Our blog had a minor face lift...

We changed our blog to make it wider and a bit easier to read. Blogger IBS, who runs "The Blogger Guide", provided the information that helped us with the edit. He only asked that we post his blog in return, and we are happy to do so:

http://bguide.blogspot.com/

Highly recommended if your library blog needs a fresh or updated look.

Evanced Launches An E-Newsletter

If you're looking for Evanced news and information, you can now receive it right in your email inbox. We are happy to announce "Evanced Ideas" our e-newsletter. We'll be sending it quarterly to those on our mailing list. If you'd like to sign up for our mailing list, contact Christine Ayar at cayar at evancedsolutions dot com.

Read the most recent issue of the newsletter by clicking here:
http://www.evancedsolutions.com/announcements/newsletter2col.html

We'd love your feedback, so feel free to let us know what you like or dislike about the newsletter and features you'd like us to add. If you have a story idea, send that along too!

We've gotten a little backed up...

With the flurry of new releases/upgrades, the expansion of Statewide Summer Reading to two new states (PA and AZ), and the general onslaught of support mostly driven by Summer Reader (which is always concentrated in Feb/Mar/April). We've gotten a little behind on support in the last few weeks.  Reasons as there may be that this happened, it's not acceptable to us and we are working very hard to get our response times back to what we expect; which is prompt same day if not same hour replies when possible.

We added a new support technician in February (Mike - who's partner is a Library Director in NY btw), and have an additional support technician position now open.  Mike is focused 100% on Summer Reader support for now, but once the rush of Summer Reader subsides will get up to speed on all of our products.  The other position once filled will also probably focus on Summer Reader initially, until at least our backlog has been resolved.

Our support staff are working hard and absolutely doing their best to get to everyones questions answered and upgrades completed as quickly as possible.  They've been putting extra time in during the evenings and weekends to get through the crunch.  We (Todd and I underestimated) how much additional support was going to be needed this Spring and now we are playing catch up, but we will catch up soon.  We appologize for the delay, and I promise you this is not a sign of things to come but merely a speed bump as we do our best to manage our growth with the growth of our customer base.  I welcome any and all feedback on this matter or if you have particular situation that you want to bring to my attention.

Thanks

Rob Cullin

CSO / Co-Founder

rcullin@evancedsolutions.com

In Case You Missed It...

We have had a flurry of activity here at Evanced! We've hosted two exciting beta testing contests, released the upgrades for Events (6.7), Room Reserve (6.7) and Summer Reader (7.0), launched state wide Summer Reader initiatives with Arizona, Massachussetts and Pennsylvania.

Here are links to our press releases to keep you up-to-date on what's been going on:

Our beta testing contest a.k.a. "The Bug Hunt" was a great success. Learn more about the two competitions we hosted by clicking here:
http://www.evancedsolutions.com/announcements/Test_winners.pdf

The contest helped us prepare for the roll out of our newest software releases. Events and Room Reserve (6.7) and Summer Reader (7.0) boast new features that were requested by our customers. Learn more about Events and Room Reserve here:
http://www.evancedsolutions.com/announcements/V6_7.pdf

and find more information about Summer Reader here:
http://www.evancedsolutions.com/announcements/SR_7.pdf

We are proud to announce that we are working with the states of Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Massachussetts to implement Summer Reader in all public libraries in those states. Additional details can be found here:
http://www.evancedsolutions.com/announcements/State_collaborations.pdf

Interested in learning more about any of the above press releases? Contact Rob Cullin at rcullin at evancedsolutions dot com.

Orange County Creates iPhone App

Orange County Library System (Florida) recently launched a new iPhone app for patrons. The app allows users to view library news, search the catalog and provides access to their Events calendar - powered by Evanced Solutions Events software.

You can view the app online or via your iPhone by visiting: http://m.ocls.info/
or
view the video they created of this new feature: http://www.ocls.info/mobile/video.asp?bhcp=1

A Twist on Room Reserve

When Manhattan Public Library (Kansas) faced the problem of documenting and scheduling the use of their two car motor pool, they turned to Room Reserve. By making the two vehicles private, independently bookable equipment, they were able to create a calendar of when cars would be available for staff members.

Teri Barton of Manhattan Public Libraries explains:

"One of the most useful things that we have found is keeping track of our library vehicles. We have a Dodge van and a Toyota Matrix wagon. Before we started using Evanced we had to call the secretary she had to look up a paper log at her desk to see if the vehicles were in use or not. She also had a paper calendar so the vehicles could be reserved ahead of time. When we first got Evanced we thought it would be a great idea to add the vehicles so all the staff had access to the calendar and could reserve the vehicle when making there plans to go out of town or for running in town. By using this feature it makes it easier for staff to reserve a vehicle when making plans for conferences or other outings. Our secretary is still the holder of the keys but she knows when someone will be using the vehicles by looking at the online calendar."

If you have a unique use for our products or would be interested in learning more about how other libraries use our software, contact Christine Ayar at cayar at evancedsolutions dot com.

New Summer Reader Version Released

With the Beta Bug Hunt Contest complete and with the new manual ready as well we are proud to announce the official 2009 release of Summer Reader.  A couple things to note:

Everyone who is current on their maintenance or subscription payments is eligible for this upgrade at NO ADDITIONAL charge.  The upgrades can be done at any time and require almost no downtime (a couple minutes worst case).  All of your data and programs will be preserved without problems (though we do suggest just in case you do wait until any live and open off season programs you might be running are complete before scheduling your upgrade).  Click Here for a complete list of NEW features or see page 115 of the new manual (yes it's actually ready this year) which can be downloaded at: http://www.evancedsolutions.com/manuals.asp

To schedule your upgrade you need to do only 1 of the following 3 things:

1. Email Evanced Support (support@evancedsolutions.com) that you would like to be upgraded as soon as possible and at anytime.
2. Email Support that you want to be upgraded as soon as possible but during a certain time of day window (please specify e.g. "Before 9AM EDT")
3. Email Support that you would like to be upgraded on a certain date during a certain time window (again please specify Date & Time Window). For this option you must give us at least a 5 day cushion to be sure we can accommodate that specific date and time.

IF you are part of the Statewide licenses in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, or Arizona and YOU didn't already have the software prior to the start of your State's statewide contract then you DO NOT need to email support about your upgrade as it has already been done and your system should be on the newest version already.

For a look at what libraries are already doing with Patron Side templates this year and some screen shots from last year see this Google Doc slide show:

Summer Reader Bug Hunt Contest Final Results

The final results are in from the first ever Evanced Summer Reader Bug Hunt Contest.

First Place:

York County Library (VA) -- $300

Contra Costa County Library (CA) -- $150

High Plains Library District (CO) -- $60

We appreciate the help and testing that all of the participating libraries put forward, and know that all of your work will help us make the system better for everyone.

The new version's final release will be announced this afternoon, here and via email broadcast.

Congratulations to the winners!