WebJunction

Hello! I'm Chrystie and I'm the community coordinator for WebJunction. I've been a freelance information specialist & librarian for about 3 years, and have spent most of that time working on communication exchange on the Web. I started with research in digital information services, and a concern for how technology is going to change the practice of reference librarianship for public librarians. The more I became passionate about using technology as a tool for connecting people with information and with each other (not to mention globally, and faster than fast), the more interested I became in Web based community. I'm thrilled to be a part of WebJunction as we all discover what an "online community" might become for librarians and other folks providing public access. My bottom line? Making WebJunction a place where our members get connected, both to information and to each other. On a personal note: I love history and popular culture - have a fish named Scarlett - and wear funky vintage "librarian" glasses that I found *brand spankin new* in a junk shop in Chicago. Don't be shy now ... tell us about you!

Thanks for posting, Margo.

I hope you'll like using All Aboard once we really get rolling. Luckily, WJ has icons in the works, as well as some other "fancy" things that will be rolling out over time.

Please, keep your comments and suggestions coming! You can post them here on All Aboard, or email [url mailto:community@webjunction.org ]community@webjunction.org[/url].

Thanks,

-Chrystie

George,
A cordless phone would serve you well when you are alone at the desk; you're able to roam the aisles and do what you need to and still answer calls. However, for patrons who walk up to the desk while you're giving email tutorials, you may have to look into the feasibility of "cloning" for the time being....

Hello, my name is Marian and I'm a system network administrator for a small library system. I too am glad to see WebJunction up and running. I don't have any questions or comments yet. Just glad to see folks here already, talking away.

I'm Coe and I'm the IT director for a large urban library system in the midwest. I'm most interested in public access librarianship from the big picture view. For example, I'd like to hear from people who are *really* happy with their public access control software, and also from folks who are working on equity in public access programs (how to start them and get support for them in terms of funding, etc.). I look forward to talking about these things with other people on WJ, if they are interested as well.

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by scoghlan on June 25, 2003.

I first learned about webjunction at the ALA conference in Toronto and immediately signed up (and spoke up). I was charmed to receive a kind email from Chrystie Hill this morning, welcoming me and suggesting that I introduce myself to the group.

So, as the subject sez, I AM SAM - Sam Coghlan. I am Chief Librarian at Oxford County Library (OCL) in a rural county in southern Ontario, Canada (roughly mid-way between Toronto and Detroit).

OCL serves 50,000 folk through 1 town library and 17 village libraries. Public Access has been the library's life jacket by which we've managed to make a meaningful entry into the 21st century.

Our village libraries were 1-person libraries open as few as 6 hours a week all the way up to 15(!) hours per week. Communication, team building, creating a corporate culture was impossible. So, when the Canadian government introduced CAP (Community Access Program) in 1995, we were quick to get on board.

We had our challenges to meet and we think of 1997-8 as the dark years, as we were doing pitifully and our book budget was virtually annihilated. We were an embarrassment to the CAP people in Ottawa.

Now, myself and my colleague John Moore are considered "CAP Champions" (I hate that term, but it's what they use) and OCL has been asked to tell its story many times across the country and even in Australia (at an ALIA conference). Our branches are now open from 12 - 35 hours per week and we have a system wide esprit-de-corps that is absolutely inspiring.

The story of how we went from there to here is too long to relate here, but there are aspects of our story that I think may be helpful for others to hear. So, I will try and pipe up on ALL ABOARD from time to time.

Our web site is [url http://www.ocl.net ]http://www.ocl.net.[/url]

Hope to hear from y'all.

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by howen on June 27, 2003.

Hi Sam,

Welcome to WebJunction. I'm sure your experiences with CAP will bring an interesting perspective to different forums on this site. We hope to hear more from you!

I'm wondering what you and your fellow librarians in Canada are thinking about CIPA and the recent Supreme Court decision here? You may want to check in on the discussion in the Library News forum.

Have fun!

Helen

Hi Folks!

I'm Carson, and have been working in library technology for the past nine years, almost everywhere between the public service desk to the wiring closet and beyond!

For three years I worked for the High Plains Regional Library Service System, a multi-type agency providing consulting and advocacy for all publically-funded libraries in a nine-country area in northern Colorado.

