pug 2013 presentation: training your staff
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Staff Training PUG Presentation
Portland, 2013
Chris CulpAlachua County Library District
Three parts to getting your staff ready for ILS migration◦ Initial buy-in through collaborative process◦ Communicate, communicate, communicate◦ Structured, timely training
Why do we need to change? What’s all the fuss about? Do we know what we’re getting? Staff needs to have hands-on
experiences before patrons
Polaris is coming…is your staff ready?
Old system was running on dated platform
Not able to make changes
Too many workarounds
Support weak
Why change?
What were we looking for? Workflow efficiencies Website & online
catalog—Single sign-on & one interface
Ability to migrate serials module
Strong training & system support
Robust Acquisitions module
Stable business model
Flexible report module
Compatibility with 3rd party vendors
Seamless movement from one module to another
It seemed like a good idea at the time….
Showed stability of company versus the rest of the market
Specializes in public libraries From the start, Polaris stood out in its
transparency and solid organization References were uniformly positive Polaris migrated over 90 library systems
from products in the SirsiDynix family Has desirable features Offers modules wanted in ILS system
Why Polaris?
Let’s see it in action! Intelligently
designed
Windows-based
Plays well with
others
Fairly intuitive
Not a steep
learning curve
Acquisition & Serials
Cataloguing
Circulation
Public Access Catalog
FusionChildren’
s Catalog
Streamlining purchase orders Direct transmittal of purchase orders
electronically Ease of tracking orders Seamless accounting system from tracking
funding sources to sending invoices to Finance
Acquisitions & Serials
Able to update catalog records quickly Able to make changes in “bulk” or record
sets in seconds Standard forms of names—“authority
control” is automatic
Cataloguing
At checkout, can easily inform patrons of their holds
Holds/Reserves can be processed with one click
Staff can quickly view different parts of the patron’s record
Circulation
Online Catalog Circulation Cataloguing Serials Acquisitions Reports Fusion [Digital Photos]
Not your grandmother’s catalog
And they all work together…
An ILS that brings us into the future
Customize and save your favorites◦ Saved searches that automatically update you
with new titles◦ Maintain wish lists of titles you want
Activate your reading history Access read-alikes and series within the
catalog Reader ratings and reviews Find available copies at your branch with
ease Text messaging
New features
Change is not all bad….
Core competencies of Windows 7 Staff received Windows checklist (provided
by Polaris) and Access to corresponding Windows tutorials All staff members and their supervisors
signed off on Windows checklist
Staff Training 101: Windows checklist
Library Self- Evaluation: Windows Operating SystemReference Sheet
Desktop•Know what the Start menu is and how to open it•Know what a shortcut icon is•Know what a program icon is•Know what the taskbar is•Know how to open minimized programs
Training Process Train the Trainer Training Schedule for all staff Early Adopter Training
◦ Early Adopter Homework All Staff Training Track 1 Circulation Desk staff Track 2 Supervisors Track 3 Used internal blog to get feedback from staff
and issue weekly updates
Train the Trainer, Early Adopter & Training Track 1 Notes provided as Training Track One Notes
Scheduling the entire staff
Part B - Track # 1 - 30 Minutes Ref Desk / 30 Minutes Circulation Desk
Date Time Location Trainers
Monday, April 168:30a - 10:30a
HQ - Foundation Room
Chris Culp; Suzi Blaze
Monday, April 16 1p - 3pHQ - Foundation Room
Chris Culp; Suzi Blaze
Tuesday, April 178:30a - 10:30a
HQ - Foundation Room
Eric Starling; John Jack
Tuesday, April 178:30a - 10:30a
Millhopper Emily Young; Renee Patterson
Wednesday, April 18
