Blogs

Working with SCRUM, customer input, become involved, and what is this new PAC about.

SCRUM is the development process that TLC uses to develop new software modules.

A new approach to customer involvement, customer feedback forum, demo and release notes, access to 24/7 LS2 PAC. http://indigopac.tlcdelivers.com

Home page for the catalog has a "Book River" feature. Can search on items that have been tagged by users. Have the ability to create a user list.

Returns results from EBSCO databases into the PAC interface.

Simon Marcus COO at TLC for eighteen months presented the corporate direction and product development in the upcoming year. Plans to become the leading ILS vendor to serve library customers now and in the future. Increasing interest in open source products. Major accomplishments was Library.Solution 4.0 and WebPac 2.0 released this year. TLC scaled the project down and shelved the cataloging module a decision that was not taken lightly. SCRUM is a method of developing new software in iterative cycles, vast amounts of software developed in the waterfall method is never delivered. Released in March of 2008, ut they found they didn't contact their customers enough. More bugs then they would have liked when it was released.

This session was presented by Doug Storer of TLC. Choose automatic authorities updating from Cataloging Utilities. The updates are received from LC weekly and TLC updates them on Mondays, one week would be sufficent. Local fields will be retained automatically if you check that choice. Controlled fields are subject to change.

OTF (on-the-fly) upgrading option will update your records if the ISBN exists on the National Biblography database.

ITS.marc changes search defaults to ISBN field, there is a new PUBmarc database. Download from the shared tips at TLC

What's new in 4.0 Pac -- Dianne Coan

New look and feel design

New search interface, new holds workflow, Graphics have been cleaned up, more modern colors. More information on the first screen, less scrolling. Mouse over effects for more infomation. Collection will be placed o the scree, rather then using mouse over effects. Can choose different themes or write you own css to customize the colors. Related searches -- Authors, Subjects, Genre. You can choose what is displayed summary rather then abstract. Cleaner graphics and icons are now available.

Largest LiSA conference began this week in Charleston at the Francis Marion Hotel, representatives from nearly 100 libraries attending. Innovations at TLC will be discussed. Chance to communicate with TLC staff and other Library.Solution customers. Nearly 50 registered users on the TLC Knowledgebase. We will learn how TLC is changing. Showed a video of TLC staff who couldn't be here in charleston this week.

Is Open-Source software a threat to TLC? Advatages: It's Better, it's free, it can be what you want it to be.

Have automation vendors dropped the ball?

Is it really free?

We went to the National Museum of the American Indian (My favorite part was seeing all the arrowheads, then went to the National Museum of Natural History. We had lunch at the
Postal Pavilion. My favorite part was the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals, it was there that I touched the Martian rock, it was cold.
I saw the Hope Diamond (45 1/2 -karats) and Marie Antoinette's earrings

We went to the Johnson IMAX Theater to see Dinosaurs 3D: Giants of Patoagonia, the best part was when the metorite was in my face!

We ate breakfast @ Cinnabar Restuarant I got a muffin and an apple. Took the subway to DC where we rode the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument (555 feet 5 and 1/8 inch tall)
the ride goes 75 feet per second

Took the U.S. Capitol guided tour We met N.C. representative Virginia Foxx and saw Nancy Pelosi
Visited the Library of Congress where we saw a Gutenberg Bible.
We visited the National Archives and saw the Magna Carta & Declaration of Independence

Ate breakfast @ Cinnabar Restuarant and had the breakfast buffet
we rode the subway to the National Zoo and we saw Pandas (Mei Xiang and Tian Tian), Orangutans (walking on an overhead line), Elephants, Western Lowland Gorillas, and Tortoises.
We ate at Panda Cafe and went to National Air and Space Museum
Touched the moon rock, saw Apollo 11 command module (Columbia) and rode the ride Simulator "Wings"
We went to the U.S. Botanical Garden, my favorite was the jungle inside the conservatory

Woke up at 5:30 a.m. and left for Charlotte Airport with Dad and arrived at 7:00. I had a chicken biscuit at Burger King and Dad had a scone from Starbuck's
Our flight left @ 9:15 and arrived in Baltimore at 10:45 a.m..
Rode the train to Union Station in Washington and rode the Metro Red and Yellow Line to Crystal City and our hotel the Hyatt Regency Crystal City @ Reagan National.

Our room was on the 17th floor with an outside glass elevator
We went out @ night to see the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Vietnam War Memorial