Leave comments on this post as you observe things in the Learning Commons. When we start staffing the desk next week, this is the place to note things that need to be fixed, figured out, what kind of questions you're getting, what infrastructure you need out there that's not there yet, what's working great and not so great, and just your thoughts on this whole fun, purple and green chaos.
Josh B
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15 comments:
As someone who staffs the desk, but isn't part of RIS, I have a couple comments. First, will there be any kind of training or meeting for those of us who haven't been at the RIS meetings and so have no clue what are new responsibilities will be in the learning commons space (or what new capabilities will be available for students in the new space)?
Second, can there be some tipsheets (or some guidelines on the staff FAQ or something) for procedures that we may be expected to perform that are new to us? For instance, how to check out a laptop (including the waiver and adding a note to the patron record), how to check in a laptop, and other pertinent tasks.
Last, is there any single place we can go to learn about the learning commons? For instance, I don't know how students sign up for the presentation practice rooms, or what technologies are available on the computers. I'm not sure if I'm just not looking in the right place?
Reminder to get out info about non-Unity log ins?
Hi Emily, some of the answers to your questions are now on the Learning Commons homepage. I'll work with Amy and Josh to get the rest of the overview info to you and other desk staff quickly.
The room reservations will happen online, so staff involvment should be low. Patrons will need to pick up the key to the Presentation Practice Room from desk staff, and your co-workers cna show you where that is located.
There's no staff tip sheet for laptop lending procedures right now. The student IT staff are expected to handle checking out laptops, and have their own documentation. Desk staff should feel free to pitch in and help the students if the situation allows.
If I don't catch up with you before your Wed. shift re: laptops, consider asking one of the students on duty to show you the basics.
Joe
need for more detailed computer specs(RAM etc.) at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/learningcommons/technology.html
JB
Just wanted everyone to know that I spent two hours at the table in the Brickyard and pounced on the students who had already been inside. They've all said that the space is awesome, very nice, cool, and other similar comments.
Our suspicions were confirmed last night: students will write on the group study room windows with dry erase markers.
Please inform students that writing on the windows is not allowed.
FYI, the markers don't come off the white boards completely. I talked with Aurelia about this, and we'll make sure the boards are cleaned each morning. In case you need to clean something off a white board immediately, there are several bottles of Expo White Board Cleaner (clear bottle, blue liquid) and some paper towels in the office behind the LC service desk, just above the OSS computer.
over heard:
- student on cell phone "You are going to flip when you see this."
- Woman talking to man at Circ Desk. "You should see the new Special Collections space."
"Okay."
"No, really, you should see it. It's nice. It's not that little cage in the basement anymore."
- "Playful."
Joe,
I assume you're referring to the 'Student Technology Assistants' who will be checking out laptops and helping with technology troubleshooting.
I'm sure I've never met any of these students. Do we happen to have an intranet page with photos so I can tell them from the average joe student?
And 2 computer questions:
1. Are all the standard Unity lab applications available on the computers? Aka, MatLab, etc.
2. Is there still a patron (non-Unity) login? I'm sure we'll also have to figure out how this affects folks from Chapel Hill, etc.
A patron today expressed confusion over the lack of signs around the desks. She wanted to check out a laptop and didn't know if that would be from me, my RIS colleague, or the student. She specifically asked why there weren't signs. I've had other encounters at the desk where patrons have shown puzzled looks and asked something like "is the place to..." or "is the the desk where I..."
On the other hand, I've had lots of pleasant interactions where patrons don't need a sign. And the # of patrons who don't hesitate to pull up a seat and talk to me at the table has been fascinating. As a patron at another library or at a museum or wherever, I would never have the nerve to pull up a chair beside a staff member at a signless table.
All in all, I don't know if I like or dislike the signlessness, but I like trying it without for a while until we figure it out.
FYI, Wes and I just discovered that Powerpoint files created with the newest version of MS Office save with a new extension (pptx), which the current patron workstations cannot open.
When our version of .ppt tries to open these new files, the user is directed to a microsoft download site. The download can't be completed on the patron machines with a typical user login.
There may be issues with other types of files created in the new Office suite, too.
Joe
joe, I think the same issue is true for any documents created in office 2007. we had a student last week trying to open a word document ending in .docx
Notes from 3/21 RIS meeting about Learning Commons experiences:
Someone asked for more green chairs.
Some folks want a “ref desk” sign, some like the ambiguity. We will not be getting a big sign in the near future but will keep thinking about it.
Whiteboards successful
Study rooms successful
People sit at chairs across from us, some surprised that they do so.
Someone asked for a map of the LC for us and for patrons. That map could, among other things, show the books A-Z arrangement, explain what’s diff about GIS machines.
Patrons have asked for Linux machines and more Macs.
What do we do about visitors without Unity IDs? Those with patron IDs can use SunRays. Those with no kind of log in ID, if we want to, we can log them into the GIS machines, a sort of “good enough for now” answer. See Staff FAQ about that one: http://staff.lib.ncsu.edu/faq/faq.php?id=145.
Printing – lots of questions. Laptop stuff unfigured out. Macs print to Wolfcopy (black-white) but not to Print Quota yet, but Sandy is working on it. See How to Print guide at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/computing/print and let Josh B know how it could be improved. Some patrons know the “Print a file” page (http://print.ncsu.edu/printafile.php) and think all Print Quota printing has to start there, rather than just clicking print as usual. One current problem is that some computers default to Microsoft Office Document Image Writer instead of the LC printers 1102-1 and 1102-2 – see picture at http://staff.lib.ncsu.edu/depts/risd/learningcommons/printing.jpg
Note that if you have 0 Print Quota, it behaves same as if you did have Quota (does nothing) but it doesn’t print.
Enough computers for staff at desk? Some think not, others think don’t be tied to desk, roam more.
the LC is developing a Yogi Berra problem. A patron I helped today said the LC is very comfortable, much nicer than the rest of the library, "but it's so crowded."
If you try to print a document with Print Quota, but you don't have enough $ in Print Quota to pay for the # of pages, you'll think the printers aren't working. I figured this out after helping a patron trying to print a 49 page article.
Josh B
As time goes on, I'm really enjoying the Learning Commons E-Board images. They are very intriguing, but it would be nice if one could learn more about the individual images. Would it be possible to add a caption for each giving more information about the origin of each image? We probably at least know the creator. And it would be nice to know, for many, more about the content of the image. They do look "university-related and disciplinary topics and themes" as mentioned on the page, but it would be good to know more.
Cindy Levine
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