8:30a - 10:30a
HQ - Foundation Room
Meredith Ann Pierce; John Jack
Wednesday, April 18
8:30a - 10:30a
Alachua Chip Halvorsen; Miki Wolfe
Wednesday, April 18
3p - 5p Tower Joyce West; Nathan Urban
Thursday, April 19
8:30a - 10:30a
Millhopper Emily Young; Jen Long
Thursday, April 19
8:30a - 10:30a
Tower Joyce West; Chris Culp
Friday, April 20 1p - 3pHQ - Foundation Room
Suzi Blaze; Eric Starling
Friday, April 208:30a - 10:30a
Millhopper Suzi Blaze; Emily Young
Friday, April 208:30a - 10:30a
TowerMeredith Ann Pierce; Richard Roberts
Created over 40 Polaris tutorials
Step by step instructions with screenshots
ACLD Think Tank blog for staff feedback and questions
Polaris Competencies Checklist
Basic Patron Services and Circulation(everyone who attended Track 1 Polaris training) Know how to check in an item Know how to check out an item Know how to use the Find Tool (in
general) Know how to use the Find Tool (to
locate patron records) Know how to use the Find Tool (power
search) Know how to access the patron status
record Know how to register a patron Know how to place a hold for a patron
Managers Countdown List1. Practice, Practice, Practice2. Staff Polaris Competency Checklists3. Continue posting on blog; feedback4. Signs for service desks have been sent 5. Master Schedule sent for branch support6. Test permission setting—all staff7. May 13-14—pull green cards (purchase requests) as
we won’t be able to place purchase requests starting May 15. Please send them to Technical Services.
8. May 15—no holds can be placed9. May 15—no online purchase requests can be place10. May 17—Polaris Countdown Roundtable11. May 18—Deadline for Competency Checklists &
Permissions check12. May 24-29 MUST present library card for checkout13. May 30th-----------14. May 30th-June 1 Acquisitions module initiated;
Online Purchase Requests & Green cards resume15. Sometime in June—ILL changes; updates and Polaris
ILL module initiated
TOP TEN TIPS FOR POLARIS LAUNCH1) Go slow these first couple of weeks. Relearn the functions. Read
those pop-ups. Taking an extra minute or so to be sure the checkout is done properly will prevent many problems from ever occurring.
2) Do single item checkouts at first.
3) Be deliberate as you do each function in your workflow. Share experiences with co-workers.
4) Use the TIPS folder. Chances are, if you need to perform a function in Polaris, there is a TIPs sheet for it. And, if not, feel free to email eBranch and they can customize one. The TIPS folder also has all instructions from the last few days. You’ll find the TIPS folder at H:\Polaris Training. [Please don’t move this folder…we’ve had some phantom movement on this folder which has caused some issues]
5) The Find Tool is a powerful thing! Play around with the “Limit By” options and other settings. But it’s okay if you don’t ever use Power Search!
6) Take a deep breath.
Roll-out Week Schedule ALA ARC CPK HAW HIS LPSF MIC MHP NEW TOW WAL
Early Adopter(S)
Ross / Joann
Deborah
Heather
Lucinda/
Guylene Alice Anita Beth
Emily / Bryan
Renee/ Jackie
Al / Mary Bruce
9:30a - 10:30a
Chris / Harold Bill V/ Eric/ Richard/ /Tom Suzi/ Joyce/
10:30a - 11:30a JT/Jen
Cecilia
Mossy Jen Jenny on call @
HQ
Mike Kathi
11:30a - 12:30p
John Jack on call @ HQ
12:30p - 1:30p
Meredith/
John Jack on call @ HQ
1:30p - 2:30p
Karen
2:30p- 3:30p
3:30p - 4:30p
4:30p - 5:00p
What will Wednesday bring?Staff expectations list
All branches will upload their offline files and process the error reports. The District cannot go live until all branches have done this. Branch managers are in charge of this and have been asked to start at 8:30a.m.
Time we go live will not be determined until we get there. Please wait until you get an email/phone call to tell you it’s ON! It will be sometime mid-morning.
HQ staff members are assigned to branches; please see attached schedule. These “Polaris Warriors” are your resource for Polaris questions. ………
Smooth transition for staff and patrons