I was also co-director of the ASCC project (Automation System Consortia - Colorado [url http://ascc.lib.co.us ]http://ascc.lib.co.us[/url])which has joined a large number of small-to-mid-sized libraries together to obtain automation services via ASP (Application Service Provider) technology.

It's great to be here -- thanks for the opportunity to post!

Welcome to the WebJunction forums Carson.

We have a bit in common. I have spent the past few years helping rural libraries in my area get wired and have also found myself everywhere from behind the circulation desk checking out books to dwelling in the cellar drilling through concrete floors to thread those network cables!

Hello Jackie, and it's great to have you on All Aboard!

Your connection to the most recent research and scholarship in librarianship will be a nice insert into "the real world" problems many librarians on WebJunction are talking about.

Thanks,

Chrystie

Hello Brian, and thanks for posting on All Aboard.

It sounds like your library has a number of things going for you - have you seen any new challenges with current budget problems in your library? We'd love to hear from you on how and whether public access programs will be managed (and maintained) through the budget problems. Will the programs you mentioned be affected?

Thanks,

Chrystie

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by Rachel on May 12, 2003.

Greetings from the land of online Tech Planning! I am the online resources coordinator for TechAtlas and TechSurveyor, two web based tools developed by NPower to encourage and educate organizations to think strategically about technology. Part of my job is to make sure organizations don't 'cringe' when they hear the words technology plan so I am excited by the opportunity Web Junction has afforded me this week in talking with you about TechAtlas and TechSurveyor in the Technology Planning forum. I look forward to our discussion!

Cheers!

Rachel

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by wgragg on May 12, 2003.

Howdy! (Can you tell I live near TX A&M?)

I'm Wendell Gragg, the initial moderator for the Hardware Forum. I won't go into a lot of detail here as I have posted it in the welcome to the Hardware Forum and I am a bit on the lazy side! (It also is a way to get you to visit the Hardware Forum)

I love being here and look forward to great things from this venture!

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by Joqpub4 on May 12, 2003.

Hello there everyone

I am excited to hear what lots of people have to say about their experiences and questions with Public Access Policies and Practices. In our world today how we encourage responsible use without placing unnecessarily restrictive barriers for people is an interesting and complex issue. I have been involved with Libraries for 14 years, working directly with special populations for 10 of those years. As I said, I'm really looking forward to, at least, the next three months. All Aboard <grin>!!!

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by cceller on May 12, 2003.

I work for a two county, regional system, in North Carolina.

I am curious as to how dwindling budgets are impacting other libraries across the country.

Nice to be here.

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by howen on May 12, 2003.

Welcome and hello everyone, it's great to see such a wide variety of talents and interests!

I'm Helen Owen, the moderator for this forum. I'll do my best to get you pointed in the right direction to get your questions answered and/or your issues discussed.

I'm currently a community center technology instructor for New Futures, a non-profit organization in Burien, Washington. I graduated last year from the University of Washington with degrees in Informatics and Communications.

I'm really excited to be a part of WebJunction; my passion is technology access for underserved populations and I think this resource will go a long way in providing help on this topic.

Let me know if there's something I can do to make your time spent on this site more productive and enjoyable!

Note: this message was moved by an administrator. Originally posted by librarybob on June 16, 2003.

I want to say *Hi* to the community and wish it great success. I'm a public librarian (I run a suburban Chicago library when the staff lets me) with extensive web interests. I've been active online since '95 or '96 and have extensive experience as a moderator/community host. Outside libraryland, I'm a Rheingold Associate (http://www.rheingold.com/Associates) -- we specialize in community development.

A link from Chrystie Hill led me here.

Looks nice!

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by Maria on May 16, 2003.

Hi Everybody,

I am happy to see webjuntion up and connecting libraries to information. I am the initial moderator of the "connecting with IT" board and look forward to helping along our discussions.

I've been working with the Gates Foundation for four years now and hope to see a real community grow with the great people I have had a chance to work with.

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by Chris on May 20, 2003.

Whitewright is a rural town located about 60 miles of Dallas, Texas, with a population of 2,000. However, several area communities do not have a library, so we cover a large bi-county area.

