I made the mistake of blinking and now the semester is over; actually the entire year is hours away from being over! It was definitely a semester of survival. We hired three new students at the beginning of the year to try and get all of our locations covered. Training and data collection became two of our top priorities.

We spent much of the time trying to perfect the new printing processes. The 3D printing procedure has changed about twenty times even though we had put a lot of forethought into creating it. The biggest issue with the printing is time and educating our patrons on the uses of it. Our most popular items continue to be items like the articulated fish and octopus. Everyone is amazed that the printer "spits" them out just like they are. There have been orders for other objects though including turtles, a mini-piano, a DIY fishing lure, and a marble racer.

The poster printer has turned out to be one of the more popular items but takes a lot of training for both our staff and for the patrons. Increasing the size of a document or photo to print can be pretty tricky. We are experimenting (often with patrons) and learning all of the ends and out. We now offer four paper options (glossy and satin photo, cardstock/presention paper, and regular thin poster paper) to our patrons. We held a workshop for our staff showing them how to use Adobe Lightroom to print incredible photos. Even though it was during a busy time of year, only three staff members were unable to attend.

Our developers are in the final stages of releasing three new programs for our department in the library: passwords (a tool for sharing passwords with department staff), checklist (a tool for providing checklists for training and office responsibilities), and staff access (a place for staff members to share links that can be personalized). We are very excited for the final releases of these products.

During the semester, we lost two valued student assistants and then two more graduated at the end of the semester. Next semester one of our students will travel abroad and two more will be student teaching in the spring which means they can only work ten hours a week. Since we will be losing three developers in May, we decided that we needed to hire more developers to learn the ropes. We hired two more developers and a third student that could possibly step into a developer's role and a fourth with other roles in mind (3D printing and statistics).

I look forward to the new year - excited to get to know this relatively new student staff that we have gained. We will continue to perfect the processes for our two new printers and work on training all of our students on these new processes. Developing transitions will be a top priority and of course, eresource statistics will hit full force as we try to get the data collected and organized for all the spring reports that will come due all too quickly!

Informatics Devotion 2016

There are a lot of changes in our department this year. We have all had a very rough summer. We have had to step up and cover for each other and we have had many interruptions especially with the leaving of our director and the Campus IT adding to our IP numbers many of our summer projects got waylaid. Thank you to all of the full-time and summer staff for dealing with the craziness and stepping up where needed. All of us are behind and scrambling to even have things ready for the beginning of the school year.

We have spent countless hours developing the new game plan. It isn’t perfect, some stuff isn’t even quite to par yet. That’s why why I am dubbing it the year of survival and integrity. Sometimes when you go into survival mode you forget your integrity. You forget the principles that you know are correct and slip into living a life of relativity.

In our case, relativity would most likely look like taking shortcuts especially if something isn’t officially in place yet.  Remember the interview question about seemingly tedious policies? Relativity looks like slopping through a job bc no one is policing you. We need to figure out how to survive and maintain our integrity. We need to remember what principles are non-negotiable within ourselves. Everyone has heard the saying that we may not be watching but God is. That is very true but you are watching yourself. If it doesn’t bother you to let things slip or to lie then you need to do some deep soul searching. James 04:17, Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin.

A principle I would like you to consider:
Only a right thing done in a right way is right.

In contrast:
A wrong thing done in a wrong way is wrong.  - is the obvious one!
A wrong thing done in a right way is wrong. - giving a friend a “free” print job but following the correct procedure; substitution;
A right thing done in a wrong way is wrong. - helped patron by passing them off on someone else

Sure the outcome might turn out from a human or problem solving standpoint but not for you internally. It damages your soul. If you continue to allow yourself to justify doing something any of these patterns besides a right thing done in a right way, it chips away at your integrity and your resolve.

The good news is that God has provided a solution when we fail bc we will all fail (Romans 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,). His Son went to the cross not only for our salvation but He died as a substitute for our sins. All we have to do is name our sins to God and we are forgiven. 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We have a fresh slate to start again.

