Key Notes

Last year we published the first KLASUsers.com content survey to assess how we'd been doing after our first dedicated year of weekly blog posts and discussion forum tips. This year we've continued with this content, added more, and also implemented the Weekly Wrap-ups that are emailed to the KLAS Users e-list. As we round out year two, Katy and I want to check-in again so we can continue to provide information of interest and in a format that you find useful. Therefore, please take some time to complete the 2020 KLASUsers.com content survey and help steer us in the right direction as we move forward.

We promise it's not too long and will be open until February 7th.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! We're doing this for all of you, so please chime in to let us know how it's going!

Thank you for your participation. Our survey is now closed.

Hey, IRC/IMCs, do you feel ready for the APH Census? Wait, come back, no need to run for the hills just yet!

We know this is a big project for you all, and we want to help make it as painless as possible, as well as ensuring that you have all the accurate information you need.

Right now, we support two approaches to getting the census info: generating forms for the districts to fill out and return, or an all-online approach via WebOrder. Read on for more info!

If you want to know more or talk through which approach might be best for you, call or email Customer Support at .

One – Generating PDF forms to send via email

Working with OCALI’s AT&AEM Center, we developed the necessary tools to generate fillable PDF forms using the information on the district record. These forms can then be emailed to the district to be completed, signed, and returned. (If you plan to print and mail forms, rather than emailing a fillable PDF, that can be done with the existing Census notice—just let us know if you need some help setting it up!)

Once you receive the form back from the district, you would review and update the information in KLAS as needed, and run a program in the batch manager to verify it, automatically applying the necessary APH information. Once all of the census forms have been returned and verified, you can extract the APH data and upload it to the SRS.

This approach requires more data entry and more hands-on work in general from your staff, but offers full control over your KLAS data and an easy way to ensure that you have manually checked over all of the information you are passing on to APH.

Two – Online via WebOrder

Working with Tennessee School for the Blind’s Resource Center for the Visually Impaired, we developed the additional functions in WebOrder necessary to complete the APH Census online.

This allows your districts to enter and update their own information directly, including adding students, entering last medical report dates and other data, updating the status of students no longer in their district, and so forth.

When they’re ready, they will use a “certify census” page to do a final review, attest that they have the parental permission forms on file, and enter a digital signature. Once all districts have certified, you can extract the APH data from KLAS and upload it to the SRS.

This approach transfers the bulk of the data entry from your staff to the districts, but you will still need to review the records on your end. In particular, duplicate student accounts will likely be created (since they can’t see student records associated with a different district), requiring you to merge the accounts.

What works best for you?

There are benefits and downsides to both approaches, but we hope that either one will make the Census process a little easier and more reliable for you. They have both been successfully used, so now we are making them more widely available.

As part of the KLAS 7.7 release, we have been working on some back-end changes to standardize where and how APH data is stored. This will make it even easier for us to implement these processes for anyone who wants to try them. But in the meantime, you may be able to get started with an earlier version--just let us know how you want to approach the census, and we'll figure out if you need an upgrade.

Ah, Summer. Time for swimming, barbeque... and Summer Reading Programs!

As Summer Reading Program season ramps into full gear, are you wishing you had a better way to target mailings or generate grade-appropriate reading lists?

Do you need an efficient way to promote your new book club or an author event?

You may have more options than you realize!

Queries are your best tool for generating a list of patrons matching certain criteria. For example, you can search for patrons based on their area, subject preference, or age range. Once you've successfully queried for a patron list, you can use it to print mailing labels or export it for a list of the patrons’ email or mailing addresses. And don't forget, you can query in the Catalogue module as well to generate book lists!

Here are a few examples to help you get started. Then, check out the forum post for more information or to share your own!

Example 1:

You can create a mailing list for individual patrons who have registered for service since your last book club, so they will be hearing about it for the first time.

On the Quick Search tab, query for...

• Patron Type : Begins : P
• Main Status : Begins : A
• Registration Date : Is Between : 06/01/2017 : 06/12/2018 (or today's date)

Example 2:

If you use a Preference Code to track your Reading Program or Book Club participation, you can query for a list of participants who have email addresses.

On the Advanced Search tab, query for...

• Preference : Type : Equals : BookClubCode
• Preference : Value : Matches : (the program name)
• Address : EMailAddr : Is Between : 0 : ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Example 3:

To promote a subject-oriented Book Club or an author event, you can find a list of patrons who live in the area and have a preference for that subject or author.

