NEWSLETTER
April 2008
The Library management has decided that starting January
1st 2010 it will no longer supply the readership with books on tapes.
This decision has been reached in light of the latest borrowing data
showing that most readers prefer books on CD's.
This being said, we have stepped up the conversion into CD's of analogue
books that have been recorded in previous years.
The new Telebook book list will show the notice "converted from
analogue" next to books that have already been converted. Conversion
to CD will also be noted in book descriptions found on our website.
Readers who are still using tape recorders are advised to purchase an
MP3 player in order to enjoy top quality book recordings.
In the upcoming months – until January 2010 – we will be cutting down
on tape recordings.
Good news for the Tel Aviv Library readership: the Library has been equipped with a data base containing all of the library's CD books as well as a CD burner. From now on a reader coming to the Tel Aviv Library will be able to borrow any of the books in the data base. Gone are the days of "all copies are currently on loan". The requested books may be produced following a consultation with the librarian.
We are happy to announce that after years of large scale planning, software development and staff training we have upgraded our cataloguing software to an Aleph500 system. The software conversion has brought about interface changes in the Telebook, in the use of a burner (enabling the production new books on CD's), an address system and a link to the mail. This has also required us to replace our servers, routers, work stations, optical scanners, printers, etc.
Since the staff has been busy with these changes and conversions they were a bit slower in responding to readers' requests. We are presently getting acquainted with the new and upgraded systems and hope to be able to provide a better service within a few weeks.
So far the conversion has not presented us with any major problems; however we did encounter a problem in the ordering of copies from the Tel Aviv library and had to delete a list of orders which is why the readers who placed those orders did not receive the requested books.
Please be advised that the new software is still not linked to the online catalogue. This situation is being corrected presently and we hope to be online within a few weeks.
The library's director and its staff wish you all a Happy Passover!
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