CLOSURE: Print Shop & Communications

From Director Dr. Rhea Lawson:

Dear HPL,

This memo is to let you know that the HPL Print Shop will be temporarily closing print production to replace printing equipment. The team responsible for marketing and branding will also be unavailable to accept new requests for design services except for major initiatives that are approved by me. The shutdown of this area will begin on Monday, June 13, 2016 and will last through the end of July.

In short, it is important to know that during this closure:

• The Print Shop will not be accepting any printing or new design requests.
• New marketing materials for events and programs will not be created by Communications, Print Shop, or Branding staff.

If a sign is needed for an event in your location, please use the HPL General Event Sign template posted on the intranet and print on-site. Please remember that you must receive approval by Communications Division prior to printing. Send completed documents to hpl.communications@houstontx.gov for approval.

In addition to installing and learning new the equipment, the Communications Division will also use this down time to revisit policies and procedures that are currently in place to promote HPL's exciting programs, events, and services.

If you have questions please contact:

Marjorie D. Gonzalez ¦ Marketing & PR Manager
HPL Communications Division
Hpl.communications@houstontx.gov

MR

SRP Registration Slips

Hello,

I've added the in-house registration slips that we are using this summer. It can be found in this post and with the other SRP links on the main page of the blog.

2016 SRP Registration Slips

Thanks,

MR

NOTICE: New FLIP Kit Check-in Procedure Effective June 13th

Hello,

Please be aware that there is a new procedure for checking in FLIP Kits that staff are expected to follow starting on June 13, 2016. This procedure does two things our current procedure does not:

1. Staff can now easily distinguish records for FLIP Kits that are being refurbished from those that are missing, which should reduce the number of kits that fall out of the system while being refurbished.
2. Items will be "shadowed" while they are being refurbished, so they will not be visible in the OPAC and will not be paged to fill  holds.

The PowerPoint with the instructions have been attached. It has also been placed in the "Workflow Procedures" section of the blog under "Sirsi Processes." I will be meeting with each of you individually starting on Saturday to train you on this new procedure. In the interim, please review the attached procedures so that you may become familiar with it.

If you have any questions or concerns about the new procedure, you may contact the following persons:

• Circulation Administration (832-393-222, option 3)
• Fred Schumacher 
• Esther Reyes
• Sylvia Espinosa

PowerPoint for New Flip Kit Procedure

Thank you,

MR

Overdrive and Replacement Library Cards

Hello,

As summer is fast approaching, I'm posting the email Marianne Lorio sent about OverDrive accounts. Please read so that you are informed regarding this issue should it occur:

From Marianne Lorio:

I am sending this e-mail to help clarify what happens when a customer who has an OverDrive account gets a new library card number. Unfortunately the checkouts, holds, and wish lists from the customer's OverDrive account do not automatically get transferred to the new library card number. This means it is important when you are helping a customer obtain a replacement library card that you ask if they have been using OverDrive with their old library card number. If so, their OverDrive account under their old number needs to be merged with their new library card number.

Please send a message to E-mail Reference (HPLemail.Reference@houstontx.gov) including the customer's name, old library card number (if necessary we can look up their old number), and new library card number. If customer prefers to do this themselves, make sure they are aware of how to find the E-mail Reference form on the library's website (direct link: http://houstonlibrary.org/email-reference). This information should be sent as soon as possible. Both the IT Helpdesk and I can also merge OverDrive accounts if there is an issue getting hold of E-mail Reference. Once the changes have been made in the administration website they should go into effect immediately.

Thank you,

MR

Public PC Slowness Issues

Hello,

IT has been notified of the slowness issues on the public computers, and they are working on it. They are asking staff to be diligent about reporting any slowness issues occurring in our locations.

Please call or email when Digital Strategies (IT) regarding any reports of slowness and provide them with the following information:

• the G-number of the computer
• the application (MS Office, IE, Firefox, Chrome, YouTube, etc.) that is being slow
• your location
• date and time when the issue occurred

This type of information will help them in detecting patterns with certain models, specifications and software that may be causing or contributing to the issue.

Thank you,

MR

Fold3 Issue

From Marianne Lorio:

We are temporarily without access to the Fold3 database. Please extend our apologies to our patrons and let them know we are working with the vendor to resolve the issue.

MR

UPDATE: YouTube Loading Issue

From Digital Strategies:

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to work on a resolution to the YouTube video loading issue. The Chief Information Security Officer is reviewing the problem currently and is testing a possible solution to the problem. We will let you know as soon as the YouTube videos are available again.

MR