In this and future posts I’ll tell the story of how we selected VuFind from a list that included AquaBrowser, Encore, Drupal SOPAC, and WorldCat Local. I’ll write about testing and launching open source software originally developed at Villanova University. We might blaze a few interesting trails, taking software currently running in university libraries, and adapting it to our multi-type consortium on the Western Slope.

“We’re getting open source!”

VuFind was a very much a dark horse until a few stars aligned. When I joined Marmot last October, it was not clear we could implement let alone enhance an open source solution. When I visited Colorado State University to learn about the first implementation of VuFind with Millennium, I was encouraged that CSU could help Marmot get started. After we hired a new web developer, and identified a contract developer to expand our capacity for a few months, we had everything we needed to take VuFind seriously.

Lucene at the heart of VuFind is no stranger to supporting public and school libraries as well as academics. Lucene powers Encore by Innovative Interfaces, LS2 PAC by The Library Corporation, and many other web apps. The remarkable thing about VuFind for Marmot was how well it met overlapping and conflicting needs of 19 separate Marmot institutions in spite of its academic roots.

Mary Katherine told me how much fun she and CJ were having looking at the code where MARC tags and subfields get handled for indexing and faceting. “I can’t remember the last time I actually enjoyed reading MARC documentation and chasing down fixed field codes.”

Some of the fun comes from feeling in control, from the optimism of being able to solve unique local problems without waiting for a vendor to weigh our priorities with those of a thousand other ILS customers. Mary Katherine can see what’s happening inside the system instead of being shut out of a vendor’s black box. CJ can make changes without filing a bug report. Marmot library users will love the results.

Beginning Feb 1, they will all use the same web-based customer-support and communication technology, InstantService.

In the last few years, libraries have seen an explosion in online communication tools available for reaching and serving patrons. The use of IM, text messaging, online chat and related technologies are becoming embedded in the fabric of libraries’ online service offerings. Given this changing landscape in technology and the evolving need for libraries to flexibly serve their patrons, the AskColorado community and AskColorado Steering Committee have endorsed a migration to this new software platform, InstantService.

AskColorado

On February 1, Colorado’s statewide virtual reference provider will begin using the software developed by InstantService. In addition to serving some well-known companies across a range of industries, InstantService is currently used by Florida’s AskALibrarian virtual reference service. The Florida AskALibrarian service, which has 102 participating libraries of all types, has been using InstantService for nearly a year and raves about the company’s service. The AskColorado Software Selection Committee, which was comprised of library representatives from public, academic and school libraries from across the state, chose InstantService after reviewing several vendor options.

InstantService offers the expected, basic function of live chats with a librarian, but the (NEW!) integration of email to provide patrons with a communication option if the AskColorado service is busy or closed for a holiday IS A SIGNIFICANT improvement to the former software system.

Additional features and functions:

• fully integrated staff service module, which will allow libraries to offer different communication channels to their patrons while interacting with and responding to patrons at a single service point;
• entirely web-based, compatible with more operating systems and browser platforms than the previous software;
• works on both PCs and Macs;
• the ability for participating libraries to add an embedded IM widget box within their web sites, similar to Meebo.

Looking forward to the spring…text messaging will be added as an option so that patrons can communicate with the AskColorado library service using a handheld device like a cell phone.

If you have any questions, or would like further information about joining and supporting the AskColorado Collaboration, please feel free to contact Susie Whiteford [swhitefo@denverlibrary.org]of Denver Public Library, currently Chair of the AskColorado Steering Committee.

And if your library is already a member of AskColorado, welcome to a bright new era of virtual reference service and sophisticated electronic communications with your patrons!

The Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) recently honored the Colorado State Library’s Plinkit service with its “2009 Library Project of the Year Award” at the association’s annual conference in November.

This award recognizes a creative and innovative project which furthers library service within the state of Colorado.