I've been the library director for almost three and a half years now. Luckily the library was already automated when I began, but we're working on expanding and enhancing our technology.

I hope the forums will become a place where librarians can not only ask and answer questions, but share all those "neat tricks" they've learned over the years.

Note: this message has been moved by an administrator. Originally posted by MartiSmith on May 27, 2003.

I'm Marti Smith, a faculty member at Drexel University's College of Information Science and Technology in Philadelphia.

One of my major responsibilities is to direct our online degree offerings for those who want to become librarians. Take a look at our websites: [url http://www.cis.drexel.edu ]http://www.cis.drexel.edu[/url]; or [url http://www.drexel.com/ist ]http://www.drexel.com/ist[/url];

My research area is information ethics. Take a look at the International Center for Information Ethics [url http://icie.zkm.de ]http://icie.zkm.de[/url]

Looking forward to being a part of this community.

Marti

hmmmm, in re-reading your post it seems like all your job descriptions are in the past tense. Are you on to something new or still with ASCC?

Hi Brenda, thanks for stopping by and introducing yourself. I will surely stop by the tech forum to see what's up. I love building online communities and am way interested in all things tech-type so WebJunction is such a great find for me!

I am envious of the time you spent traveling and participating in the Gates program. If my state had not been #49 out of 50 in the library program I certainly would have been lobbying my trainers to draft me onto the team. To me that would have been a dream job!

Congratulations on landing the new job Carson! Does being the manager mean you get to make someone else thread those wires from now on?

Hi- I'm Betha, another second-year MLIS student. Most of my courses at school have been heavy on theory and abstractions, so I am finding WebJunction to be a great and refreshing resource for understanding the issues librarians encounter in the real world.

I'm surprised at how nervous I am about posting. Does anyone else get the jitters when you're about to hit "post message"?

Thanks for all the reassurance. It does get easier the second time around.

Now if everyone would just please notice that there is no "r" in my name. :>

oopsie - my apologies Betha. I got an A in Reading but an F in Comprehension!

I wish the post editing tools at WebJunction were not quite so cumbersome...

[image of the 'R' in 'Bertha' being removed by a crane has since been removed by maddog's request]

heheh

You are too nice. I should be flogged for inattention. First I am away for several daze and then I return only to blank out on your actual name when I say hello.

So, have you set your sights on a particular gig? Where do you envision yourself in 2 or 3 years?

Where do I see myself in 2-3 years? Gainfully employed, for one.(?)

My interests are running along the lines of information literacy, instructional design, distance learning and online community, Web design, and digital libraries. Do you see a job description in there somewhere?

Betha, I think that both distance learning and online community are certainly terms that are beginning to apply more and more to many libraries. Consider the elderly, the rural community which may have great distances to travel to the nearest library, those who may be housebound due to illness, etc.

The internet has given these people access to us in ways they did not previously have. I see it as a challenge for libraries to make more remote access available to their patrons.

It's great to cover your bases, Betha. It certainly helps to bring a broad academic experience to the profession. Reference was and still is my favorite though. Nothing like the thrill of solving a true stumper!

Speaking of, there's a stumper in "policies" right now about finding a list of filtered terms. If you're the kind of librarian that gets all excited about the tough ones, check it out!

Oh, I can see why you are stumped Liz. It would take a pretty hefty library budget to even afford laptop lending, nevermind the connection problem.

I may have been unclear in my post. When I mentioned our challenge of giving stay-at-home patrons more access, I meant access to our library resources via their own computers and net connections. Loaning computers is way out of our league budget-wise.

oops -- forgot to say that I am the content manager for WJ and my background is in elearning and education.

It is a pleasure to meet you, Larry. Welcome to WebJunction. You need not worry if computers are not in your job description because there are many people here who are ready to offer you help if you need it. Is there a computer issue in particular that has you worried at the moment?

Hi Everyone

I'm Larry and have the title of Operations Director at a smaller Illinois library (pop. 20,000).

Just about everything is in my job description, except computers, but since we only have 10 employees you end up doing it anyway. I've enjoyed what I've read on the site so far.

Hello everybody, and Wow, this is a little different from other message boards that I am part of so please forgive me if I post this wrong.

