Position: Computer Specialist
Web: Annual Report
Two full time additions to the Cataloging and Systems department are Endang Hertanto, Cataloger, and Ingrid Richter, Systems Analyst...The computerized public catalog was at last unveiled May, 1998... A major service event took place in November when we introduced a new means of storing circulation data by switching over to the long planned online circulation system.
Business Card
Web: Annual Report
The Systems department has networked all of the Library's computers, so that the Internet connection, programs, databases, and documents are now shared by any connected machine. Wiring and jacks have been strategically added throughout the building to encompass current and future staff and member needs for access to the catalog, the Internet and other electronic resources as they become available.
As the Library's website continues to expand its offerings - with information on books, programs, Library history and Library authors - it is also attracting more visits. The number of web searches has grown by nearly 1000% in the past year. The website will soon become the place where members and non-members will go to search the Library's catalog, use its electronic resources, and communicate with Library staff.
The past year saw a series of technology workshops offering basic instruction in catalog searching, computers, and Internet/e-mail. An average of 24 persons registered for each workshop. Feedback has been positive.
Web: Annual Report
More patrons also appreciate the Library's website, www.nysoclib.org. The website includes links to the Library's history and Visitors' Committee reports as well as listings of events and children's programs. Members who have registered for the service can also access our catalog from the site. Internet terminals are located in stack one, the Children's Library, and the fifth floor. The network server purchased last year provides a locus for sharing documents, programs, and databases within the Library, while managing visitors to the website and allowing access to part of our CD-ROM collection.
Tech Workshop: Introduction to Computers
Tech Workshop: Introduction to the Internet
Web: Annual Report
The Library plans to select a new, improved integrated system for cataloguing, circulation, acquisitions and serials within 2002...
The Library's website, www.nysoclib.org, was expanded to include the Annual Report, some Book Committee recommendations, and a list of books for understanding the events of September 11, 2001...The Systems Department staff expanded their interaction with members not only through high tech but also with new technology workshops. Classes offered for the first time this year included a course on finding medical information on the Internet and one on creating a web page. Participant reviews of the workshops said "Would that all computer info were as good - terse - straightforward," "a superbly knowledgeable presentation," "extremely useful... very clear."
Tech Workshop: Creating a Web Page
Tech Workshop: Microsoft Excel and Word
Book Inscription: Lucy (Ellen Feldman)
Web: Annual Report
Staff members have worked devotedly this past year on the selection process for an improved cataloging and circulation system to replace the current one...
Computer access inside the Library was further improved this year by the addition of laptop Internet connections in the fifth floor large study room and in the individual study rooms...
Use of the Library's website is also rising among members and nonmembers. October 2002 was one of the busiest months, when 367 visitors used the site...
The website's guestbook invites visitors to share their comments. One wrote: "The website is wonderful, as is the Library."...Another visitor remarked, "This website just keeps getting better and better. You must have a great staff-or is it the trustees? The answer: "Don't be fooled. It's the staff."
Tech Workshop: Introduction to Computers
Tech Workshop: Intermediate Computers
Tech Workshop: Internet I & II
Position Promotion: Head of Systems
Business Card
Web: Annual Report
Members also regularly write in to the Acquisitions Department, the Systems Department, and the guestbook on the website...
Technology services have made the greatest impact on Library operations...
The catalogue, dating from 1996, was this year upgraded to the Millennium system, which unifies our acquisitions, cataloguing, and circulation activities...
We look forward to a continuing fruitful balance between books and the additional benefits offered by computers and the Internet.
Tech Sheets: Backup & Archiving
Tech Sheets: Sounds & Multimedia
Tech Sheets: Spyware
Tech Sheets: Wireless Networks
Web: Annual Report
Systems Head Ingrid Richter, with the assistance of Paul Burley, tamed a veritable Medusa of wires, and software and hardware associated with the surprisingly complex computing and communications needs at the Library...
The Library's Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) is now accessible at all times, anywhere in the world, via an internet connection...
In an effort to encourage members to explore the advantages of computing technologies, last year the Systems Department offered members twenty-three classes on various aspects of these technologies.These classes, many of which were at an introductory level, were generally oversubscribed and generated enthusiastic responses from those who attended.
