SCLS Technology News

November 2014 Projects report

Technology Report for 11/12/14 Technology Committee Meeting

Library Fiber Project -
• 35 libraries have had bandwidth upgrades
• 5 libraries are in a ‘holding pattern’ because DOA and AT&T are having some ‘bureaucratic issues’.
• 3 libraries as scheduled to be completed before the end of the year
• 1 library will be completed in 2015 after their new building is built

Library-MUFN – UW network engineers have completed network design plans for HAW. The design requires attaching to some City of Madison fiber so this will need to be presented to city staff for consideration.

E-commerce – On November 4, we completed final testing. Everything looks good to go. Go live is not anticipated until January, 2015 since it will take as at least 6 weeks from final testing is complete to do the final implementation. Libraries will be receiving the plan shortly.

Office 365 – All of the libraries with @scls.lib.wi.us addresses that are migrating to Office 365 through SCLS have migrated.

The last portion of this project is the migration of SCLS-hosted email lists from the SCLS email server to WiscNet. The Office 365 Team will share more information about this move as they iron out the details and timelines.

Library Online Upgrade – The Tech Team is planning for an upgrade of the Library Online servers from version 4.4 to 4.9. This will then enable us to upgrade the Library Online clients to version 4.9 which will fix a pesty bug which caused PCs to log off due to inactivity when they were actively being used. The upgrade is scheduled for November 19th after hours.

2015 SCLS Technology Plan - The technology team has been developing the technology plan for 2015. The first draft of the plan is here. 

Five Year Technology Plan for DPI - This year DPI changed the five year system technology plan to an online format and asked every library to submit a new plan. SCLS is working hard to make this a plan that we can live with four five years. We anticipate that it will be a living document which will guide the structure of our annual technology plan. The annual plans will be structured to the goals in the five year plan forward. The five year plan will be reviewed by the Technology Committee, the ILS Committee, the Administrative Council and the SCLS Board. It will also be shared at the All Director’s meeting on November 20. The draft of the five year plan is located here.

Cindy Weber moving to ILS position-- Cindy Weber will be moving into the position left open by Joanna Jordan and will be working with Heidi to support circulation. Cindy has a long history of working with the ILS staff. She currently supports Talking Tech, notices and offline circulation. Cindy also has experience with documentation and training, and of course many years of technology help desk support experience. Finally, Cindy is still the go to person for Koha reports. With all of this, it seemed like a natural fit to have Cindy work full time on the ILS. The ILS staff are excited to work with her in this new role. Of course, this means that Technology Support is losing an employee. There will be an evaluation of this vacancy, but that is another story. Cindy will slowly transition to the ILS and will be ready to work on ILS full time as of January 1, 2015.

Drupal - 22 of 41 member library websites have been migrated to Drupal. On October 15, a Drupal security vulnerability was announced which allowed unauthorized access to SCLS-hosted Drupal sites before we were able to apply a recommended update. We rolled back all sites and reapplied the update to secure all sites and eliminate the possibility of further unauthorized access. We are making plans to virtualize the server hosting Drupal sites to improve our ability to cope with this type of issue in the future. We have also added server RAM and made site and server configuration changes to mitigate sporadic issues with slow page loads.

September 2014 Project Report

© 2012 Robert, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

Technology Report for 9/10/14 Technology Committee Meeting

Library Fiber Project - The bandwidth upgrade project is nearing completion. 25 libraries have had bandwidth increases to-date. 7 libraries have completed the inside-the-building pre-requisite work necessary to bring fiber into their library. We are now working on moving most libraries that have moved to Charter and VPN back to BadgerNet. 5 libraries have moved from a VPN solution back to BadgerNet after fiber had been installed.

Library-MUFN - The Madison Meadowridge Branch is the third Madison Public Library System to come up on MUFN (Metropolitan Unified Fiber Network). The next library in the queue is the Hawthorne Branch.

E-commerce - There is one last issue that surfaced during the final software setup phase that is an issue with Envisionware and VeriFone. It is back in the hands of Envisionware. Once that issue is fixed, we will announce implementation plans. We are asking ILS for a 4 month period to work out how fines / fees will be distributed.

