Thursday, November 30, 2006
Name and focus change coming soon
As you can see, it has been some time since I made any posts. I have been in the process of changing jobs and am no longer associated with the library. While I will still address issues of interest to libraries, I am still thinking how I want to further develop this blog and what to focus on. Over the next several weeks, I hope to finalize that process and publish an updated blog I will plan on keeping more current.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Virtual PC deployment results
Well, we've had two months almost now to evaluate the deployment of our new public use PCs using VmWare and VmPlayer. The stability has been everything we expected. Shutting down the virtula machine so that it reverts to its original snapshot is turning into a real time saver for my technical staff. It helps our branch staff as well as many problems can be fixed by properly shutting down ad restarting the virtual machine.
There have been some issues we have had to deal with on the VMs. Playback of movies from the DVD drive does not work as the memory and/or resolution required exceeds the capability of the currnet VM technology. External drives do not show up as quickly as would normally be the case. It can take time for a drive to be found by the VM once say a flash drive is plugged in.
On the plus side, the VM machine can do just about anything else a normal PC can. Burning CDs/DVDs, listening to streaming media, playing onloine games all work very well. A furhter advantage is we now should have time to provide quarterly software updates as all we need do is create a new VM with the updates and apply that to each PC - faster even than imaging using Ghost.
There have been some issues we have had to deal with on the VMs. Playback of movies from the DVD drive does not work as the memory and/or resolution required exceeds the capability of the currnet VM technology. External drives do not show up as quickly as would normally be the case. It can take time for a drive to be found by the VM once say a flash drive is plugged in.
On the plus side, the VM machine can do just about anything else a normal PC can. Burning CDs/DVDs, listening to streaming media, playing onloine games all work very well. A furhter advantage is we now should have time to provide quarterly software updates as all we need do is create a new VM with the updates and apply that to each PC - faster even than imaging using Ghost.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
My latest presentations
I recently spoke at the Michigan Rural and Small Library Conference in Petoskey. This group is a division of the Michigan Library Association (MLA). I did 2 sessions; one with all staff and a Director focused session. The first concentrated on general troubleshooting/support in a small environment. The Director session was more strategic in nature in terms of how to manage technology when you have no money or staff.
The other session was at the Management and Administration (MAD) division of MLA. This was on technology trends. My view of technology trends does not focus on specific items like PDA's or smartphones, but rather on the underlying trends that are driving specific technology inventions.
The other session was at the Management and Administration (MAD) division of MLA. This was on technology trends. My view of technology trends does not focus on specific items like PDA's or smartphones, but rather on the underlying trends that are driving specific technology inventions.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Just a photo of me
For those of you who care - or not - :) here is my photo. I'll get it added to my profile one of these days.
New happenings
Well, it has been a month since my last posting and much has been happening the last four weeks. I'll get in more detail later, but here is a quick summary of what our library's IT department has been doing.
Deployed nearly 300 desktop and laptop PCs for our public users
Spoke at 2 conferences in Michigan giving 3 different presentations
Was elected to the Board for the Library Technology Division of the Michigan Library Association - yeah!! A non-librarian finally can get elected. :)
Upgraded one of my technical certifications to Windows 2003 - i.e. Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) - 2003.
Ok, so really busy. I'll talk about the PC deployment soon as it involved some pretty nifty technology I do not think has yet been deployed in a Library environment.
I'll also try to post the PowerPoint presentations too for the conferences.
Deployed nearly 300 desktop and laptop PCs for our public users
Spoke at 2 conferences in Michigan giving 3 different presentations
Was elected to the Board for the Library Technology Division of the Michigan Library Association - yeah!! A non-librarian finally can get elected. :)
Upgraded one of my technical certifications to Windows 2003 - i.e. Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) - 2003.
Ok, so really busy. I'll talk about the PC deployment soon as it involved some pretty nifty technology I do not think has yet been deployed in a Library environment.
I'll also try to post the PowerPoint presentations too for the conferences.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Virtualizing the desktop PC
In keeping with the wide-ranging intent of this blog, let me introduce what I believe to be a major trend already prevalent in business that will eventually make its way to the library world. That trend is virtualization.
When we think of virtualization, it is usually in the context of the data center. If you talk to your IT staff, they will tell you that in many cases, servers bought and installed, especially if they are for one purpose, are almost always woefully underutilized. Creating many virtual servers that run on one physical server can help maximize the use of this expensive resource.
But what I want to address is not the server virtualization, but what to the library world is generally more important and that is the maintenance and stability of the public PC. Libraries spend much time trying to lock down a PC so the public user cannot inadvertently or even maliciously change the system. Products like Fortress or Clean Slate from Fortres Grand or Deep Freeze from Faronics essentially work to protect the PC from user changes.
The drawback of these types of products is that certain changes have to be allowed so exceptions must be made. For example, anti-virus updates must take place, patches and security fixes must be installed and upgrades to existing software should be done on a somewhat regular basis. So, all these exceptions have to be accounted for which can take some time and effort and the exceptions can create "holes" in the security of the PC we are protecting.
So in comes virtulaization. By using VmWare workstation coupled with the free VmPlayer, we are creating virtual PCs that run on a "host" PC. Each of these virtual PCs (and we have several types) run all of our software and our PC control software - in our case we use CybraryN. The user (patron) sees a PC that looks and acts just like a regular PC. The advantage to us is that because we are using a virtual PC, that virtual PC can never be permanently changed. So if a user does make a change of some sort such as installing software or introducing a virus, the fix for staff is simply shut down the virtual PC and restart it. Everything is then reset to the original state.
There is some expertise required in setting up the virtual PCs, but any competent IT department can gain the skill set necessary. And IT departments should be looking at virtualization technology anyway if for no other reason than in their data center as I described above.
