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Spydus
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2008
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2008
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Spydus
Newsletter February 2008
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The year is off to a
flying start as we
announce our latest
Spydus site, Dundee City
Libraries in Scotland
who become the 14th
Spydus site in the
United Kingdom. This
month we also announce
the re-naming of our
library business to
Library & Learning, as
we continue to expand
our solutions into the
broader education
sector.
We are also very pleased
to announce we have
recently become a
Microsoft Gold
Certified Partner, which
is recognition of the
high level of competency
of our services,
software and support of
Microsoft technologies.
Make sure you read the
article below on the
Spydus Cash Management
solution which can
dramatically simplify
the way you manage cash
transactions in your
library. The Spydus 8
feature on multiple
Borrower records may
also help you to provide
better service to your
patrons.
This month the
Spydus Customer
Service Innovation Award
Nominee
is Austin Health in
Victoria for
their Electronic books
and the February Site of
the Month is
Wollondilly Library &
Information Services in
New South Wales.
And finally, don’t
forget to read
the February Hot
Tip, which outlines how
booking charges are
linked to a booking
record in Spydus and how
to find this
information.
Remember, to access the
PDF document of the
Spydus Newsletter simply
click on the link above
or go directly to our
website.
Please send your
suggestions and ideas
for newsletter articles
to Matthew Hunter. You
can email Matthew at
mhunter@civica.com.au
or call him on + 61 3
8676 4400.
Articles in this month's
newsletter
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We are delighted to
announce that Dundee
City Council, the fourth
largest city in Scotland
has chosen to implement
the Spydus Library
Management system. The
library service caters
for a commu nity
of around 143,000
people with more than
3500 people visiting the
city's 14 libraries
every day.
Dundee is very
influential in Scottish
library circles and they
have recently been
pro-active in the
development of a
Smartcard system.
Dundee has over half a
million items in stock
including DVDs, CDs,
talking books and
videos, as well as books
and reference material.
The libraries Local
History Centre has a
collection of more than
20,000 items relating to
the City of Dundee.
The fourth largest city
in Scotland, Dundee is
situated near the mouth
of the River Tay which
is in the region of
Angus. Today the city is
known as the City of
Discovery, in honour of
Dundee's history of
scientific activities
and of the RRS
Discovery, Robert Falcon
Scott's Antarctic
exploration vessel,
which was built in
Dundee and is now
berthed in the city
harbour.
Dundee have now
commenced their Spydus
implementation becoming
the 14th UK Council to
choose Spydus for their
Library Management
System.
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 Civica
is extending the scope
of its international
library solutions
business into the
broader education sector
and will re-name the
business Library and
Learning. The expansion
is driven by a number of
significant
opportunities in the
East Asia, Brunei, UK
and Australian education
marketplaces. More than
1500 libraries worldwide
currently use
Spydus including more
than 420 schools.
Philip Barr, Civica’s
Managing Director
Library and Learning,
says: “Libraries are an
integral part of the
lifelong learning
process and as people
seek sophisticated ways
of dealing with trusted
knowledge, libraries are
well positioned to offer
solutions.
“We are building on our
long experience in
library solutions and
taking this wealth of
expertise further, into
the broader Education
sector.”
Civica is developing a
solution that will allow
educational institutions
to offer students of all
ages a new learning
approach, which is
problem or
co-constructivist
learning, as opposed to
the traditional ‘chalk
and talk’ or
instructivist learning
methods. The unique
Spydus search and
retrieval engine
expertise will be
utilised as a core
element of the new
Learning solution to
provide advanced search,
retrieval, indexing and
qualification of
information for
students.
Last year Civica saw
continued success within
the Asia-Pacific
education sector
including major
contracts for Spydus
with the Ministry of
Education in Brunei,
which is expected to
roll-out to more than
180 schools and
Queensland Institute of
Technical and Further
Education (TAFE) in
Australia, which
involves 80 libraries.
The final phase of the
Singapore Ministry of
Education contract to
provide library
services, across 352
schools, was also
completed successfully
in June 2007, 16 months
ahead of the original
award.
In the UK Civica has
contracted with
Sheffield City Council
as strategic ICT partner
for the city’s Building
Schools for the Future (BSF)
programme and has also
been awarded a contract
by Essex County Council
to provide the
foundation for a shared
learning environment for
schools across the
county.
The new Australian Labor
Government’s education
policy will also offer
opportunities within
the education sector,
with every Australian
student in years 9-12 to
have access to their own
school computer. Every
secondary school will be
equipped with
educational tools of the
21st century to teach
the lessons of tomorrow,
enabling Australia to
stay competitive in a
digital economy. Civica
is currently working on
a ‘School of the Future’
solution for a number of
Australian schools.
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We are delighted to
announce that we have
recently achieved the
status of Microsoft Gold
Certified Partner with
a Microsoft
Competency in
ISV/Software Solutions
and Networking
Infrastructure
Solutions.
Microsoft conducted a
rigorous evaluation of
our services, software
and support for
Microsoft technologies
and achieving this
status is recognition of
the high level of our
qualifications and close
relationship with
Microsoft.
As a Microsoft Gold
Certified Partner we
will have access to the
latest Microsoft
technologies, ensuring
that we continually
deliver leading edge
products and services to
our customers.
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The Spydus Cash
Management module has
been designed to provide
libraries with one
portal for processing
all monetary
transactions completed
within the library. The
module is
fully integrated with
the Circulation Module,
and manages both
borrower related charges
and the sale of library
merchandise such as
library bags, CDs,
photocopy cards, etc.
The Circulation PCs can
link one-to-one with a
physical cash drawer or
a number of PCs at the
same branch can link to
the one physical cash
drawer.
Spydus Cash Management
is a flexible module
that can provide your
library with the
following features:
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A fully integrated
solution that
dispenses with the
need for stand alone
cash registers
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The ability to
complete cash
transactions using
the Spydus system
for library
merchandise that
does not need to be
linked to a library
patron record. For
example a photocopy
card or library bag,
local history books,
computer disks.
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Functionality that
allows for charges
to be optionally
linked to a library
patrons record
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Records each payment
transaction
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Creates cash
management reports
for export in a
number of formats
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Interfaces to a slim
cash drawer,
replacing the need
for a cash register
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A comprehensive
range of daily cash
audit reports
Key benefits of the cash
management module
include:
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Simple and easy to
configure ensuring a
fast and efficient
implementation
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Easy to use ensuring
your staff can
deliver efficient
customer service
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Flexibility to set
up charge codes for
the full range of
library merchandise
or services that
your library offers.
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A single point of
access for all cash
transactions
simplifying the cash
management process
and eliminating the
need for cash
registers and
additional
administration.
-
Cash audit reports
can be produced in
formats suitable for
use with accounting
systems to further
simplify your
libraries cash
management
processes.
If you would like a
demonstration of the
Spydus Cash Management
solution please contact
your Business
Development Manager in
your region or email
mhunter@civica.com.au
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February Nomination
- Electronic Books
Austin Health is a major
provider of tertiary
health services, health
professional education
and research in the
northeast of Melbourne,
Victoria and is
world-renowned for its
research and specialist
work in cancer, liver
transplantation, spinal
cord injuries,
neurology,
endocrinology, mental
health and
rehabilitation.
Modern technology and
advances in medicine are
expanding at a
phenomenal rate and
staff at Austin Health
Library found a way to
keep up with student and
medical staff demands
for the latest medical
information by
making their search for
electronic books even
easier.
Austin Health's Senior
Librarian, Dominique
Collins says the library
has been adding
catalogue records for
electronic books and
reports to Spydus for
some time with excellent
results.
"The Library has added
links to subscription
electronic texts, as
well as to free
electronic books and
reports of interest to
Austin Health staff.
However our students and
staff found that finding
these electronic texts
on the OPAC was still
quite time consuming."
To try and make the
process easier and
faster, Austin Health
Library staff created a
‘canned search’ to find
electronic books and
reports. Clicking on
the 'Electronic books'
link in the menu of the
OPAC screen, opens a
canned search that looks
for items with something
in the catalogue record
'020' field (ISBN) and
'856' field (URL).
Patrons can then refine
their search further by
using the 'Refine set'
button and adding their
area of search interest.
‘By listening to our
customers needs we were
able to develop a
solution that ensures
our electronic books are
accessible to a larger
audience than previously
possible," said
Dominique.
The Austin Health
library provides a
service to staff and
students from Austin
Health and the Mercy
Hospital for Women with
their
catalogue
available via the web.
To view an example of an
electronic record follow
this
link.
For more information on
how to create canned
searches or to list your
electronic books please
contact
Anne McLean Library
Manager at Austin
Health.
How to submit a
Customer Service
Innovation profile?
Ever wanted to submit a
Customer innovation
Profile!
If your library service
has introduced an
interesting customer
service innovation
please don’t be shy, let
us know. We are very
happy to help you so
that your library team
can be in the running to
win a great prize.
Please email
mhunter@civica.com.au
for assistance in
writing your profile.
And don't forget if
you would like to vote
for the Austin Hospital
'Electronic Books'
innovation simply click
on the 'Vote Here'
button below. Thank you.
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Final votes are now
being counted for the
latest Spydus Customer
Service Innovation Award
and the nominees
are......
Cockburn Libraries –
In-House
Telecommunications
System
Cockburn Libraries
in Western Australia for
their Multi screen
in-house Television
Communication System at
their customer service
desk to promote library
collections, events and
community information.
…more info
Mid Western Regional
Council Library – Audio
Navigator
Mid Western Regional
Council Library in
New South Wales for
their Audio Navigators
which read books,
magazines and newspapers
aloud to vision impaired
library customers
suffering from Macular
Degeneration disease.
…more
info
Timaru District
Libraries, New Zealand –
Computer Internet
Classes
Timaru District
Libraries in South
Canterbury, New Zealand
for their collaborative
project with their local
Aoraki Polytechnic to
teach library customers
how to surf the Internet
or use the word
processing applications
of the PCs.
…more info
Voting
To vote
simply click on the
library name above or
send an email with the
library’s name in the
subject heading to
Matthew at mhunter@civica.com.au
Voting closes
Wednesday 12 March so
make sure you get your
vote in today and one
lucky Spydus library
team will win a $1000
Team Building experience
of their choice with
Red Balloon Days.
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Wollondilly in the south
western outskirts of
Sydney covers 2,560
square kilometres
stretching from Bargo in
the south, Appin and
Menangle in the east,
Warragamba in the north
with the Nattai
wilderness, Yerranderie
Ghost Town and
Burragorang Valley to
the west.
The Wollondilly Library
& Information Services
central branch is
located at Picton and
it's mobile service
provides coverage to
twelve townships
throughout the shire
with its
state-of-the-art,
purpose built Library
truck.
The Library
truck features an
on-board generator,
which provides power to
computers enabling a
complete on-line service
for all circulation and
enquiry functions as the
service travels
to villages throughout
the Shire. To assist
library customers with
research, access is
available to an array of
on-line services; The
Virtual Bookshelf,
Homework & projects,
newspapers and magazines
and an email based
reference desk librarian
called ‘Ask a Librarian’
which can be accessed
via the Spydus Web
catalogue.
Gail Dunn Team Leader at
Wollondilly said “This
is possible through our
Next G wireless
broadband coverage and a
small antenna on the
back of the truck, which
allows us to have
coverage in every
village. The use of this
technology enables the
Mobile Library to offer
the same ease of
lending, returning and
placement of
reservations via Spydus
that is possible in our
main Library at Picton."
Wollondilly has chosen a
Managed Service approach
to deliver Spydus to
it's geographically
diverse community
throughout the shire.
“A Managed Service
approach was chosen
because we don’t have a
dedication person
looking after the system
in-house and we just
couldn’t afford a new
server to support the
library system. We also
wanted to take the
stress out of managing
the whole thing
ourselves and Civica’s
Managed Service solution
is
wonderful," said Gail.
Check out the
Wollondilly
library catalogue
or the Council Shire
website.
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Spydus
now has the ability to
record borrower
information in two
records — the borrower
registration record and
a borrower account
record. This new feature
has been developed for
consortia’s and will
allow library customers
to have one membership
card and be able to
borrow items from any
library service in the
consortia.
This is the first phase
of consortia wide
membership development
which will soon allow
borrowers to be able to
pay fines at any library
service, place
reservations across the
consortia, have the
automated shelf check
facility check across
the consortia and allow
the borrower in one view
to see their
transactions across the
consortia.
For your copy of this
PDF fact sheet
follow this link.
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The latest Spydus Client
releases are now
available for download
from Civica's website at
http://www.spydus.civica.com.au/Spydus/Support_Services.htm
8.2.x Customers
Customers
running Spydus Clients
8.2.15, 8.2.17 or less
should upgrade to
8.2.17b, whilst those on
Spydus Clients 8.2.16,
8.2.18 should upgrade to
8.2.18c.
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Current
Client Version.. |
Upgrade
Version..
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| 8.2.15
, 8.2.17 version
or less |
Upgrade to
8.2.17b |
| 8.2.16,
8.2.18 - all
versions |
Upgrade
to 8.2.18c
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8.4.1 Customers
There has been
a new release of 8.4.1c
client and customers
running 8.4.1 should
upgrade to this latest
release.
 Spydus
Helpdesk
If you have forgotten
your login details or
require the latest
password please contact
the Help Desk in your
region.
Australia & New Zealand
Telephone (61) 3 8676
4415
Singapore
Telephone (65)
6333 5202
United Kingdom
Telephone
01225 485000
United States of
America Telephone
(800) 686-9313 x3113
To ensure you are
advised of Spydus Client
Releases as they become
available you can
subscribe to the Spydus
Client Release Database.
Simply email
Matthew Hunter your
name, email address and
the name of your
organisation.
Please include in the
subject heading the
title ‘Subscribe to
Spydus Client Release
Database’
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Are you sometimes
looking for answers to a
system query that you
know you have read some
information about in the
past? Make sure you
check the Spydus
Fact Sheets on
our website.
In recent months there
has been quite a bit of
interest in terms of
Boolean and SQL queries
and the fact sheet
available on the website
on Boolean & SQL queries
is regularly updated
with new information –
so make sure you check
it out!
Remember to check out
the Fact Sheets listing
for Spydus 8 on the
Civica website. Go to
http://www.spydus.civica.com.au/Spydus/Support_Services.htm and
select Fact Sheets.
Then enter the password
to gain access and you
can download or print
the fact sheet that is
of interest.
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City of Port Philip
Libraries won a Spydus
Customer Service
Innovation award last
year for their Wheel
Barrow Library Service
and recently
participated in their
chosen ‘drumming team
exercise’ which they
held under the shade of
the trees outside the
municipal buildings in
St Kilda.
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All booking charges are
linked to a booking
record in Spydus client
release 8.2.15. In the
event that library staff
are questioned about a
particular booking
charge(s) they now have
additional booking
charge information
available at their
finger tips. This
additional information
is available via
hyperlinks and allows
library staff to answer
queries quickly and
efficiently.
For your copy of this
month’s hot tip
follow this link.
