Take a deep breath

Laughter is an instant vacation. ~Milton Berle

Cook Library staff members are revving up for Millennium training; the Mr./Ms. Millennium contest is truly heating up; the WOW list is getting longer; and holiday shopping is upon us!!!

So..... let's all stop, take a deep breath and enjoy some library humor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SvdkP573ak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xYkiN4-gl8 (sorry if you are blond)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5obLJQHdyaM (for the beatnics among us)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrtYdFV_Eak&feature=related ( I wonder if Madonna knows she is part of a library video?)

If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane. - Jimmy Buffett

Attend an Introduction to Millennium in December!

Can you believe there are 2 months, 2 weeks and 4 days until February 14th, when we go live with Millennium? There's a lot to do and even more to learn before Valentine's Day.

If you'd like a quick overview of Millennium, the IDT trainers will be presenting an Introduction to Millennium class in December. This class will give you a broad overview of the system and you'll leave with some exercises to try using Millennium for the first time at your desk.

Look for an email in the next two weeks with class times. The IDT trainers are excited to be teaching their first classes. I've told them they can rely on our staff to be prompt, attentive, and supportive.

The Mr./Ms. Millennium Contestants are especially excited to prove their mettle with the new system. You might feel a little like Katie in the photo above, but by the end of the Introduction, you'll feel as confident as she looks in the photo below. The system is intuitive and has a wealth of fantastic features. There's a lot to look forward to with Millennium!

“The training really got me excited about the types of features our patrons will be using in Millennium. This enthusiasm will be a great marketing tool as we get closer to February’s launch date.”

David Archer, Mr. Millennium Contestant

I can't wait to see what all the excitement has been about and I am anxious for the "Millennium to begin."

Katie Oakes, Ms. Millennium Contestant

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!

The Shoemaker and the ILS

Do you remember the story of the Shoemaker and the Elves? While the shoemaker slept, little elves visited his workshop and made shoes from the materials he had left on his workbench.

While we are snacking and blogging and learning bits and pieces about Millennium, there are elves working hard among us! Today's I Luv Snacks update brings you an all-access pass to the behind-the-scenes of the migration project.

From the "enough to make you go cross-eyed" department, Julie A. recently combed through 50,000 (yes, 50,000) patron records to look for problems. Among the amusing typos she found were "Libertyvile" and "Vernon Ills."

Katie has been hard at work on an Introduction to Millennium class. There's a lot to learn, but with Katie as our guide, I think we can all be pretty confident that we will be pros at this!

A whole battalion of elves (Mary A., Carol H., Dave, Sonia, Heather, Jan H., Eileen, and many others) have begun spot-checking the data in the Millennium online catalog. The first load of all of our bibliographic records and item information resulted in all the call numbers displaying backwards. That's just one example of why we need to check lots and lots of records to make sure everything's correct. Since Geac PLUS and Millennium are different programs from different companies, they don't do everything in exactly the same way. Innovative (the company that makes Millennium) has had to do some guessing about the best way to "translate" our Geac data into Millennium-ese. Sometimes the guesses are right and sometimes they result in things like backwards call numbers, and need to be fixed. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 records (just a tiny cross-section of our database, which I believe has over 200,000 records) will need to be gone over with a fine-toothed comb between now and the end of next week. Yikes!

Lauren has been working with elves from all departments to determine the circulation parameters for the new system. Every detail, from the loan period for an item, to the fine per day overdue, to the statistical categories we use to analyze library use by different parts of the community, must be confirmed, and then entered into Millennium.

Pam Sk. has been doing more than I can possibly describe. She is keeping us (and Innovative) on schedule, assigning tasks to committees and committee members, reading lots and lots of user manual pages, and trying to ensure that our bibliographic records, item information, and patron data get plugged into Millennium properly so they will work properly.

Erin has been working on the December Ins & Outs newsletter, which will contain our first official notice to patrons about the change to a new system.

Laura H. and Andrea J. (oh, wait... that's me) have been creating make-believe item records and pretend patrons for trainees (that's you) to use in the Millennium training classes that begin next week. Lots of cutting and pasting for me... I tried to choose titles that would keep you entertained in class. The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, anyone? How about How Do You Spank a Porcupine?"

We're getting there, but there's a lot left to do! Stay tuned for more updates.

