Hello,

I have created at Boot Camp page (http://hplnlmeetingdiscussions.blogspot.com/) and am slowly adding the presentations and some handouts from our various presenters.  I will also add answers to the questions asked during the week as they come in.

Thanks,

Laurie

Personalized Reading Lists (AKA Readers Advisory)

Hello,

Saima Kadir shared this information with us.

Our little known Readers’ Advisory service (formerly known as “Have you Read…?” with an extremely long submission form) is getting a lot of hits since we launched the new website. Ruby Robinson of Central Teen Room manages the service and is in dire need of a few adventurous library staff who will help out with preparing custom reading lists for customers. This the type of work that will make you go “oh now I remember why I became a librarian”! We are looking for folks who are specialists (or at least feel comfortable finding a dozen titles) in select genres such as Christian Fiction, Inspirational Fiction, Kids and Tweens titles, Spanish titles, non-fiction especially business and biographies. Currently there are about 15 staff system-wide who help out with RA. The average monthly requests have been about 25 since October 2014 (before the new website, we used to get 2-3 per month; most months we received 0).

So if you would like to participate or know of someone who might be interested, please let us know. A reasonable expectation is preparing about 2-3 custom reading lists per month with a turnaround time of about 3 days excluding holidays and weekends. Most requests are for mystery, thriller, sci-fi/fantasy and other fiction titles.

Take a look at the RA form yourself and let me know what you think.

If you are interested in participating, please get your supervisors approval and email Saima and Ruby.

Thanks,

Laurie

IT Services December 26th and 27th

Houston Public Library’s Central Library will be closed on December 26^th, 27^th, and 28^th for HVAC maintenance.  

The HALAN Helpdesk will be relocated to the Carnegie Neighborhood Library on December 26^th and  27^th and will be available via the normal Helpdesk numbers: 832-393-1570.  The Helpdesk will notify IT staff deployed in NL locations to assist you.

On Sunday December 28^th helpdesk assistance will be available for emergencies only (system or software outages) and can be reached by calling the IT emergency phone at 713-302-7196.

While we hope to offer normal services on Friday and Saturday, we expect some non-critical services will need to be postponed until Monday December 29^th.  We appreciate your patience as we work to serve you on these days.

Please contact me if you have questions or concerns before or during this time.

Thank you.

Judith

Judith Hiott, Chief

Houston Area Library Automated Network

500 McKinney

Houston, TX  77002

832-393-1476 (office)

Turning on alternate phone greetings - Updated 12/18/14

Hello,

To change and turn on the alternate greeting, please call 832-395-1299.

1. When prompted for ID enter "2580".
2. When prompted for password enter "0852".
3. When prompted for the extension of the call handler, enter 1 and the full 10 digit number of the branches main phone number.
4. Listen to the prompts, they will let you activate/deactivate/record an alternate greeting among other things.  The alternate greeting should be used on holidays (July 4 for example).  To use it, record a greeting for it, then activate it.  While the alternate greeting is active, all other greetings and busy/closed behavior are ignored.  Deactivate the alternate greeting when the holiday is over.

IT is trying to find out why you cannot use the IP phones to set up the greeting.  If we hear before the holiday that it has been fixed, I will let you know.

Thanks,

Laurie

Mobile App issue

Customers are not able to access their account info on the mobile HPL app. Virtual Services has reported this to Boopsie, our app developer. 

Searching for events - update

If you search for events using the "search the website" feature, it now shows library location. Here's an example of a search result for "excel":

Basic Excel ( ESL)

... will practice all the components they learned during MS Excel Basics 1, using different types of exercises to understand and apply the ... offers. Prerequisites: Computer Basics 1, Windows 7, MS Excel 1. En este curso los estudiantes practicarán todos los componentes ...
Location: HPL Express Southwest

Let Virtual Library team know if you have any questions.

Saima

Film License Survey

Don't forget to complete the film license survey for Jennifer Schwartz.  She has limited money so every location will not get a license.  If you want to be considered, please  complete the survey below.

Thanks!

Laurie

It is that time of year again, when we must make decisions on which locations will be best suited for the limited number of movie licenses we can purchase for the next calendar year. As many of you know, we were once fortunate enough to have system wide licenses that were covered by the Loan Star grant, but due to cuts in state funding, we now have to cover movie licenses with our limited private funds. Therefore, we need your help in determining where the need is greatest and where the licenses would best be put to use.  

Please work with the staff members at your locations involved in programs, to prepare attendance statistics (Number of times you showed a movie in 2014 and total attendance) as well any special justification for why your location needs a license.  Please use the form below to fill in these answers by Friday, December 26, 2014, at 5 PM.

Thank you!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1U5ISW0_Dwns-pQzHpVJZSEKIty3WVnqt4KagrRDH55o/viewform?usp=send_form

Jennifer Schwartz--Programming Manager