eLGAR Programme Office Blog

Fine Tuning OPAC

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:55:00 +0000

Mousing over the text on our self registration confirmation screen was resulting in it becoming underlined, bolded, and slightly larger.

There was a tiny malformed html tag causing the problem, and we've had some stern words with it. In future it will behave itself.

>_>

5000th transaction served

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:39:00 +0000

Over 5000 transactions have now been conducted through Pay Online.

Pay Online was implemented in phases across eLGAR libraries. North Shore, Manukau and Rodney Libraries went live in September 2008, followed by Waitakere and Auckland in December 2008. In September 2009, the latest eLGAR partner library, Papakura, went live with Pay Online.

eLGARnet (+ Competition)

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:05:00 +0000

As eLGARnet becomes our core collaborative tool, remember to set up an "Alert" for the annoucement list on the homepage and other relevant web-parts.

Also, remember to update your details in the eLGARnet Contact List. This is the only shared contact list available across eLGAR and is often used to contact relevant library staff.

All those who have a homepage alert set-up and complete contact details available on eLGARnet, will go into the draw to win 2 exciting prizes.

Study Expo for Librarians

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:21:00 +0000

Study Expo for librarians
Come along to the eLGAR study expo to get free advice on what courses you can study to enhance your library career.

When: Wednesday 16th September 2009
Where: Level 3, Waitemata room, Auckland City Library, 44 Lorne St
Timing: Drop in to one of the sessions between 9.00am – 11.00am or 11.00am – 1.00pm

So who will be there?
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand
Victoria University of Auckland
LIANZA
Auckland and Manukau City Libraries

What can I find out?
You can find out information about courses available for library and information, management, IT, teaching, children or adult education and many more! You may also decide to choose a tertiary organisation that suits your learning style i.e. you can attend a structured workshop or complete your studies by correspondence.

Auckland City and Manukau libraries will talk to their staff about their library study support scheme.

The LIANZA professional registration scheme recognises your qualification as a librarian and they will be available to answer any questions that you may have.

Can I take a tour of the central library?
There are two tours available to visit behind the scenes of the central library. Tours take approximately one hour and leave from the lift on the ground floor. Tours start at 9am, and 11am. Numbers are limited.

Can I tour the Herman Schmidt exhibition?
There are two tours available to visit the Herman Schmidt portrait photographer 1872-1959 exhibition. Tours take approximately on hour and people meet on the second floor of the Sir George Grey Special collections room of the central library. Tours start at 10am and 12noon.

How do I register?
To register for a behind the scenes tour or the exhibition email Libraries_training@aucklandcity.govt.nz and let us know:
your name
library site
your email address
and if you wish to go on a tour or exhibition, please advise the start time
If you just want to come to the study expo just turn up on the day.

Who do I ask a question?
Email us at Libraries_training@aucklandcity.govt.nz and we will get back to you within 24 hours.

eLGARnet Live...Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:46:00 +0000

As you start using eLGARnet, please set up an "Alert" for the annoucement list on the eLGARnet homepage.

This will also be covered in the training/demo sessions which are being held at libraries.

As eLGARnet becomes our core collaborative tool, annoucements will increasingly be made on eLGARnet.

Move to SuperCity could hit IT snags

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:04:00 +0000

eLGARnet Live...Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:18:00 +0000

Auckland, North Shore, Papakura, Rodney and Waitakere libraries' staff are now connected to eLGARnet.

As you log in for the first time, please remember to add an alert to the announcements list found on the home page. This will allow you to keep up to date with various announcements.

Also, please visit the eLGARnet Help & FAQ section as this contains some useful information.

eLGARnet Access

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:25:00 +0000

If you want access to eLGARnet, please email eLGARnet Support .

You will be sent a User Request Form to complete, upon which and your userid and password will be emailed to you.

The User Reqeust form is also found on the eLGARnet Help page.

eLGARnet Live

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:05:00 +0000

eLGARnet, the SharePoint based collaborative eLGAR workspace is now live and accessible by library staff from Auckland, Waitakere, Papakura and North Shore. Rodney should be live by Mon 31 Aug.

Access for Manukau is pending a DNS entry change.

All staff belonging to eLGAR Collaborative Teams or known to belong to a Community of Interest have been automatically set up. As libraries/councils connect, login and password details are being emailed to respective individuals.

Information/Training sessions are being organized for libraries and calendar invites will be sent as the dates/times are finalized.

Why collaborate?

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:17:00 +0000

....some compelling reasons in this blog post The collaboration matrix from the man who brought us The power of less

The eLGAR 6 - Papakura Goes Live

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:58:00 +0000

Today (Thu 6 Aug) morning at 9AM, Papakura Library opened its doors to patrons using Millennium.

With this, the technical integration of Papakura Library into the eLGAR Millennium solution can be considered as complete for all practical purposes. Papakura Library officially joined eLGAR in March.

Papakura Project enters the final lap

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:56:00 +0000

Check out this animated sequence for information!

PS: This animation is created using GoAnimate, another website for which there is an eLGAR account. Let us know how you feel about this animation using the blog comments.

eLGAR Reporting Support Ring

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:54:00 +0000

The eLGAR Collaborative Team for Statistics and Reporting, has a fairly specialized skill-set. The team members often hold primary responsibility for reporting for their libraries. So when someone goes on leave, especially for extended periods, it can create a void of expertise, at least in the immediate term.

Therefore, in our recent meeting, the Reporting Team resolved to make the team available to answer queries.

This way, if the reporting analyst for a library is on leave, and someone from their library has an urgent reporting related question, they can email the team by clicking here.