O365 - Things are going GREAT! Between June and August 90% of SCLS libraries participating in Office 365 have migrated. The Office 365 team is working with the remaining libraries to schedule their migration dates. The next phase of this project is to move SCLS-hosted email lists to WiscNet over the course of the next few months.

Windows 8.1 - Most new staff computers will have Windows 8.1 installed on them. SCLS Headquarters and Monroe are the first locations to have new Windows 8.1 staff stations. A Windows 8.1 configuration for public stations is being developed right now. Both the staff and patron configuration will be very similar to the Windows 7 configuration.

Limited Term Employees - We hired two new half time LTE employees to assist with covering the Help Desk, prepping PCs and data entry work. They are Jordan Rueden and William Allington. Both Jordan and Will are participating in IT programs at MATC. We are happy to have them on board!

Madison Public Library Meadowridge Branch - SCLS Technology services staff have worked with Madison Public Library to meet the needs for the new building. This included preparation of the network, installation of PCs, support for VendPrint and Enterprise Wireless. All the work is complete and ready for the library opening which is slated for next week.

Drupal - 20 of 40 member library websites have been migrated to Drupal. This summer, we welcomed DFT and DCL to the list of Drupal sites hosted by SCLS and kept sites up to date with security releases. Samuel Streiffer has returned to SCLS for the next year as an LTE and will be assisting with website content migration and programming.

2015 LSTA Grant: The 2015 LSTA grant technology was submitted on Monday, September 8. The grant includes the following:

• Purchase network equipment to increase the bandwidth in libraries with a critical need ($15,000)
• Provide assistance for libraries planning to join the shared ILS (LINKcat) using the open source LibLime Koha software ($2,000)
• Provide a Discovery Layer for the LINKcat OPAC of the shared ILS ($18,000)
• Create maker kits for libraries to use in their programming ($8,900):
• Sewing machines and cases (6)
• Portable 3-D printer and filament
• iPads for stop motion videos (also light boxes, microphones, lights, tripods and software) (6 total)
• 6 photo/slide/negatives scanners.
• SCLS will purchase laptops to support the kits for a total approximate cost of $3,000.

SCLS Technology Day--April 29 at Madison Public Library Central

SCLS to hold a Technology Day, April 29 9:15 to 3:45

Come and check out the new Madison Public Library Central branch and hear Head Bubblerian, Trent Miller, talk about the new and innovative programming happening at the library. Then take your choice of table talks and find out more about LINKcat/Koha, OverDrive (including some new devices), Square for payments, LibraryBox, Awesome Box and 3D printing, or brainstorm with your colleagues about new technologies and how you can utilize them in the library. Stay for the afternoon and get a sneak peek at Office 365 and a tour of the Library.

Registration

Registration is open and available here:

http://host.evanced.info/scls/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=1969

 

Full Agenda

 

9 - 9:15 Registration & Refreshments (Chocolaterian)

 

9:15 - 10:30 Bubbler & Hackerspace Programming with Trent Miller, Head Bubblerian, Madison Public Library

 

Hackerspace, makerspace, community workshop. Call it what you will but they are popping up all around the nation, including several in Wisconsin. Jesse Vieau and Trent Miller from Madison Public Library will share their experiences in creating the Bubbler, a community maker program that is featured in Madison's newly remodeled downtown library.

 

10:45 - 11:15; 11:15 - 11:45; 11:45 - 12:15 Table Talks

 

Koha/LINKcat Mobile Technologies Table (ILS Staff)

 

ILS staff will talk about ways that libraries are using Koha for mobile checkout, and mobile uses for reports. This will also be an opportunity for library staff to share what they have been doing.

 

Gadget/OverDrive Table with Jean Anderson

 

Jean will have a couple of new gadgets to share with you. In addition, we’ll talk about OverDrive Support and how your library can provide the best patron support possible.

 

Square for Payments with Sue Ann Kucher

 

Online credit card payment will be available for LINKcat users in late spring, 2014.  However, this service will be limited to fines and fees in Koha.  Hear how the Reedsburg Public Library uses Square as their cash register. In addition to fines and fees, they use Square to collect payments for Friends merchandise, donations, and Local History materials.