On the Quick Search tab...

• Patron Type : Begins : P
• Main Status : Begins : A

AND on the Advanced Search tab, query for...

• Preference : Type : Equals : Subject (or Author)
• Preference : Code : Equals : (the subject or author code, such as MYS for mysteries)
• Address : County Code : Equals : (use the LookUp button on the Contact tab to find the County UserCode)

Example 4:

You may want to create a reading list based on appropriate Grade Level, as well as making sure you have several copies of the book on hand.

In the Catalog Module query, on the Advanced Search tab, query for...

• BibRec : Grade : Equals : 3
• BibRec : Title Status : Equals : A
• Statistics : Copies Available : Not In : 0,1,2

I hope this gives you some ideas! As always, let us know if you have questions or need help, and don't forget to check out the forum post for more information or to share your own!

...until the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference! It's been a while since I shared a conference planning update, so I thought I'd use today's post to let you know about some of the work your planning committees, local hosts, and Keystone staff have been doing to help make this a great conference for all our attendees.

First...

Q: What's the easiest way to see all the information on klasusers.com about the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference?

A: Direct your browser to klasusers.com/UC2019

This url will automatically take you the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference page with ALL the latest articles about this year's conference. You can sort the list by "Title" or "Modified Date. Also, be sure to filter for ALL articles (from the default 10) to make sure you don't miss something from the second page.

So, what have our Program and Logistics Committees and the Keystone Staff been working to bring you?

Pre-Conference

• Updated the Conference Overview Schedule to list our scheduled pre-conference sessions
• Published the pre-conference sessions titles and descriptions followed by the link to register

Conference Sessions

• Finalized all planned sessions and updated the Overview Schedule
• Selected our Keynote Speaker

Ongoing:

• Communicating with presenters and moderators about expectations and timelines
• Creating the PowerPoint template for presentations
• Finishing the last few session descriptions
• Discussing technical setup for various sessions
• Working to open Breakout Session registration in the near future
• Pushing to complete our full Conference Agenda, listing all session titles, descriptions, locations, speakers, and moderators

Transportation, Reception, Meals & More:

• Published an article about Getting Around West Palm Beach during the conference
• Selected a caterer and entertainer for the Welcome Reception

Ongoing:

• Choosing menus for other provided meals
• Making travel plans for the Keystone staff attending the conference
• Creating a list of restaurant recommendations
• Putting together a Google Map listing local businesses, points of interest, and restaurants, etc.

But wait, there's more...

The conference app has been completely redesigned to present more info on an easier-to-navigate platform. Plus, it can be updated during the conference to include all the latest! Be on the lookout for an announcement when it is available, but some things we'd like to highlight from the redesign include:

• Speakers List & Information Pages
• Announcements
• Sessions Listing filtered by Day
• Information about Getting Around while at the conference

And here is a sneak preview:

As we’re getting close to a number of positions on our KLAS Users’ Group committees and Board of Officers, I wanted to take some time to say, “thank you.”

(Yes, we’ve done this before—but it’s important.)

I’ve been there! I was on the Officers Board and the Conference Programming Committee for several years while I was working for the Illinois Talking Book Outreach Center, and I remember what an inconvenience it could be to have committee work or board meetings on top of my regular Reader Advisor duties. Now that I’ve been on both sides, though, I can really see how important it was that I made time for it.

To all of our current (and exiting, and incoming) officers and committee members: I see you showing up for meetings even when it feels like your patrons are crawling out of the woodwork with requests. I hear you asking thoughtful questions and sharing your ideas even when you’re tired and not sure you’re on the right track. And I thank you for it, because I know how much you are bringing to the Users’ Conference, and through it, to your fellow users’ understanding of KLAS, their ability to serve their patrons, and their relationship with Keystone.

Even beyond the conference, our active community of users guides Keystone—including future development, where we allocate our time and resources, and how we communicate. That happens in planning and at the conference, but also when users take their questions and concerns to the Officers Board to share with us, in our discussions with KDAC, in survey responses, and more. We rely on you to make all of that happen, and you make us better and better, every year.

So one last, heartfelt, Thank You.

And to anyone out there who is considering getting involved: Your voice matters! We’d love to hear from you.