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The American Library
Associations mid-winter
conference was held in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania in January
and more than 20,000
people visited the show
over the 5 days.
Civica's CMI
business has opened a
dedicated Spydus sales
and support office in
Ohio and officially
launched the Spydus
library automation
system at the
conference. Corbit
Harrison and Joe Keller
from CMI together with
staff from Civica's
Melbourne office were
busy providing
demonstrations on the
Spydus LMS and RFID
solutions to delegates.
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Civica attended the
three day VALA
Conference earlier this
month and the Spydus
team were busy
demonstrating the latest
8.4.1 release of
Acquisitions, the new
Unicode Cataloguing
client and PC Lockout.
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 David
Johns
Joining our Help Desk
team in Melbourne,
Australia is David
Johns. David's interest
in libraries and all
things related stem from
his studies at Monash
University, where he is
studying Librarianship.
His interest in this
area is complimented by
his IT career where he
has worked in a variety
of roles ranging from
Help Desk to Database
Administration. In his
spare time he enjoys
reading walking the dog,
swimming and leisurely
bike rides.
 Rammira
Hornibrook Also
joining the Spydus team
in Melbourne as a
Trainer/Consultant is
Rammira Hornibrook.
Rammira is a qualified
Library Technician who
previously worked at DA
Information Services in
Books Customer Service
as well as Tech
Services. Rammira enjoys
reading, movies,
gardening and traveling
in her spare time.
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-
Public Library
Association (PLA)
Conference,
Minneapolis, MN.
USA, 25 - 29 March
-
Library &
Information Show,
Birmingham, UK, 23 -
24 April
-
ASLA Online III
Virtual Conference,
5 - 26 May
-
American Library
Association
Annual
Conference,
Anaheim, CA.
USA, 26 June - 2
July
-
CPLA, Tamworth,
NSW 29 July - 1
August
-
ALIA, Alice
Springs, NT 2-5
September
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Spydus Newsletter March 2008
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This month in the Spydus
Newsletter we are
delighted to introduce
our latest UK customer,
the Isle of Wight
Library Service. There
is also plenty of
product news with
general release Spydus
8.4 delivered this month
and we also have
articles on the new
Spydus PC Lockout module
and a report from Victor
Harbor in South
Australia on their
implementation of the
Spydus RFID solution.
Our Queensland customers
feature strongly this
month with our Site of
the Month being Mareeba
Shire in Northern
Queensland and our March
Customer Service
Innovation Award
nomination comes from
the Shared Service
Agency library in
Brisbane.
As usual don't miss the Hot
Tip article, which this
month outlines the
process for automating
Circulation Off-line
downloads.
Remember, to access the
PDF document of the
Spydus Newsletter simply
click on the link above
or go directly to our
website.
Please send your
suggestions and ideas
for newsletter articles
to Matthew Hunter. You
can email Matthew at
mhunter@civica.com.au
or call him on + 61 3
8676 4400.
Articles in this months
newsletter
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This month we are very
pleased to welcome a new
customer in the UK, the
Isle of Wight Library
Service. The
Isle of Wight is an
English island and
county in the English
Channel three miles from
the south coast of Great
Britain. It is situated
south of the county of
Hampshire and is
separated from mainland
England by the Solent.
Popular since Victorian
times as a holiday
resort, the Isle of
Wight is known for its
natural beauty and for
its world-famous sailing
based in Cowes.
The Isle of Wight has 11
library branches,
including 2 mobile
libraries with a
turnover of 981,480
items per year amongst
its 100,000 members
scattered across the
islands 148 square
miles. The Isle of Wight
is part of Co-South,
which is an initiative
aimed at bringing the
resources of libraries
and other information
providers in the south
of England together,
thereby making these
resources accessible to
everyone.
At present the aim is to
link the Spydus library
catalogues of the four
authorities consisting
of Hampshire County
Council, the Isle of
Wight, Portsmouth City
Council and Southampton
City Council. When
completed, users will be
able to search for
a resource they need,
locate it and request it
– from any of the four
authorities, regardless
of where they live.
A popular tourist
attraction come rain or
shine is Osborne House,
Queen Victoria’s palace
by the sea, which was
built as a family home
for the monarch.
Visitors gain an
intimate glimpse into
what royal life was like
for this royal family by
exploring the acres of
grounds, gardens, take
horse and carriage
rides, or visit the
delightful restaurant
and café.
The Island's maritime
and industrial history
encompasses boat
building, sail making,
the manufacture of
flying boats, the
world's first hovercraft
and the testing and
development of British
space rockets. The
island has some
exceptional wildlife and
is also one of the
richest fossil locations
for dinosaurs in Europe.
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The new general release
of Spydus Version 8.4
has just completed the
final QA stages and is
now available for
release to all
customers.
Major new features in
this release include:
-
a fully redeveloped
Acquisitions Module
-
revamped OPAC
-
an automated
reservation shelf
check facility
Key benefits of:
- New Acquisitions
module - data entry
is made a lot more
efficient by the use
of a single screen
for ordering and
multiple templates
to set default data
- New OPAC -
adheres to W3C
accessibility
guidelines
- Automated shelf
check - provides a
facilty that allows
each library to be
alerted in turn thus
saving time by not
having all libraries
look for the same
item at one time
A number of existing
functions have been
reviewed to
provide additional
flexibility in setting
up stock rotation lists;
a new item maintenance
screen that adds
additional fields for
libraries that use broad
classifications; the
claims returned/lost
item process handles
overdue items and the
date of birth field in
borrower registration is
simpler to use.
These are just some
example of many new
features and changes
that have been included
with this new release.
Over the next few months
we will provide more
detail on these exciting
new features.
Civica advises all
customers to move to
this release as soon as
they are in a position
to do so. Please contact
your account manager in
your region to arrange
your upgrade .
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A long term Spydus
customer, Victor Harbor
Library in South
Australia has
implemented the Spydus
RFID solution, using Gen
2 RFID tags and UHF
readers, to enhance its
library management
systems and the services
provided to its
customers. Victor Harbor
introduced RFID a year
ago to coincide with the
opening of their new
purpose built Library
and Civic Centre.
The tagging of 31,000
stock items has since
been completed and now
counter staff are able
to check out multiple
items simultaneously,
and record their return
just as easily.
“The introduction of
RFID has made life much
easier for staff at the
front counter,” says Ben
Footner, Library Manager
and System
Administrator. “Their
work is more efficient
since RFID reduces the
amount of stock-handling
they need to do, and
because RFID is faster
than bar-coding,
customer service is
quicker.”
The Spydus RFID solution
allows staff to place a
number of varied sized
items over the reader,
and it has been tested
with up to five hardback
fiction or 10 softback
fiction books at any one
time. All staff need to
do is place a handful of
library items on a
certain spot at the
counter in any order,
and the Spydus RFID
reader checks each one
to the customer’s
library card.
To read more about
Victor Harbor’s
successful Spydus RFID
solution follow this
link.
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March Nomination
- Email Advertising Tag
Line
The Shared Service
Agency (SSA) - Library
in Queensland provides
corporate library
services to a number of
government organisations
in Brisbane’s CBD and
regional offices
throughout Queensland.
SSA’s role is to provide
high-quality and
cost-effective corporate
support services to
agencies within the
Queensland Government.
This corporate library
has found an innovative
way to remind the
various government
departments and its
employees that the
library holds a number
of resources that may
assist them in their
every day work.
In all email
correspondence sent to
recipients, below the
signature panel a tag
line reads
‘Love your Library’ in
bright colours as a
subtle yet effective
means of advertising.
Merrill Cowdrey, Library
Manager, said ‘We strive
to remind people that we
are here to assist them
in any way we can with
their research or
project planning. Our
subtle tag line attached
to our email signature
we hope brings a smile
to people’s face and
encourages them to
remember us and to visit
often.'
‘Being a corporate
library, a lot of our
resources are available
on-line via our library
catalogue, so although
people don’t necessarily
have to visit, it’s
important to remind them
of all the resources
they have available to
them, and that includes
their library,’ she
said.
For more information on
SSA and the Library
Services innovative and
subtle email tag lines
please contact
Merrill Cowdrey or
visit the SSA
website.
Don't forget if
you would like to vote
for the Shared Service
Agency 'Email
Advertising Tag Line'
innovation simply click
on the 'Vote Here'
button below. Thank you.
How to submit a
Customer Service
Innovation profile?
Ever wanted to submit a
Customer innovation
Profile!
If your library service
has introduced an
interesting customer
service innovation
please don’t be shy, let
us know. We are very
happy to help you so
that your library team
can be in the running to
win a great prize.
Please email
mhunter@civica.com.au
for assistance in
writing your profile.
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The new Spydus PC
Lockout interface has
been designed to provide
libraries with greater
control in managing
their public Word
Processors (WPs) and
Internet computers.
The Spydus interface
allows WPs and Internet
computers to be
self-managed by the
library patrons, who
must sign in using their
library card and PIN.
The interface
authenticates a booking
that has been submitted
via the Spydus Booking
module from an OPAC or
the web catalogue, and
either allows or denies
access to the PC.
Research has shown in
today's ever changing
world that people are
increasingly time poor
with additional
pressures to deal with.
In libraries conflict
often arises over
booking timeslots for
PCs/Internet with people
forgetting their
bookings, arriving
late or accessing past
their allocated times,
which in turn creates
tension and ill feeling
amongst patrons with the
library staff more often
than not caught in the
middle.
Spydus PC Lockout takes
the responsibility away
from the library staff
and transfers it back to
the library patron,
allowing them to use the
latest technology to
create and self-manage
their own bookings in
relation to public
access PCs, thus freeing
library staff to focus
on other customer
service delivery tasks.
The self managing
interface sits on each
individual WP or
Internet computer and is
easily activated each
day by library staff
when logging on the PCs.
The interface is easy to
configure to libraries
site requirements with
the following additional
features:
• Alert warning advising
customer to save work
prior to session time
expiring
• Suspension of a
session for a short
period of time
• Ability for a library
patron to lock PC during
suspension
• Time remaining display
• Libraries can specify
a ‘Buffer Period’
between bookings
• Libraries can
customise the desktop to
display either a
promotional image or
play a movie in
the background while it
is in stand-by mode
• Configurable to allow
a customer to walk up
and use the PC if it is
available without a
prior booking, subject
to library policies
Subsequent benefits of
the interface are a
reduction in library
staff time required to
monitor or administer
bookings.
Vernan Lee Online
Service Librarian
Wanneroo, Western
Australia said “In our
trial testing of the
Spydus PC Lockout
solution we discovered
that there was a staff
time saving of
approximately 20 minutes
a day. Staff are
somewhat relieved that
they do not have to have
to monitor the PCs or
get involved in
disputes, as the system
takes care of itself.”
If you would like a
demonstration of PC
Lockout please contact
your Business
Development Manage in
your region or email
Matthew Hunter.
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The votes have been
counted and we are very
pleased to announce
the fourth winner of the
Spydus Customer
Innovation Award is
Mid-Western Regional
Council Library in NSW
for their Audios
Navigator, which was
nominated in our
November newsletter last
year.
Congratulations to the
staff at Mid-Western
Regional Council
Library who will receive
a Gold Red Balloon Day
Gift Voucher valued at
$1000 to redeem for a
Team Building event of
their choice. This might
be gourmet cooking, a
yacht charter, sea
kayaking, the choice is
theirs... and as always
we definitely look
forward to seeing the
photos.
To briefly recap
Mid–Western Regional
Council Library was
successful in receiving
a grant from the Macular
Degeneration Foundation
to provide portable
hand-held Audio-Read
Navigators for nominated
library clients.
The Audio-Read Navigator
is a hand-held, portable
device with powerful
navigational functions,
developed by Australian
company Audio-Read,
which reads books,
magazines and newspapers
out loud. The range of
books, magazines and
newspapers available for
the Navigator device
changes every few
months, providing vision
impaired residents with
a wider selection of
material.
"Up until now, vision
impaired Australians
have only had access to
cassette-style talking
books or CD libraries,"
said Eilagh Rurenga,
Library Service
Co-ordinator at the
Mudgee Library.
For moré information
about the Audio
Navigators please
contact
Eilagh Rurenga at
Mid Western Regional
Council Library.
Each quarter one lucky
Spydus library team has
a chance to win a $1000
Team Building experience
of their choice with Red
Balloon Days.
We welcome nominations
for the Spydus Customer
Service Innovation Award
and it’s very easy to
enter! Just send Matthew
an
email and he’ll call
you and assist in
writing your nomination.
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Mareeba Shire with a
population of 18,000
people lies 64km south
west of Cairns in
Queensland and is the
largest of the four
shires on the Atherton
Tableland.
The Library service uses
the Spydus LMS with its
main library located at
Mareeba and three branch
libraries in Kuranda,
Dimbulah and Chillagoe,
about 150kms from
Mareeba, to service its
diverse local community
made up of over 60
different nationalities
and the many visitors
that the shire attracts
each year.
Librarian Frances
Utzinger said 'Library
staff are excited to be
able to provide more
services to their user
via the Spydus OPAC and
have been delighted by
the many positive
comments from their
users. Library staff are
now planning on
implementing a stock
rotation schedule to
streamline and
facilitate their regular
branch exchanges, up to
12 exchanges a year.'
The library has a wide
range of up to date
resources for all ages
covering fiction,
non-fiction, and access
to online databases.
Reading lists on
specific topics are
produced regularly to
keep library members
informed of the
libraries holdings on
authors, new books and
audio visual materials.
Other services include
family history research
materials, services for
children and young
adults, storytelling,
homework help club,
holiday and special
programs.
Visitors to Mareeba can
experience the natural
beauty of tropical north
Queensland where the
rainforest meets the
outback and can enjoy a
diverse range of
cultural and
recreational
experiences, from bush
walking, bird watching,
hot air ballooning and a
trip on the scenic
railway at Kuranda.
Visit the council
website
and Library
catalogue.
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Spydus Cash Management
- New Feature
The Spydus Cash
Management module has
been designed to provide
libraries with one
portal for processing
all monetary
transactions and is
fully integrated with
the Circulation module.
A recent new feature to
the Spydus cash
management module is the
ability for library
staff to now amend the
amount to be charged.
This new feature is
helpful to accommodate
one-off variable cash
transactions.
User Groups & User
Accounts
Rather than
specify the privilege
level for each
individual person in
their user account,
library staff can now
specify this information
within a user group
under the general tab
found in Spydus
Supervisor.
This
feature is helpful for
libraries that use
volunteers, or school
students to undertake
some of their daily
tasks. For example by
assigning junior staff
to a particular user
group with a limited
privilege level, it will
restrict access points
to the system, thereby
ensuring database
integrity.
For your PDF copy of
this new feature follow
this link.