We need you each to start the year with a conscious choice that you are going to do a right thing done in a right way.

June 28, 2016

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. This is what the end of May and the beginning of June has brought:

1. Saying good-bye to ten of our seniors that graduated.
2. Adding 17 new members to the Informatics team.
3. Merging the Curriculum team into Informatics in preparation for our new Irene Clerico Learning Zone and its new tools.
4. Our last moments with our beloved leader before she retires
5. One staff member with three bulging disks in his back.
6. One staff member having emergency gallbladder surgery.
7. One staff member's husband was in a major car accident and is working on recovering from neck injuries.
8. One staff member sprained her ankle.
9. Another staff member's son had major surgery and will be having another in July.
10. One staff member's son getting married - one of the few good highlights!

As you can see we are looking forward to ushering in July! Besides trying to physically and mentally recover from the list above, we have been working on reorganization, new policies and procedures, and updating all of our training tools. Our team of summer workers have really been stepping up to fill in the gaps and keep us running like a well oiled machine. Phil K has been being tested in his new role as the Student Supervisor and filling in for our lack of tutorial staff. Caleb G has taken on the 3D printer like a whirlwind preparing for his job as the 3D Printer student leader. David H has been plugging away at all the different statistic collections that we do, working on organizing them and preparing to lead the new stats team this fall. Bri F and Abby C are working on getting up to speed Informatics policies and procedures along with helping us convert Curriculum responsibilities to Informatics. Biz H is working on our poster printer materials from far away, but should have us well informed by the beginning of the new school year. Kristen H is cranking out graphics as we request them from home. As for the development team: Alan R, Ross R, and Ryan C have been diligently working on campus on our new and old applications. Austin B, Harmony A, and Jake V have been joining them in spirit off campus as they work through our new systems.

I'll try to get some pictures up of our latest changes soon. In the meantime, check out our 3D printer page that includes a timelapse video that Caleb G made. http://library.olivet.edu/services/other_services/3d_printing/index.php Be sure to click on 3D samples, too in order to see some of the cool 3D objects we have printed.  AND extra prayer support would really be appreciated!

April 1, 2016 - It's not a joke

I know I haven't posted in a while, but things are still moving here at Informatics. As we enter our busy time, we are trying to get all of our wonderful additions out and running so that our patrons can benefit.

We are still working out the details for the poster printer but have already received some requests.

Biz working the poster printer.

We printed a couple CAD drawings for IT, some posters for the library, and are working on helping a patron create a poster for an ROTC awards ceremony. One of our graphic design students, Biz has been working with experimenting with different software and settings. She has begun printing  posters so that patrons can see some examples. They will be hanging in the GPL with some tips and instructions soon.

Esther  using the self-service comb binder.

The book binder is days from being put out for everyone to enjoy. We have a variety of spines and covers for patrons to purchase if needed otherwise they can utilize the machine on the second floor for free! The timing should be good as the semester comes to a close and students are beginning to wrap up on their final projects.

Garrett shows off the new white board.

The first white board came in. We were a little disappointed because there was a broken part but the company and Amazon pulled through and sent us a replacement very quickly. We now have the markers and erasers so it is available for our patrons to "checkout" and use for a couple hours at a time. The boards can be found in the Irene Clerico Learning Zone on the second floor.

3D printing has become popular already and we haven't even advertise. Word is getting around and we have had visitors to the office to check it out. Sunday night we will be showcasing it at the reference desk. Garrett is going to print something that only takes a couple hours so that patrons can see it in action. We are working on a web page to display some of the fun items we have already printed.

To see all of the policies on our new stuff go to http://library.olivet.edu --> Services --> Other Services & Printing

The Steelcase Node Chairs Arrive!

It's really beginning to feel like Christmas here at Benner Library. We are having so much fun figuring out the 3D Printer and everything that it is capable of! I will put up some pictures of some of fun things we are doing when I get a little more time.

