Now that we’ve had that CheckOut program running for a few months, I thought it time to evaluate its use.

7 or 8 people have been using it relatively frequently and keeping it relatively current.
About 10 have used it sporadically, and not in a while.
The rest (6 or 7) have not really used it at all.

The primary reason for using the program at all has been to let other
people know if you’re going to be out for a while, whether that’s days
(like Brad saying he’ll be on vacation until next Monday) or hours
(like Sheri saying she’s at a recital until 4:00). Six of our staff
members (including the Reference Desk) have been using an Instant
Messenger program, which, besides making it easy to ask quick questions
of co-workers, allows “Away Messages” to show if you’re out for a
while. They even come up automatically if you just leave your computer
for a few minutes.

If you just forget to go into CheckOut and update your status, it has
been suggested to me that I explain how to put CheckOut in your Startup
folder, so it will automatically start when you start Windows. Then you
could easily “check in” and close it. There is a shortcut in Library on
Ben (the G: drive for most of you). You can copy that shortcut and
paste it into your Startup folder (C:\Documents and
Settings\yourusername\Start Menu\Programs\Startup). If you’ve already
copied the shortcut to your desktop (I know many of you have), you can
just copy/paste (or click/drag) it to your Startup folder as in the
picture below. You can also get to your Startup folder by
right-clicking your Taskbar, selecting Properties, then the Advanced
tab and Advanced button.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
• 

Comments are closed