My name is Jerry and I am in the technology department at our library here in Ohio. I am working on an A+ Certification right now and hope to test soon. I have many questions but will check to see if any of the ones that I have are posted before asking.

What??!? No biting??!!?

awwww Chrystie, you take all the fun out of being a maddog!

Jerry, welcome to WebJunction!

{wagging tail}

and ... and ...

{now whose tail is wagging??}

how did you hear about us Darci?

glad to have you with us!

Hello, I'm Darci and I'm coming at you via the Cornelius Public Library in Cornelius, OR. I'm a volunteer here and have begun doing more and more computer support this great little library.

I'm currently enrolled in the University of Washington's distance MLIS program. I have 15 years experience in the high-tech industry and decided it was time for a change. I'm still in the process of narrowing down my interests in the field of library and information science.

As a long time Internet user and advocate of using technology to build community, I'm happy to be here!

Cheers!

What is a Gates transition seminar?

Harry, the transition seminars happen in every state, but to my knowledge - the Gates foundation is dependent on the state library for getting the word out that they're happening. Some are really well attended, others are not. Look for upcoming transition announcements in the WJ newsletter, Crossroads. We're trying to help get the word out about them so that more people can attend.

Wow - guess I'm glad we here in Montana got in the Gates game early so we had 3 years' support (even if we did get NT machines that are now totally out of warranty!). The training occurred before I fell into this position, too, but the Gates support was great.

Excuse me - I've posted in other forums but never really introduced myself. Pam from Bozeman, previously Children's librarian, still part-time Reference, and now almost full-time Technology Assistant. Hadn't read this forum before, so it was great reading about people I've run across in other areas!

And, I am always nervous before clicking Post Message, because no matter how careful I am, I always find a typo afterward.

The classes in the Learning Center are awesome too - I did the Excel course prior to attending an intermediate Excel session here in town, and it was great preparation.

Happy Holidays to all!

What a trooper, opening in a blizzard! I'm sure those folks were glad to find you there after making the effort to venture out themselves.

Haven't done any other classes yet - I'm taking a Dreamweaver seminar in town next month, so may look at that course ahead of time -we're using that for the web page, and I'm getting better at it but could use a few pointers. I plan to start talking up the Learning Center among staff here.

P.S. - love the Just 3 Words topic! Very clever of you...

awwwww shucks - you are too nice to me. Thank you for your kindness.

[url http://www.electricminds.org/~maddog/flash/dogsout.html ]Let me sing you a song[/url]

I feel remiss in my duties! I am the Guest Editor of the Internet section in Technology Resources, and I haven't introduced myself yet. I want to thank Chrystie for reminding me about All Aboard and the great content here.

I'm the Web Librarian at the City of Mesa Library in Mesa, AZ. I manage our web site, intranet and our electronic resource collection. I also work reference, telephone reference, and circ.

I'm excited to be Guest Editor, so if you have any ideas for the Internet section, please send them along to me at [url mailto:jen.editor@cox.net ]jen.editor@cox.net[/url].

Thanks!

Jen

Would you like to hear my real singing voice?

[url http://www.electricminds.org/~maddog/wav/mamakin1.wav ]verse #1[/url]

and

[url http://www.electricminds.org/~maddog/wav/mamakin2.wav ]verse #2[/url]

Caution: Loud Rock Music

Jen, welcome! Don't even! There are so many ways to participate at WJ, so don't feel like you *have* to post on All Aboard. We do, however, (let's be clear) LOVE having you join our little par-tay. As you can see, we have a little laugh every now and then...i mean, everyday!

How wonderful! Sorry I don't have a picture to show of our Christmas adventure - over 1 foot of snow in 24 hours, so much that the ski hill couldn't open for a few days! Hope you didn't get sunburned...

Pam

lovely, gorgeous; i'm jealous!

WOW! That looks a lot like my driveway (different vehicle, of course!). After the ski hill finally opened, they had too many people show up and had to turn folks away. Go figure! But roads are getting cleared so we are ready for the next big storm.

Sorry about the sunburn - those tropical rays are so much stronger, and it's hard to resist...

Happy New Year!

Looks great, wonderful view - but where's the beach? Plenty of shady spots to avoid another sunburn, though. So when can we all gather there?