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The latest Spydus Client
releases are now
available for download
from Civica's website at
http://www.spydus.civica.com.au/Spydus/Support_Services.htm
Australian
customers
Customers
running Spydus Clients
8.2.15, 8.2.17 or less
should upgrade to
8.2.17b, whilst those on
Spydus Clients 8.2.16,
8.2.18 should upgrade to
8.2.18c.
|
Current
Client Version.. |
Upgrade
Version..
|
| 8.2.15
, 8.2.17 version
or less |
Upgrade to
8.2.17b |
| 8.2.16,
8.2.18 - all
versions |
Upgrade
to 8.2.18c
|
Additional Information
Installer for
client release 8.2.18c
should prompt the user
to install Microsoft SQL
Server 2000 Desktop
Engine (MSDE 2000) SP3
if it is not installed.
The prompt is not
included in the
installer for client
release 8.2.18c, so the
manual work around for
this is:
1) Log on to the PC as a
local administrator
2) Unzip the downloaded
file
SQLEXPR-SPYDUSOFFLINE.zip
to a temporary folder
3) Run setup-spydusoffline.bat
from the temporary
folder
4) Reboot the PC
5) Verify the program
has installed
successfully by
navigating to Add Remove
Programs, Microsoft SQL
Server Desktop Engine (SPYDUSOFFLINE)
should be listed under
currently installed
programs
NB. Customers do not
need to install
Microsoft SQL Server
2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE
2000) SP3a if it is
already installed from a
previous client release.
This information is
being provided in case
it was accidentally or
inadvertently removed.
8.4. x Customers
There has been
a new release of 8.4.1c
client and customers
running 8.4.1 should
upgrade to this latest
release.
Spydus
Helpdesk
If you have forgotten
your login details or
require the latest
password please contact
the Help Desk in your
region.
Australia Telephone
(61) 3 8676 4415
New
Zealand Telephone
0508 779 387 or
0508 SPYDUS
Singapore Telephone (65)
6333 5202
United
Kingdom Telephone
01225 485000
United States of
America Telephone
(800) 686-9313
x3113
To
ensure you are advised
of Spydus Client
Releases as they become
available you can
subscribe to the Spydus
Client Release Database.
Simply email
Matthew Hunter your
name, email address and
the name of your
organisation.
Please include in the
subject heading the
title ‘Subscribe to
Spydus Client Release
Database’
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Congratulations to staff
at the following
libraries who recently
completed their
successful
Spydus upgrades:
-
SA Water , a special
library in South
Australia
We also welcome our new
Spydus customers:
-
Dingley Primary
School
in Melbourne, the
first members of the
Victorian Primary
Schools
Consortium (Managed
Services) - visit
their
website
-
Isle of Wight
Library Service
in England , visit
their website
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Each night an Offline
schedule task is run on
each customer's library
server. This scheduled
task generates files
with the following
information: location,
user account
information, borrower
category information,
debarred borrowers and
trapped items.
These files need to be
downloaded from the
server to the
Circulation PCs each day
in case libraries need
to use Circulation
Offline due to the
unlikely event of a
system failure.
As of client releases
8.2.17 and
8.2.18 libraries can set
up as a Windows
Scheduled Task to
download these files
automatically ... thus
alleviating the need for
library staff
to remember to download
the files each day to
Circulation PCs!
For your copy of this
month’s hot tip
follow this link.
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Feeling a bit stuck or
need answers to a system
query that you know you
have read some
information about in the
past?
Remember to check out
the Fact Sheets listing
for Spydus 8 on the
Civica website. Go to
http://www.civica.com.au/
Spydus> Customer
Services> Support
Services>Fact Sheets .
Then enter the password
to gain access where you
can then download or
print the fact sheet
that is of interest.
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Kate Hayman (UK)
Kate joins Civica as
Business Development
Manager in the UK,
covering the North of
England, Scotland and
Northern Ireland. Kate
has worked for a number
of Library Software
Suppliers to the Public
and Special library
markets in Training,
Customer Account
Management and Sales
roles. Kate enjoys
reading with a
particular obsession
with books from the
Golden age of Detective
fiction, as well as
going to the gym,
walking and cooking.
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-
Public Library
Association (PLA)
Conference,
Minneapolis, MN.
USA, 25-29 March
-
Library
&Information
Show,
Birmingham, UK
23 -24 April
-
ASLA Online III
Virtual
Conference, 5 -
26 May
-
American Library
Association
Annual
Conference,
Anaheim, CA. USA
26 June – 2 July
-
CPLA, Tamworth
29 July – 1
August
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Spydus Newsletter April 2008
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This month we are very
pleased to announce that
Kent Libraries, the
UK’s largest library
authority, has chosen to
implement the Spydus
Library Management
system, by joining the
South East Library
Management System (SELMS)
consortium.
Also in the Spydus
Newsletter we bring you
an article on the
accelerating trend
towards Managed Services
amongst our NSW regional
library customers as our
first site
celebrates five years
on a Spydus
Managed service.
CitiLibraries Thuringowa
are nominated for the
Customer Service
Innovation award this
month for their use of
Wireless Tablet PC's.
Don't miss this article
which features really
clever use of technology
to deliver better
service and also has
some interesting facts
and research on how
patrons prefer to
seek help from library
staff.
Civica's Consulting
Services are profiled
this month and
Civica has a range of
consulting services to
help you and your staff
achieve optimum outcomes
from your Spydus
applications. If you
would like to optimise
the use of any of your
Spydus modules, a
session with one of our
professional consultants
may be worth exploring.
In Singapore the
Civica team recently
celebrated their 3rd
Annual Dinner and Dance
with more than 200 staff
and guests gathering at
the Grand Copthorne
Waterfront Hotel.
Finally, don’t forget to
read the April Hot
Tip, which outlines
setting up your Spydus
Self Service
parameters to ensure you
are recording accurate
customer usage
statistics.
Remember, to access the
PDF document of the
Spydus Newsletter simply
click on the link above
or go directly to our
website.
Please send your
suggestions and ideas
for newsletter articles
to Matthew Hunter.
You can
email Matthew at
mhunter@civica.com.au
or call him on + 61 3
8676 4400.
Articles in this months
newsletter
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| Spydus
chosen by Kent Libraries,
England |
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We are delighted to
announce that Kent
Libraries, the UK’s
largest library
authority, has chosen to
implement the Spydus
Library Management
system, with Kent
joining the South East
Library Management
System (SELMS)
consortium.
Cath Anley, Head of
Libraries, Archives and
Museums for Kent County
Council said: “Our top
priority is to ensure
our customers have
access to a reliable
service, allowing them
to browse library stock
easily regardless of
location and make their
library experience as
enjoyable as possible.
The ability to do this
online is imperative in
today’s “always on”
environment. Our work
with SELMS and Civica
will deliver an enhanced
level of customer
experience, underpinned
by Civica’s
state-of-the-art
software platform, at
the same time as
offering cost savings.”
SELMS is the UK’s
primary library services
consortium model, which
is working to introduce
online, automated
library systems across
the South East of
England.
Simon Parkes, libraries
director at Civica said:
“This latest win
continues to show
Civica’s commitment to
the library & learning
sector. It is the latest
in a series of
significant wins across
the UK with some of the
foremost authorities.
SELMS has demonstrated
that the consortium
model can equip library
services with modern
infrastructure and
automated processes
based on best practice
from the international
library sector, to help
them meet their goals.
Kent Libraries decision
to join SELMS is a
significant one, given
the authority’s size and
influence. We look
forward to delivering an
enhanced and very
flexible service for
Kent library users.”
Currently the
authorities
participating in SELMS
are Brighton & Hove City
Council, Buckinghamshire
County Council, London
Borough of Hammersmith &
Fulham, Milton Keynes
Council, Royal Borough
of Windsor & Maidenhead,
West Berkshire Council
and Wokingham District
Council.
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Spydus Managed Service delivers
results for NSW Regional
Consortiums |
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Regional Libraries in
NSW, some of which have
delivered shared library
services to remote
councils for more than
half a century, are
rapidly accelerating a
trend to using
outsourced managed
services for delivery of
their library systems.
Five years ago, North
Western Library was the
first library to adopt
Civica’s Managed Service
for delivery of their
Spydus library
management system. As a
result of this initial
partnership, many more
Spydus customers such as
Central Northern
Regional Libraries,
Central West Libraries
and Mid-western Library
Service have moved to
Civica’s Managed Service
solution and are
experiencing its
benefits.
Civica runs the
day-to-day operations
for all four regional
libraries on servers at
its data centres in
Melbourne or Sydney,
connected to each
library via a secure
virtual private network
(VPN). The libraries
receive annual software
upgrades and full 24x7
technical support, while
comprehensive backup and
disaster recovery
facilities include a
mirror site. All these
services are covered by
a fixed fee.
“Knowing that Civica
will continually upgrade
our software, and that
our systems are being
looked after and backed
up, gives us peace of
mind,” says Simon Jones,
Manager, Library and
Community Services at
Mid-western Library
Service.
“Managed services also
delivers key disaster
recovery procedures, and
we have confidence
knowing that Civica is
looking after all these
important issues.”
Civica’s Managed Service
model is finding favour
among regional libraries
because in some cases
they tend to lack the
resources needed to
handle the complexities
of information
technology. Hardware,
software, communications
and peripherals are
often provided by
different suppliers, and
their IT services people
are busy trying to
manage the network
infrastructure, as well
as peripheral hardware
and communications.
Pam Kelly, Regional
Library Manager at North
Western Library, recalls
that when the
organisation chose
managed services in
2003, small Councils
like Warren (population
2,000-plus) could not
afford full-time IT
support.
She says: “Civica’s
managed services model
has been excellent, I
cannot speak too highly
of it. In the past we
often had problems with
either hardware or
software, but now there
is always someone on the
other end of the phone
if we need them. A lot
of vendors offer managed
services, but to have a
specialised library
solution is really
special. Civica delivers
everything we need to
do.”
To read more on the
Spydus Consortia model
follow this
link.
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Singapore celebrates
with 3rd Annual Dinner & Dance |
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Civica’s Singapore
office celebrated its
3rd Annual Dinner &
Dance 2008 this month at
the Grand Copthorne
Waterfront Hotel in
Singapore.
Close to 200 of Civica’s
Library & Learning
Staff, together with
guests from Microsoft
and the Infocomm
Development Authority
of Singapore gathered to
share their experiences
and reflect on
the company’s recent
successes in the library
and learning arena.
Pre-dinner activities
included a Strolling
Magician and Instant
Glamour Shots.
Guests were also
entertained by staff
from Civica’s head
office; saving the best
for last, Mr Marc
Nolan, Executive
Director, Strategic
Development, rocked the
ballroom with a live
band performance.
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Spydus Customer Service
Innovation Award - Vote for
Thuringowa |
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April Nomination - Thuringowa
-Wireless Tablet PC
Thuringowa Library* in
North Queensland,
Australia is combining
technology and their
Spydus library
management to better
serve the needs of their
community with the use
of Wireless Tablet PC's.
Wireless technology has
afforded Thuringowa
Library the opportunity
to build on it’s strong
commitment to customer
service by delivering
reference services using
a Wireless Tablet PC and
a minimalist service
point for in-person
reference encounters.
Warren Cheetham,
Coordinator – Technology
& Access said “We
recognised that the
traditional service
point for reference
enquiries (a formidable
Information Desk), was a
formal and unwelcoming
place for our customers
and staff to engage.
Experience reveals that
our customers prefer to
approach library staff
who are on their feet
and roaming the library
floor.”
The Tablet PC is
connected to
Thuringowa’s corporate
computer network via
wireless signal, and
uses a fully operational
suite of Spydus clients,
online databases, email
and networked printers.
“We decided to trial a
convertible model, a
Toshiba Portege M200,
which is similar to a
laptop computer, where
the screen swivels
around 180 degrees and
folds back on top of the
keyboard as we felt that
it may offer increased
user flexibility.” said
Warren.
 The
wireless signal
throughout the library
space provides good to
excellent connectivity
and the tablet device is
light and easy to use,
thus meeting OH&S
requirements for library
staff.
The following outline is
a typical scenario for
using the Tablet PC with
the Spydus Clients.
1) Information Desk
staff start the
reference transaction
with the Tablet PC in
laptop mode. They
commence a search, and
then change the Tablet
PC to tablet mode and
move to the shelves to
find items.
2) Once items have been
found, clarification is
sought from the
customer. “Is this the
type of information you
are looking for?” A
secondary Spydus enquiry
search can easily be
executed while standing
at the shelves, and more
items can be located if
required.
3) If printed materials
are not suitable, the
librarian and customer
can sit at a table away
from the information
desk, and commence
searching online
databases or the
internet. Articles or
web pages can be emailed
or printed for
collection.
4) Once on their feet
and roaming, library
staff often find
themselves being
approached for help by
other customers. This
response echoes the
findings of Kazlauskas
(1976, p.133) who found
that “when there was a
choice between a
standing and sitting
staff member…the patron,
in all but one instance,
went to the staff member
who was standing”.
”Background research
suggests that while
‘roaming reference’ is
not a new development,
the availability of
cheap and flexible
wireless computing
devices has had the
potential to enhance
this type of customer
service delivery,” said
Susan Coker, Manager,
Library Services.
Feedback received by
staff, verifies that the
Tablet PC has been an
exceptionally good
public relations
exercise for Thuringowa
Library. The wireless
device possesses a ‘wow
factor’ amongst library
customers with it
generating many
questions from people of
all ages. Very few
customers have seen a
Tablet PC before and
they now view the
Library as using cutting
edge technology.
* Due to recent
local government reforms
and amalgamations, on
March 15th 2008
Thuringowa Library
Services was renamed
CitiLibraries, The New
Townsville City.
Don't forget if
you would like to vote
for the Thuringowa
'Wireless Tablet PC '
innovation simply click
on the 'Vote Here'
button below. Thank you.
How to submit a
Customer Service
Innovation profile?
Ever wanted to submit a
Customer innovation
Profile!
If your library service
has introduced an
interesting customer
service innovation
please don’t be shy, let
us know. We are very
happy to help you so
that your library team
can be in the running to
win a great prize.
Please email
mhunter@civica.com.au
for assistance in
writing your profile.
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Optimise your
outcomes with Civica
Consultancy Services |
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Are
there areas of the
Spydus application that
you feel you and your
staff are not using to
full benefit? Do you
think there are some
workflows in your
library that could be
improved with further
investigation and
discussion?
Civica offers customers
a range of consultancy
services that are
designed to help you and
your staff get the most
out of your Spydus
applications and help
you effectively address
these kinds of
questions.
You can choose from a
range of consulting
options which can be
delivered on-site, via
tele-conference or via a
WebEx session, depending
on your specific needs.
Prior to all consulting
sessions you will be
requested to provide the
consultant with a list
of the areas you wish to
see addressed, ensuring
that the consultant is
well prepared. Our
experienced consultants
will be happy to work
with you to design a
consulting session that
will deliver the best
outcome for your team.
Following a new
implementation or a
major upgrade you can
book one of our
consultants for a
Post
Implementation
Consultancy.
These sessions typically
involve a consultant
on-site for at least two
days addressing the
specific areas you need
assistance with. This
might include looking at
current workflows to
ensure that they are
correct and that you are
getting the most out of
the Spydus product;
addressing any teething
problems; reviewing
commissioning settings
and work shop any other
general issues you may
be experiencing.