A member of the eLGAR Reporting team can then answer the query or execute the task, depending of course on the availability of the person and the nature of the request.

The members of the Reporting Team are:

Prateek Vasisht - eLGAR
Adriana Balea & Alison Fitzpatrick - Auckland
Natalie Waters - Manukau
Fran Fraser - North Shore
Kim Taunga - Papakura
Ed Charles - Rodney
David Richardson - Waitakere

You can also save the emails listed in the hyperlink above to a distribution list in Outlook for easy reference later on.

And the winner is...

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:52:00 +0000

Headphones!

Yes, The most popular individual item over the last two years, based on eLGAR-wide Millennium "last year circ", was a set of headphones at Mangere East Library (354 issues).

Excluding equipment, the most popular individual items were:

Northcote free-loan DVD: "Lost worlds : life in the balance" (82 issues)
Highland Park Chinese magazine: "Kai fang magazine" (81 issues)
Highland Park Chinese magazine: "Xian dai jia ting" (75 issues)

Popular rental DVD's from Auckland Central (The Holiday, Secretary), Takapuna (Lions) and Glenfield (Africa) all clocked 74 issues.

DVD's issued at North Shore and Waitakere Libraries (Turkey, Ireland, The Devil Wears Prada) and Chinese magazines issued at Manukau Libraries rounded up the top five, with 73 issues each.

The top 3 picture books were:

Schnitzel von Krumm : dogs never climb trees / Lynley Dodd (2585 issues)
The other ark / Lynley Dodd (2514 issues)
Down the back of the chair / Margaret Mahy (2348 issues)

Acknowledgment & Credits: Based on figures provided by Rex McGregor (ACL).

IUG Conference 17th - 20th May 2009

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:26:00 +0000

For those who have a printed copy of the report, here are the hyperlinks mentioned

http://www.lib.vt.edu/services/newbooks/new-materials.php?subject=lnl_englit

http://phebe.bowdoin.edu/record=b1216643~s1

http://www.netsupportnotify.com/index.asp

It's Our Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Hamish McDonald) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:24:00 +0000

eLGAR is four years old today!

North Shore and Rodney went live with Millennium on the 16th June 2005.

Happy Birthday to you.

Less is more - New My Info Brochure

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:05:00 +0000

The My Info brochure has been redesigned. In response to the feedback received, the font size is now larger and the content is streamlined.

The information presented in the My Info and Pay Online brochures, is now condensed into one (new) My Info Brochure.

The format remains DLE and the original graphics and colour scheme are retained.

Technology Trends

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:52:00 +0000

Are voicemail, DVDs and laptops about to reach their sell-by date? Read more in this NZ Herald article.

Also as you would have noticed, the blog now features twitter updates. This article shows how to become a twit. Also, keep your eye out for an article on the latest Twitter superstar - Sockington the cat!

eLGAR Online Accounts - update

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:27:00 +0000

If/when you use an eLGAR Online Account, please do NOT change any account settings particularly Account Name.

This applies specifically to the eLGAR Google Account. The services in this account (Google Maps, Analytics) are used by other applications including library OPAC & website(s).

There was a case unearthed today about a Google Map not showing the name eLGAR Consortium, as it should.

So please do not change any account settings in any of the test accounts. If you require assistance or a preview of features, please contact the eLGAR Office.

eLGAR Test Accounts Online

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:06:00 +0000

To encourage exploration of current technologies and useful features, eLGAR has created 'test' accounts on Google, Yahoo(NZ), Microsoft. These can be used to access various features, as allowed by your Council PC settings.

The eLGAR Google account gives you access to Gmail, Google Analytics and all other free Google services including You Tube. In addition, it can also be used to access SurveyMonkey (survey creator), GoAnimate (online animation creator), LibraryThing (folksonomy) and most recently, Jing (video creator).

The eLGAR Microsoft account can be used to access Windows Live and MSDN forums.

The eLGAR Yahoo account, created recently, will allow you to access Flickr.

Please contact the eLGAR Programme Office if you require more information on these eLGAR user accounts.

Google Search Enhancements

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:09:00 +0000

Google which shortly launch enhancements to its search tool, including a "Wonder Wheel". For more information, read the NZ Herald article here.

World Map of Library Books Borrowed

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:11:00 +0000

This map shows books borrowed from public libraries. The most books borrowed were in the Russian Federation. There were high rates of borrowing in Western Europe, Japan and Eastern Europe. In these regions most territories reported some book borrowing.

In other regions reported book borrowing was lower, and many territories reported very little borrowing. Where many people cannot afford books, it appears they often cannot borrow them either.

The Proportional Map is found here. Territory size shows the proportion of all library books borrowed that were borrowed there.

The original site is WorldMapper.

Councils cut back on projects as amalgamation looms

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:29:00 +0000

Here is the article from NZ Herald

Papakura Integration Project (ePIP)

noreply@blogger.com (eLGAR Programme Office) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:53:00 +0000

As recently published in the eLGAR newsletter, Papakura is all set to become the sixth partner of eLGAR Consortium.

Codenamed ePIP, The Papakura Integration Project was officially launched last week to integrate Papakura Library Services into the eLGAR Consortium.

The project will involve implementating eLGAR's Millennium solution for the Sir Edmund Hillary Library and integrating it into eLGAR from a Governance and Operational perspective .

New Manager for Rodney Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Hamish McDonald) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:36:00 +0000

Marion Read has been appointed to the position of Rodney Libraries Manager.

Marion has extensive experience as a library manager at Whangarei District Council, Tauranga City Council and Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. She has a special interest in web 2.0 technology.

Marion will be joining Rodney Libraries on 4 May.