Back Up and Raring to Go

April 7, 2010 at 1:29 pm (Community, System Information, web site)

Our apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced by our recent CWMARS and web-hosting problems. Here’s what happened as far as we understand it. Our connection to the big servers in Paxton, MA that allow us to use Millenium Circulation would not receive packets sent from the Milne. Turned out to be faulty wiring somewhere in the Worcester area and as far as we know things are patched now. If you notice any odd things on your record during the April 1 to April 7 time period, remember that although we could check out materials using a simple number system (DOS), we couldn’t check anything in. This created quite a backlog for staff once the system came back up. Everything should be corrected by now but if you notice anything odd about your record, please let us know.

As for the library’s homepage, we have an on-going issue with the file path that we can’t correct here. Things are back to normal in our files with pictures up and functionality returned but we can no longer be seen at http://www.milnelibrary.org. All you need to do is change the path and drop the “www” or just Google “milnelibrary” and we will show up. We are still on the world wide web but our server isn’t pulling us from there. Don’t ask me, contact the guy behind the green curtain that makes it all work.

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Big trouble in store for the regional library system

March 5, 2010 at 7:46 pm (Community, System Information)
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Serious cuts to the regional library system will leave Western Mass. without the resources to continue excellent service.

At one of several legislative breakfasts being held across the Commonwealth, about 75 librarians, trustees, friends, and administrators listened to Representative “Smitty” Pignatelli, Senator Benjamin Downing, Assistant Regional Administrator Jan Resnick deliver some very bad news about the state budget and its impact on libraries.

Plans are afoot to consolidate all of the state’s six regions into a single entity thereby eliminating the Whately Western Regional headquarters and the CWMARS offices in Worcester that serve this end of the state. Staff would be greatly reduced with one central hub sending out two emissaries to the former regional sites. At first glance this may not seem like much of a sacrifice in a bad economy but behind the numbers are services like interlibrary loan, internet connectivity, continuing education for staff, summer reading programs, reference databases, and human capital. Consider this, the WMRLS system is nearly 50 years old and serves 316 libraries, including our state  university, in four far-flung western counties. Last year alone the system delivered 1.8 million books. It takes some money and dedicated staff to handle that volume.

Our legislators must work within the confines of a system that leaves Pignatelli representing 40,000 people in a huge district pitted against his Boston counterpart representing the same number of folks in a four-square mile community. And at the State House, it leaves our five Western reps trying to be heard above the seventeen representatives in the Boston metro area alone. So we need you to voice your concerns about the looming cuts. Please consider sending an e-mail or letter to your representative. Follow up with a letter to the House Ways and Means and finish with a flourish —send a letter of support for libraries to Gov. Patrick. For more information on this issue stop by the library or visit the links on our main page.

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Library discontinues NetLibrary

February 21, 2010 at 9:42 pm (System Information)

After a year-long trial of downloadable audiobooks from Listening Library, the Milne is discontinuing a small account called NetLibrary. We will still provide audiobooks through the Overdrive interface provided by CWMARS. The NetLibrary account required users to set up a personal account, separate from their regular library card number and downloading the books through proprietary software. Our trial included 600 children’s titles and an increasing number of adult audiobooks. The biggest benefit of  NetLibrary was audio on demand instead of waiting for titles that might be “checked out” in Overdrive. But both systems have limitations. In addition to figuring out how and where to download the audio files, users have to figure out how to transfer them over to a compatible device for listening and how to remove them from everywhere once the three-week loan period is over. This  technology is still in development and we will keep trying to find the perfect solution. Respondents to our audio survey clearly indicated that books on CD are still the preferred listening method at the Milne right now but that may change. You can use this blog to let us know your preferences.

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Book Sale Success

April 27, 2009 at 4:40 pm (Book Sale, Books, Community, System Information)

For an entertaining look at the booksale, try the SmileBox slideshow on the library’s main page. Photos are taken every year by Judy Madden and then loaded into this on-line utility for photo sharing. We apologize for the ads and hope they aren’t too annoying. A premium membership without ads would set us back $6 a month and the billing is way too problematic. If anyone knows of a better “free” photoshare that includes such “great theme music,” let us in on the sercret. A great time was had by all, baked items were to die for, and the organization just gets more streamlined each year. Thank you to everyone.

P.S. The library wireless is out of commission today, April 27. Please plan on using the lab computers, they appear to be running on time.

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Main Page changes

March 24, 2009 at 6:01 pm (System Information, youth)

The library’s main page is shifting around a bit, trying to bring more into screen view so that you do not have to scroll around and risk missing some important library link or service. We will also be experimenting around with a softer color scheme because the red varies too much from browser to browser. Feed back is always a good thing. Let us know what works and what doesn’t through the “Contact Us” button.

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Not so fast ….

February 8, 2009 at 11:18 pm (System Information)

   Please be patient while the system tries to sort out problems in the new “ECommerce” portion of the catalog. Big difference now … the button reads “Pay Online”, but we just noticed it still doesn’t work. Oops, wait! If you give it a few minutes to think, a very sharp and easy-to-use form will appear giving you the option of paying your fines or making a donation. Ahhh, modern life.

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