Greetings to all,

My name is Paul and I am Supervising Librarian for Technology and Training for Community Library Services at the Newark Public Library in New Jersey.

My responsibilities include the mgmt. and delivery of training for public and staff in the branches and for Main Library staff in the Community Library Services Department.

I also support and administer a group of 20 or so technology liaisons (librarians) that support the IT departments? Help Desk efforts.

Like you, Christie, we also have a pet fish that we've named Fred. I am married and have two daughters, 10 and 14. I have a degree in music and my primary instrument is the guitar. I have also studied sean nos. It is style of Irish singing that predates "When Irish Eyes are Smiling? by at least a couple of hundred years. My favorite hobby is "dad".

Paul, welcome! I had a little tear come to eye when I read your post because my little fish Scarlett has passed on since I wrote my introduction. :-( I had him for more than 3 years, and I guess that's a long time for a pet-store beta. He was a wonderful friendly little guy with a lot of personality.

Anyway, so glad you found the WJ and I look forward to hearing more from you on All Aboard.

Hello all. I'm Janet Eklund, Administrator of Library Operations, at the New Hampshire State Library. I have been reading, watching and learning from WJ for several months and it's time for me to dive into the great discussion here. New Hampshire just received its Gates Training Grant in December. When I wrote the application, I thought it would be neat to utlize WebJunction as one of our training tools for our training program. The WJ folks liked the idea and so did the Gates people! Thanks to Chrystie Hill for all her encouragement for our grant proposal! It is our hope to bring our NH librarians aboard this community as we implement our training curriculum this spring in addition to making WJ a tool of choice for technology learning and information seeking. I see there are just a few NH librarians in the member directory, but that is sure to increase. This is truly a great portal and it's a pleasure to have a chance to finally converse with all of you!

Hello Janet and welcome to the forums. I am one NH librarian you will not have to convince. I have been a devotee of online conferencing since the late 90s and WebJunction combines the best of both of my worlds. I live about 15 miles from Concord so if you ever need any help online or off please let me know!

Buff! Welcome to the conversations on All Aboard. I know you're joining us this week as a guest moderator. Thanks for getting on early to say hello! Welcome, welcome.

Thanks Buff - hmmmm, I get a really strange error when I click that link. It's a long page of dire warnings which begins like this:

A potentially dangerous Request.QueryString value was detected from the client...

Does anyone else get this?

This appears to be a Web Junction thing. (I received a similar message a couple of days ago in a different place.) If you copy the URL and paste it into a browser--rather than clicking the link in my message--you'll get to the site.

Thanks to both of you! I am saddling up a new browser and riding off on a scouting mission as we speak...

Hi - I've been feeling guilty about not introducing myself, even though I mostly read - though sporatically - and don't post. I'm Pat Kilmain, Director of the Palmer Public Library in Palmer, Alaska. We are a small city of 5,000, with a service area population of about 15,000. We are in a network of 7 libraries sharing a catalog and patron database. I enjoy reading WJ when I have the time, and look forward to meeting some folks at PLA.

This is what I love about this new technology - we can visit Pat in Palmer AK (and you can visit us!)from the comfort of home (or work, as the case may be). Hope the daylight is quickly returning to your neighborhood up there...

And, Ann - some of us are flying by the seat of our pants, technologically speaking, so don't be intimidated! But with 2 techies, you may be a good source of info as well.

Pam

Hi! I'm Ann Perrigo, director of a small/medium public library in southwestern Michigan. I feel a little out of my league here--although technology certainly is part of my everyday life, both at work and home, I don't have much expertise, and providing technology to our patrons or dealing with tech issues is not the biggest part of my job. (I lean more toward collection development and cataloging!)

But now I know what my 14-year-old daughter means when she talks about introducing herself to a new forum! I'm sure hers are much more interesting than mine! :-)

I will have to ask my two techies to join in as well!

Ann, welcome to All Aboard! Our forums are very interesting, I bet even your daughter can't compete! But I hope you'll find online community life as enthusing as she does! I love it...and there's a great group of good folks here. How did you find us?