This week's post shares some insider info about our Software Development Project Lead. Read on to learn something new about Brian...

Basic Stats:

Name of Staff Member: Brian White

Year Hired: 2004

Current Job Title: Software Development – Project Lead

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Piecing together the parts of a software process to make something that will make someone's job easier.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: Worked for a programming staff supplement service. I worked at 2 customer sites over the 20+ years there.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: Singing in a church choir, playing handbells.

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Australia

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: We are currently without pets. We have had dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and a rabbit in the past.

Welcome back to the "The Stars of Keystone Systems' Staff" series. Each will include some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

Basic Stats:

Name of Staff Member: Drea Callicutt

Year Hired: 2002

Current Job Title: Marketing, Sales & Communications Coordinator

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Collaborating with other Keystone staff as well as staff from our various libraries and organizations to create and provide opportunities for our users to learn and share how to better serve your patrons.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: After graduating with a B.A. in Journalism, I was a teacher’s assistant in a Montessori classroom and then worked for Tech Resource Group providing onsite and then phone-based tech support for contracted clients.

I joined Keystone in December 2002 and combined my Communications degree and experience in software and hardware to fill the position of “Sales & Marketing Support”. In 2011, I decided to go back to school part-time. I graduated in 2014 with a Masters in Library Science with a concentration in Special Libraries and an emphasis on community / public relations, outreach, and serving special populations.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: My husband and I have participated in non-profit medieval reenactment organization for over 20 years. In fact, we met at a business meeting of our local group. A few years ago, we also became costumed volunteers at Jamestown Settlement in VA where we interpret and teach the public about life in the colony including historic clothing, foodways, etc. Also, I love to travel, sew, cook, read, and play board and card games.

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: I am very interested in traveling to the far east, in particular, India and Thailand. I especially love the history, arts, and food of each of these cultures.

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: My husband and I have three dogs. Enoch Squirrlesbane’s a 9 or 10-year-old pug / beagle mix that was found as a stray. Lafayette Nubbintail is a 3-year-old French bulldog chihuahua mix from a local animal shelter. Hercules Maximillian Mulligan aka Max is a 9-year-old pug from NC Pug Rescue.

Our "Stars of Keystone's Staff" series includes some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

This week's post shares some insider info about a member of our Executive Managment Team. Read on to learn something new about James...

Basic Stats:

Name of Staff Member: James Burts

Year Hired: 1992 (27 years ago) -- Yikes! That’s a long time!!!

Current Job Title: Executive Vice President, Lead dishwasher, Junior Assistant Gopher 2nd Class

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Being a small company, no day is ever the same as any other day we’ve ever had. There is no routine, boring day of doing the same thing for the 1,000th day in a row. I really like how many different things I get to do here, how many hats I wind up wearing. Also, I really appreciate how what we do really makes a difference to the Patrons that KLAS helps serve. I think that it’s true of all of Keystone’s staff, but knowing that at the end of the day we’re really helping make people’s lives better is a huge draw for me.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: I started working for Keystone as a summer job, while I was studying Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. My first tasks were helping write documentation for KLAS v2 and then v3. Over time, my work grew to writing some reports on the side, which turned to joining and eventually leading the software development team, and ultimately led to my current position.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: Making stuff, strangely most of my hobbies involve fire or excessive heat. I do glassblowing. I do metalwork. Lately, my son’s been really excited with creating electric vehicles, so we’ve been working on the welding, metal fabrication, and electronics for that. Currently, we’re building our own version of a OneWheel, and have an EV club that he’s involved in where they’re starting to build their second electric go cart.

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Probably Bermuda. I’ve done a few trips there, and really love it. The snorkelling is fantastic, and I hope to learn to do some scuba there.

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: We have a dog, a Shiba Inu named Kuma.

The snow has melted, the Holidays are rapidly approaching, and it's time for another post in our "Stars of Keystone's Staff" series. Each will include some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

Basic Stats:

Name of Staff Member: John Owen

Year Hired: August 2002

Current Job Title: Senior Support Analyst

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Developing relationships. Of course, helping but always building trust.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: Technical and sales support for a major semiconductor manufacturer and point of sale company.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: My grandchildren, my church and my music, and Alabama Football...Roll Tide!

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Fiji and Vietnam

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: One cat, Belle Belle hired us six years ago.

The grandkids:

John working with kids in Haiti:

 Belle Belle, managing her staff:

 And a throwback to high school basketball--can you tell which of these players is John?

Today we're starting the first in a series of Key Notes blog posts called "The Stars of Keystone Systems' Staff". Each will include some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

Basic Stats:

Name of Staff Member: Katy Patrick

Year Hired: 2017

Current Job Title: Technical Writer

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: I love the variety: I get to work on a wide variety of things from how-to documents and blog posts to pitching in to help test new releases. I always have a lot of different projects in the works, so I never get bored.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: I worked as a Reader Adviser for Kansas' and then Illinois' Talking Books programs. That work meant a lot to me, so I'm glad that I have been able to stay connected to that community despite moving on to a new type of work.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: Fiction writing, mostly fantasy novels. I haven't gotten anything polished and ready for publishing yet, but maybe someday! I also enjoy sewing, digital art, photography, and gardening.

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: I'd love to go to Machu Picchu. It looks like such an amazing window into another time and culture and set in an incredibly beautiful landscape.

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: I have a pair of finches: Terragon (a Spice Finch) and Wrenegade (a Society Finch). They love birdbaths and listening to the radio, and their favorite treat is carrots.

Our "Stars of Keystone's Staff" series includes some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

With KLAS 7.7 on the verge of general release and just a month until the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference, we thought it was a perfect time to let you learn more about Kyle Honeycutt, Keystone's Manager of Software Development in this instalment of our "Stars of Keystone" blog series.

Basic Stats:

Name: Kyle Honeycutt

Year Hired: 1994

Current Job Title: Manager of Software Development

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Hearing of a need from customers, designing and programming a solution to that problem, and seeing the customers put that solution to use.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: I was a student. This is my first job out of school. In school I did work as a lab assistant, helping other students debug their Assembly, C and Pascal programs.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: I'm very active in my church, both working in teaching ministries, and working with the technology needs of the church. I am also the Secretary/Treasurer of a non-profit cemetery association, so I am actively involved in the management and operation of the cemetery. Otherwise, I do yard work, odd jobs, and garden work at our home in Raleigh and my home-place in Benson. We always had a large vegetable garden, and my Dad and I raised collards, a tradition I carried on after my Dad passed. I stopped most of that recent years, but hope to get back on my tractors in the near future.

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Home. I don't get to spend as much time at either of the places that I call home as I would like. Otherwise, I'd just like to spend a while traveling across the country, seeing the sights I've never seen and seeing how agriculture is done across our land.

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: We have four cats – Maggie, Wendy, Teddy, and Stanley. We had not intended on adopting a fourth cat, but Stanley just showed up as a skinny stray a few days after Teddy got out. He's now a plump, happy part of the family.

Wendy is a sweet calico.

 Teddy is a black and white tuxedo kitty. He like lounging on laps.

Maggie is a grey tabby.

Stanley is a light orange tabby.

Welcome back to the "The Stars of Keystone Systems' Staff" series. Each will include some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

Basic Stats:

Name of Staff Member: Marion A. W. Campbell

Year Hired: 2008

Current Job Title: Customer Service Representative

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Working with librarians and IRC staff.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: I taught High School Chemistry. During my time teaching, I had two students who were blind and one who was deaf.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: Glassblowing, Historical Reenactment, and Blacksmithing

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Italy

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: Yes. 2 cats and a bunny. Tinkerbell is our older calico cat, and Bobbles is our black kitten. Bun Bun, the bunny, is a Jersey Wooly which is a dwarf / angora mix.

Our "Stars of Keystone's Staff" series includes some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

With the upcoming release of KLAS 7.7, we thought it is good time to bring you our latest "Stars of Keystone Staff" so we can highlight our staff member who has helped to coordinate, support, and install many versions of KLAS in his time at Keystone. He is also the person our staff calls when we can't get on the VPN, we need our email account unlocked, or need to be reminded of how to log onto a customer's database after a change in IP address.

Basic Stats:

Name: Mark Gardner

Year Hired: 1985

Current Job Title: Manager of Systems and Networking

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Solving problems, working on different projects, working with others

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: Programmer, Piedmont Microsystems

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: Country Music Concerts, Photography, Fantasy Basketball, Fishing, Anything blue (Doctor Who, M&M’s, etc)

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Austin Texas, Australia

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: No pets, just occasional visits from our rabbits

Welcome back to the "The Stars of Keystone Systems' Staff" series. Each will include some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.

