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Vol. 13-32 8.6.13
Revamped HOMEACCESS Pages!
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New HOMEACCESS pages are now live for all five counties served by the Mid-Hudson Library System! These pages are brand new with new web site addresses (the old pages will redirect to the new ones.)
"Stop Searching. Start Finding." This portal, provided by MHLS for member libraries to use on their web sites, creates an online portal with remote authentication so your patrons have free access to many thousands of dollars of paid content, not findable by a Google search. A library card is the passport into HOMEACCESS.
HOMEACCESS = "Unlimited access to more than just the Internet"
What's New?- Updated look with enhanced instructional video content for patrons.
- Separate URLs for each subject matter tab in the top navigational bar of the homepage so you can target products to specific audiences (for example Job & Career Help).
- The theme is designed to automatically detect mobile users and bring them right in to a page with mobile apps for the database products that offer them, then mobile users have access to the full site through a menu at the bottom of that page.
- Separate statistics will be collected on the use of each county page, both on the standard view and on the mobile view.
The new interface was developed by MHLS Assistant Director Merribeth Advocate with the support of the MHLS Tech Department: Robert Drake, IT Coordinator, and IT Specialists Gerry Formby and Isaac Barbee. The Marketing Advisory Committee reviewed the new design at their July meeting and gave it their thumbs up!
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MHLS Libraries
The Poughkeepsie Public Library District has received a grant of $12,600 from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the Big Read program, one of 77 communities nationwide. The 2013 Big Read book selection for Poughkeepsie is "The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick. Events themed around the book by Ozick will be held from October 20 to November 17.
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Professional Development
Save the Date! MHLS will be hosting a virtual conference in the MHLS Auditorium on Friday, September 20th: Mobile Devices - Gateway to Your Library. This full day conference will discuss solutions and strategies for training staff and providing services to mobile device users.
"Mobile computing has been described as the third digital revolution (following broadband Internet and social networking). For many, "there's an app for that" is not just a marketing slogan but a tenet of life in the 21st century - we expect to be able to do anything on our mobile devices that we can do on any other computer. Younger generations, who never knew a world without mobile devices, have incorporated mobile technologies into the fabric of their lives and have done so on their own terms. As a result, they have high expectations for what they will be able to do with those devices..."
- "Mobile Computing Just Became the
Third Digital Revolution of the Last Decade,"
by Jimmy Daly, EDTECH, 2.13.13
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Resource Sharing & Sierra
Reminder: Sierra Will Be Unavailable on Thursday, August 8th. The server, online catalog, database access, and associated services are expected to be unavailable the entire day. Access to OverDrive (downloadable ebooks and audiobooks) will be available to current users of the service. During this maintenance window they will be moving us to an improved hosting arrangement designed to correct/prevent issues that caused the downtime experienced by Verizon and Fairpoint libraries in June. III also feels that this change should alleviate some speed issues experienced.
Now is the time to review Millennium Offline procedures. That's right, Millennium Offline procedures - Sierra has not been developed into an offline client but the Millennium client will work fine. Review the instructions for circulation and handling transactions at the end of the day. You can also download the client here: http://kb.midhudson.org/category/sierra/offline-circulation/
Questions can be directed to MHLS Automation Coordinator, Eric McCarthy at emccarthy@midhudson.org.
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Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
LibraryAware: Tips, Tricks and Templates workshop, presented by Kerstin Cruger, MHLS Marketing & Program Assistant. Designed for directors, staff or Friends with experience working with the LibraryAware product, especially those who attended a hands-on training, Kerstin will cover techniques to help users work within the structure of LibraryAware templates to create eye catching promotional items with ease.
This workshop will include:
- Tips on how to search for and identify flexible and content rich templates.
- Tricks on how to manipulate the structure of templates to suit the user's needs.
- Introduction to Copy A Template. This new features allows administrators to customize and save an existing template (to the gallery) for continued use.
Two Dates to Choose From:
Thursday, August 22nd, 10:00am-12:00pm
MHLS Auditorium, 105 Market Street, Poughkeepsie
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Friday, August 23rd, 10:00am-12:00pmPhilmont Public Library, 101 Main St, Philmont Please register in advance online: http://calendar.midhudson.org/ |
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Reference & Collection Development
The Libraries & Health Insurance: Preparing for October 1 webinar is now archived and freely available on the OCLC WebJunction site: http://bit.ly/18TNPMz
In addition there are also multiple resources on this webpage related to the Affordable Care Act and Health Insurance Marketplace that will be helpful to libraries as they respond to local demands for additional consumer health information.
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Administration & Management
Minimum Wage in New York State will be increased from $7.25 to $9.00 per hour over three years. It will rise to $8.00 per hour effective December 31, 2013; $8.75 per hour effective December 31, 2014; and $9 per hour effective December 31, 2015.
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MHLS recommends that the minimum starting salary of a full or part-time librarian with an MLS degree be at least equal to that of a teacher with a master's degree in the same community.
Member Libraries are welcome to submit items of interest and job openings to the MHLS Bulletin: bulletin@midhudson.org.
The MHLS Bulletin is available on line at http://midhudson.org/bulletins/main.htm. |
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