• as a catalog
• as a database
• as library staff’s main tool for checking books and materials in and out
• for acquiring, processing and storing items.

The ILS is also the brains of our technology system that allow patrons access to many other online services, too. When you sign up for a public session at one of the BPL’s computers or utilize the public printing systems, the print system has to check with our ILS to make sure you are in our system and are approved to use that computer or printer at that location. For example, only a children’s card can be used to access resources in a children’s space. The same goes for access to the WIFI system. Both our web-based public catalog, with its special search algorithm and relevancy rankings as well as its access to social network systems and our Museum Pass Reservation System need to do the same, as does use of OverDrive for downloadable books, just to name a few.

In all, Boston Public Library integrated and tested twenty-five separate systems and applications during the migration, a mixture of local and hosted systems. And, of course, we had to plan the migration so that we could stay open and offer as many services as possible for as long as possible. Some libraries close down for a migration of this size. If you were unfortunate enough to be one of the people who experienced a problem with access to systems or your record, or had a problem with your hold requests, we apologize. If you have let us know, we have probably either fixed or will fix the problem. For the vast majority of systems and users, the migration was largely invisible and successful. We are planning to continue making system improvements and adding other enhancements through at least June of 2013 as part of this overall systems migration project.

The new system will fully go live on the morning of Thursday, December 13. While staff have undergone training, we will be asking the public for patience as we become accustomed to the new system. Once we are used to new ways of doing things, we expect that our new ILS will be more stable, faster, and easier to use and thus help us do our jobs in servicing the public more efficiently. Polaris will also offer additional features and functions in the next release, planned for 6 months out, that will further enhance some BPL services. One new feature available on day one is the ability for library users to receive notification via phone, email, and text message, as well as faster circulation processing and more detailed data available in our catalog.

For that reason, the library is focused on cataloging and digitizing material in order to make it accessible online. Michael is also taking the next logical step by providing technological equipment and training programs that help to bridge the “digital divide” between the most techno-savvy and those who might not yet know how to use a mouse.

Does that mean that the physical library is becoming obsolete? On the contrary, according to Michael. “The thing I think comes as a surprise to everyone is that people still want to come in to the library and be a part of a community,” he says. “While people are saying everything’s moving online and we’re not going to need the library building any more, that’s definitely not true. People are coming to socialize, to go to programs, to go to events, and to physically interact with the collections. Libraries have a unique role in society. It’ll be very interesting to see how things grow and change.”

Among those charged with maintaining and updating the library system’s more than 600 computers plus copiers and printers is technical specialist Julio Chang, who has been with the library full-time for more than 15 years. “We try to help patrons satisfy their needs,” Julio says. “Technology keeps moving ahead, and we try to implement these changes in a way that’s easy to use.” That includes providing training for patrons and staff alike.

Julio points out that the library’s computers also offer special services to library patrons. “We get a lot of tourists who use the express terminal to print passes and find directions,” he cites as an example. Julio also enjoys lending a hand directly to library users—such as recently, when a woman had trouble printing a PDF file due to a problem with the website she was accessing. “I was able to go to my office, print off the document from my own computer, and hand it to her,” Julio says. “It’s all about customer satisfaction.”

Today, Zamawa is the Principal of ARGUS, a Boston-based multidisciplinary communications company specializing in multicultural markets. She has proven herself a far-sighted strategist. For example, prior to ARGUS in 1996, she helped launch the first art-house pay-per-view movie service on the internet—long before the creation of Netflix and Hulu.

Zamawa brought those visionary skills to bear on the Boston Public Library’s Strategic Planning Committee. “The library is doing a great job of being forward-thinking,” she says. “Establishing itself as a venue for digital content is critical for the library to expand and grow.”

To Zamawa, that focus on digitization benefits not only future generations of library users, but also the city’s many different cultural groups. “The demographics of the city have changed dramatically,” she points out. “We need to be mindful of inclusiveness and serving people of all ages and backgrounds. To me, the most rewarding aspect of my involvement with the library is seeing it alive with users and seeing how they enjoy going online.”

By Christina Manzo, Digital Projects Intern
February 17, 2012

Over the course of this grant project, the Boston Public Library team has been lucky enough to visit some of the prettiest libraries that the state has to offer. From small, redbrick buildings to newly renovated structures, I would safely boast that Massachusetts has some of the prettiest libraries in the country. So when we pulled up to a storage facility in Mattapoisett, we were all a little unsure of what to expect. But if there’s anything I’ve learned from working at the BPL, it’s that you find the most interesting items in the oddest places. When we first entered the facility, we were taken to a private room where we could examine the collection proposed for digitization by the Mattapoisett Free Public Library. The boxes were pulled from a giant storage warehouse not unlike the one from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Contained within was the complete, half-century run of a local newspaper called The Presto Press, a magazine-format serial publication that  included everything from want-ads to local historical and genealogical information.