Basic Stats:

Name of Staff Member: Nancy Underwood Honeycutt

Year Hired: 1998

Current Job Title: Manager, Customer Support

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: I enjoy helping people. It helps that the folks we work for are some of the nicest people around, and they’re doing a good service. So, I feel good when I can help them do that.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: I was a middle and high school English teacher.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: I do a lot of crafts, most recently quilting and crochet. I get a lot of satisfaction in seeing a project come together from its pieces.

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: I’d like to see Australia and New Zealand.

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: We’ve got three and a half cats. The three indoor cats – Maggie, Teddy and Wendy – are pretty happy kitties. Meanwhile, Stanley has been hanging out on the back deck for over a year. We’ve decided that we’d like him to come inside, particularly for the upcoming winter, so we’re working on that.

This is Maggie. She's looking on dubiously.

 Here's Teddy with his tuxedo.

 Wendy is the pretty tortie..

 Maggie and Teddy are curled up on the cat tree inside while Stanley lays on the patio table on the deck outside the window.

This week we wanted to give you the opportunity to learn more about the woman who's usually the first voice you hear when you call our office, knows how to use the copier better than anyone else on staff, and can program the heck out of a barcode scanner. Hopefully, you know who I'm about by now...yup it's Tracey Fye!

Basic Stats:

Name of Staff Member: Tracey Fye

Year Hired: 2002

Current Job Title: Administrative Assistant

Getting to Know You Q&A:

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Talking to customers when they call and hearing about their families, etc.

Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?

A: I did title work at an Infiniti car dealership.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?

A: Scrapbooking, taking my dog for walks, and playing with my granddaughter.

Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

A: Hawaii

Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

A: I have a black lab mix named Deuce. He is 100 pounds and thinks he’s a lap dog. He’s about 11 years old. We just got a kitten named Cleopatra (Cleo). She is only 3 pounds and almost three months old. Her and Deuce have become best friends – they will curl up together and sleep. I also have a goldfish named Peaches. She has managed to kill her tank mates and prefers to be an only fish.

Deuce is wearing a purple harness and laying on the floor.

Cleo is asleep on the couch beside a throw pillow.

Hello, KLAS Users! This week, I am very pleased to introduce: the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference app!

A lot of work was put into the app this year to make it easier, better, and more useful. We hope it'll be a valuable tool for you as you attend UC2019. And even if you can't join us, the app will allow you to browse through the sessions, download presentations, or find out how to contact the user who presented that session you really wished you could go to!

You can download the app now (or any time) from either the Google Play store or the Apple App store - just search for "KLAS Users Conference". It should be among the first results, with a green "K" icon.

The app was designed to be magnification-friendly and screen-reader accessible. If you encounter any accessibility problems, please let us know as soon as possible so we can work on a fix! It should be compatible with all Apple and Android devices, including both phones and tablets.

Hopefully, everything will be intuitive and easy-to-find while exploring the app on your own. Just in case, and for those who don't have their phones handy to check it out right away, let's take a tour...

The Home screen of the app allows you to navigate quickly to whatever you need. Open the Menu for useful links, or select one of the options from the bottom navigation tray to open one of the app's "tabs." You can also swipe your screen left and right to move between tabs that way!

Updates, available from either the menu or the navigation tray, contains the latest information from us and will continue to be updated through the conference with any last-minute changes or useful information. The Updates page itself will include brief headlines, which you can tap to view more information (this format is repeated through the app).

The latest updates are pulled in every time you open the app, so make sure to close the app when you are done with it.

Other menu items include Resources, where you'll shortcut links to some of the most useful KLASusers.com articles and a downloadable PDF version of the agenda, Keystone Contact info, and a link to the feedback Survey (so you can let us know about your experience after the conference).

The Sessions tab lists the full conference agenda by day. Tap any session to view details, including a download link to the slides or handout!

NOTE: For now, all download links point to a placeholder, to show where the download links are located and allow you to test downloading and opening slides on your device. Once we start receiving presentations from our speaker, the placeholder links will be removed until they can be replaced with the presentation.

The Speakers tab has information on all of our presenters, including both Keystone staff and user presenters. Again, tap any entry to view more information. We hope this will be a great way for (especially newer) attendees to get to know our speakers and enable you to reach out to a presenter if you have questions about their session after the fact.

