New arrival!; work stuff
I'm a laptop mommy! After much shopping and deliberation, and pestering of alabama_e and alto2 and narvi, I dove in and bought one. Then I got so busy changing settings and wallpapers and trying things out, I didn't even bothered to announce my new arrival. It's not super-duper shiny like some, but it definitely does everything I need and pretty much anything I want.
And now it turns out the week-long workshop that was the impetus for me to hurry up and get one has been canceled/postponed (they're offering another in October) but it's good to have it now so I can get all the bugs worked out before that mini-conference two Mondays from now. The only incurable problem I've had so far is some DVD weirdness. I put in Little Women to try the DVD player and a message popped up that the disc is the wrong region code. Would I like to change the player's region code? Caught between "wtf?" and "Ooh, multi-region!" I clicked Yes. Turns out the player was already set to Region 1, I am only allowed to change region five times (in the life of the computer? or what?), and it does not offer Region 2 or region-free. Bummer. VLC wouldn't play it either, so I took out LW and put in Narnia instead, which worked fine in the default program and VLC. But LW plays okay in my regular player, which means a) something is seriously weird with the disc or b) the player is secretly region-free, though you'd think that would be something they listed as a selling point. Obviously the former is the most likely by far, but it never occurred to me that a normal cheap DVD from Target wouldn't play in any U.S. player. Other than that, I'm sure everything I don't get will work itself out in time.
At work we're trying to find ways to make the place not so dead. It really is the stereotypical dead-quiet library with only a few geeks, or desperate students who are completely lost on something. The new carpet will definitely perk things up a bit from the twenty year old used-to-be-mauve stuff there is now, and once that's done we can make a good argument that the furniture doesn't quite match and looks very shabby in comparison. We're thinking about moving the cafe area, which may end up meaning we rearrange the entire downstairs - periodical shelves, huge heavy microfilm cabinets and all - (though I haven't broken this to J and S yet) and have a few ideas for sprucing it up too. After that, we're going to have to get actual PR ideas to make it *the* place to hang out.
We're also revising the student assistant manual which, though it says all the important stuff, was clearly written by someone old enough to have grandchildren. So I get to rewrite the whole thing essentially from scratch while incorporating the same ideas. If the librarian thing doesn't work out, I could have a great career in editing and ghostwriting. ;) We were also talking about ways to get everyone in touch easier, keep up with schedules etc. S wondered if a blog/myspace thing would be useful and at first it sounded like a good idea. Then I realized it would require every student to sign up for an account at whatever I choose, or at least some sort of journal if it allows OpenID like LJ. I've had enough trouble getting people to get an email so they can save their database search results! (The school doesn't give out .edu addresses. Yet another thing that will only happen once the current IS guys are gone.)
We found out we can get a good deal on Sakai course management software (like WebCT only seriously cheaper, and some say better) and suspect that some of the faculty will be interested. It's too late to sign on for this school year, so we have until after Christmas to create enough buzz - hopefully create demand - that the anti-tech tech guys will be forced to do it anyway. I know another library uses their school's Moodle for their student assistants and I think that would be much better and more versatile than an LJ comm or myspace.
Whew! That's a lot. And now I've sat here so long that I'm starving. It's a bit weird to have a Saturday that I'm not anxiously awaiting Doctor Who. At least I have two whole seasons to hold me over until Torchwood.
And now it turns out the week-long workshop that was the impetus for me to hurry up and get one has been canceled/postponed (they're offering another in October) but it's good to have it now so I can get all the bugs worked out before that mini-conference two Mondays from now. The only incurable problem I've had so far is some DVD weirdness. I put in Little Women to try the DVD player and a message popped up that the disc is the wrong region code. Would I like to change the player's region code? Caught between "wtf?" and "Ooh, multi-region!" I clicked Yes. Turns out the player was already set to Region 1, I am only allowed to change region five times (in the life of the computer? or what?), and it does not offer Region 2 or region-free. Bummer. VLC wouldn't play it either, so I took out LW and put in Narnia instead, which worked fine in the default program and VLC. But LW plays okay in my regular player, which means a) something is seriously weird with the disc or b) the player is secretly region-free, though you'd think that would be something they listed as a selling point. Obviously the former is the most likely by far, but it never occurred to me that a normal cheap DVD from Target wouldn't play in any U.S. player. Other than that, I'm sure everything I don't get will work itself out in time.
At work we're trying to find ways to make the place not so dead. It really is the stereotypical dead-quiet library with only a few geeks, or desperate students who are completely lost on something. The new carpet will definitely perk things up a bit from the twenty year old used-to-be-mauve stuff there is now, and once that's done we can make a good argument that the furniture doesn't quite match and looks very shabby in comparison. We're thinking about moving the cafe area, which may end up meaning we rearrange the entire downstairs - periodical shelves, huge heavy microfilm cabinets and all - (though I haven't broken this to J and S yet) and have a few ideas for sprucing it up too. After that, we're going to have to get actual PR ideas to make it *the* place to hang out.
We're also revising the student assistant manual which, though it says all the important stuff, was clearly written by someone old enough to have grandchildren. So I get to rewrite the whole thing essentially from scratch while incorporating the same ideas. If the librarian thing doesn't work out, I could have a great career in editing and ghostwriting. ;) We were also talking about ways to get everyone in touch easier, keep up with schedules etc. S wondered if a blog/myspace thing would be useful and at first it sounded like a good idea. Then I realized it would require every student to sign up for an account at whatever I choose, or at least some sort of journal if it allows OpenID like LJ. I've had enough trouble getting people to get an email so they can save their database search results! (The school doesn't give out .edu addresses. Yet another thing that will only happen once the current IS guys are gone.)
We found out we can get a good deal on Sakai course management software (like WebCT only seriously cheaper, and some say better) and suspect that some of the faculty will be interested. It's too late to sign on for this school year, so we have until after Christmas to create enough buzz - hopefully create demand - that the anti-tech tech guys will be forced to do it anyway. I know another library uses their school's Moodle for their student assistants and I think that would be much better and more versatile than an LJ comm or myspace.
Whew! That's a lot. And now I've sat here so long that I'm starving. It's a bit weird to have a Saturday that I'm not anxiously awaiting Doctor Who. At least I have two whole seasons to hold me over until Torchwood.