Christine Kreger, Plinkit Service Coordinator said, “Libraries today are all about building community and being accessible to their patrons. I am honored to be a part of a project like Plinkit that offers small libraries across Colorado the opportunity to put their library online and to connect to their communities 24/7.”

Kreger shared the honor of accepting the award with two other staff members. Software developer and system administrator Stephen Gregory ensures that the Plinkit system is solid and humming. Service administrator Jim Duncan watches finances and guides with strategic direction.

At the award’s dinner, three other state library staffers were cited for their contributions and support of the Plinkit service: Mark Ferguson, Sharon Morris and Gene Hainer.

• * Share with you the latest services and resources we can offer Colorado libraries
• * Hear how libraries have transformed your lives

CSL at CAL 2009 – Schedule (PDF)

Find the report, and a Colorado-specific Fast Facts report, on the report page:  http://www.lrs.org/public/webtech

Have other questions about technology plan requirements for e-rate? Visit the Colorado State Library online, or contact me (Christine Kreger) by phone (303-866-6946) or e-mail.

In the afternoon a panel of technology experts in the library realm (David Lee King, Melissa Kiser, Susan Staples, Carson Block, Matt Hamilton and Mindy Kittay) discussed how they keep up with the ever-changing world of technology, libraries,  and more.

The afternoon concluded with a great presentation by Melissa Kaiser, Information Technology Librarian for Allen County Public Library (IN), on using video and other tools to build community.

Check out some of the handouts, links and information that went into TechFest 2009! It was a wonderful day of information, networking, and fun! As libraries focus more and more on using these tools to connect with their communities, I feel privileged to have been invited to join the Anythink community and to take part in this amazing event!

Anythink(tm) “celebrates imagination, play and interactivity.” In the official Anythink announcement, you’ll note a decidedly strategic absence of the tried-and-tired verbiage and emphasis typical of library press releases. Included is a YouTube-hosted “Anythink Branimation.” Pop on over to the site; this is an innovative and bold direction for Rangeview Library District, well worth watching.

Teams of grant reviewers, composed of librarians of all types from throughout Colorado, scrutinized every word within each proposal. For a library or library service organization to prepare a top-notch proposal is no small feat, and reviewers took their task just as seriously.

The breadth of proposals, both in terms of content and reach in Colorado, was impressive.  All grants awarded addressed the long-range goal “that Colorado’s residents will be able to access resources and services electronically through libraries to meet their information and learning needs.”

A list of 10 grants awarded for 2009-10 follows below. For more information about the LSTA grant submission and review process, your questions are welcomed by Jean Marie Heilig, LSTA Grant Coordinator (heilig_j@cde.state.co.us)

Grants awarded:

• McClave School—Improving Technology Integration and Student Writing Skills through Digital Scrapbooking, $3,923. This grant will provide training, instruction, equipment and inspiration necessary for students to create curriculum based digital scrapbooks and/or similar projects. Projects include local history writing for sixth-grade students; handbooks on internet safety for eighth-grade students; literary criticism handbooks and school history projects for tenth- and eleventh-grade students.

• Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL)—Creating an Online Road to Reading, $23,500. In partnership with Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Services, CLEL will create online video clips that model songs, rhymes and finger plays appropriate for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Each clip will include early literacy tips to increase understanding of child development and pre-literacy needs.

• Southern Peaks Public Library—San Luis Valley Libraries Technology Learning Project, $72,559. Nine public libraries are collaborating on this project to offer technology training, information literacy resources and improved access to technology in the San Luis valley. A part-time bilingual technology trainer will be hired to teach computer classes via new laptops and PC’s at each participating library.

• Pikes Peak Library District—Play and Learn, Colorado, $15,000. Every elementary student in Colorado studies state history to meet the Colorado model content standards, including over 8,000 fourth-graders in El Paso County. The Pikes Peak Library District will provide students with historical information to assist in their studies by developing an interactive, Web-based Colorado history game for fourth-grade students.

