Byline: Mike Burke Daily Herald Staff Writer
Life just got a little easier for Roselle library patrons.
In the old days, people actually had to leave home, drive to the library and search the shelves to find out if a book, motion picture or musical recording was available.
Now patrons have to travel as far as their home computer to look up that same information.
A computer system upgrade completed this week makes a listing of the entire Roselle Public Library collection available on the Internet.
People can now use their computers to find out if a book or other item is available, checked out or due to be returned on a certain day.
By next month, patrons even will be able to reserve a book by computer, putting it on hold until they are able to pick it up, Executive Director Dianne Lueder said.
Computer stations around the library, which replaced the old index card catalog system, now use an Internet browser to search for books and other materials.
As a result, patrons actually surf the World Wide Web to find out what is on the bookshelves.
"The (stations) have the ability to search the library catalog on the Web," Lueder said.
A benefit of the new system is many library users have that same ability at home.
Their home computer becomes a card catalog station, with information about the library's 68,849 books, 3,219 videos, 2,559 musical discs and recordings, 385 magazine and periodical titles, and 319 CD-ROM computer software programs.
The Internet address at which the library's collection is found is www.catalog.roselle.lib.il.us.
While surveys indicate about 50 percent of residents own home computers, many library users may not be familiar with Internet browsers.
"We're trying to help as many people as we can," Lueder said. "Once they learn it, we believe they'll like it and use it."
All the information about the library's collection previously was stored electronically on a computer system, which made the conversion to the new system much easier, Lueder said.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий