ILS Changeover

Hiya! I haven't posted in ages because I've been busy with the new job, but I thought all my librarian friends would be interested to know that my new system's in the midst of a change from one ILS to another. That's right, we're getting rid of the pokey old DOS-based POS that has been around 25 years, and going with a shiny new Windows-style, top-of-the-line ILS. And for the next week and a half, we're running the whole system on offline. Yep. Not just one day (don't I wish!) but from now through 4/7. Ouch. So for those of you who went through the upgrade last summer, pity me this transition! ...And be jealous of the results, for it's a better ILS than yours. :-)

Day 2

• If you look at the branch information for my new library, I'm listed by name as the branch manager. This is simultaneously VERY VERY COOL and a little freaky. Probably 'cause I'm still new. I'll get used to it, right?
  
  
• While you're there, copy the address and paste it into googlemaps. Look at the streetview for that address. See that two-story brick building on the north side of the street? That's my library! It's an old elementary school and it looks like it. One staff person told me today that sometimes people will come in because they went to school there and wanted to see it now that they're 90-something.
  
  
• The first half of today was spent at the headquarters, which I now am actually remembering is called "Administrative Offices" (office? offices? OK, now not sure). Did the intensive computer course in the two systems, GEAC and Client. Client's a windows-style overlay on GEAC, so it's essentially the same info, just a different way of looking at it. GEAC is DOS, I'd like to point out. From 1994. We're switching to Polaris in April, I think it is, and man that can't come soon enough.
  
  
• Second half of the day was my first time working in the branch. I didn't break anything (although the copier broke all on its own), I didn't set anything on fire, and I didn't enter the wrong amount of anything into the cash register. And by the end of the day, I was getting into the rhythm of it.

...More later, maybe.

Day 1

One of my thoughts today was that I understood why there are people who never change their jobs, who never change from employer to employer. First days are HARD. And yet, so very rewarding.

Just wanted to let y'all know I'd survived Day 1.

Last Day

So today's my last day at this lovely central-Maryland library. On Monday, I'm starting at a nearby lovely central-Maryland library. This sort of transition is always so strange... I can feel on a visceral level that the ending part, the leaving part, that's REAL. But the beginning part, starting in a new system with a new job, I have no way to know what it will actually be like. It won't be real until I'm actually IN it. Which means I can see today, tomorrow, and Sunday, but Monday is buried in a wall of mist that I just have to step into and trust there will be ground beneath my feet. Don't get me wrong -- I'm really thrilled to have got this opportunity and I'm excited to start, I'm excited for the new challenges and the interesting things all learn and the new people I'll meet. But it's still all unknown, there's no shape to it yet.

So here's a reason for you Two-point-oh-pians to be happy you're not doing this change: After learning the new upgrade here, I'll have to learn an entirely new computer system there.... And then they're getting yet another new computer system in April. (Granted, that last one's pretty much the best on the market, but another??) So wish me luck in my techno-quest.

So anyway. One thing ends, another begins. Door closes, window opens, etc etc etc. I'm not going far away, so I'll still see you sometimes. And I'll occasionally post on here to let you know how things are going.

....And I'll most definitely keep tweeting. :-D

Moseying Onward

Hiya! You Web-two-point-oh-pians are getting the news hot off the presses. Like Orangerful, I am deserting the current system for the proverbial greener grass of somewhere West of here. My new job (as branch manager!) starts next month. I'll probably keep posting on here occasionally, and I'll certainly continue to tweet, so you will hear from me, never fear. :-)

More later, no doubt...

Art & Animals

More Video stuff!

This first one is of the people lighting the fires for the art installation, WaterFire. They apparently do this pretty regularly through the summer in Providence, and it's rather like a fair atmosphere all along the river walk. So for the lighting ceremony, they pipe in this weird new-age-ey music and then these little motor boats with people dressed all in black nose along and light each float with a torch. One of the boats also had a weird guy with no shirt and a long pigtail that appeared to be dipping a broadsword in a barrel of kerosene or something. Interesting. Anyway, here's my little video.

I also made some little films of critters at the zoo: a butterfly, a flamingo, and a red-crowned crane. Enjoy them all!!



...Oh, and you won't be getting any more videos for a while now, because I slipped and fell on some stairs and broke my camera. So until it's fixed or I get a new one, well, no more youtube stuff. I know you're distressed.

Library Tourism

I must be a complete and total library geek. The latest example? Library tourism.

I just finished wandering around the Providence Athenaeum. The website really doesn't do it justice. It's the 4th oldest library in the U.S., and one of the few remaining subscription libraries. It looks like a Greek temple on the outside, and an old-fashioned library, complete with scary mezzanine and marble busts on the inside. They have a portrait of George Washington downstairs. It's really, really cool. If any of you readers are library geeks like me and aren't ashamed to admit it, stop by the Athanaeum should you ever be in Rhode Island. It's worth it.