Finally, the Map has an embedded Google map with pins on various points of interest, to help you navigate the area.

ConfI hope you enjoyed this look at everything the 2019 KLAS Users' Conference app has to offer!

Be sure to download it to your device(s) so it's on hand and ready to go when you arrive in Palm Beach. We look forward to seeing you there!

With the KLAS.com revamp successfully launched, we’ve started planning and looking ahead to reorganizing and redesigning KLASusers.com as well.

It’s important to us that this site can serve as a valuable resource for you, as well as a place where the user’s group can come together and collaborate on common issues. The appearance of the site isn’t as important... but we do want it to be pleasant to look at. A much higher priority is that the revamped KLASusers be easy-to-navigate and convenient to use (for all of our users—accessibility will be absolutely required in the revamp). Finally, if we’re able to add in some new features to facilitate user interaction, that’s a big plus!

We have our ideas about how to achieve all of this, but we want your feedback. Drop by Drea’s recent forum post to let us know what you’d like to see in a revamp, if there’s anything you don’t want us to change, or if you have any thoughts or feedback on our ideas below. We hope to hear from you!

A couple of examples of what we’re hoping for in the revamp:

Our current plan is to fold the current Documents and Recordings sections together into a Knowledge Repository (maybe just called "Resources"), so you can find all of the how-to information, downloads, and other "good stuff" without needing to know what format the resource is in. Of course, this section especially will need good indexing and searching.

Another change we’re aiming for is for users to be able to log in from any page and stay on that page rather than being redirected to their profile. This should make it a lot more convenient to access restricted content.

We’d also like to be able to include comments sections on articles, so it’s easy for you to ask questions or provide feedback on blog posts and resource articles without needing to switch to a forum post or email.

A lesser (but still high) priority is for the new version to be easier for Drea and I to administer. That won’t be as apparent to you, but it will help us get new content up on the site quickly. Right now, handling recordings can be especially tricky, so we hope the new site will allow us to more easily post new recordings in a way that will allow you to view them on the site itself and maintain a proper level of security for library-specific recordings that may include patron data.

So how does all that sound? Anything else you want us to be thinking about or try to address in the revamp? Please drop by the forums (since we don’t have that comments section yet) and let us know!

As states ease restrictions and some staff are returning to large pile-ups of returned books (or a suspicious absence of returned books), and things are still far from “business as usual”, how is everyone handling it?

I’ll discuss some approaches that have come into our support inbox so far, but everyone has a little bit different situation, so remember these are just a few ideas to get you started. Please continue to contact us as needed to help strategize and determine the best workflows to get you back on track.

Albany called in reinforcements from other departments and raised their card limit while they get caught up. Their strategy was to start by checking out the waiting Mail Cards and then focus on check-ins knowing that they had the extra staff to handle the surge of assignments this would cause the next day.

Libraries that don’t have reinforcements to call on likely want to take a somewhat different approach.

Braille Institute, for example, is working to get caught up on check-ins but is not ready to start sending outgoing mail again. They set their Daily Circulation Cutoff to zero, but that control stops Nightly from assigning books... not Reserves, which are filled on check-in. So, once they’ve finished checking in books each day, they are then Unassigning the whole batch that has been generated this way from the Mail card Review screen. Because the titles have only been Assigned, not checked out, the reserves will stay on the patron records. However, this approach helps to keep assignments fresh—if the patron downloaded the title from BARD in the meantime, the reserve will be cleared when Braille Institute loads their BARD Stats. They are also taking this time to shelve everything that was currently on turnaround, clean the shelves, and start the check-ins with a new shelf order and set-up.

Oregon Talking Books is returning to sending outgoing books, but only by Duplication. Because switching a patron to Duplication service shifts KLAS to only counting duplication orders towards the NS Cutoff, it won’t matter that they are catching up on check-ins more gradually. As an added complication, they are required to send all outgoing containers inside a manilla envelope due to the life of the virus on plastic. We’re working with them to generate these additional mailing labels, which will allow them to greatly ramp up the number of cartridges they can send per day.