Today was another special day though. It was a staff holiday and most of the students are off having fun at Spring Break but the library was buzzing. Everyone will be surprised when they step onto the second floor into the Irene Clerico Learning Zone (ICLZ). The chairs came today and they look so good. The company set them up in less than an hour and some of us even tested them out.

The tripod base gives patrons a place to put their bags so that they can roll and swivel with ease. They can join up with other students to make a larger work space. The chairs are designed for right and left-handed students and they each have a cup holder and tablet/phone stand. We can't wait until the students come back and start using them!!

February 29, 2016 3D Printer Arrives

It's here!! We have officially leaped into a new world on this exciting leap day! The 3D printer arrived today. Garrett M. even went to the Campus Post Office to pick it up. When he brought it back, he unpacked and set it up.  It was amazing how easy and intuitive it was to setup and operate. We are so excited to dig in and start using it. During the set up project, we actually produced a nut and bolt. If that wasn't amazing enough, we were able to take a picture of the project from the camera inside the printer!

We are hoping to have the policies and instructions finalized by the end of Spring Break so that we can start training the Informatics Staff. After that we will be able to print projects for our patrons.

Below are a few pictures of our setup process:

 

 

 

 

Presentation TV

We are so excited! Our presentation TV on the second floor is the first item from the generous donation to be made available for our patrons to use! To see the new policy visit http://library.olivet.edu --> About --> Library Policies. Enjoy the pictures below taken by Nick R.

Also, our 3D printer should arrive next week! We are looking forward to Spring Break so that we will have time to work with it and get it working.

 

Benner Bulletins

Benner Bulletins Application

One of our student developers, Tom, completed an application for us this past week. I consider it a personal present! I am so excited about using it. It is called Benner Bulletins and it will save Matt and I sooooo much time!

On the library home page, there is a series of graphics that scroll on the bottom of the screen. We have named these the Benner Bulletins. Every time a Benner Bulletin has to be updated we have an entire workflow we have to go through. We have to open the php file and make the changes to the entry - then we have to go to SourceTree, make notation about the changes and commit the changes - then we have to go to BitBucket and merge our changes - then we have to go back to SourceTree and pull the changes so that they will replace the live files. You can see why this gets frustrating, especially if you have a very minute change.

Tom's program allows us to go to the program and make the changes. These changes go live immediately and we do not have to follow the normal web page workflow. Yeah!!! It's wonderful. As if that wasn't enough! There's even more! It allows us to schedule Benner Bulletins. We can put them in and set the time they appear live on the website and the time they disappear off the website! It's like magic. Now, we don't have to worry about being at work during a certain time because an announcement is time sensitive. We can schedule Benner Bulletins to appear at a future time.

When we went live with the program, Kristen, one of our student graphic artists had an icon all ready for us (graphic above) to use so we dropped it in and so far everything is running smoothly! It seems like such a small thing, but it is huge and will help our office run even more efficiently. Thanks Tom for working so hard!

February 5, 2016 Poster Printer Arrives!

Yesterday was an exciting day in the library! We received our first piece of equipment that was ordered thanks to a generation donation made to the library. We received our 
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF780 
poster printer! 

Matt setting up the new printer

imagePROGRAF iPF780

The shipping company put it "together" and brought it down to our office. It was later in the day, so we only had time to get the ink installed and run the alignment test. 

We are counting the test as our first print job! As excited as we are, there is a lot of work we will have to do in order to allow patrons to begin utilizing the printer.

Alignment - First print job

1. Our staff has to learn all of the ins and outs to using the new machine
2. We will then have to train all of our student Informatics staff. 
3. Working with Campus IT, will be crucial in deciding how we will be able to set the printer so that patrons can print with our current payment system.
4. Setting up procedures and policies for use.
5. Making any online tutorials that we think will be necessary.
6. Ordering all of the additional paper and supplies needed.