Job Opportunity: MVLC Assistant Executive Director

My library is a part of the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium, and the consortium is looking for a new Assistant Executive Director. It's a great job - details below and on the state library jobs website.

Duties/Description:

The Assistant Executive Director has a unique opportunity to effect a positive change on the consortiums user support operations. This will have a profound impact on the consortiums relations with its member library community As the go-to person for the Executive Director he or she will think creatively to solve problems while coordinating all day to day user services operations, training workshops, and other user support programs. The Assistant Executive Director consults with member library staff and consortia user groups to determine how well their automation needs are being met. The Assistant Executive Director collaborates with the Executive Director, MVLC user groups, and the MVLC Executive Committee in the development and implementation of long and short range strategic plans. The Assistant Executive Director will act in the place of the Executive Director in the absence of same.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Will assume duties of the Executive Director in absence of same in overseeing daily operations and assigned duties.
• Supervises help desk staff and cataloging staff. Directs and oversees technology services staff in all activities related to customer support operations.
• Designs and evaluates consortia wide staff training and documentation for new and existing technologies (Integrated Library System, eContent, Internet services, etc.). Designs and evaluates training documentation for member libraries to use with patrons.
• Provides direct consultation and troubleshooting to library staff relative to their use of the automation systems.
• Collaborates with the Executive Director, Assistant Director for Technology Services, and appropriate member library user groups in the analysis, evaluation, implementation, configuration, and selection of automation products and services that benefit member libraries.
• Oversight, selection, and management of the consortiums trouble ticketing system. Provides the Executive Director and appropriate committees coherent statistics related to the ticketing system.
• Designs and publishes public relations articles and the network's newsletter. Updates MVLC Membership Directory. Develops and maintains MVLC's public and internal web sites and wikis.
• Attends appropriate committee meetings and serves as liaison for network staff and member libraries for all user applications.
• Advises and assists in the planning and implementation of grant proposals.
• Ensures that the consortium staff is providing effective communication and quality customer service to member libraries. Effectively cooperates and communicates with fellow coworkers, vendors, and patrons.
• Responsible for consortia wide development of eContent collections. Provides member libraries with detailed evaluation, documentation, training, and statistics for shared eContent Collections.
• Performs other relevant duties as assigned; may include some night and weekend duties.

Work Environment:

General office environment with air conditioning and fluorescent lighting. Requires operation of vehicle to attend off site meetings. The noise level in the work environment is low. Moderate levels of stress may occur.

Physical Demands:

May spend extended periods at workstations performing tasks requiring eye-hand coordination, finger dexterity, and extensive keyboarding and viewing of computer screens. Requires ability to access, input, and retrieve information from a computer. Answer telephones and maintain multiple files. Periods of standing may be required during training sessions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Qualifications:

• ALA accredited MLS
• Three to five years public service and automation experience, including supervisory and administrative Excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills
• Proven customer service orientation
• Positive attitude and flexibility
• Knowledge of PC environment
• Public library experience desirable

Salary: $66,924 - $88,780, in ten steps

Closing Date: Until Filled

Send: Email a resume, cover letter, and the name, address E-mail address, and telephone number of three professional references to [email protected].

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Changing Library Hours on Google

This was something I had to figure out for myself - and I was recently asked about it by another library, so I thought I'd share it here.

On the Google search results page, it tries to match your search with a local business, and show you its details on the right - a map, maybe photos, business hours, contact information, etc. I presume they pull this from a variety of sources.

One year, I noticed my library's details showing up there - phone, website, hours, etc. Great, that's Google making things easier for people to find us.

Except, later on our hours changed (we started being open on Sundays), but the hours on Google didn't change. Then one of our Trustees noticed it, asked my Director why our hours were wrong on Google, and that became my project for the day.

This was also what another nearby library recently asked me - their hours were listed on Google, but weren't correct, so how do you change them?

The answer is that you have to "claim" ownership of that business listing by going through the authentication process to prove you're actually entitled to make changes. This then ties the business listing to a Google account, which you can then log into to make changes. It's not hard, and as far as I can tell, is the only way to update it when things change - like if you're open on Sundays in the winter but not the summer, you've got to go in twice a year and manually make the change (lest your Trustees think you're not keeping up with your Internetly duties).

Anyway, here are some pictures. The one on the left is for the JV Fletcher Library (in Westford, MA), which has not yet "claimed" their listing. Ours, on the right, has been claimed - you can tell because theirs has the subtle "Are you the business owner?" link under it:

Once you click that link, you'll be prompted to log in and authenticate. It's been a couple years since I did this, and I don't remember exactly what the authentication process was - although, it could have also changed since then. I also don't entirely understand the hierarchy of various Google products, but I'm sure there is some relationship between business listing, Google accounts, Google+, and I don't know what all.

