Falcon Meeting

 

Date:     08/19/04

 

Present:

Aurora, Berkshire, Cato, Cortland, Groton, McGraw, Newfield, Poplar Ridge,  Port Bryon, Seneca Falls, TCPL, Trumansburg, Union Springs, Waterloo, Weedsport, Rex,  Eric, Jan, Karen, and Robert from FLLS.

Absent:

Alternative, Apalachin, Auburn, Candor, Cincinnatus, Dryden, Fair Haven, Homer, Interlaken, Lodi, Marathon, Moravia, Newark Valley, Nichols, Ovid, Owego, Spencer, and Waverly.

Minutes:

Approval of February minutes, with addition of Union Springs to the section of libraries present at the Falcon Meeting 5/20/2004. Motion to accept by Trumansburg, seconded by Aurora, passed.

 

Additions to the agenda: Transit messages, Agency2 and MISCR.

Old Business:

 

1)      Rex discussed the Trainers Toolbox grant. The Trainers Toolbox is a portable training lab that will contain a presenter’s laptop, a projection unit, a projection screen, and 10 student laptops in rolling cases. The presenter’s laptop will have several different PowerPoint presentations and handout packets that will tie into the PowerPoint presentations available on a variety of subjects. This equipment will be purchased in September, a workshop on using the equipment will be held in October and the complete “Trainers Toolbox “available for use in November.

 

2)      The committee has looked at two products so far, GIS (Polaris) based out of Syracuse and Dynix (Horizon) based out of Provo, Utah. Observations from the committee were discussed.

 

3)      Jan discussed the training in 2004. Attendance has been down at most workshops but this could be due in part to the conflict of the class schedule with summer reading. Training on the Trainer’s Toolbox, including how to use PowerPoint will be sometime in October. All libraries are encouraged to attend the workshops. All future sessions will be based on the Train the Trainer model. This means you will be able to take the material back and feel comfortable training your staff. Topics covered in August will be Basic Windows, in September, Basic Excel and the Trainers Toolbox in October and Children’s Database Workshop in November

 

4)      Rex discussed the latest update on the ILS committee. Four ILS vendors have demonstrated their product. Of the four Sirsi was eliminated due to multiple uses of the mouse and awkward workflow. That leaves Innovative Interfaces, Dynix Horizon, and GIS Polaris. These will be narrowed down to two and site visits will be arranged. We are waiting on the updated quotes from the remaining vendors. Projected date of migration is July of 2005.

 

 

 

 

New  Business:

 

1)      Rex reminded everyone to be careful when assigning ownership to your holdings, (Agency2). If you receive an item through ILL, do NOT change ownership. This increases the number of items which are put into “in transit” and the item gets sent back to the wrong agency.

 

2)      There was a discussion on Transit and Transit Hold items. Transit items are those items that are checked in but need to be returned to the library that owns that item. Transit Hold items are those items that are checked in at library and need to fill a hold from another library. Be sure the blue transit slip is printed and inserted in the book pocket. Also check the printing periodically to be certain the information is printing dark enough to read. When the printing gets light, it’s time to change the receipt printer ribbon. They are available through CNS department for $4.00 a piece.

 

3)      The Trainer’s Toolbox was discussed. This was purchased with a grant through Library Development. This toolbox will contain 10 laptops, a wireless access point, projection unit, screen, presenters laptop loaded with a PowerPoint presentation and any handouts needed for the class, all in a waterproof case. It will be ordered in September, set up in October and available starting late October, early November. The software ordered has the capacity to revert back to the original specifications after the laptops have been used in a class. The training session on how to setup the toolbox and run a PowerPoint presentation will be held regionally in October. This workshop is mandatory if you intend to utilize the Trainers Toolbox.

 

4)      A draft copy of the Falcon Budget for 2005 was handed out. This is a draft only. Rex explained the budget line by line.

 

5)      Rex discussed the new Public Web browser. Registration is due to expire in August. New registration number will be sent out by email. The new version of HIP (Horizon Information Portal) with the ADA interface (skin) has some problems. Dynix continues to try and resolve these issues. Eric recommended that you do not run the Service Pac2 Windows update if you have Windows XP. This update was released on the 25th and needs to be tested first. We have ordered the update on a CD to reduce the download time. Please keep your virus definition files up to date. We no longer support Windows 95 as of January 2004 and support for Windows 98 will go away soon.

 

 

 

Meeting adjourned:

                 11:50 am

 

Next Meeting:

                Nov 18th. All meetings are now 9:30 – 11:30 am