LOL

Hi, I'm Saul Amdursky. I'm the director of a primarily urban library serving about 120,000 people in Southwest MI. I was impressed with the program at PLA and decided joining would be a good idea. On a professional level I'm very interested in how other urban centers deal with increasingly common issues of serving the poor, recruiting and creating a comfortable environment for a diverse clintele, and maintaining service offerings to traditional clienteles. Other than that I have an ongoing interest in how revenues are generated by public libraries in each state. I absolutely love stories about various funding anomolies. E.g. how many of you know that in Michigan libraries across the state have a vested interest in crime. About $30 million dollars is annually generated by traffic violations and other misdemeanors (these are called penal fines) and distributed to public libraries. Anyway look forward to chatting with many of you.

Lovely to meet you Saul; welcome to our community!

Did you visit us at PLA during the Saturday program, or at the member's reception on Thursday?

Either way, I certinaly look forward to hearing more from you on 'All Aboard'.

As you can see, sometimes topics get picked up and pushed forward in these larger & more general ones, but if you have a specific &/or pressing question or interest that doesn't fit into a topic already posted, it's best to start a new topic in whichever forum seems most appropriate.

Again: welcome, welcome!

Talk to anyone in a Michigan public library and get a different opinion. Penal fines have been a funding stream for libraries since Michigan's first constitution. We actually generate 2 to 3 times the amount of revenues in penal fines as we do in direct state aid. All kinds of problems associate with this revenue stream (impossible to plan, inconsistent from county to county, dependent on police enforcement, dependent on district judges splitting penalties between court costs and fines, etc.) but most of us would love to have a weigh station in our county to get all those overweight trucks. I suspect a number of us might endorse decriminalization of most drug convictions and like to see them go to a fine basis as well.

I think the penal fine to libraries plan is a great idea! Here in New Hampshire we are told that state lottery profits are given to public schools but it is unclear how much of those profits actually see their way there. I think both ideas are tremendous and should be implemented on even larger scales in every state!

Wow - setting up an all volunteer library with zero funding must surely be a daunting task! I hope you will find WebJunction to be a helpful resource in your quest. It is truly a small world, made all the smaller by the internet. I am fresh from reading another post from you that tells of our shared family name and now I see that your town is not at all far from Hatch Valley Middle School where one of my dearest online friends teaches 7th grade!

So, I am really bad about getting here with any regularity! I had a great time at PLA. And yes, we are getting more daylight every day. We are even now with 12 hours of daylight - onward to June 21 when we have 19+ !

My wife suffers terribly from lack of daylight during the winter. She is a state office cube dweller in a windowless building. We bought her one of those artificial sunlight simulator boxes and it has been a great help this year...

Your English is just fine. Welcome to the WebJunction community. The internet erases distance and geography and puts us all on an even plane. I am sure there is much we can learn from you as well. Is your library a rural or urban one?

It is wonderful to meet people from other countries here! We will be able to share a lot of experiences and information. Do people come to your library to use the internet? Are there internet cafes available in town instead? In our travels we found it was easy to find places with internet computers, something our country doesn't seem to do as well.

Hi! I just wanted to introduce myself, having just signed on to WebJunction. I am the director of a small public library in Nebraska. We are currently undertaking a renovation to our 83 year old building. We are also adding a small addition which will include an elevator to make us accessible to all. I look forward to using this as a forum to share ideas and ask questions.

Oh dear -- can you tell I am still learning HMTL and how to make hyperlinks in text?!??!

Hello, everyone!

My name is Dianne. I work in a small library in Tennessee, serving 17,900.

I am another (I suspect of many) who has started out on the circ desk or cataloging and have ended up doing all plus being the resident techie.

Show no fear is what I say! I am here to learn. I love the technology. We've been automated for about 2 years. Computers have been a wonderful tool for just about every aspect of my job.

Dianne

Welcome Diane! Isn't it a great feeling to empower the community with previously unavailable technology? Computer use by our patrons has skyrocketed over the past 3 or 4 years. Our Gates Grant was a wonderful boost for us. Do you still work at the circ desk? I rarely get the chance to do that anymore and I really miss it...

Hey there, it's great to have you! I see that you're already making your way around the rest of the board. Tell me, how did you hear about us?

Yay! We're glad you found us.

Hi Librarylil!