You will be provided
with a written report
which documents what was
covered during the
consultancy, the
suggested solutions,
workflow improvements,
and any recommendations
for further training or
additional consultancy
services.
Ad-hoc
consulting sessions
can also be booked
taking a similar
approach to a Post
Implementation
consultancy or you may
wish to focus on a
particular area of your
library’s operations
e.g. Acquisitions,
Serials or Circulation
or specific components
within a module which
can be run as a workshop
session. The duration of
the consultancy can vary
from a minimum of one
hour (via a
teleconference or WebEx
session) to one day or
longer on-site sessions.
If you would like more
information on the range
of Consulting Services
available to your
library please speak to
the Business Development
Manager in your region.
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Site of the Month
- Mid-Western Regional Library
Council , NSW |
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The Mid-Western Region
is around 3 ½ hours
north of Sydney in the
Central West of New
South Wales and covers
an area of 9,000 square
kilometres. The region
features agricultural
diversity ranging from
quality wines to fine
wools and includes the
towns of Gulgong,
Kandos, Mudgee and
Rylstone in addition to
many other rural village
settlements.
Mid-Western Regional
Council Library Service
is a Spydus Managed
Service customer that
has library branches at
Mudgee, Kandos and
Gulgong townships.
To supplement its three
branches the Mid-Western
Regional Council runs a
mobile library service
that visits schools
communities and
housebound library
members throughout the
area.
An innovative library
service, Mid-Western’
recently added two new
filtered views to its
catalogue, to help its
customers access and
search newspapers and
community information.
“These additions will
improve our local
content, ensuring that
speedy access can be
gained to local data
that is always up to
date. Council and
library web pages also
provide access to our
on-line databases,
family history & local
studies and homework
help via ‘Your Tutor’
links.”
said Eilagh Rurenga,
Library Services
Coordinator, Mid-western
Regional Library
Service.
Mid Western were
recently voted the
quarterly winners of the
Spydus Customer
Innovation Award by
readers of the Spydus
newsletter for their
implementation of Audio
navigators.
The navigators read
books, magazines and
newspapers out loud for
nominated library
clients suffering from
the eye disease, macular
degeneration.
“This service has
recently been extended
to service a wide range
of print impaired
individuals through the
support of service
groups in our region”
said Eilagh.
Visit Mid-Westerns
catalogue and
to discover more about
the many tourist
attractions in the
region visit the Mudgee
region
website.
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Spydus 8 New Features - Booking
Policies & Auto PIN Generation |
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Booking Policies
Two new
parameters have been
added to the booking
policy in server release
8.4.x , Confirmation
required & Borrower
privilege code.
1. Confirmation required
specifies whether or not
a staff member must
approve the booking
before the item can be
issued or checked out.
2. Borrower privilege
code in the booking
policy is used with the
Privilege code in the
borrower registration
details. If libraries
specify a Borrower
privilege code for a
policy, then the
borrower must have this
privilege code in their
registration details to
be able to place a
booking under that
policy.
This is useful to
prevent under age
library customers from
booking an Internet
session for example.
For your PDF copy of
this new feature follow
this link.
Auto Generation
of PIN
A new feature
in Spydus 8.4 x is the
ability of the system to
automatically generate a
Personal Identification
Number for new
borrowers. This
functionality is
available subject to the
PIN rules that are
predetermined by each
library/organisation. A
Generate PIN button is
available on the
Registration screen in
the Circulation client.
This functionality is
useful and allows
the creation of a PIN
instantly during the
registration process
thereby safe guarding
the library customers
record and also enabling
the customer to
place reservations and
bookings.
For your PDF copy of
this new feature follow
this link.
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| New
Spydus 8 Client Releases now
available for download
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The latest Spydus Client
releases are now
available for download
from Civica's website at
http://www.spydus.civica.com.au/Spydus/Support_Services.htm
Australian
customers
Customers
running Spydus Clients
8.2.15, 8.2.17 or less
should upgrade to
8.2.17b, whilst those on
Spydus Clients 8.2.16,
8.2.18 should upgrade to
8.2.18c.
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Current
Client Version.. |
Upgrade
Version..
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8.2.15 , 8.2.17
version or less |
Upgrade to
8.2.17b |
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8.2.16, 8.2.18
- all versions |
Upgrade
to 8.2.18c
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Additional
Information
Installer for
client release 8.2.18c
should prompt the user
to install Microsoft SQL
Server 2000 Desktop
Engine (MSDE 2000) SP3
if it is not installed.
The prompt is not
included in the
installer for client
release 8.2.18c, so the
manual work around for
this is:
1) Log on to the PC as a
local administrator
2) Unzip the downloaded
file
SQLEXPR-SPYDUSOFFLINE.zip
to a temporary folder
3) Run setup-spydusoffline.bat
from the temporary
folder
4) Reboot the PC
5) Verify the program
has installed
successfully by
navigating to Add Remove
Programs, Microsoft SQL
Server Desktop Engine (SPYDUSOFFLINE)
should be listed under
currently installed
programs
NB. Customers do not
need to install
Microsoft SQL Server
2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE
2000) SP3a if it is
already installed from a
previous client release.
This information is
being provided in case
it was accidentally or
inadvertently removed.
8.4. x Customers
There has been
a new release of 8.4.2c
clients however
customers should not download
and start using this
client until they are
advised to do so by
Civica.
Spydus
Helpdesk
If you have forgotten
your login details or
require the latest
password please contact
the Help Desk in your
region.
Australia Telephone
(61) 3 8676 4415
New
Zealand Telephone
0508 779 387 or
0508 SPYDUS
Singapore Telephone (65)
6333 5202
United
Kingdom Telephone
01225 485000
United States of
America Telephone
(800) 686-9313
x3113
To ensure you are
advised of Spydus Client
Releases as they become
available you can
subscribe to the Spydus
Client Release Database.
Simply email
Matthew Hunter
your name, email
address and the name of
your organisation.
Please include in the
subject heading the
title ‘Subscribe to
Spydus Client Release
Database’
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Events
- Public Library Association
Conference - USA |
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The Public Library
Association (PLA)
Conference was held in
Minneapolis, Minnesota
in late March with more
than 9,000 people
visiting the show over
the 5 days. Civica's CMI
Spydus sales staff from
Ohio, Corbit Harrison,
Joe Keller together with
Chris Thewlis from
Civica's Melbourne
office were keep very
busy at the conference
providing demonstrations
of the Spydus LMS and
RFID solutions to
delegates.
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Congratulations to the
following libraries who
recently completed their
successful
Spydus upgrades:
England
In England the South
East Library Management
Systems (SELMS)
consortium recently
upgraded to 8.4.2
New Zealand
In New Zealand Weltec, a
Technical Institute in
Petone, upgraded to
8.3.2
Australia
The first 2 of
the 12 Queensland TAFE
institutions are live on
Spydus – Brisbane North
and Tropical North with
8.4.1
As part of the
Queensland Council
amalgamations
• Goomeri and Kilkivan
libraries have
amalgamated with
Cooloola to form the
'Gympie Regional Council
Library' and are
now live on 8.2.5
• Townsville Library
upgraded to 8.3.2
and have amalgamated
with Thuringowa Library
Services to form 'CitiLibraries ,
The New Townsville City'
In South Australia we
welcome two new Spydus
customers
• Renmark Paringa a
member of the South
Australian regional
libraries consortium
went live with 8.3.1
• Kadina Library the
first of the Yorke
Peninsula Consortium SA
went live with 8.3.2
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| HOT
TIP # 46 - Setting up Spydus
Self Service–Parameters for
Accurate Customer Usage Stat’s |
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In order to collect
accurate statistical
information regarding
your library customer
borrowing patterns in
relation to service,
it’s important that your
parameters are set up
correctly in SIP
(Standard Interface
Protocol) to create a
user account. This will
ensure that all customer
issues or returns via a
self check terminal
location are also
recorded to provide
accurate statistical
reporting information.
For your copy of this
month’s hot tip
follow this link.
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Feeling a bit stuck or
need answers to a system
query that you know you
have read some
information about in the
past?
Remember to check out
the Fact Sheets listing
for Spydus 8 on the
Civica website as these
are regularly updated.
Go to http://www.civica.com.au/
Spydus> Customer
Services> Support
Services>Fact Sheets.
Then enter the password
to gain access where you
can then download or
print the fact sheet
that is of interest.
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Kevin O’Shea, UK
 We
welcome Kevin O’Shea to
our Civica UK team as a
Library Consultant.
Kevin brings more than
sixteen years library
management systems
experience to the team,
having previously worked
for Talis. Kevin is a
Walsall Football Club
supporter and he also
enjoys walking in his
spare time, having
tackled parts of the
Worcestershire Way,
Staffordshire Way,
Pembrokeshire Coast,
Hadrian's Wall and the
Offas Dyke Path.
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-
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American Library
Association
Annual
Conference,
Anaheim, CA.
USA,
26 June – 2 July
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CPLA, Tamworth,
NSW, Australia,
29 July – 1
August
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ALIA, Alica
Springs,
Northern
Territory,
Australia, 2 -5
September
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SPUN Conference,
Adelaide, South
Australia, Australia,
1 - 3 October
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LIANZA,
Auckland, New
Zealand, 2 - 5
November
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QPLA, Bundaberg,
Queensland, Australia,
19 - 22 November
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Spydus Newsletter May 2008
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Welcome
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This month we are
very pleased to
bring you articles
on the new Spydus
OPAC, Argyll & Bute
discuss why they
choose Spydus for
their Library
Management System
and we profile
Gympie Regional
Libraries
in Queensland as the
site of the month.
Boroondara Libraries
in Victoria are
nominated for the
Customer Service
Innovation award
this month for their
use of Bookjetty and
Facebook entry.
Civica also had a
strong presence at
the Library &
Information show in
the UK for the
second year running
and was also a
sponsor at the
Bayside Literacy
Festival in
Victoria, Australia.
We are delighted to
advise that Civica
has consolidated its
two existing Sydney
offices at North
Sydney and
Hurstville into new
regional corporate
headquarters.
Also don't forget to
vote for your
favourite innovation
profile for the last
quarter and finally,
don’t forget to read
the May Hot Tip,
which outlines how
reports can be set
up as a scheduled
task.
Remember, to access
the PDF document of
the Spydus
Newsletter simply
click on the link
above or go directly
to our website.
Please send your
suggestions and
ideas for newsletter
articles to Matthew
Hunter.
You
can email Matthew at
mhunter@civica.com.au
or call him on + 61
3 8676 4400.
Articles in this
month's newsletter
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We are pleased to
advise that Civica
has consolidated its
two existing Sydney
offices at North
Sydney and
Hurstville into new
regional corporate
headquarters located
at Level 10, 163-175
O’Riordan Street, in
Mascot. The brand
new premises at
Mascot, offer a
centralised location
with the convenience
of Sydney
International
Airport just 5
minutes away.
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 In
keeping with the
latest contemporary
design and
functionality Spydus
has released a new
look OPAC
incorporating a
totally redesigned
interface, giving
you the opportunity
to create a fresh
new look and feel
for your library
catalogues.
The new OPAC has
been designed under
W3C compliancy
guidelines ensuring
ease of use for
adaptive
technologies for the
sight impaired to
access and use a
libraries database.
Frames are no longer
used in the OPAC
making it a lot
easier to
incorporate existing
websites and
resulting in a more
functional OPAC,
which is no longer
reliant on Java
script. The new OPAC
has been redesigned
using web
technologies of
cascading style
sheets, XHTML,XML
documents and XSL.
The new design will
provide libraries
with an opportunity
to make the OPAC
their own, and
allows you to easily
customise to your
own style and make
it your own by
incorporating your
library’s individual
branding and design.
The OPAC features
consistent
Navigation via a
Left Hand Panel and
a Quick links option
on the Right Hand
side panel. Also
included in the
design are
‘breadcrumbs’ for
ease of navigating
backwards.
Other improvements
to the overall OPAC
design are On-line
help, FAQ –
Frequently Asked
Questions, a Site
map and Context
sensitive help.
The new look Spydus
OPAC is available
with server release
8.4.x. For more
information or to
upgrade to this
latest server
release please
contact a member of
the sales team in
your region.
Visit Queensland
TAFE
catalogue to
view the new Spydus
OPAC.
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Argyll and Bute, one
of the largest and
most sparsely
populated local
authority areas in
Scotland has a
population of approx
92,000. Split into 4
geographically
defined areas which
are served by 11
libraries and 5
mobiles, library
staff at Argyll &
Bute are now using
Spydus after going
live in December
last year.
Argyll and Bute
selected Civica’s
Spydus Library
Management system as
they thought it was
a great opportunity
to work closely with
a library supplier
who is considered an
early technology
adopter.
Argyll & Bute
Councillor Douglas
Philand, said: “The
development and
availability of
technology in recent
years has allowed us
as libraries to
enter people’s homes
via web access.
Feedback from
customers using the
web OPAC has been
very positive with
many enjoying the
additional
information the OPAC
displays such as
book covers,
annotations and
being able to renew
their loans online.”
Pat McCann, Systems
Librarian, said:
“It’s absolutely
fantastic that as a
company Civica
listen to customers
issues and looks for
solutions to
problems. I like
that, it’s good to
know you have a
supplier willing to
listen to your
concerns and go out
and find a
solution.”
“Spydus’ online
registration
capabilities have
enabled
geographically
remote members of
the Argyll and Bute
community to join
the library service,
and receive their
library membership
card and the
potential is also
there to deliver
books via mail,”
said Pat.
Tobermory High
School, situated on
the Isle of Mull is
also part of the
Argyll and Bute
Spydus Library
Management System
implementation, and
is using Spydus
Circulation as well
as Item maintenance.
The public library
service manages the
catalogue records on
behalf of the
school.
There is potential
in the future for
Argyll College, part
of the University of
the Highlands and
Islands, to join and
use the Spydus
Library Management
Solution.
Visit the Argyll &
Bute Libraries
catalogue.
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Gympie Regional
Libraries is located
in south east
Queensland in one of
Australia's fastest
growing areas.
Located 160
kilometres north of
the state capital,
Brisbane, Gympie
City is a 40 minute
drive north from the
coast of Noosa.
Gympie Regional
Council came into
being on 15 March
2008 following the
amalgamation of the
former Cooloola
Shire, the former
Kilkivan Shire and
Division 3 of the
former Tiaro Shire.
The recent local
government Council
amalgamation has
meant that the
Gympie Regional
Libraries now
comprise 6
conveniently located
service points. The
main library is
situated in Gympie
and the branch
service points reach
out to encompass the
lush hinterland
areas of Imbil,
Kikivan and Goomeri,
stretching further
afield in the
opposite direction
to the beautiful
coastal areas of
Rainbow Beach and
Tin Can Bay.
The libraries
collections hold
well over 106,121
items, inclusive of
an extensive Local
History collection,
a sheet music
collection, an
Indigenous
collection, and a
variety of
audiovisual
formatted items.
