CCS News May 1, 2015

CCS News
 
MAY 1, 2015

CHRIS’ CORNER:
My new Civic does not have a volume knob on the radio. Instead there are both steering wheel controls and a touch screen slide bar. While many car reviewers dislike this new design, I have quickly grown to appreciate it. This design change broke my ingrained habit of reaching for a knob and encouraged me to start using the steering wheel control, which is both safer for the driver and incredibly more efficient.

This design change is a result of the concept Kaizen, which means “change for the better.” Kaizen first became popular in manufacturing and has spread to other areas as well.  The key is to constantly revisit everything in order to think about how it could be changed for the better and eliminate waste.

Being new to CCS, I have the benefit of fresh eyes. However I’m sure those of you who have been at CCS longer than 2 weeks recognize things that could change for the better. I’d love to hear your Kaizen ideas for CCS.  Please feel free to email me your suggestions cholly@ccs.nsls.lib.il.us
                   
FROM THE COMPUTER ROOM:
TWO OF THE HOTTEST TOPICS FOR THE "COMPUTER IN LIBRARIES" CONFERENCE:
(1)   BibFrame which will allow our content to be discoverable on the web.  Web discovery of our content was a heavily repeated must have for the future.  [Editor’s Note: this is Linked Data, also perhaps the major buzz at the SirsiDynix National Users Group meeting (COSUGI).]

(2)   MakerSpace which is a teen oriented space within your library serving the Maker Movement.  This positions the library to engage with the teens in our communities. If we build it they will come.  A number of CCS libraries have implemented Maker Spaces or something similar already and more are in the works.

CCS SOCIAL WEBSITE:
We are in the planning/development stages of creating a social/collaborative section of the CCS website, where all of the library groups can share ideas, documents and tricks & tips on virtually any subject.  This would be driven by you, the library staff, and have aspects such as profile pages for both individuals & groups, file sharing (documents, pictures, videos etc.), chat rooms and more. The product we are currently leaning toward is EasySocial – you can read more about it at: http://stackideas.com/easysocial. You can view a demo of their product here, http://easysocial.stackideas.com/ , and also a demo of the administrative backend here: http://easysocial.stackideas.com/administrator/.

NON-BAR CODE ENTERPRISE USER ID OPTION IS READY!  (THANK YOU, JOEL HAHN):
The project to move driver's license, etc. data from the Symphony user Alt ID field to the LICENSE field is complete. More than 150,000 user records were modified.

For those libraries who record drivers' license/state ID/etc. information, please make sure that your staff are using the LICENSE field for that. Do NOT use the Alt ID field for license/ID numbers anymore. (Also, please make sure that your staff do not enter the hyphens in drivers' license and state ID numbers; there are a few people out there who are still doing that.)

For those libraries who record a brief description of the type of ID that was presented at registration, please make sure that your staff are using the TYPE_OF_ID field for that. Do NOT use the LICENSE field for "type of ID presented" notes anymore.

If a patron insists upon using something other than the bar code as their Enterprise user ID, please enter it in the ALTID field.  It must be 20 characters or less, entered in upper case, and not obscene. You can also set your Enterprise Profile to display the ALT ID in My Account.  The bar code for a patron with an ALT ID will also still work to access Enterprise. 

CCS MEETINGS NEXT WEEK:

None!  (How did that happen?  Don’t worry, there will be plenty the following week.)