I am curious as to how you went about getting funding for your renovations! I'm sure others would benefit from knowing your success story as well.

Max (sigurdis)

Hi Tom!

Hey everyone,

My name is Ben Weeks, I work @ the Independence Township Library as the Library's and entire Township's IT department/Network Admin. Hopefully I can help any of you with any problems u might have or be able to help me with mine.

Welcome, Brett!

So, you're Canadian, eh? We've got at least one other one of you around here! Her name is JanieH and you can find her in the Learning & Training forum. As you can see, some other CAN folks have come and gone; we'd love to get more of them on a regular basis. Again, glad you're here!

Hi! I've been trolling the message boards for a few weeks so I thought it was time I introduced myself! My name is Christina & I'm currently a student at the Univ. of TX School of Information. I graduate in December and I think WJ is giving me a valuable window into the "real" library world (beyond theory). I'm starting to think about where I'll be headed after graduation, so if anyone has any advice on Maryland or Florida library systems, I'd be very interested.

Hi! My name is Kathy and I'm a reference librarian at a public library in western Wayne County, part of metropolitan Detroit. I'm the webmaster and trainer as well, so I do a multitude of tasks -- and always have lots of questions! I've really enjoyed taking your on-line classes on web applications.

Hi Kathy and Jae,

welcome to you too! Glad to hear that the word continues to get around. We hope that you'll become a familiar sight around here. We're a friendly bunch and love taking new members under our wings.

Let us know what those questions are! Maybe someone here can help...

Hello and welcome to meclark, kpetlewski, jaeminor and johnb!

Hi! My name is Rosa and I am the director of a small town(1,300)library. As the only employee I am responsible for everything in the library. We are open 30 hours per week. I also write a weekly column in our local newspaper for the library. I have begun having free monthly classes (Learning @ your library) taught by local volunteers. We have had classes on scrapbooking, knitting, gardening, & calligraphy so far. I put in way more than the 30 hours I am paid for but am hoping for an increase with the next budget! I am always looking for ways to better serve the community and help our library continue growing.

Hello all, I'm Richard a circulation person from South Florida. I hope to utilize this forum for information concerning how other libraries operate and to gather new and productive ideas--in other words strickly selfish reasons; however, should I be able to contribute, I certainly will. I look forward to checking in from time to time. Richard

Hello! I'm Rebecca Ryan, Reference Librarian with the South Pasadena (CA) Public Library. I graduated several years ago from Emporia State University's Distance Program in Denver, Colorado - a fine program, indeed. During my studies, I was very interested in the Public Librarian-as-WebMistress, and fought hard to establish this for myself in Colorado. Alas, all doors were shut. So I came back home to SP as a Local History Librarian, a very satisfying position. But as things go, I've recently been asked to take on the City's website - effectively bringing me full circle in my career. I'm extremely excited of the possibilities, but have a lot of catching up to do. Thanks for being here to help me do that. Best, Rebecca

Yikes! I hit refresh and posted myself 3 times. Sorry!

Welcome Alana and Rebecca; we're glad you found us! Thanks for joining in. And don't worry Alana, I will fix those duplicate posts. It won't take you long around here for someone to say ~ "we're getting new software soon!" It has been a bit tedious for everyone, but we manage ok.

Good news: it's happening on/around the week of June 20! Stay tuned...

Roanoke

Posts: 1
Registered: 6/20/04
first experince
Posted: May 3, 2004 10:49 AM


Hello,

My name is Daryl; this is my first time using webjunction & posting to the message board.

I work in a town library in Roanoke Indiana.

I have a computer problem.

Today when we turned on the computer it automatically shuts itself down & gives a notice that it is shutting down & will restart.

What can any one suggest I try?

Thank you,


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chrystiehill

Posts: 524
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: first experince
Posted: May 3, 2004 10:49 AM


Hi Daryl, and welcome to the conversations on All Aboard! We're glad you found us.

Let me see here - how long does the computer stay on before shut-down?

Is it possible to do a virus update and scan to make sure you don't have a new bug?