The services offered
are numerous and
include free
Internet access,
word processing,
online computer
databases, ‘Your
Tutor’, black and
white and colour
photocopying, a
housebound and
nursing home
delivery service, as
well as regularly
implemented adult
and young peoples’
promotional and
outreach activities
such as literary
workshops, author
launches, specialist
events, children’s
Storytelling, Rhyme
Time, Baby Bounce
and school holiday
activity craft
workshops.
A huge challenge for
the newly formed
Shire and its
skilled, proactive
library staff is the
effective servicing
of the large
geographical area of
the Shire.
Libraries Manager,
Leonie Day Wilson
said “With such a
supportive Council
backing us, library
staff are able to
pride themselves on
providing the best
and most timely
levels of
technology,
facilities and
services to
residents and
visitors, even
though we are
reaching out to a
population base of
42,820 people over
an expansive area of
some 6,898 sq. km.
“At the time of
amalgamation we
chose to extend our
Spydus Library
Management System
across the new Shire
because the system
had already met our
needs well and with
regular upgrades,
will continue to
take us far into the
future of our
technological
requirements.
Our new staff find
the system easy to
master and library
users are always
amazed at what it
can do!’”
Gympie Regional
Libraries use
filtered views on
their Spydus
catalogue, allowing
library customers to
gain immediate
on-line access to
the valued
collection of
photographs included
in Picture Cooloola
and Gympie Region
Then and Now.
The Gympie
photographic
catalogue interface
uses a separate
collection filter
for records with
local images
attached. The system
uses the BIB record
as a link to find
the stored image.
This makes searching
for a particular
image or picture
fast, efficient and
simple!
”The Gympie Spydus
Kids’ catalogue is
icon driven, which
has been
specifically
designed for junior
library users and
the kids love it,”
said Leonie.
The principal design
for the Kids’
catalogue is a
preconfigured canned
search which
operates across a
subset of junior
collections, where
each category of
enquiry is linked to
a Dewey
classification, or a
truncated Dewey
classification. This
provides an easy and
simple solution for
younger patrons
seeking library
materials on
particular topics.
Another creative and
interesting project
for the kids is the
‘I Spy’ display
cabinet, which is
undertaken and
maintained by the
Friends of the
Library. Children
have to identify 15
items in the
cabinet, which start
with the letter of
the month. They list
the items and place
their entry into the
competition box for
a chance to win a
monthly prize.
Leonie says “This
activity helps
children identify
and learn the shape
of letters and
associate them with
words.”
According to Leonie
the libraries large
‘Friends of the
Library’ group has
been a back bone of
the library service
for many years. The
group is a very
proactive group of
individuals who
volunteer their
valuable time to
assist staff in many
ways, making
services such as the
housebound library
service run so
efficiently. They
also hold regular
book sales, with the
funds raised
providing a much
appreciated
supplement to the
libraries book vote.
Last, but definitely
not least, the local
history volunteers
have in depth
knowledge of the
local area and its
history, so they are
able to offer local
history enthusiasts
skilled research
assistance. The
libraries range of
promotional events
and activities are
also highly
regarded, not only
because of their
subject content and
presentation, but
because the support
of the Friends at
these events allow
library staff the
time to concentrate
on what they do
best, knowing that
that extra help for
patrons is at hand.
To find out more
about Gympie
Regional Libraries,
be sure to visit
their user friendly
catalogue.
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May Nomination - Boroondara
-Bookjetty &
Facebook
City of Boroondara
Library in Victoria
has recently joined
Bookjetty, a
Singapore based site
as it moves to
promote its
collections and
extend its reach
globally by using
the web and its
Z39.50 interface.
BookJetty is a
user-friendly
on-line book
cataloguing system
designed for its
members to keep
track of the books
they have read, are
currently reading or
want to read in the
future. Members can
tag, rate and review
their books, make a
book list available
on their blog or
share their
catalogue.
Anne Holmes, Library
Manager at
Boroondara said
“Developments in the
areas of on-line
technology have
opened doors for
traditional
libraries as we have
been looking at ways
to not only promote
our collections, but
also encourage our
members to use
dedicated web sites
relating to reading
and Bookjetty is
perfect.”
Members can
determine if a book
is available at
their local library
seamlessly as
Bookjetty currently
integrates with
about 300 public
libraries worldwide.
“Bookjetty allows
users to create a
blog, share reviews,
interact with like
minded people and
most importantly
it’s fun, easy to
use and it’s free!”
said Anne.
Bookjetty uses
Z39.50 technology to
interface with
libraries allowing
its members to
borrow titles they
are interested in
from their local
library, thereby
saving money, or
alternatively there
is a search engine
link allowing them
to buy titles
directly on-line
from Amazon.com.
‘A lot of our
customers have book
collections at home,
or like to keep a
record of what they
have read and
Bookjetty allows
them to do this in a
contemporary
electronic format”
said Anne.
Boroondara has been
promoting Bookjetty
on its Facebook Page
and on it's
website
at or visit its
facebook page.
Since Boroondara’s
catalogue was added
to Bookjetty a
number of other
Melbourne Spydus
libraries have also
added their links.
Bookjetty has
recently added some
new and exciting
features making it
more social and
interactive
including a new and
improved layout. For
a quick tour, follow
this
link.
Don't forget if
you would like
to vote for the Boroondara
'Bookjetty &
Facebook' innovation
simply click on the
'Vote Here' button
below. Thank you.
How to
submit a Customer
Service Innovation
profile?
Ever
wanted to submit a
Customer innovation
Profile!
If your library
service has
introduced an
interesting customer
service innovation
please don’t be shy,
let us know. We are
very happy to help
you so that your
library team can be
in the running to
win a great prize.
Please email
mhunter@civica.com.au
for
assistance in
writing your
profile.
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Final votes are now
being counted for
the latest Spydus
Customer Service
Innovation Award and
the nominees in this
quarter are......
Austin Health
– Electronic Books
The Austin library
has added links to
subscription
electronic texts, as
well as to free
electronic books and
reports of interest
to Austin Health
staff. However our
students and staff
found that finding
these electronic
texts on the OPAC
was still quite time
consuming."
To try and make the
process easier and
faster, Austin
Health Library staff
created a ‘canned
search’ to find
electronic books and
reports. Clicking on
the 'Electronic
books' link in the
menu of the OPAC
screen, opens a
canned search that
looks for items with
something in the
catalogue record
'020' field (ISBN)
and '856' field
(URL). Patrons can
then refine their
search further by
using the 'Refine
set' button and
adding their area of
search interest.
…more info February
edition
Shared Service
Agency(SSA),
- Email Advertising
Tag Line
This corporate
library has found an
innovative way to
remind the various
government
departments and its
employees that the
library holds a
number of resources
that may assist them
in their every day
work.
In all email
correspondence sent
to recipients, below
the signature panel
a tag line reads
‘Love your Library’
in bright colours as
a subtle yet
effective means of
advertising.
…more
info March edition
Thuringowa– PC
Tablet
Thuringowa
Library in North
Queensland, is using
Wireless Tablet PC's
to better serve its
customers by
delivering reference
services using a
Wireless Tablet PC
and a minimalist
service point for
in-person reference
encounters.
Feedback received by
staff, verifies that
the Tablet PC has
been an
exceptionally good
public relations
exercise for
Thuringowa Library.
The wireless device
possesses a ‘wow
factor’ amongst
library customers
with it generating
many questions from
people of all ages.
Very few customers
have seen a Tablet
PC before and they
now view the Library
as using cutting
edge technology.
more info... March
edition
Voting
To vote simply click
on the library name
above or send an
email with the
library’s name in
the subject heading
to Matthew, at
mhunter@civica.com.au
Voting closes
Wednesday 11
June so
make sure you get
your vote in today
and one lucky Spydus
library team will
win a $1000 Team
Building experience
of their choice with
Red Balloon Days.
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In Spydus you can
now specify
sub-locations within
a branch.
For example, you
might want to hold
items in a reading
room and so specify
the room as a
sub-location within
a branch. This can
be particularly
helpful for
collecting
statistical
reporting purposes.
For your PDF copy of
this new feature follow
this link.
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The latest Spydus
Client releases are
now available for
download from
Civica's website at
http://www.spydus.civica.com.au/Spydus/Support_Services.htm
Australian
customers
Customers
running
Spydus Clients
8.2.15, 8.2.17 or
less should upgrade
to 8.2.17b, whilst
those on
Spydus Clients 8.2.16,
8.2.18 should
upgrade to 8.2.18c.
|
Current
Client
Version.. |
Upgrade
Version..
|
|
8.2.15 ,
8.2.17
version or
less |
Upgrade to
8.2.17b |
|
8.2.16,
8.2.18 - all
versions |
Upgrade
to 8.2.18c
|
Additional
Information
Installer
for client release
8.2.18c should
prompt the user to
install Microsoft
SQL Server 2000
Desktop Engine (MSDE
2000) SP3 if it is
not installed.
The prompt is not
included in the
installer for client
release 8.2.18c, so
the manual work
around for this is:
1) Log on to the PC
as a local
administrator
2) Unzip the
downloaded file
SQLEXPR-SPYDUSOFFLINE.zip
to a temporary
folder
3) Run setup-spydusoffline.bat
from the temporary
folder
4) Reboot the PC
5) Verify the
program has
installed
successfully by
navigating to Add
Remove Programs,
Microsoft SQL Server
Desktop Engine (SPYDUSOFFLINE)
should be listed
under currently
installed programs
NB. Customers do not
need to install
Microsoft SQL Server
2000 Desktop Engine
(MSDE 2000) SP3a if
it is already
installed from a
previous client
release. This
information is being
provided in case it
was accidentally or
inadvertently
removed.
8.4. x
Customers
There has
been a new release
of 8.4.3a clients
however customers
should not download
and start using this
client until they
are advised to do so
by Civica.
Spydus
Helpdesk
If you have
forgotten your login
details or
require the latest
password please
contact the Help
Desk in your region.
Australia Telephone
(61) 3 8676
4415
New
Zealand Telephone
0508 779 387
or 0508
SPYDUS
Singapore Telephone (65)
6333 5202
United
Kingdom Telephone
01225
485000
United
States of
America Telephone
(800)
686-9313
x3113
To ensure you are
advised of Spydus
Client Releases as
they become
available you can
subscribe to the
Spydus Client
Release Database.
Simply email
Matthew Hunter
your name, email
address and the name
of your
organisation.
Please include in
the subject heading
the title ‘Subscribe
to Spydus Client
Release Database’
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Singapore
In Singapore we
welcome Management
Development
Institute (MDIS) who
are now running live
on Spydus 8.4
Australia
As part of the
Queensland Council
amalgamations we are
delighted to welcome
Caloundra library
who have amalgamated
with Maroochydore
and Noosa to form
the Sunshine
Regional Libraries
on Spydus 8.3.2.
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Reports can be set
up to run as a
scheduled task to
run after hours.
This is particularly
useful if a report(s)
is required by a
manager, staff
member on a regular
basis.
For your copy of
this month’s hot tip
follow this link.
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Feeling a bit stuck
or need answers to a
system query that
you know you have
read some
information about in
the past?
Remember to check
out the Fact Sheets
listing for Spydus 8
on the Civica
website as these are
regularly updated.
Go to http://www.civica.com.au/
Spydus> Customer
Services> Support
Services>Fact
Sheets.
Then enter the
password to gain
access where you can
then download or
print the fact sheet
that is of interest.
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 Bayside
Library Service in
Victoria hosted the
first Bayside
Literary Festival
from Friday 16 to
Sunday 25 May and
Civica was delighted
to be a sponsor of
the Festival. There
were numerous events
hosted throughout
the week by various
Bayside Literary
groups, authors and
library staff.
Pictured in their
Civica sponsored
T-shirts are Back
row from left is
Jenni Masters, Marie
Camera, Sue Doherty,
Front row from left
is Laurian Corner
and Ursula Faas.
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Civica exhibited
again this year at
the Library and
Information Show (LIS)
which is the main
Library event in the
UK, catering for all
sectors of the
library profession.
The stand was busy
for the entire event
with two
demonstration areas,
one showing Spydus
and one showing our
Civica e-payments
software. In
addition, Civica
Connect also joined
us with their
self-service kiosk
showing our RFID
technology
capabilities.
The LIS event was
held at the National
Exhibition Centre in
Birmingham on the
23-24 April and
brought in 1800
visitors. The Spydus
team spoke to many
customers, prospects
and partners during
the 2 day event and
there was much
excitement about the
UK’s largest library
authority, Kent
Libraries’ decision
to join the South
East Library
Management System (SELMS)
consortium and use
Spydus to deliver
all of their library
services.
Simon Parkes said
“Interest in the
Civica proposition
continues at a high
level whether in
terms of product
functionality or the
progress we are
making with new
customers.
Uncertainty with
some of the
competition is
helping to further
encourage
prospective
customers to see
Spydus as the safe
alternative”.
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Pushpdeep
Sharma
 Joining
the Library
& Learning
development
team as an
analyst
programmer
is Pushpdeep
Sharma.
Prior to
joining
Civica,
Pushdeep
worked for
an education
consulting
firm in
Melbourne
and
completed
his Master
of Applied
Science
(Information
Systems) at
RMIT last
year. His
hobbies
include a
long list of
sporting
pursuits
including
playing
cricket,
badminton,
squash and
cycling.
Dipa
Parmar
 Dipa
has joined
the
development
team and her
role is to
create the
installer
for the
client
software.
Her previous
experience
has been in
managing
test
environments
(Functional
and
Integration)
and software
testing in
web based
applications
within the
financial
and health
care
industries. Dipa’s
interests
include Oil
and Acrylic
painting,
long
countryside
walks and
travelling.
Florence
Magnaye
 Also
joining the
Library &
Learning
Development
Team is
Florence
Magnaye as
an
Analyst/Programmer.
Florence
previously
worked at
Options
Technology
Solutions as
an
analyst/programmer
for its
proprietary
Spitfire
product
management
application.
Florence’s
interests
outside of
work include
music,
reading,
cooking and
travelling.
Rohan Seth
 Rohan
has joined
the Spydus
Technical
Services
team as an
application
specialistwhere
he is
looking
forward to
increasing
his
experience
and
inculcating
his skills
further in
the library
and learning
field. In
the past
Rohan has
had the
opportunity
to work in
organizations
hosting
heterogeneous
systems
which has
made working
in the IT
industry all
the more
exciting. In
his spare
time Rohan
likes to
read,
travel,
watch movies
and play
cricket.
Amir Pandozv
 Amir
Pandovz has
joined
Civica’s
Library &
Learning
development
team in
Melbourne.
His hobbies
include fly
fishing,
soccer,
music, and
most
important
playing with
his kids.
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-
American
Library
Association
Annual
Conference,
Anaheim, CA.
