Marty Hill

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System Administration for a Multi-Institution
Consortium
Marty Hill March 18, 2003
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• W3HQ

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W3HQ

• Who Am I ?
• What is NC-PALS ?
• What is NC-PALS Doing ?
• How Does NC-PALS Do What It is Doing ?
• Questions

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Who Am I ?

• Marty Hill, Executive Director
• North Carolina Piedmont Automated Library
  System
• 5800 West Friendly Avenue
• Greensboro, NC 27410
• Phone [phone]
• Email mhill_at_guilford.edu

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What is NC-PALS ?
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What is NC-PALS ?

• 1 Consortium North Carolina
  Piedmont Automated Library System
• 1 Full Time Employee
• 5 Academic Institutions
• 5 or 6 Vice Presidents in Charge
• 6 Library Systems (2 Digit)
• 7 Web2 Sites
• 8 Policy Files

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What is NC-PALS ?

• 9 Committees
• 15 Libraries (4 Digit)
• 37 Patron Classes (Shared)
• 53 Professional Library Staff
• 65 Professional IT Staff
• 68 Material Codes (Shared)
• 113 Agencies (6 Digit)

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What is NC-PALS ?

• 1,376 Policy File Pages
• 21,876 Registered Patrons
• 25,000 Unregistered Patrons
• 215,990 Circulations Last Year
• 449,737 Bibliographic Records
• 484,494 Authority Records
• 695,776 Items

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How Does NC-PALS Do What It Does?

• Organization
• Communication
• Documentation
• Training
• Management

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Organization
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Organization

• Streamline the System
• Keep Committees and Workgroups Small
• Dont Have a Meeting Unless You Have Something to
  Talk About
• Personal Organization
• Keep One Detailed Calendar
• Make Notes about Everything
• Dont Trust Your Memory
• Reply to Email Within 24 Hours
• Take a Business Organization Class
• Take Time For Yourself and Family

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Communication

• Face to Face
• Monthly with Every Director and or Staff
• Monthly with 4 Committees
• Quarterly with 4 Committees
• Quarterly with Board Of Directors
• As Needed with Last Committee or Individual
  Persons

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Communication

• Electronic
• Email
• Primary Mode of Communication
• Answer within 24 Hours
• List Serve
• Every Committee Has its Own List
• General Distribution List with All Professional
  Staff
• Web Site
• Public Area with Catalog Access and Committee
  List
• Private Area with Minutes, Documentation, etc.
• Telephone and Cell Phone

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Communication

• Written
• Letters and Memos
• Policies and Procedures
• Documentation

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Documentation

• Master Configuration Files
• Policy Files
• Policies and Procedures
• Committee Minutes
• Digest of Minutes for Board of Directors
• DRA / Sirsi Documentation
• Third Party Software (Multinet, VMS, UDMS, etc.)

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Documentation

• NC-PALS Operating Procedures

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Documentation
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Training

• New Employees
• How NC-PALS Does Libraries
• Specific Module Training
• Training Updates
• Report Running (DRA, DCL, IDML, UDMS)
• Refresher Courses

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Training

• Large Groups of up to 20 People in an Electronic
  Classroom with Computers
• Small Group of 2 People in the NC-PALS Office
• Small and Large Groups as a Demonstration
• Individuals Either On-Site or Off-Site.
• Short Discussions or Demonstrations at Committee
  Meetings

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Management

• System Patches and Updates
• Software Updates
• Backups, Backups, Backups..
• Full Standalone Once Per Month
• Full Image 5 Nights Per Week
• Run Maintenance Programs on Schedule
• Defrag Disks on a Regular Basis
• Automate As Much As Possible

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Management

• Run Notices For Libraries As Needed
• Run Reports For Libraries As Needed
• Libraries Must Be Able to Print Locally Since
  There Is No System Printer Access
• Control Access to Policy File and Prompt

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Summary

• Organization
• Communication
• Documentation
• Training
• Management

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Summary

• Organization
• Communication
• Documentation
• Training
• Management

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Questions?
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