Matthew Reidsma

Work Notes

Updates from the GVSU Libraries’ Web Team.
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Project Updates, May and June

It’s been almost two months since my last monthly project update, so a lot has happened. I know that many of the things I am working on will affect other folks in the library. As much as possible, I’ve already gotten folks who are directly affected involved in the planning and implementation of these, but it’s fair to give everyone a heads-up on things that are in the pipeline.

Current Projects

  • Knowledge Base: Kristin and I have been working on developing a self-service help system for patrons that would integrate with our chat and email help. This is a big need we’ve uncovered over the past few years talking with students. This week we upgraded to the LibApps Suite from Springshare, which adds LibAnswers, LibChat, and LibCal to the other tools we already use. When I get back in July, I’ll be working with Kristin to switch our chat service over to LibChat (from Libraryh3lp) and building content for the Knowledge Base. We’ll also be meeting with the advisory board (Mary O, Ben, Shy) to help finalize the guidelines for creating and maintaining content for this self-help system.
  • LibGuides 2.0: I’ve posted the latest information on this project recently, but we’ll be migrating all of our existing 1.0 content on July 29th, and then going live with the new site August 18th. In the interim, I’ll be holding drop-in work sessions at all campuses for folks who want some help and time to clean up their guides post-migration.
  • Code4Lib Midwest: This year we are hosting Code4Lib Midwest, a regional conference about all things code-related in libraries. The planning committee (Erin, Kyle, Kristin, Eric, and I) just finished working out most of the details for the 2-day event. You can see the preliminary schedule up on the Code4Lib wiki. Since GVSU is funding this conference (mostly the breakfast and lunch part), if you are interested in attending any of the sessions, feel free! Anyone is welcome to attend, but because our food budget is limited, I’d just ask that you bring a lunch so we can hold the reserved spots for folks from elsewhere.
  • Special Collections Redesign: This project is in limbo right now, since the software that supports our Digital Collections, CONTENTdm, will be replaced by a more comprehensive solution soon. In addition, finding aids will also be moving to another software tool. This caused problems for us as we’re building the site on top of existing solutions that are going away. I’m working with Max and Nancy to rethink the direction of the project based on these upcoming changes.
  • LEED Screen: The LEED screen on the 1st floor of the Mary Idema Pew Library currently isn’t being updated with live data from our energy usage. This one is out of my hands, really, as we wait for the vendor to work with Facilities to get the data to Institutional Marketing, so they can connect it to the LEED screen. (Confused? Me too!) Last week the Institutional Marketing Web Team hadn’t heard from anyone in almost 2 months.

That’s it for now! Let me know if you have any questions.