Tech Consultant's Meeting

Could we meet via OPAL at 10 AM on Wed, Oct 5th? I've heard from a couple of people that that would be a good date.

OPAL is a web conferencing tool - you can talk, hear, and text chat with the other people in the meeting. However, web cameras are NOT used.

TO ACCESS THE ICE OPAL MEETING ROOM YOU WILL NEED TO BE AT A COMPUTER WITH
INTERNET ACCESS AND A WEB BROWSER. IT WILL BE BEST IF YOU HAVE A HEADSET (WITH
HEADPHONES AND A MICROPHONE). YOU WILL NOT NEED A WEB CAMERA.
1. Point your web browser to http://www.opal-online.org/ (the OPAL website -
OPAL stands for Online Programming for All Libraries)
2. On the OPAL page, you will see a horizontal row of buttons with options --
select "Meeting Rooms".
3. Scroll down and select "Institute for Continuous Education -- Emporia State
University"
4. You'll see a name entry box and also a link to "install plug-in". You will
want to follow that link and install the "talking communities" plug-in. Talking
Communities is the software behind OPAL. Install the plug-in and sign-in to the
meeting room.
5. Call if you have problems or questions! Hope to "see" you there!

When are we getting together again?

When is our next meeting? I recall that we were going to meet virtually but no date was set.

Public Access WiFi

Fast on the heels of our recent recarpeting project, the Great Bend Public Library has expanded services by offering a free public access wifi hotspot. The connection and equipment are courtesy of Nex-Tech, and they installed everything Thursday, Sept 15th.

So far, everything is going fine. When patrons connect, they get a uasage agreement page. If they agree, they currently are forwarded to the Nex-Tech homepage, but we are working on changing that to the GBPL page. Our mobile lab computers have worked fine, and my personal iBook works as well. Right now we are trying to get a patrons wi-fi palm to connect.

The connection is fast and auto configures to the client. The connection is filtered by Nex-Tech, but I don't know what they are using. The system uses a small computer as its router, and the machine is smaller than most dvd players.

Nex-TEch has several hotspots in Hays, one in Osborne, and one in Wakeeny. They are looking for other public sites in their service area.