W. Frank Steely Library

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Systems Annual Report 2001-2

Overview

The Automation Division has been kept busy this past year with a variety of projects as well as maintaining current library technology operations. The primary responsibilities of the division are maintenance of the automated library system (NKUIRE) and troubleshooting for other hardware, software and networking issues. The division works in cooperation with the Office of Information Technology on issues as needed. The Automation Librarian attends monthly OIT meetings to keep abreast of campus-wide issues. The division also reviews the hardware and software needs of all library departments. Through working as part of the Technology Team (Automation Division personnel and Electronic Reference Services Librarian) the division makes recommendations on various library-wide technological needs. The team balances these needs with budget and staffing constraints. The division contacts various agencies outside the university, primarily Endeavor representatives, Kentucky Endeavor Work Group committee personnel, and other computer vendors for various issues. The Automation Librarian is primarily responsible for managing the division. The Systems Librarian is primarily responsible for NKUIRE troubleshooting and questions regarding Voyager software operations. The Systems Engineer is primarily responsible for networking and PC troubleshooting. The division also maintains an average of 20 student work hours per week for assistance in these duties. During the fiscal year, a total of 599 requests were resolved via the libauto troubleshooting email account. This is a decrease of 32 from the previous year. These included 36 printer requests (down from 46), 240 PC hardware/software requests (down from 269), 193 NKUIRE requests (down from 198) and 130 miscellaneous requests (up from 118).

Activities in the division can be subdivided into three broad categories: Voyager troubleshooting, networking/PC troubleshooting, and miscellaneous. These categories will be addressed in detail below.

Voyager Troubleshooting

After spending 2000/01 on Voyager implementation and upgrade issues, 2001/02 was spent on maintaining, and improving NKUIRE operations. There are many maintenance operations involved to keep the configurations up to date, including patron loading, library hours updating, user profiling, etc. There are also many questions that come about regarding how the system operates given the myriad of profiling options. The Systems Librarian is primarily responsible for resolving these types of problems. Staff are kept updated with changes in operations at the state-wide level through the participation of the Automation Librarian and Systems Librarian at the Kentucky Endeavor Work Group meetings. There is also a Voyager Team in the library made up of personnel from various departments. This team meets as needed to discuss Voyager related issues. There were several projects that took place this year related to NKUIRE operations. These included changes to WebVoyage design and statistics gathering for reports. There were also training opportunities for staff. The division setup Voyager training classes by Endeavor personnel for WebVoyage and reports, Attendance by library personnel to Voyager Access reports training at UK, and subsequent staff training by three library staff members were also offered. The division took leadership in proposing a program for checking of NKUIRE URL links (adopted) and for listing new books (not adopted). The division also set up test files for MARCIVE loading and the possible purchase of the Ingenta product.

Networking / PC Troubleshooting

The bulk of work in this area continues to revolve around troubleshooting PC/printer problems, reconfiguring replaced PCs, and setting up new PCs. Fewer PCs were replaced this year with new PCs (15 as compared to 43 last year). However, there was more shifting and upgrading of existing PCs. Due to the move of ET2 to the library, all PCs in the instruction room (204) replaced the LAN PCs. The LAN PCs were then redistributed throughout the library. The reconfiguration of new PCs and the shifting of other PCs required a lot of time. Memory upgrades to 12 PCs were also performed to extend the usefulness of older PCs. These switches and upgrades were done while juggling the libauto requests that needed attention. In addition, several other projects took place. A new Ariel PC/scanner and ADA compliant PC was setup, various Office/Windows 2000 upgrades were performed, and OPACs were reconfigured for more efficient operations. A lot of time was also spent this year resolving computer virus issues. Although student assistants help in this area, they also require a lot of "hand-holding" from the Systems Engineer due to their limited expertise and the number of hours they work. Several ports in the library were also reconfigured for laptop use. Also during the year, the campus IT department emphasized that all PC troubleshooting requests should be filtered through the library Automation Division. They have also authorized the division to install various software packages rather than IT personnel performing this operation.

Miscellaneous

The division continues to participate in a variety of library related technology projects. The Automation Librarian submitted a campus Technology mini-grant to fund a wireless laptop loan program. This project was funded and at year's end, wireless hardware ordering issues were being addressed. The Automation Librarian also began attending monthly IT meetings where campus technology issues are addressed. The music collection was also surveyed for a Music Library Association report. The Systems Librarian coordinated a survey of software training needs for the library. As a result, training in FrontPage, Access, Outlook, and PowerPoint was offered in the spring for library personnel. The Systems Engineer resolved UniPrint setup issues in both Steely and LRC libraries, set up new projectors in several training rooms and headed the electronic reserves implementation investigation. The Automation Librarian and Systems Engineer served on the General Use PC Committee and the Tech Team discussed the PC replacement plan and developed a document for the future of the division.

updated: Wednesday, 24-Aug-2005 11:52:09 EDT

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