After many failed attempts to contact libraries using Drupal and a day on the ground where I was able actually call somebody during business hours, I finally was able to snag a Library Director of a small town library in Ohio. Since I could tell that she wasn't thrilled at the interruption in her day by my call, I decided to keep the interview short and to the basics. Thank you Carole for deciding to assist this poor Librarian Student!!!
Coldwater Public Library:
Coldwater, Ohio
Carole, Library Director
1. What is their background (education and experience)?Small local library, under 5000 people, country town. Spoke with Carole who was the director of the library who had worked as a librarian for many years.
2. What is their level of technological skill?Average
3. How and where did they hear about Drupal?Oplin: Ohio Public Library Information Network, which is a state organization that oversees almost all of Ohio’s libraries, offered this software program to the state’s libraries for a nominal fee. Oplin does the heavy maintenance of the site doing more general updates such as installing new icons with updated links and relevant information for libraries users as a whole. They do this every other month. Carole, the director and one other lady at the library maintain the site with stuff that pertains to their library such as updating current events, upcoming events, activities, book reviews and things of that nature which they do once a month.
4. What were their motivations to adopt Drupal for its current use (library website or any other purpose).They have been using this system for about a year. The website they had before was very barebones that mostly just connected with the regional catalog. When they learned that Oplin offered this program that provided the full benefits but only required them to maintain the things that were relevant to them and their local community they saw it as a chance to upgrade.
5. What were their decision making criteria? Kind of answered that in question four. They didn’t really consider any other CMS. They are a small library, so because they have the support of Oplin they were able to have the full benefits of the system without all the heavy work.
6. What are the important benefits or advantages of Drupal over the old system or another CMS system they've used in the past.?Again they had no CMS system in the past just an outdated, barebones website and this allowed them to update their website.
7. How was the learning curve?Carole, the director and one other lady took about a 2 hour training session offered by Oplin where they were given a brief sheet with tips and update information on using the software. They then emailed back and forth for about 3 or 4 months with Oplin whenever they had technical questions.
8. Would they recommend Drupal to other libraries?Sure.
Assignments where you interview a professional in your current field of study are always interesting and full of insight. However, with a schedule like mine and the hectic schedules of others, it is often hard to rely on the kindness of others to be able to complete your work.
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