Here is the content of the Technology Projects Update report that was presented to the Technology Committee on January 8, 2014.
Bandwidth Upgrades & Network Convergence
- The following libraries were converted to Charter with VPN: Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin Dells, SCLS, and Monroe. Currently, there are 6 additional conversions to Charter with VPN scheduled.
- Three libraries are scheduled for network convergence which puts us close to completion of this project.
- Work is under way to move the Madison—South Madison branch to the MUFN network.
- SCLS staff have been participating in preliminary discussions for a Oregon/McFarland/Stoughton Community Area Network (CAN). We have also been in communication with the Verona School District regarding a possible connection to fiber in that area.
- Late-breaking news. DPI has informed us that there is the possibility that we may able to get more bandwidth for less money through Teach and the BCN. More importantly, the upgrades will mean that some libraries move to fiber. There will be a series of phone conferences in the upcoming months that will provide us with the details that we need to plan for the future. In the mean time, this is causing us to create a contingency to the contingency plan (VPN). We are re-evaluating our plan to move libraries to VPN as quickly as we can. The final outcome will all depend on timing, costs and how close to a “sure thing” any improvements will be.
E-commerce –We have requested additional development to make sure that all data that is required by Envisionware is available from Koha. This work will be incorporated into the LibLime Koha 4.18 release.
Software & PCs
- Paint.net was added to all patron PCs. For full details on this software, please see the Technology News Blog post.
- OverDrive Media Console has now been added to all patrons PCs. Please see the blog post on this.
- New PC Status reports have been posted. We have switched to a new inventory tracking system which does automatic scans of equipment every night and allows us to generate the PC Status reports more easily. Full details are provided in the blog post on this.
- Finally a Technology news blog post was written that explains how software is updated. Please read this as it spells out exactly which PCs get updated and when.
Drupal -- Of the 27 original sites slated for migration, 13 are live, and 14 are in varying stages of completion. Training sessions are scheduled for February-April.
LTE – We hired Adam Lensmire as our new LTE. Adam started on November 6 and he has been trained to image PCs and install software. He is also responsible for prepping our spares pool. Most recently Adam has been receiving training on Help Desk support. Adam will be covering the Help Desk for part of each day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We are really grateful to have Adam working with us!
Enterprise Wireless Update—An important upgrade was made to the Enterprise Wireless software. This upgrade helps us to control bandwidth hogs, future proofs the system, uses the network more efficiently and allows us to treat wireless laptops the same as wired. For complete details, see the Technology News blog post.
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