When we think of virtualization, it is usually in the context of the data center. If you talk to your IT staff, they will tell you that in many cases, servers bought and installed, especially if they are for one purpose, are almost always woefully underutilized. Creating many virtual servers that run on one physical server can help maximize the use of this expensive resource.
But what I want to address is not the server virtualization, but what to the library world is generally more important and that is the maintenance and stability of the public PC. Libraries spend much time trying to lock down a PC so the public user cannot inadvertently or even maliciously change the system. Products like Fortress or Clean Slate from Fortres Grand or Deep Freeze from Faronics essentially work to protect the PC from user changes.
The drawback of these types of products is that certain changes have to be allowed so exceptions must be made. For example, anti-virus updates must take place, patches and security fixes must be installed and upgrades to existing software should be done on a somewhat regular basis. So, all these exceptions have to be accounted for which can take some time and effort and the exceptions can create "holes" in the security of the PC we are protecting.
So in comes virtulaization. By using VmWare workstation coupled with the free VmPlayer, we are creating virtual PCs that run on a "host" PC. Each of these virtual PCs (and we have several types) run all of our software and our PC control software - in our case we use CybraryN. The user (patron) sees a PC that looks and acts just like a regular PC. The advantage to us is that because we are using a virtual PC, that virtual PC can never be permanently changed. So if a user does make a change of some sort such as installing software or introducing a virus, the fix for staff is simply shut down the virtual PC and restart it. Everything is then reset to the original state.
There is some expertise required in setting up the virtual PCs, but any competent IT department can gain the skill set necessary. And IT departments should be looking at virtualization technology anyway if for no other reason than in their data center as I described above.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
A major trend in the business world today is the notion of "Business Intelligence". Business Intelligence or BI for short, encompasses several concepts. First, is the use of data mining techniques to get at information on customers including their purchasing habits, geographic area, income and so forth.
Next, this information could be used to redirect resources or provide new or expanded services customers are demanding. All organizations have finite resources so maximizing their productivity can make the difference between success and failure.
Finally, an organization can use the information to anticipate customers needs. A proactive organization can get ahead of the curve and beat its competition to market.
Now, what does all this have to do with libraries? An exciting development is the SirsiDynix Normative Data Project or NDP.
Normative Data Project
NDP gathers circulation and customer demographic data in an effort to better target the libraries collection and serivces to its customers.
Such data gathering raises many questions we in the library world need to ask and answer. Some questions could include privacy of the customer library record, technical expertise of the staff, funding or making a case that makes sense to your governing Board or your public.
My library is exploring a similar project. Questions we are asking as we experience rapid growth in circulation include type and quantity of materials to buy (VHS or DVD for example), collection makeup for different branches and so on. We hope using data mining technicques can help us better use our taxpayers money in providing a quality collection.
The data is available in our circulation system but in most cases, the data we need - checkout history - disappears when the item is checked back in. Yet, keeping that checkout history to create an Amazon.com like experience raises all the questions above and probably many more.
I will post more on this topic as we move forward as well as providing case studies where businesses have used or are using business intelligence techniques to better serve their customers.
Next, this information could be used to redirect resources or provide new or expanded services customers are demanding. All organizations have finite resources so maximizing their productivity can make the difference between success and failure.
Finally, an organization can use the information to anticipate customers needs. A proactive organization can get ahead of the curve and beat its competition to market.
Now, what does all this have to do with libraries? An exciting development is the SirsiDynix Normative Data Project or NDP.
Normative Data Project
NDP gathers circulation and customer demographic data in an effort to better target the libraries collection and serivces to its customers.
Such data gathering raises many questions we in the library world need to ask and answer. Some questions could include privacy of the customer library record, technical expertise of the staff, funding or making a case that makes sense to your governing Board or your public.
My library is exploring a similar project. Questions we are asking as we experience rapid growth in circulation include type and quantity of materials to buy (VHS or DVD for example), collection makeup for different branches and so on. We hope using data mining technicques can help us better use our taxpayers money in providing a quality collection.
The data is available in our circulation system but in most cases, the data we need - checkout history - disappears when the item is checked back in. Yet, keeping that checkout history to create an Amazon.com like experience raises all the questions above and probably many more.
I will post more on this topic as we move forward as well as providing case studies where businesses have used or are using business intelligence techniques to better serve their customers.
One of my goals has been to help my users with solving the challenges they face everyday in the Library. Sometimes, those challenges can be addressed by technology and that is where I come in.
The Library I work at has undertaken, over the last six years, many technology projects that really advance the customer experience, both our staff and our patrons.
Some of those projects include a VoIP installation over five years ago when it was just a dream in many organizations mind. Creating a "home user" like experience with our public PCs is important ot our Library too. And RFID, love it or leave, is going to make an enormous impact on how libraries interact with their customers and on their internal operaitons.
I'll talk more on these topics and others as I develop this blog.
I am very interested in hearing what technology challenges you face everyday, whether you work in a library, are a customer of a library, or are in the community at large and have ideas on how the library can be a better place to use, visit and support.
The Library I work at has undertaken, over the last six years, many technology projects that really advance the customer experience, both our staff and our patrons.
Some of those projects include a VoIP installation over five years ago when it was just a dream in many organizations mind. Creating a "home user" like experience with our public PCs is important ot our Library too. And RFID, love it or leave, is going to make an enormous impact on how libraries interact with their customers and on their internal operaitons.
I'll talk more on these topics and others as I develop this blog.
I am very interested in hearing what technology challenges you face everyday, whether you work in a library, are a customer of a library, or are in the community at large and have ideas on how the library can be a better place to use, visit and support.
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