USA,
26 June – 2
July
-
CPLA,
Tamworth,
NSW,
Australia,
29 July – 1
August
-
ALIA, Alice
Springs,
Northern
Territory,
Australia, 2
-5 September
-
SPUN
Conference,
Adelaide,
South
Australia, Australia,
1 - 3
October
-
LIANZA,
Auckland,
New Zealand,
2 - 5
November
-
QPLA,
Bundaberg,
Queensland, Australia,
19 - 22
November
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Spydus Newsletter June 2008
|
Welcome |
In this issue we are
very pleased to
announce Civica has
been chosen to lead
the development of
innovative learning
technology for one
of five 'FutureSchools'
in Singapore. This
very exciting, four
year project known
as FutureSchools@Singapore will
take computer based
learning to new
levels. Civica's
Library & Learning
teams in Australia
and Singapore will
work on this project
and will lead a
consortium including
Playware Studios,
HeuLab and G
Element.
The latest news from
our customers this
month includes an
article on SAFTI
MI's first year
anniversary
celebration in
Singapore; a report
on the innovative
'Then & Now'
photographic project
by Gympie Regional
Libraries in
Queensland and news
of the excellent
outcomes Adelaide
Hills in South
Australia are
achieving since the
opening of their new
state of the art
Coventry Library.
Make sure you also
check-out the new
product updates in
this issue including
an article on the
new Spydus Gadget,
which will allow
your library patrons
to have up-to-date
information
regarding their
borrower record
accessible from the
desk top like their
other gadgets. Great
news for all of your
patrons that love to
use their Google and
Facebook
applications.
Remember, to access
the PDF document of
the Spydus
Newsletter simply
click on the link
above or go directly
to our website.
Please send your
suggestions and
ideas for newsletter
articles to Matthew
Hunter.
You
can email Matthew at
mhunter@civica.com.au
or call him on + 61
3 8676 4400.
Articles in this
month's newsletter
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A group led by
Civica’s Library &
Learning business
has been chosen to
develop innovative
learning technology
for one of five
‘FutureSchools’ in
Singapore, in a $S80
million four-year
project. The
project, known as
FutureSchools@Singapore,
is a joint
initiative of the
Singapore Ministry
of Education, the
Infocomm Development
Authority of
Singapore and the
information
technology industry.
The Civica-led
consortium includes
Playware Studios,
HeuLab and G
Element, each
leaders in their
respective learning
solution fields.
The outcome will
take computer-based
learning to new
levels by utilising
a holistic approach
that advances
existing
technologies and
combines them into a
comprehensive
pedagogic system
which gives students
a more meaningful
problem-based
learning experience.
In a knowledge
society, it is
important that
students develop
skills in
information and
media literacy,
knowledge creation,
critical and
creative thinking
skills, and deeper
meta-cognitive
skills and Civica’s
solution addresses
all of these.
Civica’s R&D input
is being shared by
teams in the
Singapore office and
the Melbourne-based
headquarters. The
Australian team is
responsible for core
development and
system integration,
including
instructional
design, while the
Singapore team will
share interface
development,
testing, training
and implementation
under the direction
of the Australian
team.
The Civica
consortium is
working with Jurong
Secondary School
with a view to
commencing
introduction of a
problem-based,
adaptive learning
solution in January
2009 and the concept
is also receiving a
positive response
from educators in
Australia, ASEAN and
the UK.
Follow this
link to
the PDF of full
article.
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Civica hosted a
celebration cocktail
party on the 20th
May at the Singapore
Armed Forces
Training Institute
Military Institute (SAFTI
MI) Library to mark
the completion of
the first year of
successful operation
of SAFTI MI’s Spydus
Managed Service. The
Australian High
Commissioner to
Singapore, His
Excellency Mr Miles
Kupa, and the
Australian Defense
Adviser were there
to grace the
occasion and
Civica’s Chief
Executive Simon
Downing also
attended.
Phil Barr, Civica’s
Managing Director
Library & Learning
presented a memento
to SAFTI Commandant,
BG Jimmy Tan to mark
the occasion and a
memento of thanks
was also presented
to His Excellency,
Mr Miles Kupa.
SAFTI MI Library
hold’s Singapore’s
largest collection
of military and
defense resources
along with a series
of library
facilities and
services.
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Civica Library &
Learning is
delighted to be a
Gold Sponsor of the
inaugural
International
Conference on
Teaching and
Learning with
Technology (iCTLT)
in Singapore in
August. The
conference is
jointly organized by
the Singapore’s
Ministry of
Education (MOE) and
the International
Society for
Technology in
Education (ISTE).
The inaugural
programme of iCTLT
2008 will focus on
teaching and
learning practices
for
engaging and
effective
digital-age
education. It will
feature education
leaders, education
researchers,
classroom
practitioners and
industry leaders
across the
Asia-Pacific Region
and around the
world.
Visit the website at
http://www.ictlt.com/
for further
information on this
exciting, inaugural
event which will
attract more than
2000 attendees.
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Spydus
Gadget – what is it?
The new Spydus
Gadget provides your
library patrons with
an easy to use tool
to access a
libraries database
from their Google
desktop environment.
The library patron
can download the
Spydus gadget,
select their local
library, enter their
login details once
only, and then they
can search the
library catalogue,
as well as view
their alerts, loans,
messages,
reservations,
history details, and
their ratings and
comments all from a
single access point.
Library patrons can
configure the Sypdus
Gadget by simply
selecting the menu
option that appears
at the top of the
Gadget when the
mouse glides over
it.
The gadget is a must
for your customers
who are Web 2.0
technology users,
and the ease of
accessibility and
immediacy that such
applications provide
to information and
social networking.
The Spydus Gadget
can sit with other
gadgets in an
environment like
Google gadgets which
manages multiple
gadgets. The Library
patron simply needs
to load a multiple
gadget manager like
Google Desktop, and
then download the
Spydus Gadget from a
participating Spydus
library. This will
allow those who like
their information
quick and current to
be alerted to any
reservations before
you have sent them
an email, an SMS or
a notice via mail.
And for those Web
2.0 social
networkers who use
facebook as a
one-stop-shop for
sharing and
gathering
information, there
is now a Spydus
facebook application
to load. Your
library patrons can
become friends of
your library and
they can load the
application to have
quick access to your
library catalogue.
So let your library
patrons choose their
favourite way of
keeping up to date
with your library
collection, services
and their borrowing
details, either via
the gadget, facebook
application, or
both!
If you would like
more information
about the Spydus
gadget or facebook
application, please
speak to your
Account Manager.
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Adelaide Hills
Council in South
Australia opened
their $5.5 million
state-of-the-art
library late last
year providing
visitors and
residents with a
vast range of new
services including
an internet hub, a
tripling of computer
access, a dedicated
children’s room with
computer access and
story-telling area,
business centre,
Council service
centre, community
meeting room and a
special research
area. Since the
opening of the new
library building
staff have seen an
increase of 28% in
visits and loans and
a record number of
new registrations.
Mayor Bill Cooksley
said the library,
which fronts
Stirling’s main
street, was an
“important asset for
the whole of our
community.”
“We have for 25
years pursued the
dream of a modern,
efficient library
for the Adelaide
Hills and we are
delighted with the
new library which
meets the
educational and
recreational needs
of our growing
community,” said the
Mayor.
The 1100sq m
library, houses a
total of 50,000
books, magazines,
DVDs and other
materials, and
utilises the Spydus
Library Management
System to manage its
stock.
The glass design of
the building
provides a seamless
connection between
the lawns on the
outside of the
building and the
interior whose
furnishings
represent colours of
the seasons
including a leaf
motif which is
repeated throughout
the library, on
glass features and
walls.
Dee O'Loughlin
Manager Library
Services said “We
introduced a new
branding theme,
'Meet me at the
Library' which
appears on all our
brochures,
stationary and
library bags, and it
has been fascinating
to see how the
library has now
become a meeting
place, in fact a
third space, for our
community. We are
just delighted!”
“The cost
effectiveness of the
Spydus RFID solution
has also enabled us
to introduce RFID
into the library and
the installation of
security gates and
self check outs are
helping us to better
serve our library
customers and
residents,” said
Dee.
Council services are
provided on the
front desk from 8.30
am with the library
opening at 10am.
Presently the foyer
area is well used,
with the community
accessing the
newspaper and
magazine reading
areas and café (with
coffee machine and
soft drink vending
machine), and using
Spydus Self Service
check outs to
collect their
reservations, prior
to the library
opening.
Visit Adelaide
Hills
Spydus Catalogue.
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Your votes have been
counted and we are
very pleased to
announce the fifth
winner of the Spydus
Customer Innovation
Award is New
Townsville City
Council’s
CitiLibraries
(previously
Thuringowa Library
Service) in northern
Queensland for their
Wireless Tablet PC
solution.
To briefly recap,
CitiLibraries have
been using Wireless
Tablet PC's at their
Thuringowa library
to improve customer
service by using a
Wireless Tablet PC
as a minimalist
service point for
in-person reference
encounters.
Feedback received by
staff verifies that
the Tablet PC has
been an
exceptionally good
public relations
exercise for
Thuringowa Library.
The wireless device
possesses a ‘wow
factor’ amongst
library customers,
generating many
questions from
people of all ages.
For more information
about the Wireless
PC tablet please
contact
Warren Cheetham
at CitiLibraries.
Each quarter one
lucky Spydus library
team has a chance to
win a $1000 Team
Building experience
of their choice with
Red Balloon Days. We
welcome your
nominations for the
Spydus Customer
Service Innovation
Award and it’s very
easy to enter! Just
send Matthew an
email and he’ll
call you and assist
in writing your
nomination.
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Gympie Regional
Libraries 'Then and
Now' is an online,
interactive
photographic project
using technology to
create a unique and
creative time
capsule for the
local area.
Gympie Region is
located about 170 km
north of Brisbane,
Queensland, and is a
dynamic and
progressive
community. Over the
years the visual
landscape has
continued to change
and develop as
technological and
social changes have
impacted on the
landscape and the
community.
The 'Then and Now'
project was funded
by a State Library
of Queensland
Strategic Grant and
provides a
photographic
comparison of the
past and the
present, clearly
showing the
developmental
changes that have
taken place in the
Gympie Shire’s
environment over
specific periods of
time. The 'Then and
Now' project is
effectively an
electronic time
capsule for future
generations,
showcasing photos
from the past and
present at the click
of a mouse button.
 Rachel
Lethem, Gympie’s
Information Services
Librarian, along
with assistance from
the Local History
Officer, chose a
selection of
historical photos of
the region from the
Local History
Collection. Rachel
then organised for
current photographs
to be taken from the
same aspect to
reflect the changes
that have taken
place over the
years.
Pictured on the left
' Then' Early view
of Mary Street and
Nash Gully (now the
Fiveways) from
Caledonian Hill,
Gympie, 1868.
Photographer
Unknown.
Pictured on the
right 'Now' View
from the Town Hall
Clock Tower
overlooking Mary
Street and the
Fiveways, Gympie,
2007.Photographer:
Greg Weir.
Rachel said “ It’s a
little bit like the
‘back to the future’
movie with the added
twist of creating a
modern time capsule.
We truly hope that
as our landscape and
region changes over
time, we will have a
digital record that
can be accessed by
anyone via the web.
”Our community’s
response to this
project has been
fantastic, with the
local newspaper "The
Cooloola Advertiser"
also getting on
board and running a
‘Then and Now
photograph section’
every week in the
paper for the
information and
enjoyment of
residents.”
Also located on the
website is a 10
minute DVD movie
with footage donated
by local resident
Nev. Bermingham,
which moves from
black and white to
colour footage and
back again as it
spans the time frame
1947 – 2007,
depicting 60 years
of Gympie & the
Albert Park Bowls
Club.
Follow this
link
to check it out – it
is too good to miss!
Don't forget
to click on the
'Vote Here' button
if you would like to
vote for the Gympie'
Region 'Then &
Now' Customer
Innovation entry.
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To ensure that
library customers
are able to renew
their loans via the
OPAC it’s important
that libraries
ensure that ‘Alert
text for OPAC users’
is set correctly.
For your copy of
this month’s hot tip
follow this link.
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New features and
enhancements have
been added to
Circulation – Cash
Management Module in
8.4.1 server release
including:
Linking to borrower
charges from Cash
Management
Modifying amounts in
Cash Management
For your PDF copy of
this new feature follow
this link.
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| New
Spydus 8 Client Releases now
available for download
|
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The latest Spydus
Client releases are
now available for
download from
Civica's website at
http://www.spydus.civica.com.au/Spydus/Support_Services.htm
Australian
customers
Customers
running
Spydus Clients
8.2.15, 8.2.17 or
less should upgrade
to 8.2.17b.
Customers
running Spydus Clients (new
unicode cataloguing
client) 8.2.16,
8.2.18 should
upgrade to 8.2.19a.
|
Current
Client
Version.. |
Upgrade
Version..
|
|
8.2.15 ,
8.2.17
version or
less - Old
Cataloguing
Client |
Upgrade to
8.2.17b |
|
8.2.16,
8.2.18 - all
versions -
New
Cataloguing
Client |
Upgrade
to 8.2.19a |
Additional
Information
Installer
for client release
8.2.18c should
prompt the user to
install Microsoft
SQL Server 2000
Desktop Engine (MSDE
2000) SP3 if it is
not installed.
The prompt is not
included in the
installer for client
release 8.2.18c, so
the manual work
around for this is:
1) Log on to the PC
as a local
administrator
2) Unzip the
downloaded file
SQLEXPR-SPYDUSOFFLINE.zip
to a temporary
folder
3) Run setup-spydusoffline.bat
from the temporary
folder
4) Reboot the PC
5) Verify the
program has
installed
successfully by
navigating to Add
Remove Programs,
Microsoft SQL Server
Desktop Engine (SPYDUSOFFLINE)
should be listed
under currently
installed programs
NB. Customers do not
need to install
Microsoft SQL Server
2000 Desktop Engine
(MSDE 2000) SP3a if
it is already
installed from a
previous client
release. This
information is being
provided in case it
was accidentally or
inadvertently
removed.
8.4. x
Customers
There has
been a new release
of 8.4.3c clients
however customers
should not download
and start using this
client until they
are advised to do so
by Civica.
Spydus
Helpdesk
If you have
forgotten your login
details or
require the latest
password please
contact the Help
Desk in your region.
Australia Telephone
(61) 3 8676
4415
New
Zealand
Telephone
0508 779 387
or 0508
SPYDUS
Singapore Telephone (65)
6333 5202
United
Kingdom Telephone
01225
485000
United
States of
America Telephone
(800)
686-9313
x3113
To ensure you are
advised of Spydus
Client Releases as
they become
available you can
subscribe to the
Spydus Client
Release Database.
Simply email
Matthew Hunter
your name, email
address and the name
of your
organisation.
Please include in
the subject heading
the title ‘Subscribe
to Spydus Client
Release Database’
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Australia
We wish to
congratulate Lockyer
Valley Libraries for
their successful
merger recently in
Queensland.
Visit their Spydus
catalogue.
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It's end of
financial year time
again and you may
find it valuable to
review the Spydus 8
Fund Rollover fact
sheet that can be
found on the Civica
website.
Remember to check
out other Fact
Sheets on the Civica
website as these are
regularly updated.
Go to http://www.civica.com.au/
Spydus> Customer
Services> Support
Services>Fact
Sheets, enter the
password to gain
access and then
download or print
the fact sheet that
is of interest.