The first thing that strikes you about The Presto Press is the cover art. The publisher, Donald Jason, was a talented artist and illustrated a good majority of the covers  himself. The real prize at the bottom of these serial boxes, however, is the advertisements. Normally, readers tend to skim over advertisements in any publication. When the publication is historic, however, the ads become a window into the miniscule, almost negligible parts of history that often get overlooked.

For example, in The Presto Press, you could see ads for a number of items, services, and local businesses, including some that are still around today. The fact that you can discover the price of roast beef or milk ($0.75 per pound and $0.45 per gallon respectively) or how sewing machine companies tried to reach women of that era, is simply amazing. These are aspects of history that are largely ignored, but they play a role in how we understand our past.

It’s like having our own local version of Mad Men. By comparing an add for a sewing machine from 1955…

to how the same product is portrayed today…

we can see how the country, its people, and the world has changed over time.

With or without the trademark fedora and whip, I think it’s undeniable that all librarians have a little bit of Indy in them. Even if they don’t escape from snake pits or hijack any German U-boats.

By Christina Manzo, Digital Projects Intern
April 11, 2012

As many of you know, last week was National Library Week, a time meant to celebrate the contributions libraries and their workers make in their communities. So in honor of this recent celebration, I thought that I would take a moment to put the spotlight on the men and women that work behind the scenes at the BPL to make the statewide digitization project possible.

I asked a few staff members to share their favorite memories of the project so far and the following were the responses I received:

“The panoramas from the Lowell Historical Society have been my favorite so far. When the eye looks at something, its perspective is so limited that you miss a lot of what’s going on. But with a panorama, you can allow yourself to see a full image, 180 or 360 degrees around. I take panorama photos myself, so I can appreciate how difficult it can be to capture that full image.”

“One of my favorite moments came during an application exchange. During our exchange, Susan Aprill from the Kingston Public Library told me that she had ALREADY used yearbooks that we had scanned for the Holmes Public Library in Halifax, as Kingston is part of the same regional high school.  At that point, they really hadn’t been available online for that long and it was just excellent to hear that the project was already having an impact.”

“One of my favorite moments was at the Halifax Historical Society Museum. We were browsing through the display of historic photographs and prints (many of which had to do with a local chicken industry) hanging from the walls and upon the shelves. As I began to look at some of them more closely, I noticed that they all had numeric designations stickered to them. I asked if these numbers were related to some type of cataloging system. Not only was this indeed the case, but we were then presented with several large binders filled with accession records, item descriptions, and provenance information for each item. This type of record keeping makes digitization and online delivery so much more efficient and meaningful. Once the photos and prints are digitized, these records will also be converted into electronic form so that users can search the collection more precisely.”

“Several institutions have told us that digitizing the resources themselves, or through vendors, would have been financially, very difficult or impossible. I would say that is my favorite part of the job. When we get to help people that wouldn’t have been able to participate in a project like this alone. Working on this project really makes me feel like were are making, in some small way, a difference to these institutions and the communities they serve, as well as making a positive contribution towards making Massachusetts’ rich cultural heritage resources available online.”

And as for me? Well, I could tell you that I love my job and that every day working here is a new adventure and lament the fact that it’s impossible to choose just one memory, but in the end, one moment sticks out pretty clearly.

I had just started here and I was looking for what I defined as ‘really cool stuff’ in the state of Massachusetts to digitize. I wanted to bring only the best and the ‘coolest stuff’ into our collection. One day, I happened to ask my boss if we had already digitized a particular collection of photographs, and he replied, “Probably, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take the project.” At that point, I was a little confused. Wasn’t my job to find this ‘really cool stuff’, these one-of-a-kind, priceless, not-to-be-repeated materials that would make people go ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhhh’? As I learned that day, no, it was not.

“It’s all about what’s going to help them. We might have a million copies of the same photo upstairs, but in the end, it’s part of their collection and it’s important to them, so it’s a project worth taking.”

A small moment to be sure, but it radically changed the way I looked at my job and this grant project. I stopped looking for the really cool stuff and started looking for libraries that we could help, if only in some small way. And what I found out was that you find the absolute coolest stuff in the most random places. Like Bette Davis’s class yearbook, or handwritten 18^th century intentions of marriage (found in a church basement), or even land settlements between the Pilgrims and Native Americans.

These are the people who make it possible for said objects to be found, scanned, and delivered – casting these materials out of obscurity and thrown into the public eye once more. They devote their time and their talents because they believe that this project is important. So no matter what week it is, I think these people deserve not only respect, but acclamation as well.

Happy belated National Library Week everyone!