[WEB4LIB] levels of troubleshooting

[Mary Martin]

About a year ago I got very gung-ho about giving staff the tools they needed
to do minor computer troubleshooting themselves. I created a manual that
included basic information about the computers, how to use the mouse and
control buttons, how to start and shut down a program, how to reboot the
computer, and a couple of other things. I also included instructions on
troubleshooting CD-ROM problems, printing problems (including clearing print
jams), frozen PC problems, and a few Netscape problems that happened fairly
frequently.

Then I sat down with each staff person who worked with our public-access
computers on a daily basis. I went over the manual with them, making sure
they understood how to do all these things. Then I sent them back to their
department with a copy of the manual, in the hopes that they would get more
confidence in their own ability to troubleshoot. (What actually happened is
that most of them never read the manual again.)

One thing you might want to think about is giving everyone the basic
troubleshooting skills such as fixing printer problems and replacing
peripherals. You may even want to show them how to reboot the computer if
something strange happens. Then, you could find a person in each department
who seems to have more of an aptitude (or willingness to try things) than
the other staff members. That person could become your second-tier computer
person. All problems in that department would be reported to that person.
You'd probably want to either send them to training or train them yourself.
Then, what he or she couldn't handle would be routed up to you.

>From my experience, a lot of people are just downright terrified of
computers, and won't feel comfortable being put in a position of having to
troubleshoot. The trick is to find the people who are good at it, and put
them to work. I've got unofficial helpers in each department but have been
thinking it might not be a bad idea to make it official.

Good luck! I'll be interested to see how things go.

Mary
--
Mary C. Martin, Computer/Technical Services Librarian
Fort Smith Public Library
61 South 8th Street, Fort Smith, AR  72901
501-783-0229 (phone)   501-782-8571 (fax)
http://www.fspl.lib.ar.us



Thomas Edelblute wrote:

> What the library administration wants to do is set three levels of
> troubleshooting.  The first level would be basic level troubleshooting
> that would require minimal training on my part.  The second level would
> be an intermediate level troubleshooting that would deal with software
> and operating system errors.  The advanced level is the hardware errors
> and more advanced level of diagnosis which I would take care of.
>
> I am struggling to come up with a list of things that fit in the first
> to levels.  Is anyone doing anything like this?   Even if you are not,
> what type of things do you think would fit under the first to levels. So
> far all I have is:
>
> Basic Troubleshooting:
>     Understanding printer errors
>     Replacing defective keyboards and mice
>
> Intermediate Level Troubleshooting:
>     Correcting a display problem
>     Using the task manager
>     Using the event viewer
>
> Anyones thoughts and opinions will be welcome.
> --
> Thomas Edelblute
> Anaheim Public Library