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Spydus
Newsletters
2009
February
2009
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Spydus Newsletter February
2009
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It is
our pleasure to welcome you to the first
edition of Spydus Newsletter for 2009!
For each issue of our Newsletter, we
have tried to provide an update on the
various events that are taking place
within Civica and at the sites of our
valued customers from different regions.
Hopefully, this will give you an idea of
Civica's development and our partners'
current practices as well as our
innovations.
Some
of the highlights in this issue include:
Civica's partnership with Smartsm;
Winner of our Customer Service
Innovation Award; Nominations for
Customer Service Innovation from TAFE in
Queensland, Australia; an account of
Civica's office relocation in Singapore
as well as information on many upcoming
events.
We
would also like to take this opportunity
to invite you to contribute any related
articles, write-ups, suggestion or ideas
to the Newsletter. Just send your
contributions to
newsletter@civica.com.sg or call the
Civica Singapore office on +65 6511
7888. We look forward to your
participation!
Articles in this month's newsletter
Remember, to access the PDF document of
the Spydus Newsletter simply click on
the link above or go directly to our
website.
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Civica continues
to grow presence in UK Building Schools for the
Future (BSF)
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 Luton
Borough Council in the UK has appointed
QED Wates, a consortium led by Wates
Group of which Civica is a consortium
member, as its preferred partner to
deliver a £270 million building and
refurbishment of the town's secondary
schools under the Building Schools for
the Future (BSF) programme.
The
BSF programme led by QED Wates will
transform all 13 of Luton's secondary
schools over the next four years - the
largest investment in the borough's
education for over 50 years. Civica,
working with its QED Wates consortium
partners and the Government's
Partnerships for Schools (PfS) Agency,
will design and develop integrated ICT
learning and teaching environments to
support the delivery of the National
Curriculum. As a result, Civica will be
bringing cutting edge and secure ICT
systems into both new and existing
school buildings as well as some
community facilities, right across the
borough. Civica will operate a fully
managed ICT service, providing complete
technical back-up for all schools.
Debbie Jones, the council's Director of
Children Learning, said: "We greatly
welcome the opportunity to transform
Luton's schools provided by working
together with our partners. The
programme's new state-of-the-art
learning environments and 21st century
facilities, including ICT, will be a
fundamental tool to realise our vision
of transforming the lives and
opportunities for children and young
people in Luton."
Simon
Downing, Civica chief executive, said:
"The BSF programme provides Luton
Borough Council with the means to
transform secondary education through
modern, safe infrastructure and
ICT-based learning environments based on
students' and the wider community's
needs. Civica has been providing
software and services to Luton for many
years, and as part of the QED Wates
consortium we look forward to supporting
the next stage of the council's
ambitious vision for schools. We believe
this innovative approach will provide a
secure foundation to fully meet changing
educational needs in the 21st century."
This
announcement follows the company's
completion of key programme phases for
BSF in Sheffield and selection of the
Barnsley Partnership for Learning
consortium, in which Civica is the ICT
prime contractor, as the preferred
bidder in Barnsley.
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Civica and
SmartSM - Improving Library Stock Performance
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 Civica
will be working with Ian Downie and
his team at
SmartSM to enhance some of
Civica's proposed stock management
projects in the near future.
Wokingham is the first of the SELMS
libraries to buy SmartSM. The rest
of SELMS will be encouraged to
follow suit. Ian will be presenting
to the SELMS group on this very
subject.
According to Ian,
"Librarians who implement the highly
practical EBSM methodology
consistently save time and money
whilst improving the performance of
their stock and aligning it with
their local demand. EBSM is a
complete methodology for Library
Stock Performance Improvement which
assists librarians in making the
management of stock more effective,
more customer focused, less
wasteful, and more measured and
performance based.
Pioneered
over the last 15 years by George
Kerr, library consultant for
Bridgeall Libraries, EBSM evolved
from George's own dissatisfaction
with having to purchase new stock
and plan stock movement with totally
inadequate data.
The
repeatable EBSM framework that has
evolved to address this uses data
from a Library Service's own LMS
database along with local target
setting as its evidence base. The
power of the methodology comes from
the EBSM toolset which uses this
evidence base to perform complex
comparisons between the locally set
targets and the current situation,
and then to provide a series of
action plans to help drive
performance towards targets.
