Live Blogging: Day 2 of Follett Workshop 2016 PM Session

We are winding down to the last fifteen minutes of the Follett Destiny Workshop. The afternoon session was filled with more product presentations that help and support school librarians with the technical work of the job. What I find interesting are Lightbox and the collection analysis and collection maps in Titlewave. Tim Ramsey shows the efficacy of the system in analyzing and mapping of collection. He is very accommodating, open for questions and assistance when needed, as needed. As a former librarian, he sure knows the language of librarians. I think this is the strength of Follett in the present time. Their people are library trained.

As I close my day and think of home, I have a list of to do's before writing that report and proposal for acquiring Follet Destiny. These are as follows:

a. Do a study of school libraries that are using Follet Destiny. Or visit these schools.
b. Consult with our Finance people for library budget in the academic year 2016 - 2017.
c. Consultation with our Tech people in school for technical support locally.
d. Conversation with my staff on the issue of migration to a new LMS.
e. Request for a beta version from Jenna Emerson, Follet Destiny representative.
f. Review the library's annual plan of activities and programs.

Doesn't look very long, but the work is big. It's time to roll up my sleeves.

Live Blogging: Day 2 of Follett Workshop 2016 AM Session

Suji DeHart is a cheer leader for the school library.

Day 2 of Follett Workshop continues!

We listened to an inspirational talk this morning by Suji DeHart on library best practices using Follett Destiny, teacher and librarian collaboration, and use of web based app for library instruction. Suji is a school librarian from International School Kuala Lumpur (ISKL). She uses googlesites for a directory of web sites, collected and curated based on the school's curricular offering. Suji mentioned that she is in every faculty meeting and parents coffee, meaning, school librarians need to be PR managers of the school library. That's putting in a lot of visibility factor for the library.

In Suji's case, it's a lot of hard work. But it works!

After her session, we had a library visit to ISM's Media Center where we saw the genrefication of the fiction collection. ISKL started rearranging the fiction collection by genre and Suji discussed this in her presentation earlier. This is an interesting trend but, knowing me, I do not jump right away in the band wagon. I need to know more and reflect on this trend vis-a-vis our school community's context and culture. I believe that the success of a school library always depend on the unique ecosystem to which it belongs to. So, I will give this some time to think over. But, I will definitely go back to ISM to see how they turn the library into a bookstore type learning space.

Genrefication of Fiction Books: Is the shift worth it? What are the payoffs?

The Follett Destiny peeps are back showing how features of the LMS can work for our advantage. The Visual Search is pretty cool as well as the online support system set up for Follett Destiny users. Tim Ramsey is on the floor now speaking about the many uses of Follett Learning and Follet Shelf. He did say that when an ebook is bought through Follet Shelf, it is the buyers' property. No more perpetual access and limited access. What now of digital rights management?

Live Blogging: Follett Workshop 2016 PM Session

This afternoon, Larry Gilbert is showing participants the rest of the modules of Follet Destiny. We have explored the ebook collection that can be accessed through Brytewave, an app that can be easily downloaded from iTunes and Google Play. I love the Catalog interface where cataloging is done as easy as copying records from other databases. Everything is up there including RDA. It is only a matter of bandwidth and internet connection that would make or break the easy functionality of this module. So, this would mean two things: 1) secure a strong internet connection; and 2) set up an efficient system of work routines so that, more reader engagement can be spent with patrons of the library. I. LIKE. THIS.

Follett Community is where school librarians can get support from Follett people and colleagues.

Acquisition of books and ebooks can be done through Titlewave. Now this is not new to me since I bought our start up collection from Titlewave. I got the books cataloged already, barcoded and covered in acetate. Titlewave also sent the catalog cards and the soft copies that were easily converted into our current database because it was in MARC file. Easy as pie. The downside: shipmnet fees and customs duties. At the time, books were taxed. We ended up paying a big amount. Now I have to verify the lifting of book duties before resuming buying in bulk from Titlewave again.

We are winding down to Reports and, just like the rest of the modules, it has everything: patrons profile, over dues and fines, collection analysis, inventory and library statistics. From what I learned, the entire library system costs 3,000.00 USD.

So, I have a library budget that needs to be reviewed as well as a time line of work and projects to finish. I will see where I can put this transition or migration of databases and LMS in place against the bigger scheme of things.

Live Blogging: Follett Workshop 2016

The Back Office where the librarian has control of the LMS.

I am at the International School Manila (ISM) today attending the Follett Workshop for school librarians. Day 1 is a whole day discussion and product demo on Follet Destiny, a school library management system. Day 2 is going beyond Follett Destiny and into the school library.

As I write this, Larry Gilbert, Destiny Doctor, is demonstrating the efficacy of the Back Office - the admin control of Follet Destiny. The demo is pretty thorough and Larry Gilbert knows the system like the back of his hand. I find the interface helpful, efficient and easy to navigate. I have no doubts on the software and since I started at The Beacon Academy, I have my eyes set on Follett Destiny as the system of choice. In real life, however, there are factors to consider before making the decision of acquiring and using a library management system. I opted to go the other way in library automation. While our current library management system is working, issues on upgrades, centralization and connectivity, e-book availability and management have surfaced.

Because of change and continuing professional development, I open myself once more to the possibility of acquiescing Follet Destiny. As I listen to Larry, my notebook has a long list of questions and notes to put together. These would come in handy when I write my report and proposal.