Nevada is also making the switch to Duplication. They've started with a nightly Duplication Order limit of 100, though they may need to increase it as they get more of their patrons converted and more experience with duplicating. We helped them unassign the large batch of outstanding Physical service mail cards, and like Braille Institute, they will be unassigning the new ones generated each day as Reserves are made available. However, because those patrons are likely to be great candidates for duplication, we’ve recommended they export the list from the “Mailing Cards – Review” screen before unassigning the batch. They can then save the list of Patron IDs to import as a query set and convert them to duplication using the “Batch Update Patron Profile” tool.

We hope this gave you some things to think about—both in terms of approaches to take and complications to consider. Please reach out any time you’d like some help, or if you just want to confirm something will work the way you expect it to.

From Merriam-Webster.com:

Definition of FOMO
plural FOMOs
informal : fear of missing out : fear of not being included in something (such as an interesting or enjoyable activity) that others are experiencing

Do you have klasusers.com FOMO?

Well, here are some tips to make sure you see all the latest articles and posts...

All the latest Key Notes

To see all the latest Key Notes blog articles click on "Key Notes" under the Main Menu. The page sorts the newest post to the top.

A link to "More / Older Articles" is available at the bottom of the page. You can also navigate through older posts using the page navigation links (Page 1, Next, End, etc.) also located at the bottom of the page.

Keeping up with Discussion Forum posts

Subscribing to Specific Discussion Forum Threads

At the top and the bottom of every discussion forum thread, you will find the 'Subscribe' button. Pressing this button subscribes you to that topic so that any responses to that topic will generate an email notification to your email address stating that a new post has been made along with a link directly to said post for your convenience. You will notice the button now reads 'Unsubscribe' indicating that you are subscribed and pressing the button again will remove your subscription to that thread. Remember that you can also manage your subscriptions in your profile.

Favouring a Discussion Forum Thread

Another way of gaining visibility of threads you want to keep an eye on is set them as your 'Favorite'. This will place an obvious indicator, such as a star, beside the topic name of the thread so that it will stand out in the forum list of topics. After you "Favorite" a post, you will notice the button now reads 'Unfavorite' indicating that the post is already one of your favorites and pressing the button again will remove it from your favorites. This is a great way to get visibility on multiple topics that you wish to watch without getting spammed by email subscriptions. Remember that you can also manage your favorites in your profile.

Finding all the most Recent Discussion Forum Topics

If you quickly want to find ALL the latest discussion forum posts, you can navigate to the "Recent Topics Tab". This is the second available tab on the forums whether you are logged in or not. Here, you will see all of the most recently posted topics with the newest available first.

Subscribe to a Discussion Forum Category via RSS Feed

From Lifewire:

Instead of checking back every day to any particular site to see if it's been updated, RSS feeds give users the ability to simply subscribe to the RSS feed, much like you would subscribe to a newspaper, and then read the updates from the site, delivered via RSS feeds, in what's called a "feed reader."

Check out their "What Everyone Should Know about RSS Feeds" article to learn more about what an RSS feed it, how to subscribe to one, and suggestions for different RSS readers.

Now, use the RSS Feed button to subscribe to the Discussion Forum Index Page to have ALL the newest posts sent to you in your RSS Reader.

OR, use the RSS Feed button at the bottom of a community, category, or thread to subscribe to those that interest you most.

 So, there's no reason suffer from klasusers.com FOMO by employing just a few of the above tools.

Did you know we've been posting new Key Notes blog posts for 10 weeks straight? In celebration of this and in anticipation of the upcoming 2018 KLAS Users' Conference, Katy and I decided to share our Top Ten list of what we're looking forward to at the conference.

10. The once a year opportunity to see many of our customers / friends in person.

9. Hearing Gary Eller's program and music at the Tuesday evening Welcome Reception.

8. Getting together with our Instructional Resource Customers in IRC focused sessions to discuss their specialized workflows and features designed specifically for them.

7. Hearing the creative ways you use KLAS to help you provide the books, magazines, and equipment your patrons want / need.

6. Touring the Idaho Commission for Libraries, Talking Books Service on Wednesday evening.

5. Getting ideas and suggestions from users for better KLASusers content.

4. Listening to our Keynote Speaker, Ramona Walhof.

3. The chance to do in-person training, helping you use KLAS better!

2. Honoring Nancy Reese, this year's Julie Klauber Award Recipient, during our Opening General Session on Tuesday morning.

1. Unveiling all of the exciting things we've been working on for the future of KLAS -- from PCC to the Browser-based UI, and a few surprises too!