EBSM today is practiced by many
Library Services across the globe,
who are now able to demonstrate
superior stock performance and
realise the many time and money
saving benefits that come from an
evidence based improvement
framework, and more importantly
deliver the improvements in stock
provision to meet ever increasing
customer demands."
Civica
likewise believes that using SmartSM
will allow our customers to enhance
their ability to get the most out of
the rich patron information that
Spydus can generate. In turn, this
will enable Spydus customers to make
evidence-based stock management
decisions that will help satisfy the
patron's reading appetite. This will
significantly drive library visitor
numbers up and increase library
usage in general. Spydus libraries
can find out more about how to take
full advantage of SmartSM by
contacting Civica directly.
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Customer
Service Innovation Award!
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 And
the winner is... Mount Gambier
Library!
The votes
have been counted and we are pleased
to announce another winner of the
Spydus Customer Innovation Award,
Mount Gambier Library, for their
innovation of a "Libraries of the
future" page on MySpace.
Congratulations to Jason Coleman and
the staff at Mount Gambier Library
who will receive a Gold Red Balloon
Day Gift Voucher valued at $1000 to
redeem for a Team Building event of
their choice.
For those
people who missed the December
issue, Mount Gambier launched a
MySpace page to help change the poor
image of Libraries, and followed up
with promoting the Library in a
number of community events.
To visit the MySpace page please
click the link below.
http://groups.myspace.com/librariesofthefuture
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 an email to
newsletter@civica.com.sg and we will
call you to assist in writing your
nomination.
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Access
Standards: A change in the Air? |
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At Civica Library & Learning we are
closely monitoring the progress of
the new Resource Description and
Access (RDA) standards. RDA is the
new standard that will be the
successor to AACR2. Driven by the
Joint Steering Committee for the
Development of RDA (JSC), the
co-publishers intend to have the
finalised standard ready for release
in the 3rd quarter of 2009.
We have studied the draft RDA
standard that was released late last
year, monitoring and participating
in discussions and forums as those
in the industry prepared
constituency responses to the draft
in the lead up to the February
deadline. This initial feedback
indicates that there are potentially
a number of changes to the standards
before the final release, as these
will be considered at JSC's March
meeting.
Naturally the
release of a new standard will
impact on our Spydus product. We
have assessed the draft standard and
have been considering the changes
needed for Spydus to support RDA
while continuing to support AACR2.
The third quarter of 2009 may not
sound far away, however there is
potential that significant changes
may be made to the standards and
implementation strategies between
now and then. We have already seen
some divergence in implementation
strategies in different countries.
Some participants in the steering
committee have released statements
committing to the implementation of
RDA. However others, the Library of
Congress particularly, have
indicated that they will continue to
work on developing the standards,
and will make further assessment as
to implementation when the standards
are finalised. While we can broadly
plan for the impact the standards
will have on Spydus and our
customers, the final shape of our
strategy and product development
will become clearer when the
standards are finalised and the
national libraries in our markets
have released their implementation
strategies.
In the long term
the use of RDA will mean a
transition to FRBR encoding which
may require changes to MARC21 to
support the concepts of FRBR and
FRAD. Spydus has always been able to
support these changes at a
structural level. The major part of
the changes will be the transition
by cataloguers and catalogue
agencies to adopt these concepts.
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Evaluating
Library Performance - LJ Index of Public Library
Service
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Evaluation of public libraries has
traditionally relied on circulation
alone as the performance indicator
(Lyons & Keith, 2009). This is
despite the fact that libraries
services comprise electronic access,
facilities use, and programming
(Lyons & Keith, 2009). The LJ Index
of Public Library Service is a
comprehensive index that is designed
to capture more attributes of a
library and scoring the performance
of one over the other (Ketih &
Lyons, 2008). Star ratings (five,
four, or three) are used to score
libraries services.
The LJ
Index is determined equally by four
related per capita output
indicators: (a) visits, (b)
circulation, (c) programme
attendance, and, (d) public internet
computer use (Lyons & Keith, 2009).
As well, libraries are gauged in
relation to peer libraries based on
the total operating expenditures
rather than on the community
population (Lyons & Keith, 2009). A
very high score on one indicator
relative to the group average can
lead to a library scoring higher
than another that performs better on
the other three indicators (Lyons &
Keith, 2009) . According to Keith
and Lance (2008), the LJ Index is a
valuable tool for libraries in
evaluating and advocating, provided
the creator and the user understand
what they are doing and why and
purpose to improve the rankings as
much as possible over time.