 

LibraryBox, Awesome Box, and 3D Printing with Ben Miller

 

Ben will talk about boxes in the library - the LibraryBox, Awesome Box, and 3 D printers (which are kind of box shaped) - and how Sauk City is using all three of these in the everyday life of the library. Bring your questions or examples and join the discussion.

 

Library Technology Innovations (Vicki Teal Lovely and Technology Staff)

 

This will be an open-ended brainstorming session to discuss miscellaneous technology needs.  Those present will set the topics.  For example, we could have an impromptu discussion about maker spaces.  Or, perhaps you want to try providing tablets for your libraries and you are wondering how others are accomplishing this. You can bring questions and/or your ideas to share.

12:15 - 1:30 p.m. Lunch (on your own)

1:30 - 2:30 p.m Office 365 Sneak Peek (repeated at 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.)

You’ve heard about Office 365, now it’s time to experience it!  Join us for a demo that will include an awesome overview, a chance to ask all of your great questions, and an opportunity to learn about what’s coming next! We’ll even have a few computers set up so you can try it out!

 

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Tour of Madison Public Library (repeated at 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.)

 

More Project Updates!

E-commerce
We have selected a merchant bank to set up a merchant account so that we can accept credit card payment via Envisionware. We are now in the process of completing paperwork to get this account set up. The next step will be to work with a Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance consultant at the bank to make sure that we are compliant with PCI standards.

Complying with the PCI standards may be the most difficult part of this process as it may involve making server modifications. This could take days or months depending upon the level of compliance required. PCI compliance is very serious as we need to assure the safety of patrons' credit card data. After this phase is done, we will be able to work with Envisionware and LibLime to get the credit card payment feature set up with Koha.

Crystal Reports (for Koha reports)
We have the Crystal Reports software installed on a local server. The next step is for the Crystal Reports consultant to come on site to set up the dashboard in Crystal Reports and to write two reports for us (including a weeding report). Part of this project will include the training of SCLS staff to write reports in Crystal Reports and to maintain the user interface. LSTA funds are being used to sponsor this project.

VPN
We will be conducting a VPN pilot project at a library before the end of January.

Windows 7
In the 3 days before Thanksgiving, SCLS Technicians converted 77 PCs to Windows 7 (bet they really worked up an appetite for turkey!).  This week they have visits scheduled to 6 libraries to install new Windows 7 PCs or convert existing PCs to Windows 7.

All-in-all, here's what things look like right now:

• 3 sites entirely on Windows 7
• 14 sites with all eligible staff PCs on Windows 7
• 5 sites with all eligible patron PCs on Windows 7
• ...for a grand total of 235 PCs converted to Windows 7 (that's about 1/5 of all PCs supported by SCLS!)

We're making progress!

Browser updates for "non-LINK" PCs
Site visits began on 10/18 and wrapped up by 11/14, resulting in browser updates for 211 PCs at 20 libraries.

Costs for Crystal Reports & Envisionware (e-commerce) in 2012 and 2013

We are moving forward with two projects that will require startup fees in 2012.  There will be some ongoing costs in 2013 and beyond but these costs will not increase the technology or ILS fees for participating libraries in 2013.  We will be using Crystal Reports software to develop an end-user reports interface for Koha.  We are using a portion of the 2012 LSTA Public Library System Technology grant to finance the bulk of the startup costs for Crystal Reports, including procuring a server, server setup, software licenses, training costs and the consulting fees to develop some prototype reports.   The new server will be rolled into the ongoing server maintenance plan.  We may need to pay software maintenance, but for 2013 we would cover those costs out of ILS contingency or with the 2013 LSTA grant.

We will be contracting with Envisionware for online credit card payment for the LINKcat libraries.  Again, there are startup fees for this service, but they will be paid for out of the ILS contingency.  There is an annual maintenance fee with Envisionware and there will be transaction fees both for the merchant bank and with Envisionware, but these costs will be deducted out of the fines and fees collected before they are distributed to the libraries.

We look forward to bringing these two exciting services to the LINKcat libraries and we are pleased to be able to do so without an increase in the 2013 payments.

[This article is also being posted to the Link2.0Koha blog.  For those of you who read both, we apologize for the duplication.]

--Vicki Teal Lovely