Me Talk Millenium One Day

Preliminary ILS staff training is about to begin! Starting this week, Katie Olsen will be conducting an Introduction to Millenium class. It is open to all interested staff members and attendance is highly recommended. I, personally, invite veteran staff members to join me as I try to refute the cliche', "you can't teach old dogs new tricks."

Topics covered will include how to:

• Log in
• Move around the applications
• Check in and check out
• Search the catalog (Web PAC Pro)
• Use the User Manual
  

Comprehensive training classes will take place in late December or early January.

For those of you who are not dog-gone tired of all the snacking we've been doing, try this recipe for Puppy Chow the next time you have little pups at the house:

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

8 cups Chex or Crispix Cereal

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Mix peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butter together in a large bowl in microwave.

Pour over cereal in a large Ziploc or paper bag and add the powdered sugar. Close bag tightly and shake until evenly coated with powdered sugar.

Take out and enjoy!

The Moment You've Been Waiting For...

Sure, we thought we could fool you with a few baby pictures and some obscure questions about snacks.

Clearly, we were fooling ourselves. This staff knows each other too well! It wasn't too hard for fellow coworkers to tell who really loves Junior Mints, who can be found secretly watching trashy reality shows, and who would really like to be working with the late, great Mr. Rogers.

I'd like to congratulate Jeanne, Jane T., and Laura for being the first to correctly identify Dave Archer, Katie Oakes, and Deb Lindahl as our Mr./Ms. Millennium contests. You will be rewarded with a gift from the illustrious Bag O' Swag.

Stay tuned, as the contest is not done yet! Look for more Mr./Ms. Millennium challenges as we prepare to go-live with Millennium. During the month of February, we will open up the voting, letting you pick who will be crowned Mr./Ms. Millennium.

Perhaps after what we've taken to calling "Snacktober," with training and snacks and Snacktacular and snacks and Halloween and snacks, you've taken a turn to the virtuous and are snacking on lovely healthy things like this beautiful veggie plate. That's ok! Snacks can be healthy, too!

Here's a great article from Real Simple magazine featuring 9 healthy snacks (including this yummy cashew-butter treat)! Mmmmmmm!

I myself have been on a fruit kick lately. Just this morning I had some Skittles!

No matter what your snacking pleasure, you'll be thrilled to know we have a new Snacker of the Month! Susie P. is this month's lucky snacker. She'll be receiving her choice of snack -- healthy or indulgent -- simply because she posted a comment to I Luv Snacks!

You, too, could be a winner! Tell us what you think of the Word of the Week -- or what words you'd like to see featured there. Tell us if you've eaten all your kids' Halloween candy yet (I haven't, but I'm working on it!). Tell us what you had for lunch, or your favorite healthy snack recipe. Let the comments roll!

Mr./Ms. Millennium: Candidate #3

The moment you've been waiting for...Candidate # 3!

Basic Stats

Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Hobbies: Reading, of course. I'm also fascinated with fibers and fake furs
Favorite Book/Movie/Band: Gone With The Wind, Girl With A Pearl Earring, James Taylor
Personal Motto: Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is but a broken winged bird that cannot fly.
Nickname: Dooby Doo (NOT Scooby Doo!!)

Fill In The Blank
When I grow up, I wanted to be...a ballerina or a nightclub singer.

If I was a snack, I would be Cheetos, because they are cheesy, crunchy and leave an oddly interesting residue on your hands.

My favorite letter in the word Millennium is M/m because I love those peaks and bumps!

I like to snack alone because audible crunching makes me crazy!

If I had to choose between a sweet or salty snack, I would combine chocolate coated caramel corn with peanuts

I would love to work with Mr. Rogers (R.I.P).

The next place I'd love to travel to is Spain, Italy, or a completed cool library.

I wish I could stop shopping at thrift stores but I seriously can't.

I'm deathly afraid being lost in a car--even with a map, I have no sense of direction!

People don't know that I worked as a maid for a millionaire.

On a random Saturday afternoon, I can be found doing laundry, going to a movie matinee or traveling to a new place.

To me, Millennium is like the little words shown on the screen at a Stars Wars movie. You know? You have to see dimensional letters fading to small in the background and large in the foreground. Or like Star Trek, "Beam me up, Scotty!" Yipes!


And those are our candidates!

Think you know who the candidates are? Be the first to correctly identify a candidate and win a prize from the Bag of Swag! We'll reveal who the candidates are next Thursday...and how they are going to compete for the Mr./Ms. Millennium crown.