References:
Lyons, R. &
Ketih, C.L., (2009). About the LJ
Index of Public Service. Retrieved
February 21, 2009,
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6636641.html
Keith, C.L., & Lyons, R. (2008).
The New LJ Index. Retrieved February
21, 2009,
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6566452.htm
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Customer
Service Innovation Award Nomination
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TAFE
Queensland - Library Orientation
Videoconferencing
TAFE
Queensland has recently started
using videoconferencing to present
library orientation sessions to
students in remote areas of Far
North Queensland. The TAFE
Queensland library network provides
services to TAFE students via their
thirteen institute libraries,
bringing together information,
knowledge and technology.
Covering an area of nearly 2 million
square kilometers, Queensland is the
second largest state in Australia.
Meeting the needs of TAFE staff and
230,000 students a year across
Queensland presents the library
network with some unique challenges.
A range of services need to be
available beyond the physical
boundaries of the library branches.
Kathy Hemming from the Innisfail
branch of the Tropical North
Queensland TAFE Institute, has been
presenting library orientation and
other sessions to students in
geographically remote areas of Far
North Queensland using
videoconferencing. Teachers have
been praising Kathy for the sessions
that students describe as
"fantastic". Kerry Muston, Project
Manager with Learning Projects
Information Technology Services,
said the service "really extends
library services beyond the walls of
the library".
TAFE Queensland
recently celebrated the official
launch of Spydus in their libraries,
implementing a consortia model
across 12 institutes. At the launch
Greg Larsen (Program Director of ICT
Projects) highlighted the "library
system as an integral part of the
enhanced student experience" that
TAFE Queensland has to offer. Along
with the wide range of services and
resources available through the
networks physical locations,
catalogue, and website, outreach
programs like library orientation
videoconferencing ensures that the
TAFE Queensland library network
continues to enhance the student
experience.
To find out more
about the TAFE Queensland library
network visit their website at:
http://qldtafe.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/MSGTRN/OPAC/HOME.
We highly recommend a visit to
one of their many exotic locations,
Tropical North Queensland, the Gold
and Sunshine Coasts to name just a
few.
Trevor Trotter and Sarah
Cavanagh with Lynne Foley,
Institute Director, Brisbane
North on the right and Carol
Webb, Assistant Director
General, TAFE Queensland at the
Spydus launch at Bracken Ridge
campus of Brisbane North.
Kathy Hemming preparing for a
videoconference orientation
session from Innisfail library
to Art students at Ravenshoe on
the Atherton Tablelands.
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HOT TIP # 55 - Training
Notes, Go Green! |
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 Training
notes are available with each client
release and can be downloaded from
an individual PC running Spydus.
This innovative way to provide
up to date training notes ensures
libraries have current information
at their fingertips. It's by far a
greener and environmentally friendly
option, reducing the need for Spydus
staff to burn notes to disk and post
it to customers. Thereby reducing
Civica's Spydus LMS carbon
footprint.
The linked
PDF
document steps you through the
very easy process of using this
useful feature.
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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.
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Current Client
Version.. |
Upgrade
Version..
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8.2.15, 8.2.17 version or
less - Old Cataloguing
Client |
Upgrade to 8.2.17b |
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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 8.4.5f 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
hear about Spydus Client Releases as
they become available subscribe to
Spydus Client Release Database: send
an email with your name, email and
organisation name to Civica Quality
Assurance care of: Dipa Parma
dparma@civica.com.au.
Please include in the subject
heading the title 'Subscribe to
Spydus Client Release Database'
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AEGIS - Service
Requests (SR) |
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The AGEIS Service
Request (SR) System is in the
process of being upgraded.
So please watch this space for more
information.
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- Loclib
Conference, Perth, Australia - 6
March 2009
- The Texas
Library Show, Houston, United
States - March 31 2009
- The Bayside
City Council Literary Festival,
Melbourne, Australia - May 22-31
2009
- The American
Library Association (ALA) Annual
Show, Chicago, United States -
July 9-15 2009
- LIANZA
Conference, Christchurch, New
Zealand October 10-14 2009
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