The relocation of the Library to four temporary locations The resignations and replacement of two key staff members The graduation of several key CAs
"Having access to a computer becomes a virtual necessity for all students at Brooklyn College. To assure uninterrupted reliable service of computing resources in the Library, a number of steps were taken by the Systems Department." Alex Rudshteyn, Assistant Director for Library Systems
"Although the backbone of our computer systems will be vastly improved in our new building, the new equipment and sophisticated software will require the support of a larger support team of technicians and applications specialists. As we know, the technology for research and instruction is pervasive within the library and our reliance upon it essential for us to assist students in meeting their educational goals." Anthony Cucchiara, Associate Librarian for Information Services & Distinctive Collections
"The service provided by CAs is invaluable. I think the Library move showed this clearly. The reputation of the Library's systems department speaks for itself--lots of students prefer to work here, rather than in similar departments on campus." Alex Rudshteyn, Assistant Director for Library Systems
ˇ Building a New Library Systems/AIT Team
This year several factors made it essential to create a much more fluid Academic Information Technologies/Library Systems structure, one that took different forms throughout the year depending on task and manpower needs. These included:
The year 1999/2000 began with our attempting to carry on with the structure we had in the old Library. There, each group (AIT, Library Systems, and the Library Café) had its own specialized work and projects, although some activities were treated as joint projects. Each Monday the three managers, Howard Spivak, Alex Rudshteyn, and Nicholas Irons met to discuss the three units' various projects. In our new setting, the increased workload generated by multiple locations and vacant positions quickly showed us that the old system was not working: no one unit had sufficient manpower to carry out all of its responsibilities.
Systems/AIT decided to reorganize into what staff think of as a "group project" model. Every week, a meeting that includes not just the three managers but all staff, including CAs and interns, is held. Everyone reports, and new work assignments are handed out. Under this management plan, the virtual tours of the new Library were built and all PCs were reconfigured from token ring to Ethernet topology.
In September when two new professionals, Sylvie Richards and Jim Cai, joined the staff, meetings were scaled back to include professional staff only, but the same pattern was followed: workload, new projects, and resources are discussed and decisions are made about who will do what--largely based on where the available manpower lies. CAs are regularly lent or shifted between units based on need, and work is assigned to groups, rather than individuals. Sylvie and Jim have been given CAs who report primarily to them, making them less dependent on the "pool" for manpower.
All of this means that the Library Café has had to become more self?reliant. (Routine software maintenance (anti?virus upgrades, for example) has been transferred from the Systems group to the Café staff.) However, the timing is right for this new independence: Café staff have gained significant experience in the two years since the facility opened, and there is less need for outside support. Evening and weekend manager Robert Parker Gray has made a considerable difference.
ˇ Equipment Issues
Over the last year concern has grown among Library and AIT staff about a number of equipment-related issues:
ˇ The Library CafeThe Café opened in January 1999 as a high-tech campus showplace. In terms of keeping equipment and software up-to-date, we set a modest goal of replacing about one-third of the 50 machines annually. The express plan was that revenues from printing and diskette sales would be used to offset an annual equipment expense of ca. $30,000-$40,000. To that end, since the Café opened in January 1999 we have accumulated about $18,000. In the 2001-2002 academic year we should have enough money to replace 15-20 machines, but in future years we will need assistance, since printing (at present rates) generates only $14,000-$15,000 annually. Replacing/upgrading Café equipment is rapidly becoming more of an imperative than a "wish-we-could":
ˇ Multimedia Classroom (Windows)The equipment in this space is about two years old, and it came from the University rather than the College: when CUNY+ converted from dumb to smart terminals, CUNY central gave each of the libraries an allocation of PCs to replace their dumb terminals. We elected to use 25 from our allocation to upgrade the Windows classroom which was out of date and incapable of running much of the software faculty wanted to use. There are no more equipment gifts from the central office on our horizon.
ˇ Multimedia Classroom (Mac)This equipment is so old we will not be taking it back to the new Library with us. The Mac classroom will be empty until new equipment is supplied. Even today, this classroom is seldom used.
ˇ Differences Among Student Computing Facilities & Multimedia Classrooms on CampusWhile it is not essential that all the equipment and software in the student labs on campus mirror each other (the Library Café does not provide access to programming software), from a service perspective it is highly desirable that the major student labs, as well as the Atrium's and the Library's Multimedia Classrooms, offer the same versions of commonly-held software packages, as well as equipment that is similar in power. When any facility plans to upgrade a package or to purchase new software, the other should be consulted, ensuring students and faculty maximum flexibility and efficiency.
In sum, the College is in real need of policies that govern equipment and software in campus computer labs.
ˇ Music on Reservehttp://146.245.238.215/music
The Library Systems group has begun a project that will enable us to "stream" music which faculty have placed on reserve, making that music available from many campus locations but in a form that cannot be copied. The music will be available 24/7 in the Library Café, for example, but it will not be available from off campus. The Music Library Association's guidelines for audio e-reserves All public access computers in the Library are protected by Fortres software, version 4.0 Build 350. Library Systems staff found it a real challenge to determine the best security configuration for the Library Café, but Fortres was chosen because it protects without impairing software functionality. In the near future we will upgrade to Fortress 4.1, which offers some important new features:
Another product from the Fortres Grand Corporation, Clean Slate, has also been tested in the Library. It is designed to protect public access computers from malicious or inexperienced users. Like Fortres, it does not restrict software functionality, yet it scours drives clean each time a machine is rebooted. Clean Slate is to be installed on all public terminals.
The Library and Academic Information Technologies purchased Perseus SurveySolutions software, which permits surveys over the Web. This product is available to anyone on campus who wants to conduct a survey. We are also using it to register people for workshops from the Library and AIT websites.
ˇ CD-ROM Services
Thanks to a new CD-ROM server, Web-based CD access is now available to faculty and students anywhere on campus. Library Systems staff also wrote a special menu program using Visual Basic which provides users with a friendly interface. This same server will become the platform from which we deliver the reserve music material mentioned above.
ˇ I'm OK, You're OK, Y2K
Y2K came and went almost unnoticed. Library Systems staff tested our different computer systems using a variety of Y2K programs. BIOS and other software upgrades were applied to all older machines, and our servers were also upgraded. These measures ensured that our passage into a new millennium would be smooth and free of stress.
ˇ Security
This year Library Systems staff performed a major upgrade of the anti-virus software installed on every machine in the Library. This upgrade enables all our PCs to receive anti-virus updates and upgrades over the Internet, either automatically on each boot or according to a pre-set schedule.
Support for Windows 2000
The ability to block all hard disk browsing
One-click online updates
Easier configuration
ˇ Survey Software
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ait/survey/
ˇ Staff Development
Vice-President Little supported Alex Rudshteyn and David Best (ITS) for the annual Comdex Conference in Las Vegas. This is the nation's largest and most important conference for networking and hardware specialists. He also supported Dr. Sylvie Richards for the annual Blackboard conference. Throughout the year AIT staff attended many MetroSET programs <www.metroset.org> and took advantage of staff development opportunities offered by a variety of vendors, including Microsoft, Apple, and Cisco. Library Systems and AIT Director Howard Spivak attended the conferences of the American Library Association.