• Westminster Public Library—Online Access Expansion, $19,856. The Irving Street Community Library will offer computer usage classes (computers for absolute beginners, Internet skills, Microsoft Word, e-mail) and job search classes (creating e-mail accounts, applying for jobs online, creating resumes, searching for jobs online) to their adult and senior population. The existing Homework Help sessions will be enhanced by increasing the availability of computer stations to students from Westminster School District 50 who attend the successful after school program.

• Salida Regional Library—Mobile Computer Education Lab, $12,000. As a way of improving access to educational materials for its patrons, the library will purchase computers for a mobile community lab. The library will also purchase the Learning Express database that provides instructional tutorials in such areas as GED preparation, job skills and preparation for citizenship and civil service examinations. Computer class series will be designed to meet the needs of both current patrons and other community members who wish to learn how to use computers and access information electronically.

• High Plains Library District—Southeast Greeley Literacy Center, $20,000. The Literacy Center will serve as a connection to information, education and inspiration for people of all ages by providing computer services and enabling users to properly utilize the technology. Patrons will have access to read and return book racks and delivery of library materials placed on hold.

• Auraria Library—Latinos in Colorado: Research Sources and Research Strategies, $20,000. The project will digitize a collection of images representing the experiences of Latinos in Colorado. It will focus on identifying, describing, and hosting primary materials about the Latino experience. An instructional video will be produced on Colorado history research methods and materials which will guide users on how to research and use the collection and other resources.

• Adams State College, Nielsen Library— San Luis Valley Historic Digitization Project, $12,739. The Nielsen Library Archives houses rare books, manuscripts, sound recordings and thousands of photographs. These collections are used for their historical significance of the San Luis Valley. This project will digitize photographs from the collection and make them available to the Adams State College Community, residents of the San Luis Valley and those living outside of the valley.

• Automated Systems Colorado Consortium—The Power of Synergy in Action, $200,000. Funding will allow the migration of data from 43 separate member library systems (24 public, 15 schools, three academic, one special) into a single, open-source union catalog. This union catalog will provide the infrastructure for patron initiated interlibrary loan requests and enhance connections between Colorado libraries and improve services to almost 300,000 residents.

The Plinkit Collaborative, a national cooperative organization behind the Plinkit web site hosting system, has received an achievement award from the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. The Colorado State Library is one of four founding members of the Plinkit Collaborative.

These annual Digital Government Achievement Awards showcase progressive and innovative Web sites and digital applications by government entities worldwide. The awards are judged by a panel of experts on a wide range of categories, including site accessibility, innovation, cost-savings, ease of use, and exceptional service to the public.

Cathilea Robinett, Executive Director of the Center for Digital Government, said, “We congratulate the winners of this year’s awards.  They are terrific examples of first-rate ideas and collaboration on digital solutions which ultimately benefit citizens.”

“To us at the Colorado State Library, Plinkit represents a sustainable, cost-effective means for serving libraries that lack the resources to manage their own web sites. We’ve all worked very hard within this multi-state, multi-organization structure to leverage our unified resources, ultimately to the benefit of library patrons,” said Jim Duncan, Chair of the Plinkit Collaborative Steering Committee and administrative director for Colorado’s Plinkit service.

“But more importantly, Plinkit is a service that helps us partner directly with Colorado libraries. This award says as much about the can-do spirit of libraries in our state as it does the accomplishments of the Plinkit Collaborative,” Duncan said.

Plinkit system software lets libraries maintain rich web sites without any technical expertise.  Libraries that previously had no web presence or that offered only a basic, static web page can now connect with customers online, letting them search library catalogs and databases, view slide shows and videos, peruse event calendars, and much more. Plinkit is especially valuable in rural areas where long distances and limited hours and staff time make it difficult for patrons to go to the library in person.

Please contact Technology & Digital Initiatives Coordinator Christine Kreger (kreger_c@cde.state.co.us) at the Colorado State Library for more information about Plinkit services available to your library.