However, it's worth doing, to get your Google listing associated with an account you can edit. Because of course, if people see it on Google, they assume it's right - so if Google says you're open on Sundays, it's your fault if you're not.

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LISEvents – Check It Out

In case you missed the announcement on other sites, a new great way to stay involved in libraryland is LISEvents.

The site is easy to use, both for finding events by date or location (including online-only), and for finding someone to come speak at your library or event.

The best part is that it is community-driven, and adding events is easy - I just added a posting for the NELA-ITS workshop on mobile devices and libraries (also here).

And for anyone wanting to get their name out, be sure to register yourself as a speaker. This portion of the site will be a great resource for event planners, and anyone who has something to share.

Thanks Blake for putting this together - the library world perpetually benefits from the tools you maintain.

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Job Opening at Manchester (NH) Library

My friend Lichen is moving on from her position at the Manchester (NH) City Library, opening a great spot for a techie librarian with ideas and initiative. The details are:

Librarian III (Head of Info & Technology)

(Announcement No. R-073-10)
Salary Grade 20
Starting Salary: $48,809.48/yr + benefits
Work schedule includes nights and weekends

THE JOB:
Manages the day to day operations of the Information/Technology Division. This position is responsible for maintaining the library’s public computer system, staff training, online presence and recommending technology improvement for the effective and efficient delivery of information to library users. Incumbent partners with the City’s Information Systems Division to maintain staff computers and library networks. Supervises 9 staff members to provide high quality, customer service, and friendly information services to the public using current technology. Oversees the expenditures for material purchases assigned to the division in all formats. Performs related duties. Position is part of the Library’s Administrative team and reports directly to the Library Director.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Master's Degree in Library Science from an ALA accredited program with 4-6 years of progressively more responsible library experience providing library services. Experience in Information Services as well as current Library Technology is required. Supervisory experience is a plus.

NOTE:
Offer of hire conditional on candidate's ability to complete essential job functions, with or without accommodations, as determined by medical exam. A background check, as well as a drug and alcohol test, will be required for this position.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:
Candidates must complete a City of Manchester employment application. Resume should be submitted with application. Applications may be obtained at www.manchesternh.gov or Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at
City of Manchester
Human Resources Department
One City Hall Plaza
Manchester, NH 03101
Tel: 603-624-6543 (Voice/TTY)
Fax: 603-628-6065

OPENING DATE: Friday, Oct. 1, 2010 - CLOSING DATE: Monday, Oct. 18, 2010

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Reference Question of the Week – 12/6/09

A patron called and asked,

Can you tell me what I'm watching?

Sigh. After an initial pause on my part, he explained that he had turned his television on in the middle a movie. He didn't have a TV Guide, so he called us to look up the online television listings.

One of the subject guides on the library's website is for Entertainment Resources, and for this question I used the Boston.com's TV Listings - perfect.

We knew the time and channel, so this was easy to find - it turns out the movie was 100 Million BC. He said it was good, and asked if the library had it in case he had to leave and thus miss the end. When I told him it wasn't in our catalog, he said,

Well, now I'll have to stay to watch the ending, but I guess I'll never get to see how it starts.

Perhaps it'll appear on Hulu.com soon.

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Phone Book Follies

So apparently, in 34 years, I've never looked up in the phone book a business name starting with the word "The."

While looking up a phone number of someone whose name started with "Terr," I happened to glance at the rest of the page. I was surprised to notice that there were business listings filed under "the" - The Pizza Place, The Family Eye Care Center, etc.

Since listings like this in a library catalog would be an error, it caught my eye. It seems like it should be wrong for a phone book, too, but I could understand there are business where "The" is an official part of their name.

But I was amazed I'd never noticed this before. Just to make sure I wasn't crazy, I looked up some of these businesses where I would have thought they'd be - under "P" for Pizza, "F" for Family, etc. Some were listed, and some weren't. How strange.

So I checked the other phone books we have, to see if all the publishers did it that way. I found that some businesses are listed under "The," some aren't, and some are under both. And then I found something even stranger.

On the "T" page of one of the books, there were listings for "Test Test." This is something I commonly do when entering junk information to test a new system, and I was thoroughly entertained to see it published in a phone book.

All of the various "Test" entries were listed at the same address, but with different phone numbers. Curiosity got the better of me, and I tried a few of the numbers - but they all just went right to a generic voicemail. These "Test" entries were listed in the other phone books, too, so I'm guessing it tracks back to whoever complied the data originally and sold their database to the publishers. Ha.

But again, this underscores the important of knowing the appropriateness and limitations of your resources.

And so, now the world knows that I can entertain myself for a good twenty minutes reading the telephone book.

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