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Australia
 Sau
Chu Hu
Sau has recently
joined the Spydus
development team in
Melbourne as an
Analyst/Programmer.
Sau previously
worked for Fujitsu
Australia in Western
Australia and brings
expertise in C sharp
and .NET as well as
BizTalk Server
technologies.
 Saminda
Panditha
Also
joining the Spydus
development team is
Saminda Panditha as
an
Analyst/Programmer.
Previously Saminda
worked as an
Analyst/Programmer
for DTS Group Pty
Ltd. Saminda’s
interests include
Astronomy, Pencil
portrait drawing,
Mountain biking,
Snowboarding and
Travelling.
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-
American
Library
Association
Annual
Conference,
Anaheim, CA.
USA,
26 June - 2
July
-
CPLA,
Tamworth,
NSW,
Australia,
29 July - 1
August
-
iCT LT,
Singapore, 5
- 6 August
-
ALIA, Alice
Springs,
Northern
Territory,
Australia, 2
- 5
September
-
SPUN
Conference,
Adelaide,
South
Australia, Australia,
1 - 3
October
-
QPLA,
Brisbane,
Queensland, Australia,
19 - 22
October
-
LIANZA,
Auckland,
New Zealand,
2 - 5
November
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Spydus Newsletter July 2008
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This month we
welcome a new Civica
Managed Service
customer, the
Accounting and
Corporate Regulatory
Authority (ACRA) in
Singapore. We also
have news
of Blacktown City
Council in NSW and
their official
launch of the Spydus
RFID solution.
Blacktown has taken
a leading role in
the innovation of
the Spydus RFID
solution and we
congratulate them on
a successful launch.
In other news we
have an article on
the Spydus Picture
Australia Catalogue
interface with
examples from our
customers at
Sunshine Coast and
CitiLibraries
Townsville and our
Customer Service
Innovation Nominee
this month is from
Central West
Libraries in NSW
with their IFLA
award-winning,
online Homework Help
programme.
The ALIA '08
Conference is just
around the corner
and Civica is
delighted to be
hosting a customer
dinner at this event
as well as
sponsoring the
Conference Dinner
and we hope to see
many of you at Alice
Springs in early
September.
Remember, to access
the PDF document of
the Spydus
Newsletter simply
click on the link
above or go directly
to our website.
Please send your
suggestions and
ideas for newsletter
articles to Matthew
Hunter.
You
can email Matthew at
mhunter@civica.com.au
or call him on + 61
3 8676 4400.
Articles in this
month's newsletter
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The Accounting and
Corporate Regulatory
Authority of
Singapore (ACRA), a
governing body
committed to service
excellence and
ensuring continuity
in the provision of
quality performance
to the public and
private businesses
in Singapore, is one
of the latest
customers to join
the Spydus family.
ACRA has selected
Civica’s Spydus
Elite Managed
Services as their
preferred solution
as part of its
continuous efforts
to promote a
pro-enterprise and
pro-business
environment. ACRA
provides a one-stop
shop to public and
private businesses,
integrating
e-services with
multiple agencies
such as the Inland
Revenue Authority of
Singapore (IRAS),
Spring Singapore and
Singapore Government
Network Information
Centre (SGNIC).
Civica’s two-stage
provision of library
services to ACRA
includes an initial
review and
cataloguing of their
library collection,
followed by a weekly
recurrent
maintenance service,
supported by a
part-time librarian,
to keep the library
fit and sustained.
Professional
services to be
provided include
collection
development,
cataloguing and
processing of new
library materials,
collection
maintenance (such as
the updating of
statutes and
professional
subscriptions) and
maintenance of
loans.
Read more about Civica’s
Spydus Elite Plan.
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Blacktown City
Council Library in
western Sydney,
officially launched
their Spydus RFID
solution on Friday
11th July.
Partnering with
Civica to design and
beta test this
leading edge
technology,
Blacktown is
believed to be the
world’s first
adopter of the
latest Gen 2 RFID
tags and UHF
readers.
Blacktown is the
most populous city
in NSW and is the
eighth fastest
growing city in
Australia.
Recognising the high
rate of growth in
their community,
Council has
implemented the
Spydus RFID solution
to help them address
the many challenges
posed by an
increasing demand
for library
services.
With the potential
to deliver
efficiencies across
a number of areas
including
circulation,
materials
management, security
and inventory the
Spydus RFID solution
has effectively
given time back to
Blacktown’s library
staff, enabling them
to focus on creating
valuable patron
experiences.
The UHF reader
technology used in
the Spydus RFID
solution, has been
identified as having
an advantage in
performance in a
self service loans
context, providing
smoother
transactions and
requiring less
intervention from
the library borrower
and staff. It also
offers an increased
reading speed of the
UHF tag and reduced
susceptibility to
tag masking.
The Spydus RFID
solution includes
fully integrated
security doors, that
provide flexibility
in colour selection
to fit with the
architectural design
of the library
building and also
provide superior
read rate and range
for improved
security.
Blacktown is the
first library to
install the Spydus
RFID Solution
returns chute
partnering with
Civica in the
development of both
the software and
hardware components.
See
PDF for more
information
on the Spydus RFID
Solution
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The Spydus Pictures
Australia Catalogue
interface is a new
interface available
from the OPAC and
allows your library
customers to search
online for picture
images. The pictures
catalogue interface
uses a separate
collection filter
for records with
images attached and
uses the BIB record
as a link to find
the stored image.
Key benefits of the
Spydus Pictures
Australia Catalogue
Interface are:
• Ability to
electronically store
pictorial images of
interest for
retrieval at a local
and global level
• Easy to use, store
and link information
• Useful research
tool
• Fast search and
retrieval engine
Picture Australia is
an internet-based,
free image searching
service accessible
via your Spydus OPAC
catalogue that
allows your library
customers to search
multiple online
pictorial
collections at the
National Library of
Australia’s union
catalogue of images.
Your library can
subscribe to this
service and make
your own pictorial
collections
accessible to anyone
searching across the
Picture Australia
database.
How does it
work?
Essentially your
library’s picture
collection data is
made available in
Dublin core on the
local Spydus server
and Picture
Australia either
harvests this data
on a regular basis,
or the library sends
the data to Picture
Australia via a
regular scheduled
task. Picture
Australia then links
directly from their
records to the full
image located on
your Spydus server.
Joining
Picture Australia®
Picture Australia is
a free searching
service that allows
anyone to surf their
online pictorial
collections from a
whole range of
cultural agencies,
both in Australia
and overseas. Search
results will include
images from
libraries, archives,
galleries, museums,
historical
societies,
universities and
other cultural
agencies.
To contribute to the
Picture Australia
database each
contributor pays an
annual fee which
goes towards the
costs of publicity
materials and
enhancements to the
service.
Contributors must
also adhere to
certain requirements
and standards which
is noted in their
contributor guide.
In order to utilise
this facility,
Spydus8 customers
will need to arrange
a subscription to
the Picture
Australia service.
Spydus
Customers using
PictureAustralia®
Sunshine Coast
Libraries in
Queensland has been
a contributor to the
Picture Australia
collection at the
National Library of
Australia since
2003.
Old and new
locomotives in the
Morton Sugar Mill
yard, Nabour, 1963
Image courtesy of
Pictures Sunshine
Coast
Visit the Spydus
Picture Sunshine
Coast Catalogue
You can also visit
The Thuringowa
Collection
at the CitiLibraries
Townsville website,
where you will
discover books,
pictures, oral
histories and
ephemeral materials
for you to enjoy or
help you with your
research.
96A Whippet & Essex
cars, Marlin Street,
Balgal Beach Ca1946
Image courtesy
of The Thuringowa
Collection
If you would like
more information on
how your library can
implement an
interface to
Pictures Australia
please speak to your
Account Manager.
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The IFLA
Award Winning ‘Have
you done your
Homework?’ Program
Central West
Libraries is a
regional library
service located on
the Central
Tablelands and
Western Slopes of
New South Wales.
Central West library
are enjoying local
success with their
“Have you done your
Homework?“ program
as well as recent
international
acknowledgement for
their achievements
within their
community recently
winning the
international
management and
marketing award for
their “Have you done
your homework?”
campaign.
Manager Library
Services Jan
Richards said it was
a huge coup for
Central West
Libraries and
Australian public
libraries.
“Our research
identified a need to
offer students a
different way of
using Central West
Libraries’ resources
to help them with
their homework. The
yourtutor online
delivery gave us the
means to connect a
student with an
experienced tutor
via the internet,”
she said.
Central West
Technical Services
Librarian, Ros
Dorsman prepared the
IFLA award
application.
“It is a terrific
thrill for us to win
this award and being
able to go the IFLA
conference in Quebec
is very exciting,”
Ros Dorsman said.
Central West
Libraries will
receive a cash award
of US$1000 to
further the
marketing efforts of
the library. As part
of the prize Ros
will attend the 2008
IFLA General
Conference and
Council to be held
in August this year
in Quebec City in
Canada, with the
award being
officially presented
at the conference.
The ‘Have you done
your homework’
program provides an
online classroom
partnership and
online homework help
for school students
with Central West
Library staff
available to provide
guidance to students
in the use of the
libraries
traditional
collections and
resources. Orange
City Library
operates Homework
Help @ Orange City
Library for two (2)
hours after school
Monday to Thursday
during school term.
Qualified and
experienced
librarians are
available to assist
school students make
optimal use of their
libraries classic
reference and
research solutions
including using the
web and the
yourtutor web tool.
Library staff at
Central West have
also prepared
pathfinders (web
links) for commonly
requested school
topics /projects and
direct students to
these links to
complete homework or
undertake research.
To check-out the
Homework Help
Program
visit the Teens page
on Central West
Libraries website
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A range of new
features and
enhancements have
been added to the
Spydus Cataloguing
module in 8.4
including:
• New fields have
been added to web
entry forms
• Ability to select
material type in DVD
and Video cassette
web entry forms
• Allow for https
protocol in urls in
tag 856
For your PDF copy of
this new feature follow
this link.
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Testing your
Spydus Circulation
Offline
Spydus Circulation
Offline is a backup
system that is
designed to be used
in the unlikely
event that a
libraries Spydus
system goes offline
during your
library’s front desk
operational hours.
It can be used to
issue, renew and
return items as well
as register new
borrowers while the
Spydus Library
System is offline.
It is important that
libraries ensure
that this offline
functionality does
in fact work by
testing it on a
regular basis.
For your copy of
this month’s hot tip
follow this link..
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The latest Spydus
Client releases are
now available for
download from
Civica's website at
http://www.spydus.civica.com.au/Spydus/Support_Services.htm
Australian
customers
Customers
running
Spydus Clients
8.2.15, 8.2.17 or
less should upgrade
to 8.2.17b.
Customers
running Spydus Clients (new
unicode cataloguing
client) 8.2.16,
8.2.18 should
upgrade to 8.2.19a.
|
Current
Client
Version.. |
Upgrade
Version..
|
|
8.2.15 ,
8.2.17
version or
less - Old
Cataloguing
Client |
Upgrade to
8.2.17b |
|
8.2.16,
8.2.18 - all
versions -
New
Cataloguing
Client |
Upgrade
to 8.2.19a |
Additional
Information
Installer
for client release
8.2.19a should
prompt the user to
install Microsoft
SQL Server 2000
Desktop Engine (MSDE
2000) SP3 if it is
not installed.
The prompt is not
included in the
installer for client
release 8.2.19a, so
the manual work
around for this is:
1) Log on to the PC
as a local
administrator
2) Unzip the
downloaded file
SQLEXPR-SPYDUSOFFLINE.zip
to a temporary
folder
3) Run setup-spydusoffline.bat
from the temporary
folder
4) Reboot the PC
5) Verify the
program has
installed
successfully by
navigating to Add
Remove Programs,
Microsoft SQL Server
Desktop Engine (SPYDUSOFFLINE)
should be listed
under currently
installed programs
NB. Customers do not
need to install
Microsoft SQL Server
2000 Desktop Engine
(MSDE 2000) SP3a if
it is already
installed from a
previous client
release. This
information is being
provided in case it
was accidentally or
inadvertently
removed.
8.4. x
Customers
There has
been a new release
of 8.4.3c clients
however customers
should not download
and start using this
client until they
are advised to do so
by Civica.
Spydus
Helpdesk
If you have
forgotten your login
details or
require the latest
password please
contact the Help
Desk in your region.
Australia Telephone
(61) 3 8676
4415
New
Zealand
Telephone
0508 779 387
or 0508
SPYDUS
Singapore Telephone (65)
6333 5202
United
Kingdom Telephone
01225
485000
United
States of
America Telephone
(800)
686-9313
x3113
To ensure you are
advised of Spydus
Client Releases as
they become
available you can
subscribe to the
Spydus Client
Release Database.
Simply email
Matthew Hunter
your name, email
address and the name
of your
organisation.
Please include in
the subject heading
the title ‘Subscribe
to Spydus Client
Release Database’
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The AGEIS Service
Request (SR) System
is in the process of
being upgraded in
the future. So
please watch this
space for more
information.
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The ALIA Dreaming
’08 Conference is
just around the
corner and promises
to be a very
exciting event with
more than 650
delegates heading to
Alice Springs for
this key four day
event.
Civica will be
hosting a special
customer dinner for
our Spydus customers
on Tuesday 2nd
September at
Hanumans Thai Nonya
and Indian
Restaurant at the
Crowne Plaza.
If you will be
attending ALIA we
invite you to join
us for dinner on the
Tuesday evening
following the
Welcome Reception.
To RSVP please email
Matthew Hunter at
mhunter@civica.com.au
or call (03) 8676
4400 by Friday 29th
August.
We are also
delighted to be
hosting the
Conference Dinner,
which will be held
under the stars at
the unique, outback
Ooraminna Homestead
with panoramic views
of the Ooraminna
Ranges and with
spectacular colours
on sunset. This
evening offers you
the opportunity to
escape the “four
walls and ceiling”
for a few hours and
come to the true
outback where your
ceiling will be a
canopy of a million
stars.
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Civica attended the
annual ALA
Conference in
Anaheim, CA at the
end of June, which
was very well
attended with more
than 15,000 library
representatives from
across the globe.
Joe Keller from our
US office, Chris
Thewlis from our
Australian office
and Will Blackburn
from the UK were on
hand to provide
Spydus
demonstrations and
information to
delegates.
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Australia
We welcome and
congratulate twelve
(12) TAFE
Colleges in
Queensland who have
joined Spydus as a
Managed Services
customer on 8.4.1
Fiji
Congratulations to
University of the
South Pacific
Library (USP) for
their recent upgrade
to Spydus 8.3.2
Top
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It's end of
financial year time
again and you may
find it valuable to
review the Spydus 8
Fund Rollover fact
sheet that can be
found on the Civica
website.
Remember to check
out other Fact
Sheets on the Civica
website as these are
regularly updated.
Go to http://www.civica.com.au/
Spydus> Customer
Services> Support
Services>Fact
Sheets,
enter the password
to gain access and
then download or
print the fact sheet
that is of interest.