Report: Systems Department
Tech Workshop: Introduction to Computers
Tech Workshop: Intermediate Computers
Tech Workshop: Computer Viruses
Tech Workshop: Internet I & II
Tech Workshop: Internet III: Web Design
Tech Workshop: OPAC I
Tech Workshop: OPAC II
Book Inscription: The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank (Ellen Feldman)
Web: Annual Report
Technology plays an increasingly important part in the services we offer to our members and the work done by the Library staff. I can assure you that we chose wisely when we selected the Innovative Interfaces system to take us into this new century. With a few keystrokes, Head of Systems Ingrid Richter answers questions promptly - our New York Times online archive was used 23,000 times last year; 66% of our active members have email addresses; and finally, other than the Library's main page, the most popular documents on our website continue to be the Travel pages: Virginia Woolf's London, Kafka's Prague, and Proust's Paris. Perhaps our members and others around the world are busy planning vacations to these beautiful cities?
Technology and library resources classes were successful again last year, dealing with such varied topics as digital imaging, personal computer cleanup, internet search engines, and print reference sources.
Report: Systems Department
Tech Workshop: Computer Boot Camp
Tech Workshop: PC Cleanup
Tech Workshop: Digital Images
Tech Workshop: Internet I & II
Tech Workshop: Search Engines
Tech Workshop: Microsoft Word
Web: Annual Report
Our collection of electronic resources and full-text databases continues to flourish. Ingrid Richter, Head of Systems, reports that we had close to 700,000 uses of these services from January through December 2006...
This year's technology and library workshops included Online Newspapers, Booking Travel Online, Microsoft Word and Excel, Windows XP Tips and Tricks, Blogs, Podcasts and RSS Feeds, Creating a Web Page, Copying Files and Burning CDs, Advanced Features of Google, and Navigating New York Online. Member comments on the classes continue to be positive - "an invaluable feature of membership in the Society Library", and "definitely worthwhile".
Report: Systems Department
Tech Workshop: Introduction to Computers
Tech Workshop: PC Cleanup
Tech Workshop: Windows XP
Tech Workshop: Introduction to the Internet
Tech Workshop: Blogs, Podcasts & RSS Feeds
Tech Workshop: Google: Advanced Features
Tech Workshop: Online Periodicals
Book Acknowledgement: The Lady Upstairs (Marilyn Nissenson)
"I wish to thank... Ingrid Richter of the New York Society Library, who helped me access Proquest online."
Web: Annual Report
Good order is also a strong characteristic of our Systems Department, headed by Ingrid Richter. A part-time Systems Assistant position was created in the summer of 2007 and ably filled by Lucy Ross and Joel Blaha.
Our website averaged around 39,000 hits per month in 2007, and we are constantly expanding and improving its content. Among the new things available from our website are audio and video recordings of events from April 15 onward, notes from all technology workshops offered, and, in the online catalog, images of selected beautiful or historic book covers from the collection.
In addition to their behind-the-scenes work, Systems and other staff offered a variety of technology and book workshops with their usual user-friendliness and aplomb
Report: Systems Department
Tech Workshop: Microsoft Word & Excel
Tech Workshop: Google: Advanced Features
Tech Workshop: PC Upgrade & Repair
Tech Workshop: Windows Vista
Business Card
Book Inscription: Scottsboro (Ellen Feldman)
Web: Annual Report
Head of Systems Ingrid Richter and systems assistants Matthew Haugen and Derek Stadler had a very busy year. Book cover images from late 19th and early 20th centuries were added to almost 800 records in the online catalog and an accompanying author, title, and call number web page was created. This was also the year that the Library launched its wireless network. It is currently available on the building's upper floors and receives heavy use from the fifth-floor study and writing rooms. Members are very pleased.
Systems and other Library staff offered a variety of technology and library workshops, including new classes on Microsoft Word 2007, Researching on the Internet, Microsoft Excel 2007, Digital Organization, Project MUSE, Finding Articles on the Web, Social Networking Sites and Alternative Word-Processing Programs.
