Virtual Reality Adventures at your Local Library

If somebody had asked me how I had spent last Monday afternoon, they would have been regaled the story of my Virtual Reality experience at my local Library. Queued up surrounded by excitable children, I anxiously waited for my turn to use their new VR headset. While some children already seemed to be seasoned professionals with this kind of gadget, many had never had the opportunity to use one before, myself included. It certainly proved a thrilling experience to meet and stroke a virtual dinosaur in what is usually such a familiar setting!

At Lorensbergs we’re always excited to see the new ways libraries are using their ICT resources to engage their communities. The event I described is the latest in Hertfordshire Libraries’ ‘Creator space: out of the box’ series. This technology event includes fun and innovative ways to teach children in the entertaining and relaxed environment of their library...

2018 highlights: Netloan library customer user groups

As we reflect on the past year working with and supporting our library customers, the annual netloan user groups stand out as a particular highlight. This autumn they took place at Canning Town Library (Newham Libraries), Halifax Central Library (Calderdale Libraries), M Shed in Bristol, and Johnstone Town Hall (Renfrewshire Libraries).

The discussions at these important events change each year to reflect developments in the technology landscape, together with the changing needs of library users. We look at how libraries are adopting new models of working and changes in service delivery to meet these needs and leverage new technologies. The main focus remains on the People’s Network of public access computers. At the groups we explore how netloan PC booking and print management software is being used and developed in order to make the most of this vital public infrastructure.

One of the topics we explored this year covered the shift to self-service. We looked at how staff are being helped to focus on transformational work, providing greater help to those that need it most, while self-service technologies support the more transactional elements...