Comments on: Applying for a grant….

By: steve

steve — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:55:56 +0000

hi all –
I am Steve Sanzo from NELINET. We are working with the Vermont State Library to help coordinate the Gates Grant. Just chiming in to answer Linda’s question…yes, you will be able to purchase any computer system you would like. All of you will soon be receiving more details – but first and foremost, to remain eligible, get your inventories completed and then the process will becoming clearer.

By: don warner saklad

don warner saklad — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:46:28 +0000

Our public library’s website at
http://maps.bpl.org/
is incompatible with operating systems that are not the very latest.

Website features should be used that are more universal
and without that Flash software that while works with the
very latest operating system but doesn’t work with other operating systems!

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:30:18 +0000

I have this TechAtlas fun to look forward to. I’m signed up for the Webinar though I don’t really look forward to it. Sometimes I wonder why we have to jump through so many hoops to get some money for library computers. If we’re eligible in their eyes why don’t they just send us a check and have us report back to them on what we got for the money. As I understand it, the money will be divided into two years, with the first year requiring a 25% match & second year a 50% match. Last time around we had to get the computers they told us to (expensive ones) that haven’t stood up any better than the cheaper ones we have. I wonder if it will be the same this time. I can buy the four computers we need for what the matching funds will be for this grant. We already own four licenses for the Centurion Guard software & can use those. I also got four licenses for Office 2007 from Tech Soup for $20 ea. so already have that. I keep asking myself why I’m even considering putting myself through the process. Just in case, I guess, and on the hope that this time around we’ll have a little more leeway in computer choice.

By: Meg

Meg — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:52:46 +0000

As someone who has nothing to do with any of this, I’d just like to point out that many of us have had many bad experiences with Webinars and would just like a damn page with what we need to do in plain writing.

I don’t understand why everything has to be done in Webinar format that requires an hour to watch plus finagling your computer… which if you’re lucky, you have the access to do. (Try being the member of a 40+ library consortium sometime. You don’t have that luxury most of the time.) And if I have one more Webinar that requires me to sit on the phone for an hour at my computer, which requires me not only finding the time to watch the Webinar but ALSO scheduling the office phone so no one else is using it, I’m going to scream.

So I’m sort of with Jessamyn when she scrapped the Webinar pretty quickly.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:46:40 +0000

You’re totally right, logging in to the website and figuring out how to make my profile information stick was the most frustrating part of this whole enterprise. I got all the relevant infomation about the necessary tasks from the letter. Once I logged in, it was simple to plug in the information — which I didn’t need to watch a webinar to figure out. I work roughly five to eight hours a week, an hour-long webinar is not cost effective for me or my library especially if it’s explaining to me how to do 30 minutes worth of work. The webinar would not have saved me two calls to NELINET (for my login and to figure out why there is another library’s name pre-populating the “network” area) and it would not have saved me from stepping through the “browser incompatibility” page.

I appreciate what the Gates Foundation has done for libraries in Vermont and outside of Vermont, but I feel that in 2008 there’s very little excuse for bad user interface design and mandatory websites that appear to still be in beta. Many librarians where I am aren’t much more advanced than their patrons technologically and this sort of thing has a chilling effect on their ability to get finding and advance in their tech knowledge and skillset.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:46:29 +0000

Following the adage to read twice and post once, while I appreciate your frustration and the fun of railing at the Microsoft/Gates/OCLC machine. I’d like to propose that a better headline and/or article could have been “How 10 minutes work got my library thousands in cash from the Gates Foundation.”
In some instances it is better, although not as macho, to RTFM or in this case invest an hour in the webinar. If so you would have learned that there are only two tasks necessary to comply with this section of the grant application process.
First update the library information. Change the contact name, you can always use the blind account like “comments” and your usual password, add perhaps the director as the secondary contact, use the NCES lookup tool provided or or Google NCES (took me 1 minute to get the NCES for Rutland) and save. Estimated time to complete 2 minutes.
Log off TechAtlas and log back with new login information.
For four computers, depending on how much info you need you can use either of two tools. The local tool, designed for standalone computers or work group computers can be run from a thumb drive or even a floppy and the results can be saved to be uploaded later.
If the computers are identical, let’s say 4 Gates grant computers. Upload the first one, chose view/edit, chose “duplicate” and copy it four times. Open copy1 and rename, rinse and repeat.
Let’s save you ran the tool on all four computers…estimated time to complete 8 minutes (10 minutes if you count travel time between desks).
If it were me, and I had four pretty similar computers I would chose the manual inventory, fill in the name of the computer, the OS,check whether or not it is a public access computer,add the date purchased and submit. Than I’d copy this 3 times, rename the copies and be done.
Bottom line no more than 30 minutes work may get your library enough cash to buy 8 new Macbooks.
Frankly not a bad investment despite the aggravation.
As to Overdrive I feel your pain and have about 100 computers to update…but the good news is that Overdrive now works with iPods so I guess that there is a silver lining.

By: Kendra Morgan

Kendra Morgan — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:27:23 +0000

Hi Jessamyn,

I’m the project coordinator for TechAtlas.

As I would say to any user, I’m sorry if the process wasn’t as smooth as it could have been. Our goal is certainly to make the process as straightforward and easy as possible. However, using the feedback you wrote, we can improve the process for other users and I think you have already seen some of those changes take effect.

Because of the inconsistency you reported about the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use statements, I was able to update those pages. Thanks for the catch.

The Firefox issue that you found is something that our developers have worked on improving. We can now allow Windows users with Firefox browser to use the automated inventory tools. However, for several reasons, I was waiting on updating those workflows until January. In light of your comments, I did change the page to inform users that Firefox will work with the automated tools. I will also update the message to clarify for non-Windows users.

Sometimes we can fix issues with the system quickly, as long as we know there’s a problem. We value user feedback and suggestions and a great deal of the improvements that are made to TechAtlas are driven by user requests. If you see anything in the future, feel free to send us a message (techatlas@webjunction.org) so we can quickly resolve any issues and continue improving the resources.

Thanks,
Kendra Morgan

By: MJ Ray

MJ Ray — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:51:16 +0000

It sounds like hell and as bad as anything I’ve seen as a library technical developer, but I don’t understand how you get to the “we should get Macs” conclusion. Maybe that’s just because Macs are causing me trouble…