Techwire: What does a normal day look like for you?
Michael Martinez: I’m not sure I have a “normal day,” as it seems that each day is often different. First thing I always do is check my email to make sure there are no alerts for resources that are down or for any other urgent messages. Each morning I try to check in with staff just to see how things are and if they need anything. After that, things often are always quite different. I usually have a meeting or two to attend sometime throughout the day. Being a part of a small department, I often have to jump in and help troubleshoot or attempt to resolve any technological issues the State Library may be currently facing.
TW: What are your goals for the library?
MM: One goal for the library is improving the ability to remotely search, read and use library resources. As the oldest continuously operated public library in the American West, the California State Library is committed to providing our patrons around the state and across the Internet with access to the materials in our collections. We are increasingly seeing our patrons come to us online. To meet that growing need, the State Library is continuing to explore new ways to share our collections. California has long been a center of IT innovation, and Californians expect easy and fast access to our more than 4 million titles, 6,000 maps, and hundreds of thousands of photographs. To improve searchability, we chose Alma and Rosetta as our asset management system because these platforms will help us to continue to provide the high quality of service our customers expect, wherever in the world they are.
TW: What tech projects are you most excited about working on in the next year?
MM: The tech project we are most excited about would be the upcoming upgrade of our asset management system. We have been working on this project for the past couple of years. From hiring a consultant to look at our current system and recommend a new system, to securing the funds for the upgrade and finally getting a contract in place, we have been working on this for a while now. As it turned out, the best solution for the State Library was to upgrade the current system to the latest cloud product (Alma) from Ex Libris and accompany it with two complementary products, Primo and Rosetta. We are now starting down the path of the actual upgrade to the new system. The upgraded system will be cloud based, include robust preservation features, and will include a federated searching tool, which will be a huge benefit to our patrons. With this tool, patrons will be able to run a search from a single interface to query our vast collections and subscriptions, all at once. In our current environment, a user might have to run five to 10 searches to get the same results.
TW: What is one technology you would like to see changed during your time at the Library?
MM: Improving the grant application process. Each year, the library receives millions from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Through the Grants to States Program, IMLS provides funding for California’s libraries from the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), administered in California by the State Librarian. The funds are used to provide financial support for service improvements; to facilitate access to, and sharing of, resources and services between libraries and between libraries and partner institutions; and to achieve economical and effective delivery of services for the purpose of cultivating an educated and informed citizenry.
The current application process for libraries is, for the most part, a manual process using word processing documents. We would like to see the whole process, from the application all the way through the reporting stages to be done online, in one system.
TW: What are you reading right now?
MM: The last book I read was last night, The Berenstain Bears: We Love Soccer. I read the Berenstain Bears to my kids just about every night.
TW: Do you, your staff or patrons still use the Dewey Decimal system?
MM: We primarily us the Library of Congress system, but we still use the Dewey Decimal system for filing some of our older collections.
TW: What tech vendors has the library worked with in the past?
MM: Most of the vendors we work with are included in the mandatory statewide contracts, but some others for our library specific systems include:
Also, whenever possible, we try to use certified California Small and/or Disabled Veteran businesses.
TW: How has the library used tech to better handle customer requests/needs?
MM: A few things we have done include:
- Implemented an online library card application
- Implemented an online system for patrons to ask reference or research questions where State Library staff can easily allocate, track and answer these questions.
- Implemented an online system where job applicants can take examinations for the Librarian classification series.