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maddog

Posts: 345
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: first experince
Posted: May 4, 2004 12:45 PM


Hi Daryl

Sounds a bit like the Blaster Worm which was going around a little while ago. You can get more info here:

http://securityresponse1.symantec.com/sarc/sarc.nsf/html/w32.blaster.worm.html

rn100501

Posts: 2
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: Welcome from the Moderator
Posted: Mar 11, 2004 1:07 AM


Thank you for your kind welcome Mr. Pike.
My name is Rayanne Northrop from Tularosa, New Mexico, but my maiden name is Pike too.
Must be a good sign that I should
GET ABOARD too!

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maddog

Posts: 345
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: lativity
Posted: Mar 12, 2004 1:00 AM


It is a pleasure to meet you Rayanne, and Welcome Aboard! I wonder if your branch of the Pike family has any connection to Major Zebulon of Pike's Peak fame? I know that when my dad was doing his family tree he found a connection back there somewhere...

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pustaka_birdlife

Posts: 1
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: Welcome from the Moderator
Posted: Mar 23, 2004 6:39 AM


Hi all,

Greeting from Indonesia . I'm Arif. Nice to see this site.

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SusanR

Posts: 1
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: Welcome from the Moderator
Posted: Mar 23, 2004 6:53 AM


Thank you for the warm greeting. I am a library administrator at the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity, which opened to the public almost two years ago. In addition to the ususal responsibilities for staff and collection development, my major task will be to get the ALS up and running smoothly in 6 months, so I am really eager to participate in Webjunction conversations.

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goldspk

Posts: 2
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: Welcome from the Moderator
Posted: Mar 26, 2004 5:12 AM


Hi there:

Jerry Gold from Broward County Florida. Looking forward to lookin' and learnin'!

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maddog

Posts: 345
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: RE: Welcome from the Moderator
Posted: Mar 29, 2004 5:43 AM


A happy hello SusanR, pustaka_birdlife and goldspk. It is great to see you all posting in the forum!

Susan, we are almost neighbors. I live near Concord NH now but once lived in South Hampton NH which is just over the state line from Amesbury Mass where one of the historic Mary Baker Eddy homesites is located. The website for your library at http://www.marybakereddylibrary.org is very impressive. I like the Flash animated bits in particular.

Pustaka, I am CURious about your psedonym. Are you a bird watcher?

Jerry, I have a good friend in another online community who works for the water commission down your way. She loves to taunt us with weather reports during the dead of winter!

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cori

Posts: 1
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: Welcome from the Moderator
Posted: Apr 30, 2004 2:54 AM


Hello, I am learning on the job as I catalog a museum collection of about 1K books and have been asked to create a web site for the Faribault County Historical Society. WJ has lots of info I am exploring... thanks for being here. Corinne (Blue Earth, MN)

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maddog

Posts: 345
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: Welcome Corinne!
Posted: May 5, 2004 8:18 AM


Welcome to WebJunction Corinne. If there is anything we can do to help do not hesitate to ask!

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ceasom

Posts: 2
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: Welcome from the Moderator
Posted: Jun 15, 2004 12:05 PM


Hello

My name is Colin Easom and I'm a British librarian. I moved to Tucson, AZ in January of this year and I'm now working as Library/Resource Center Coordinator for two privately owned colleges in Tucson. I look forward to learning from the website

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maddog

Posts: 345
Registered: 6/20/04
RE: Welcome Colin
Posted: Jun 16, 2004 11:09 AM


Nice to make your virtual acquaintance Colin. I look forward to hearing more from you. If there is anything I can do to help you get the most out of the site please do not hesitate to ask!

(I know, it's a bummer we still can't move posts to *existing threads*. This was my short term, and admittedly unfortunate, solution. This has been logged as a request for a future enhancement of the software. Jive says it may be coming in a regular upgrade anyway....)

Welcome, Ryan!

Hi Ryan, great to have you aboard!

Hello everyone. I'm a new member of the WebJunction team and am helping to coordinate the Spanish Language Outreach Program, which launched earlier this month. In the next week or so we'll be posting more information about the program on the site, as well as launching our program-specific message boards. If you're interested in learning ways to meet the technology needs of Spanish-speakers in your community, you'll want to watch our progress over the next year or so and see how the program unfolds. Looking forward to interacting with you all online. We welcome your thoughts and ideas for our program!