Report: Systems Department
Tech Workshop: Introduction to Computers
Tech Workshop: Basic PC Repair
Tech Workshop: Introduction to the Internet
Tech Workshop: Social Networking Websites
Staff Workshop: E-Mail and Outlook
Staff Workshop: Filemaker Pro Databases
Web: Annual Report
The Systems Department also made advances in bringing patrons together with the books and information they need. Software was installed on the public web computers to help members monitor their time. Ingrid Richter, Head of Systems, and staff Matthew Haugen and Derek Stadler, with the assistance of Tim Conley and Peri Pignetti, digitized many historic Library documents and about 313 rare ornamental covers, which can be seen in the catalog. Systems and other staffers shared their knowledge on matters technical through workshops in October and April, on such topics as Google Docs, Introduction to Blogging, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Mobile Internet. As before, member reviews were positive: "Very helpful introduction," "A great service...for someone my age," "I'm a rank amateur but it was a great start," and "Thank you for having such interesting and useful workshops."
The Library's main website continued to grow. Interestingly, the images from Shelter Sketch Book by Henry Moore, an important item from the Sharaff/Sze Collection, was second only to the homepage in popularity. Most of its hits came through Google image searches from the UK and US.
Report: Systems Department
Tech Workshop: Basic Computer Backup
Tech Workshop: Digital Images
Tech Workshop: Google Books
Tech Workshop: Library Catalog: New Features
Tech Workshop: Mobile Internet
Book Acknowledgement: The Illustration of the Master (Amy Tucker)
"I was fortunate to work with a number of research librarians who deserve special commendation for their assistance with the project. At the New York Society Library, my thanks go to... Ingrid Richter for hours spent scanning images"
Web: Annual Report
The project to digitize, transcribe, and make accessible the Library's first charging ledger is a group effort involving almost the full Cataloging and Systems staff, including Ingrid Richter, Alan Behler, Arevig Caprielian, Tim Conley, Matthew Haugen, George Muñoz, Laura O'Keefe, Peri Pignetti, and Derek Stadler...
Head of Systems Ingrid Richter presented the site and how to use it, and historian Thomas Fleming gave remarks about the importance of this record for the study of early American reading and culture, along with anecdotes about the founding fathers mentioned in the ledger....
Along with their heroic daily work keeping the Library's technical hardware, catalog and internet up and running, the Systems Department engaged in several interesting projects in 2010-2011. Hundreds of new decorative cover scans have been added to the online catalog, enriching the experience of searching for older books. The Library's Digital Archives was also expanded with historic annual reports, high-quality event photos, and technology workshop notes, among other things.
Speaking of workshops, staff offered a broad roster of them, with continued strong attendance. Topics included the online marketplace Etsy, Gmail, the blogging site Tumblr, and an introduction to Apple computers and devices. Responses to the classes ranged from "Class was wonderfully presented" to "Thanks for answering some very ignorant questions."
Tech Workshop: Internet Security
Tech Workshop: Netbooks
Tech Workshop: Streaming Video
Book Acknowledgement: Ready Player One (Ernest Cline)
"Many of my favorite people were subjected to early drafts of this book and each of them gave me invaluable encouragement. My sincere thanks to... Ingrid Richter"
Web: Annual Report
A project that has stirred the enthusiasm and talent of staff from various departments is the ongoing work with the second charging ledger (1799-1805), the Library's circulation records of our early members.... The ledger team is composed of eight staff members from the Cataloging, Systems and Circulation departments. 1,141 names of members are represented in the second ledger.
Report: Systems Department
Tech Workshop: Delicious
Tech Workshop: Tumblr
Tech Workshop: Upgrade Your PC
Business Card
PDF: Annual Report
Systems staff offered both technology workshops and one-on-one tech
assistance. The former included topics such as Cloud Storage,
WordPress, and the iPad. A typical bit of feedback: "I have been using
computers for 10 years, but I learned a lot from this session."
Staff Workshop: Program Registration
Book Acknowledgement: The Red Man's Bones (Benita Eisler)
"Home base through forty years of research and writing, the New York Society Library's staff has changed, but never its unique spirit. Nothing ever seems too much to ask of the gracious and knowledgeable professionals who are there to help: …Ingrid Richter."
Web: Annual Report
Tech Workshop: Finding Free E-Books
Staff Workshop: Filemaker Pro Databases
