Basic Library Online Training

Time management software used to manage patrons’ use of public computers
Allows everyone to get the same amount of time
Allows patrons to make and manage their own reservations
Automatically manages the reservations (so staff doesn’t need to intervene to kick people off when their time is done!)
Many options for configuration – Here are just a handful of settings libraries can decide:
Whether to allow advance reservations
How many minutes a patron gets
How long sessions are
How many sessions in a row a patron can have, and whether they can consolidate into one big session if booked ahead
What their PCs are called (ex. “Internet PC #1”, “YS PC”)
What age groups can use the PCs (LINK patrons)
What applications are available in the Library Online client (most libraries choose just to have it go to the desktop and let patrons select the applications using desktop icons)

How-To:
Things to note:
Search options (by applications, by PC type)
Reserve next available?
Green bar with options, menu at top of screen
The best way to learn the ins-and-outs of reservations is to play and practice. You can always cancel the reservations you make!

How-To:
Like public site, but by entering your library logon info, you don’t have to enter the patron’s PIN to make a reservation for them
Time Slot Manager is another way to do this now

Temp Patrons
How-To:
For patrons who forgot their card, just got a card, or just cleared up problems with their card
Because Library Online doesn’t have a “live” connection to the catalog, it takes
an overnight to clear up problems/add new cards for LINK patrons
anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for non-LINK libraries (depends on how often we get patron updates from the library)
Infractions
How-To:
Allows you to add a note to a patron’s card number
Could be used for naughty patrons, or for events you’d like to keep a record of
Suspensions
How-To:
Allows you to suspend a patron’s card number from a library or from using certain applications
Could be used for really naughty patrons, kids’ cards that parents request not be allowed to access the internet
Can’t delete suspensions to remove them, but can change the date to a date in the past so they’re no longer in effect
Reports
How-To:
Booking History by Workstation
Booking History by Patron
Scheduled Bookings
Special Workstation Bookings
How-To:
Reasons to use:
Training
Extra-long sessions
Out-of-order
To make PCs available for after-hours programs
Must log into it for patrons using SWB username and password
Time Slot Manager
Another way to make bookings
Another way to make Special Workstation Bookings
Another way to reassign or cancel bookings

SCLS Library Online page – for Library Online support info, documentation, etc.
Library Online Help – in the Admin site, there is a “Help” link in the upper right which will bring up context-sensitive help. “Show” will bring up all Help info.
SCLS Status Page – for the quickest information about problems or outages
Library Online email list – for time-sensitive reminders about upgrades, trainings, hours changes, etc. It’s also an excellent place to poll your peers for answers about how they tackle a particular problem.
TechBits blog – for info that library staff may want to refer back to (descriptions of new features, How-To’s).

Kerri is happy to answer questions. Don’t be afraid to ask. It’s complicated software because it’s very configurable!

Basic Library Online Training (Aug 2009)