SCLS Technology News

Planning for PC replacement

It's mid-year -- the perfect time to review your library's PC Status Report and plan for your remaining 2015 PC replacements!

At the beginning of each month, SCLS posts updated PC Status Reports for each library that receives technology support from SCLS. These reports include purchase date, PC name, model, location, and more for SCLS-supported PCs, and can be used to plan for PC replacement. SCLS recommends libraries replace about 20% of the library's PCs each year so that none are older than five years.

Ordering SCLS-supported PCs and peripherals can be done through the Hardware Ordering webpage. Orders for 2015 PCs can be made until the 1st week in November (after that, the bills will be for 2016). Contact Craig for help with planning for equipment replacement or for questions about ordering.

PC services - factory defaults

SCLS offers cradle-to-grave support for PCs ordered and supported by SCLS. 

Sometimes when a PC hits the "grave" and is retired from the SCLS network, the library still wants to use that PC for something else. In these cases, SCLS tech staff can, as a courtesy, set a PC ordered through SCLS back to a basic Windows configuration like the one the PC had when it shipped from Dell.

There are some limitations:

• The PC must have been ordered through SCLS and have been recently removed from the SCLS network.
• This is a one-time deal. Tech staff will re-install the basic Windows configuration  for a library only one time per PC.
• This does not include Microsoft Office. PCs ordered through SCLS are not ordered with Office. If a library wants Office on a retired PC, they will be responsible for procuring their own copy of Office for the PC.

PC Support from Cradle to Grave: new support fees in 2015

PC support from SCLS Technology services is active the moment you order a PC (cradle) to the moment it is discarded (grave). We provide a full slate of services which are listed here.

In 2014, libraries agreed to a change in the way fees are charged. Beginning in 2015, SCLS charges a flat fee of $250 per PC or laptop that we support. If a PC or laptop was already supported by us in 2014, the fee was included in the Technology support bills that were recently sent out. Libraries also agreed that "Additional PCs, not included in the previous year’s count, will be charged a prorated PC maintenance fee for the remainder of the year in which they are purchased."  Beginning in 2015, SCLS will pro-rate the maintenance of PCs not previously supported by SCLS, based on the next full month after the PC is ordered (so if ordered in January, you will be charged $229). The fee will be added to your invoice.

Windows 8.1 for public PCs

In September we reported that we were rolling out SCLS-supported staff PCs with Windows 8.1. Today, we're happy to announce that we will begin deploying public PCs with Windows 8.1, too!

We will soon be pilot testing the new configuration at a library  (Thanks, WAU!). The basic setup is very similar to our Windows 7 public PCs, but with updated versions of the operating system and included programs.

After a successful pilot, all public PCs that come through our offices that have a Windows 8 license will be deployed with Windows 8.1. This will help to keep us current and prevent the need for massive upgrades in the future as operating systems are retired.

Ordering PCs in 2014

If you still need to order PCs, barcode scanners, or printers in 2014, please pay close attention to these dates:

Friday, November 14 - 2014 bill to you by December 2014.
Order by this date to guarantee you'll have a bill in your hands from SCLS by the end of 2014.

Friday, December 5 - 2014 bill to you by January 2015.
Order by this date if you need a bill dated 2014 but can accomodate the bill being delivered to you in January 2015.

To help libraries plan for PC replacements, SCLS regularly updates libraries' PC Status Reports. If you have any questions about ordering, please contact Craig.

The end of "non-LINK"

nce upon a time, there were 2 different groups of SCLS staff supporting 2 collections of library PCs on 2 different networks -- "LINK" and "non-LINK." In 2010, SCLS combined these groups of people and began the process of bringing the non-LINK PCs onto the SCLS network. Not all libraries had the infrastructure, bandwidth, or compatible hardware to make the switchover right away, but we finally hit a milestone last week --- all SCLS-supported PCs are now on the SCLS network with standard SCLS configurations. "Non-LINK" is no more, and we now just have "SCLS PCs."  (and everyone lived happily ever after)

Hip Hip Hooray!

What does this mean for member libraries?

• standard configurations
• streamlined processes
• regular updates
• SCLS-supported PCs on SCLS-supported networks

which all translates to improved economies of scale and BETTER SUPPORT.

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.

Updated PC Status Reports

To help libraries in their planning, we've posted updated PC Status Reports for each library that receives technology support from SCLS.

These reports are usually updated a couple times each year, but you can contact the Help Desk to request a current copy at any time. If computers were replaced at your library recently, there may be some discrepancies or an updated report may not have been posted yet. If you find that the information about PCs at your library is incorrect, please contact the Help Desk.

It is recommended that you replace about 20% of your library's PCs each year so that none are older than five years. The SCLS Hardware Support Policy, the PC Status Reports and the Hardware Ordering forms can be accessed from the SCLS Technology page.

Updated PC status reports

To help libraries in their planning, we've posted updated PC Status Reports for each library that receives technology support from SCLS.

These reports are usually updated a couple times each year, but you can contact the Help Desk to request an current copy at any time. If some computers were replaced at your library recently, there may be some discrepancies or an updated report may not have been posted yet. If you find that the information about PCs at your library is incorrect, please contact the Help Desk.

It is recommended that you replace about 20% of your library's PCs each year so that none are older than five years. The SCLS Hardware Support Policy, the PC Status Reports and the Hardware Ordering forms can be accessed from the SCLS Technology page.

New PC status reports

One of the things that the Tech Team did this fall was to move to new inventory software for tracking PC info and providing Workstation Status Reports for libraries to use in planning. The product we selected (Spiceworks) allows us to do automatic scans of devices at night. Automatic scans = less paperwork, and greater accuracy and efficiency because much of the information is now collected automagically! This is important as the number of SCLS-supported PCs nears 1200.

This new system is not foolproof or completely hands-free, of course. Some devices like laptops are not always on the network and may miss our regular scans. Some of the custom data we track like "location" and "SCLS silver tag" will still need to be tracked manually. However, the new system should save us time when it comes to data entry. It's also easy to query and makes it easy to see where we have missing information.

About 95% of the SCLS-supported devices have been scanned into the new system and had their custom information imported from the old system. New versions of the SCLS PC Status Reports have been posted and now include location information so you can more easily know where the PCs are in your building. Please review your library's report and let us know if information is incorrect or should be added, and please be patient with us as we try to round up the last 5% that's missing!