MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

MIAMIDADECOUNTYLIBRARYSYSTEMNEGLECTSAUTHORS
Writersaredeprivedoftoolsbyincompetentcountytechniciansandmanagers

5October2015
ByDavidArthurWalters
MIAMIMIRROR
Popularwebsiteswherewritersposttheirworks,suchasBloggers,Authorsden,andUKauthors,
cannot be used by writers or are dysfunctional at MiamiDade County libraries because the
systems badly maintained browser does not recognize crucial posting functions despite
multiplereportstolibrarystaffandcountycommissioners.
Forexample,nowthelibrarysbrowsercannotseeiconsorbuttonsinsideBlogger.comthat
allowauthorstopostworkslaidoutinHTMLandCSSandtouploadrelatedimages.Suddenly,
on one computer at the South Shore branch on Miami Beach, the buttons on the inside
dashboard turned white, an event quite familiar to experienced information technology
troubleshooters.Thesamephenomenonthenoccurredinallthecomputersatthebranch,and
thenaweeklaterinallcomputersattheMiamiBeachRegionalbranch.

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AuthorscouldnotpostintothericheditoratAuthorsden.comafterthelibraryupgradedits
systemayearago,buttheycouldstillusetheHTMLinputpagetolayoutarticles;thatis,until
thattoowasjustrenderedineffectivealongwiththesimilarfunctionatBlogger.com.
AuthorscannotlogintoworkatUKAuthors.comtheresincethenewbrowserwasinstalled
manymonthsago.
Librarypersonnelatfrontdesksarebesiegedbypatronswithcomplaintsaboutdysfunctional
computers.Themajorityofissuesareduetooperatorerror,yetmanypatronsstillhavevalid
complaintsthatwouldbequicklyresolvedbycompetentinformationtechnologydepartments
intheprivatesector.
Library staff are either dismissive, stating that there are only three IT people for forty
branches,andtheywillnevergettothislittlething.Or,theysay,Justfilloutaform.
Unlikeothercomputerhosts,thereisnoonlineformforthepatrontofilloutwithscreenshots
oftheissue.Thechronicallyneglectedpatronmustreporttheissuetoalibraryemployeeatthe
desk, someone who is sick and tired of hearing complaints about the computers and dealing
withthechallengedpeoplewhopopulatethelibraries.
AMiamiBeachlibrarymanageradvisedmetoemailtechnicalissuestohersoshecouldrelay
theemailtoanothermanagerwhomightrelayittoanothermanagerwhomightsenditalong
to the county IT department. Several layers have indeed been established to prevent anyone
fromgettingtowhoeverisresponsiblefornegligence,especiallythewellguardeddirector.
AtechniciannamedVictoradvisedme,whenIsawhimworkingoncomputers,thathecould
notcommunicatewithpatrons.Anothertechnician,Javier,didspeakwithmebriefly,andtold
me the mousehighlighting function did not work on computers he had fixed because
management instructed him to disable the mousehighlighting function to prevent massive
hackingattacksonthenetwork.Iftrue,thatleavesthesystemvulnerablesincethatfunction
stillworksonmostofthecomputers.
AsfortheissuewithGooglesBlogger.com,Ididfindalibrarianwhounderstooditbecausehe
had worked for a publisher and knows very well what HTML is and how important it is to
publishing.HealsounderstoodtheissuewithAuthorsden.com.Heactuallycares,anddiligently
fillsouttheformsonthespot;unliketheladywhobelievespatronsarealwayswrong,andwho
said last week, when a computer a technician had just fixed crashed, A form must be filled
out,andthenleftthedesktodosomethingelse.
Whyfilloutforms,anyway?Nothinghappensiftheproblemisdeemedlittlenomatterhow
importantitisintermsofthelibrarysystemscorefunction.Still,wehadourhopesupwhen
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thecomputerswereshutdownlastweekformaintenance.Weweredisappointedasusual
exceptforaminorissuewithpostingatFacebook,asitethatcouldnotbeaccessedatallfor
many months after the new browser was installed, not to mention the county ethics
commissionsite.
Information technology is a core function of libraries. Yes, books are still important.
Nevertheless,thereisnoexcusefornottakingfulladvantageofGatesFoundationgrants,for
underfundingIT,andforhiringincompetentpeopleandformismanagingstaff.BillGateswould
replacethemall.
Igotintothehabitofvisitinglibrariesasakidwhenlibrarieswerefundamentaltoeducation,
whenCarnegiedevotedresourcestothatendtogivepeopleahandup,soIresentbeingtold
that library computers are for losers, for the homeless, so legitimate writers should not be
seenthere.
Librarybureaucratswhoaresickandtiredofdealingwithpatronsshouldknowthatthedisease
worksbothways.Werememberwellhownicestaffmemberswerewhentheirjobswereat
stakeduringthedownturn,andhowtaciturntheybecameagainaftertheirjobswerenolonger
totallyatriskbecausewesupportedkeepingthebranchesopen.
Theexcusesaboutunderstaffingandunderfunding,andWhatdoyouexpect,thisistheThird
World, are unacceptable and insulting. This IT issue is a sign of what is wrong with county
government at large, and an indication of what must be painfully done for its improvement.
Finally,librariansshouldknowthatthewordisnotonlymorepowerfulthantheswordsusedby
ancientChinesecalligraphersasamediumforcommunication;itismorepowerfulthanmoney
aswell.
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