April, 2009

Jean Montgomery, the Network Administrator at the Superiorland Library Cooperative in Michigan created a nifty flash video that chronicles how her cooperative supports libraries distributed over the Upper Peninsula. Jean covers many topics, sharing how her organization uses a range of tools to keep in contact and offer services without breaking the bank or spending time behind the wheel.

TechSoup's GreenTech Initiative is hosting a month-long event on reducing travel without breaking the bank. The focus this week is on online training, and since the MaintainIT Project has spent a lot of time on this topic, I thought I'd take this opportunity to gather some choice resources, webinar archives, and articles in one place.

Lesson 3: Successful Libraries Ask for Help.

We heard over and over how vital it is to look outside the library for advice, ideas, elbow grease and partnership opportunities.

Thanks to everyone who participated in today's webinar. As expected, many useful tips and techiques were part of the lively discussion.

This comic strip was shared on the KLA listserv in Kentucky. Thought it was worth sharing!

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the end of the grant that kick-started the MaintainIT Project. Since we're always in the mood for a celebration, we thought this was a perfect excuse to put on our party hats and toast all of the many contributors who made this project a success and who continue to share their experiences so that reinventing the wheel isn't a part of our collective reality.

What if we held a conference and everybody came? That was the premise of our first Iowa Small Libraries Online Conference (ISLOC): a conference that librarians and trustees from even the smallest libraries could attend.

TechSoup's GreenTech Initiative promotes tips and resources from the library and nonprofit community to help your organization reduce your impact on the environment. The GreenTech folks do amazing work--check out the GreenTech page to see all of the resources they provide. From small steps to big ones, free tools, and resources that require a minimal investment, you'll find what you need to be kinder to the Earth without breaking the bank.

Lesson 2: Buying Computers for a Library is More Complicated than it Looks

When I need a computer, I pray to the budget gods, log onto a PC manufacturer’s website (e.g. Dell or HP) and configure a machine. It’s pretty easy and the computer arrives a week or two later.

Printers bring both blessings and curses to public libraries. There's much to consider, to maintain, and to trouble-shoot when things don't work as planned. The other day, a question popped up on the sys-l listserv about the HP 4100N laser printer, and although we don't usually cover specific questions about specific hardware or peripherals, this was one issue we could solve.

I gave a short presentation recently on the 5½ Big Lessons that I learned while assembling, writing and editing the MaintainIT Cookbooks. Needless to say, I borrowed these insights from the hundreds of knowledgeable, hard-working librarians we interviewed over the past three years. Each lesson deserves some eleboration, so I’m going to write about each as a separate post over the next few weeks.

While grants have explicit start and end dates, the work we do at TechSoup to support libraries does not. TechSoup's MaintainIT Project was funded by a 3-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that ended earlier this week on March 31st.

At some point, everyone needs to consider computer specifications for your library's public computers. The debate on what to buy, where to buy, and what to consider continues to evolve, and just recently it was the topic of the day on the Syslib-L listserv.