[WEB4LIB] Staff intranet for small libraries

[Daniel Messer]

"VanderHart, Robert" <Robert.VanderHart at umassmed.edu> said:

> Given that, I would be interested in hearing from others in similarly sized
> libraries who have set up a staff intranet.  What makes your intranet an
> enhancement over existing methods of information sharing among staff?  Did
> you have to "sell" your staff ("We've already got email, what do we need an
> intranet for?") on the idea of an intranet?  
> 
> Any ideas, suggestions, or examples would be greatly appreciated.

Hello all!

While the Yakima Valley Regional Library System has more than 40 employees
system wide, we have roughly 40 working only at the main library. We currently
use an e-mail programme called TWIG (The Web Information Gateway). As I recall
it's freeware and open sourced. The URL for the TWIG homepage is
<http://screwdriver.net/twig>. TWIG has the ability to implement a Staff
Intranet that we make use of. 

As a side note, we might be making a change to TWIG and moving to another
programme called PHPGroupware. PHPGroupware has several advantages over TWIG.
TWIG looks very good to the end user but is harder to deal with server side.
Our IT Dept has to manually install updates and reconfigure to our settings
everytime an update comes along. This is usually a two to three hour process
if they don't get interupted. Now all of us know that IT can't do anything for
more than a half hour and not get interupted. So the process usually takes
longer. PHPGroupware also looks very good to the end user AND it's much easier
to administer from the IT perspective. Updates can be downloaded automatically
using scripts and installed very easily cutting a two to three hour project
down to around half an hour, if that. I believe that the PHPGroupware package
is also open sourced like TWIG. And like TWIG, PHPGroupware has the Staff
Intranet feature. Their URL is <http://phpgroupware.org>.

We utilize the intranet system wide not only as a means of spreading the word
about something, but also as an archival method. Our policies are available
24/7/365 on the staff intranet as it can be acessed from TWIG or PHPGroupware
via a web-browser. So while we use e-mail for getting the word around about
new developments (new job openings, news of the library, etc.) we use the
intranet as a method to access policies at any time. That way, if a patron is
giving us flak over soemthing we're doing and we're doing it according to
policy, we can pull up a copy of that policy for the patron to read. 

It's also useful for forms. I was working at a branch library when a fight
between two teens broke out in the reference room. The police were called and
I had to fill out an incident report. After looking around for an hour I
couldn't find the copy of the incident report. However, because it's available
over the staff intranet I was able to simply log in and print out a copy of a
blank one. No fuss, no muss. :)

Hope that helps!
Dan


-- 
Mondai wa
The subject in question...
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Daniel Messer
Technologies Instructor
Yakima Valley Regional Library
dmesser at yvrls.lib.wa.us
509-452-8541 ext 712
102 N 3rd St  Yakima, WA  98901
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When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
                                         -Hunter S. Thompson