NorCal IUG November 2017

This past Friday I carpooled down to Santa Clara to attend the 2017 NorCal IUG meeting. Two of my coworkers were presenting on their recent project of updating the public catalog, our WebPAC, so I wanted to support, as well as learn some new things about managing library systems.

Beautiful day to visit Santa Clara University with the peeps for NorCal IUG! #librarylyfe @librarymail @grandmothersbraid

A post shared by kelci m kelci (@bibliobebe) on Nov 17, 2017 at 9:40am PST

The NorCal IUG agenda covered diverse topics and the presentations were informative and inspiring. From Bill Schickling, rep from Innovative, I learned that Innovative is looking to release automatic renewals in Q2 of 2018 probably, and he summarized Innovative's development strategy as a choice between
Build it?
Buy it?
Partner?
which can be parlayed across most industries. Bill gave the group updates about Innovative's future as a company and the PPORs (product plan of record) for Sierra and Polaris.

The individual presentations were great. From Gem Stone-Logan I got pumped up to try scripting in Python. She herself has only been using Python for about a year and is self taught, and encouraged the use of the active listserv and Google in general. Her presentation, which is available on her website, gave a basic roadmap on how to get started. I really feel encouraged to try!

View out of a window near the large conference room on the 3rd floor of the SCU library. 

Next up was John Boggs, who mostly talked about automating tasks using MySQL as a way of saying "if I can do it, you can do it." I don't have experience with MySQL but my take away with Boggs's presentation, as well as Stone-Logan's, is that a lot of the work of systems librarians is repetitive--report pulling every month, for example--so the smart thing is to automate these tasks. And there is "more than one way to skin a cat" when it comes to automating.

Rounding out the presentations were Justine Withers and Anders Lyon, my colleagues from Gleeson. They gave the attendees an overview of our funky system of running Encore and WebPAC from the same interface (keyword goes to Encore, and every other type of search goes to our WebPAC, which we call Ignacio). They gave an overview of the aims of their project refreshing the interface, the function audit they performed, and how they are building buy-in and communicating with stakeholders. Although I already knew a bit about their project, I learned a lot--I thought it was especially wild that they discovered a pretty nice looking beta WebPAC sitting in the sandbox, already branded with USF logos and refreshed! I look forward to the day they give a similar presentation to library staff.

After lunch we got a chance to tour the SCU Automated Retrieval System (ARS). This system occupies where the old library once stood, and the current library is a new construction.

Library futures pic.twitter.com/MxQUnaPHjm

— gina (@librarymail) November 17, 2017

In the afternoon I attended the Circulation and resource sharing break out session. I learned of a lot of new types of collections public libraries are lending (hot spots, gardening tools, Chromebooks...), as well as new patron policies and types (forgiving fines, teacher p-types, etc.). That type of discussion was a refreshing nuts and bolts view of what libraries do that have a direct impact on the lives of their patrons, which is a far cry from the higher level topics at some academic library conferences. We also discussed the loss of the CSUs from Link+, and how the loss of the Claremont colleges may have been even a bigger blow. The conversation flowed freely, was respectful, and was well facilitated. I took special delight in the fact this session was held in SCU's bibliographic instruction lab (the equivalent to our Electronic Classroom) so I got to see what type of technology they use, how the room is configured, and how the room is secured. I was surprised to learn someone stole all the memory out of the iMacs in that lab at some point!

Picture of one group table of iMacs gathered around a wall-mounted screen. 

Picture of SCU's electronic classroom, with empty wired tables in middle, podium at front, projector screen at front, and one group table of iMacs gathered around a wall-mounted screen. 

Another picture of SCU's electronic classroom, with multiple group tables with iMacs and wall-mounted screens. iMacs sit down in a recessed area to create a better line-of-sight to instructor. 

All in all, I spent a wonderful day in the Santa Clara Library meeting with colleagues in the field and coworkers from back home. The campus is gorgeous and spread out, while the library--only about 10 years old--is spacious and well conceived. It is a model example of the learning commons framework.

The Road Paved by the Removal of Bound Periodicals

They removed a window from the 2nd floor of the library and are lifting book carts wrapped in cellophane with a wheel loader forklift down to the plaza. This apparently is the efficient way a company like Iron Mountain takes possession of mass quantities of bound volumes for storage. And their workers are efficient—the large team hustles to get the carts filled, moved down, and then loaded into the truck. While us librarians and library assistants enjoy the luxury of quiet summer at the University. Information professionals vs. manual laborers.

Of all the topics around which the academic activity of professional librarianship takes place, why are the matters of the physical library the least discussed yet are the ones that occupy my mind most? Am I low minded, have not yet cut my librarian teeth?

It is simply momentous to stroll into work and pass by dozens of carts of bound periodicals wrapped in cellophane placidly waiting for transport.

The most momentous is to come: the demolition of the stacks that formerly held the periodicals, the construction of new classrooms and "huddle"/group study rooms, the movement of three discrete departments into the library.

I take in the physical cues of my work environment hungrily and poetically, looking for signals indicating fortune or predicting turmoil. My focus is always on the change in the library, and I suppose I see the path plowed by this change opening the possibilities for the "future of libraries": more meeting, more instruction, more collaboration, more technology; the confluence of campus services to make a one stop shop for students.

A research question for myself as I cut my librarian teeth: what profound influence does technology have on vending library services to our clientele? Beyond the ways in which and reasons I fastidiously manage the computer lab. (For example: what about the assumption students bring their own laptops—or are able to bring their own laptops—to library instruction sessions or to the library in general. Where is the data and what is the impact?) CIT seems to think everyone is BYOL, but I think students find it inconvenient to lug a laptop to campus due to the increase in student commute times due to rent prices in the City and space issues on campus.

To think about penetrating this question, get to the bottom of it: user testing and user surveys vs. going out on a limb in the name of innovation—how are they really using the library's electronic resources (including the website), where is the intersection of socio-economic class and the need for access to technological tools (student demographics).

Regardless of it all, the efficacy and immediacy of servicing an article request via instant message during my reference desk shift this past Saturday hit on the creature comforts of keeping physical holdings in-house. On the other side, the glaring price we pay for innovation, for embracing change: having to wait a couple days or weeks to get that 1968 article from Adult Leadership through document delivery/interlibrary loan... because there are betters ways to utilize our meager space than house massive print collections in the 21st century.