November Spotlight 2003

David A. Howe Public Library
WHERE THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE

SPOTLIGHT ON THE LIBRARY

NOVEMBER 2003

If you’ve been in the library this fall, you may have noticed that new flat screens have replaced the old monitors at the desks. Even more recently, you may have seen signs thanking you for your patience as we upgrade our software along with the libraries of the Southern Tier Library System. The time is here, and on November 13, you’ll see changes, especially to the library’s STARCAT catalog, that we hope you’ll like.

Whether you come into the library to search for items or search at home from the www.davidahowelibrary.org website, you’ll see features that should make it faster and easier to use. In addition to an easier to understand layout, you’ll now be able to limit a search to only those items in our library and, if needed, expand your search to include all libraries. With just a couple of clicks, I found a book called Crochet Your Way at our library, and now I have the patterns I need to crochet Christmas gifts. Most search results include estimated waits for items that are checked out and links to related materials. When I found Tom Clancy’s Red Rabbit, the "More by This Author" button made it easy for me to peruse a list of what our library owns. I looked over the list, remembered how good those books were, realized there were a few I needed to recommend to my dad, and even found a couple of titles that I haven’t read yet.

This "Spotlight on the Library" article was written by Allison Midgley, the library's Technology Coordinator. Articles are written and published monthly in the Wellsville Daily Reporter.

Click on a date below to read an article from the archive.

November 2003

Click here to read the Wellsville Daily Reporter online

Conveniently, the new interface also makes it easy to create a list of items that you can email to someone or print out yourself. If you’re looking for juvenile materials, you may like a brand new feature of STARCAT called the "Kids’ Library." In the "Kids’ Library," you can start with a broad topic and narrow down by clicking from picture to picture. All of the materials are at juvenile levels – from preschool to young adult. After November 12^th, your library account will once again be available so that you can renew items and place holds for things that you want, and you’ll even be able to let us know about changes to your address or phone number so that we can update our records.

We’ll also be changing things behind the scenes to improve library service. The new software is designed to help us find information more quickly, update records more easily, and manage items more smoothly. The library staff has been working hard to learn the ins and outs of the new system, and we’re looking forward to using its many features.

Click here to try out the new STARCAT catalog interface!

Of course, all of these changes take some getting used to, and we appreciate your patience so far. We’ll keep checking things in and out for you, answering your reference questions, helping you find materials, placing holds on items for you, and logging you in and out of computers. It may take a little bit longer than you’re used to, but we want to thank you ahead of time for coming in and giving us a chance to learn. We hope you’ll continue to be patient as we learn new ways of doing things in order to better serve you.