Top
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Australia
Matthew Hunter
 Matthew
joined Civica’s
Library & Learning
team in Melbourne in
a sales support role
in March 2007 and he
has recently
accepted the new
role of Account
Manager for New
Zealand, South
Australia, Victoria
and Fiji. Matthew
and his partner have
finished renovating
their Melbourne
1950s clicker brick
home and are now
relaxing and
enjoying the fruits
of their efforts.
Matthew is also
recovering steadily
from a broken arm
that he sustained
while body surfing
in Bryon Bay in New
South Wales earlier
this year.
Nikki
McGregor
 Nikki
joins Civica’s
Library & Learning
team in Melbourne as
Account Manager for
Australian Capital
Territory, New South
Wales, Queensland
and Western
Australia. She has
worked in Victorian
public libraries for
10 years in variety
of roles including:
children’s; branch
management; systems;
and training. She
has also worked in a
number of low paid
hospitality and
retail jobs to
support a severe
backpacking habit in
her youth. Having
broken this habit a
few years back, her
holidays are now a
lot more expensive,
but much more
comfortable.
Bede Doherty
 Bede
Doherty has joined
the Civica Library &
Learning Sales team
in Melbourne and
will be focusing on
new business in the
Australian Capital
Territory, New South
Wales, South
Australia, and
Western Australia.
In his spare time he
is interested in
wine, having studied
viticulture and
winemaking and radio
where he is an
occasional
newsreader on 3RPH
Vision Australia.
Bede also has an
interest in film
where he has worked
as an extra on some
films, is passionate
about the
environment being a
member of a climate
change lobby group
and enjoys watching
rugby union, doing
aerobics and
cycling.
Ann Marie
Findlay
 Ann
Marie has joined
Civica’s Library &
Learning team in
Melbourne in the
role of Business
Development Manager
for Northern
Territory,
Queensland,
Victoria and New
Zealand. Ann Marie
has previously
worked in the IT,
Information and
Insurance industries
with sales
experience in
consultancy services
including
information
management, business
process improvement,
online documentation
and training. Ann
Marie enjoys scuba
diving in warm
tropical waters, and
skiing the long
slopes. Being a Kiwi
she is coming to
grips with the AFL,
but prefers the NRL.
Singapore
Jason Doery
 Jason
Doery will be
relocating from
Melbourne to join
the Singapore Civica
Library & Learning
team as a Project
Manager focusing on
strategic
development. Jason
will be assisting in
the strategic
development of new
products and
services and the
delivery of business
growth for the
company. Jason
brings to Civica 5
years experience
working within the
education sector,
where he managed a
laptop program and
service desk for a
well-established
private school in
Victoria, Australia.
More recently Jason
has worked on the
implementation of a
hardware refresh
program involving
over 11,000 desktop
and laptop
computers. Jason’s
hobbies outside of
work include
swimming and
mountain biking.
Top
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-
iCT LT,
Singapore, 5
- 6 August
-
ALIA, Alice
Springs,
Northern
Territory,
Australia, 2
- 5
September
-
SPUN
Conference,
Adelaide,
South
Australia, Australia,
1 - 3
October
-
QPLA,
Brisbane,
Queensland, Australia,
19 - 22
October
-
LIANZA,
Auckland,
New Zealand,
2 - 5
November
-
New
Librarians
Symposium,
Melbourne
5-6 December
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Spydus Newsletter August
2008
|
Welcome |
This month we are
very pleased to
announce that our
customers, RMIT and
MDIS, have extended
Spydus services to
their branches
located in Vietnam
and Uzbezkistan.
We also had a great
time meeting many of
you at the Singapore
iCTLT 2008. We hope
that you had the
opportunity to learn
more about our
latest and newest
innovations. Please
keep sending through
your valuable
feedback.
Don’t forget to read
the August Hot Tip.
Always wanted to
find out how many
patrons use your
library resources?
Find out more on how
to use In-house
Returns.
The ALIA '08
Conference is just
kicking off in Alice
Springs and Civica
is delighted to be
hosting a customer
dinner tonight as
well as sponsoring
the Conference
Dinner. Civica hopes
to see many of you
there!
Remember, to access
the PDF document of
the Spydus
Newsletter simply
click on the link
above or go directly
to our website.
Please send your
suggestions and
ideas for newsletter
articles to Chris Ng
Kok Lian.
You
can email Chris at
cng@civica.com.sg
or call him on +65
6511 7888.
Articles in this
month's newsletter
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RMIT Connects Resources in
Vietnam with Spydus
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The RMIT
International
University, a campus
of the Royal
Melbourne Institute
of Technology
located in Vietnam,
is one of the latest
customers to join
the Spydus family.
RMIT is an iconic
Melbourne
institution that has
been providing
vocational and
professional
education and
training since 1887
and RMIT
International
University is the
only licensed
University
delivering
internationally-recognised
Australian degrees
in Vietnam.
Spydus brings
together the two
locations of the
RMIT International
University,
connecting staff and
students from the Ho
Chi Minh City
(Saigon) and Hanoi
learning centres.
With Spydus’ ability
to deliver
efficiency across
several areas
including
circulation,
acquisitions,
cataloguing, serials
and other
operations, the two
integrated learning
centres in Saigon
and Hanoi look set
to better support
the teaching,
research and
scholarly activities
of staff and
students of RMIT
Vietnam.
Visit the RMIT
International
University website
at
http://www.rmit.edu.vn/
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MDIS takes Spydus
to Uzbekistan |
|
Uzbekistan students
will no longer need
to travel far to
experience Singapore
education, as local
private education
provider Management
Development
Institute of
Singapore (MDIS),
one of our Spydus
customers, opens its
doors in Tashkent,
the capital of
Uzbekistan. The
school offers both
business and English
degree programmes.
The
campus at Tashkent
was established by
the Resolution of
the President of the
Republic of
Uzbekistan in
September last year
and presently has
10,000 new titles
loaded onto the
Spydus library
management system.
To equip the
librarians from
Uzbekistan with
greater knowledge of
Spydus and library
management skills,
the Singapore
consulting team
provided the
Uzbekistan
librarians with
training and our
consulting team also
enjoyed the
opportunity to learn
about the Uzbekistan
culture.
Through MDIS’s
establishment of a
campus in
Uzbekistan, Civica
hopes to support the
creation of an
engaging environment
that will foster a
lifetime of
discovery and
learning for the
Uzbek users. Mr
Alisher Kurmanov,
Uzbek Ambassador to
Singapore, said “…We
want to give the
Uzbek youth a chance
to broaden their
learning”.
Top
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Civica Gold Sponsor at iCTLT
2008
|
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Civica was proud to
be a gold sponsor of
the inaugural
International
Conference on
Teaching and
Learning with
Technology (iCTLT)
which was held from
5 to 6 August 2008
at the Suntec City
Convention Centre in
Singapore. The event
was jointly
organised by the
Ministry of
Education (MOE) and
the International
Society for
Technology in
Education (ISTE) and
opened by
Guest-of-Honour
Minister for
Education and Second
Minister for
Defence, Dr Ng Eng
Hen.
The conference
brought together
around 2000 school
leaders and
educators from the
education sector,
research and
academic institutes,
and authorities to
exchange views and
experience on new
developments and
practices in the use
of ICT for learning
and teaching.
Civica, as one of
the consortia
working with the
Ministry of
Education and
Infocomm Development
Authority in the
FutureSchools@Singapore
program in
Singapore, proudly
presented the VLTrek
learning solution,
Building Schools of
the Future and our
Spydus library
solutions to the
conference
delegates.
Civica’s Library &
Learning Managing
Director, Philip
Barr and Executive
Director Strategic
Development, Marc
Nolan, both spoke at
the conference
bringing the
audience a step
closer to the
state-of-the-art
learning management
system and how
libraries can
support learning
with Web2.0
technologies.
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Customer Service Innovation
Award Nomination
|
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Darebin Libraries
use Podcasting to
reach out to the
Community
Darebin Libraries,
located just outside
Melbourne’s CBD has
developed a new way
to provide
information to its
ever evolving
community, by using
technology to record
community events and
then make them
available for
download on their
website via pod
casting.
For some time now
Darebin Council has
considered its
library to be a
central hub for the
community and in
recent years have
provided events
ranging from
speakers on organic
gardening, jewellery
making, dancing,
kite displays,
choirs, music bands,
bicycle maintenance,
flower arranging and
much more.
Carole Smith Acting
Outreach &
Communications
Manager said “We
first trialed an
audio pod casting of
local author
Christos Tsiolkas
winner of the 2006
Age Fiction book of
the year for his
novel 'Dead Europe'
on our website and
we had a great
response from our
community”.
To further enhance
the quality of
podcasts since the
initial trial,
Darebin Libraries
recently purchased a
HDTV motion camera
similar to what a TV
station would use to
capture live
coverage for pod
casting.
Essentially the HDTV
and the process of
recording, editing
and uploading
podcasts onto the
Internet/Website is
fairly simple and it
involves Adobe
Premier and clever
stripping techniques
to reduce file size.
Due to the
high-quality of
HDTV, often its
suitability is not
aimed for web
implementations. To
combat this, Darebin
Libraries also
purchased 3 Olympus
voice recorders
which are used in
combination with the
HDTV recorder for a
higher quality
recording, with a
smaller footprint.
Darebin Libraries
Manager Katrina Knox
said “The pod
casting has allowed
us to reach a
greater audience who
are unable to
physically attend
the events that we
are organizing, not
only within our
local community, but
globally via the
internet.”
Future planned pod
casting events will
centre around
Darebin Libraries
storytimes that are
held across its
branches during
school terms. These
will be available
for download on
Darebin Libraries
recently updated new
website at
www.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au
in the future. So
look out for them!
If you would like
some more
information on pod
casting for your
library please
contact Carole Smith
at Darebin Libraries
Carole.Smith@darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au
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Some
major new features
and enhancements
have been added to
Web Enquiry in
server release 8.4.,
which will provide
more information and
functionality for
library staff and
their customers.
These
new features
include:
-
Changing item
status in the
web via staff
enquiry
-
Material type
has been added
as an option to
the Order Line
Item Search page
-
A summary
detailing the
number of copies
has been added
in brief display
in OPAC
-
Items with a
particular
status can be
suppressed from
the OPAC display
See
PDF
for more information
Top
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HOT TIP # 50 - In-house Returns
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Did you know your
Library staff can
now record the
number of items that
are being used by
their library
customers within the
library, without
being issued for
loan?
For example library
customers may have
been undertaking
research or reading
items in the library
and left them on
tables or chairs.
Library staff can
return and record
this ‘Inhouse usage’
throughout the day
and run a report to
record these
statistics.
This functionality
is helpful if
libraries need to
substantiate library
usage, particularly
for reference
collections.
See
PDF for more
information.
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New Spydus 8 Client
Releases now available for
download
|
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The latest Spydus
Client releases are
now available for
download from
Civica's website at
http://www.spydus.civica.com.au/Spydus/Support_Services.htm
Australian
customers
Customers
running
Spydus Clients
8.2.15, 8.2.17 or
less should upgrade
to 8.2.17b.
Customers
running Spydus Clients (new
unicode cataloguing
client) 8.2.16,
8.2.18 should
upgrade to 8.2.19a.
|
Current
Client
Version.. |
Upgrade
Version..
|
|
8.2.15 ,
8.2.17
version or
less - Old
Cataloguing
Client |
Upgrade to
8.2.17b |
|
8.2.16,
8.2.18 - all
versions -
New
Cataloguing
Client |
Upgrade
to 8.2.19a |
Additional
Information
Installer
for client release
8.2.19a should
prompt the user to
install Microsoft
SQL Server 2000
Desktop Engine (MSDE
2000) SP3 if it is
not installed.
The prompt is not
included in the
installer for client
release 8.2.19a, so
the manual work
around for this is:
1) Log on to the PC
as a local
administrator
2) Unzip the
downloaded file
SQLEXPR-SPYDUSOFFLINE.zip
to a temporary
folder
3) Run setup-spydusoffline.bat
from the temporary
folder
4) Reboot the PC
5) Verify the
program has
installed
successfully by
navigating to Add
Remove Programs,
Microsoft SQL Server
Desktop Engine (SPYDUSOFFLINE)
should be listed
under currently
installed programs
NB. Customers do not
need to install
Microsoft SQL Server
2000 Desktop Engine
(MSDE 2000) SP3a if
it is already
installed from a
previous client
release. This
information is being
provided in case it
was accidentally or
inadvertently
removed.
8.4. x
Customers
There has
been a new release
of 8.4.3c clients
however customers
should not download
and start using this
client until they
are advised to do so
by Civica.
Spydus
Helpdesk
If you have
forgotten your login
details or
require the latest
password please
contact the Help
Desk in your region.
Australia Telephone
(61) 3 8676 4415
New
Zealand
Telephone
0508 779 387
or 0508
SPYDUS
Singapore Telephone
(65) 6333 5202
United
Kingdom Telephone
01225
485000
United
States of
America Telephone
(800)
686-9313
x3113
To ensure you are
advised of Spydus
Client Releases as
they become
available you can
subscribe to the
Spydus Client
Release Database.
Simply email
Matthew Hunter
your name, email
address and the name
of your
organisation.
Please include in
the subject heading
the title ‘Subscribe
to Spydus Client
Release Database’
Top
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AEGIS - Service Request (SR)
System - Watch this space
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The AGEIS Service
Request (SR) System
is in the process of
being upgraded in
the future. So
please watch this
space for more
information.
Top
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Australia &
New Zealand
We
congratulate both
Masterton District
Library in New
Zealand and
Goldfields Library
Corporation in
regional Victoria
for their successful
upgrade to Spydus
8.4.2
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Public Libraries New
South Wales –
Country Conference
Tamworth, NSW
This
year’s Public
Libraries New South
Wales – Country
Conference was
hosted in Tamworth
at the Regional
Entertainment and
Conference Centre.
Always a popular
conference, this
year was no
exception.
Titled “The Power of
Place” the
conference focused
on community
building,
architecture and
converged
facilities, and
included speakers
from New Zealand,
the United States,
the Netherlands and
of course Australia.
Civica was delighted
to sponsor the
conference this year
and Business
Development Manager
Bede Doherty and
Account Manager
Nikki McGregor
caught up with many
customers during the
conference.
Top
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Innovation Winners Mid-Western
Regional Council Library Cook up
a Storm
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Staff at Mid-western
Regional Library
were delighted to
win the Spydus
Customer Service
Innovation Award and
thoroughly enjoyed
their prize of a
team-building day of
Italian Cooking at
TAFE Campus Mudgee.
Serious cooking was
needed to produce
Osso Bucco, slow
cooked lamb with
gremolata, creamed
polenta and gnocchi.
These dishes were
surpassed by
desserts of
chocolate tart and
raspberry ice cream.
This marvellous
lunch was followed
by a lesson in how
to use a
professional coffee
machine to make
several styles of
coffee – a number of
staff are now
qualified to
moonlight in local
cafes!
Thanks to staff at
TAFE Mudgee Campus
for hosting the day
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