This "Thing" seems like that "remedial math" class I ended up taking in 7th grade. It's a lot of stuff you should know by now but if you didn't learn it when you should have, then you're gonna learn it now, mister (or Miss, if that is the more appropriate pronoun).
Email? I don't even know if I COULD do my job without it. Here at The Library we have MS Outlook for work related stuff but I also maintain a Hotmail account for my more covert maneuvers.
I’m kinda surprised there is no mention of Instant Messaging (IM) in this Thing. I think IM is a great tool and would be really useful here at Ai. It would be nice if it could somehow be rolled in with the other OLS features. If it ever does become available through OLS, I'm gonna be all over that thing.
What about some mention of Text Messaging? It’s a really popular way of communicating. I should state, however, that I personally have a moratorium on “texting” and lemme tell you why; I have a friend who once told me a totally made up story about a 13 year old girl who would "tex mex" so much that her thumbs became super huge and muscular. It got so bad, she had to have a friend of hers come over to her house once a week to wash her thumbs with a bucket of soapy water and a sponge tied to a hockey stick. That'll never be me.
I’m sort of biased as far as the resources available through OLS are concerned. For one, the Library services are AWESOME! Web access to the Ai Library catalog as well as access to thousands of other catalogs via WorldCat, great databases that allow free access to images, full text articles, stats, business docs, etc. And as if that wasn’t enough, free Inter-Library Loan service that allows students and faculty to borrow materials from other libraries anywhere in the world.
Another nice feature available through OLS is the “connectivity” to departments. If you have an “accounting question” you can contact financial aid via email through OLS, same with advisors, admissions, etc. Also, should you ever have a technology issue (this scanner’s busted, this Mac won’t eject my DVD, the overhead projector in 228 won’t mirror my Powerpoint presentation, etc.) you can make a Tech Service Request online and have the problem resolved quickly.
And just as an aside, the Tech staff here at Ai does an amazing job of staying on top of any issues that come up and resolving them in a timely manner, looking into and implementing new hardware and software, as well as upgrading and streamlining current services and systems. They don’t receive nearly the recognition they deserve. So next time you see one of them pushing a “4-wheeler”, overburdened with cables and monitors, down the hall or rooting around under one of the tables in a lab, why not offer up a “thanks” to them. Or, if you’re so inclined, maybe even “hug out” that thank you. Of course, if you uncomfortable invading another’s personal space, you could just buy ‘em lunch.
Yeah, on second thought, just buy ‘em lunch. That would probably be best.
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