Posted by Paul at August 25th, 2008
Internet sign-up software (known as Pharos) was supposed to be up and running in the library by August 11 or 12. Two weeks after that failed to happen, a post appeared on the staff blog:
We are developing a rational plan for implementation which will roll out pieces of the system in an organized fashion. This will also allow for the development of documentation before rolling out a service rather than after.
I’ve been waiting for this software for about 9 years, so naturally I was impelled to leave a comment (anonymously, of course). An unexpected comment-off ensued with the library director, which I’ve copied and pasted. Notice how she tries to remain cheerful while offering no real explanation, with just the slightest whiff of condescension. Bravo!
… and we’re just deciding to do this now because..?
Hi anonymous. Can you clarify your question? Why are we just deciding to implement Pharos altogether or implement on a few computers or roll out the system slowly or?? Thanks.
Why are we just now “developing a rational plan for implementation” when we planned to have the whole thing working 2 weeks ago?
Oh! Thanks for clarifying. As we were rolling out the software it became clear that we had two choices. One was to implement the whole thing and drive everyone (public and staff) crazy with trying to adapt to this new way of doing business. I have all of the confidence that we could have pulled it off, but it would have undoubtedly been a bumpy road. The other choice was to set up the system behind the scenes and then set up a test environment in which we could try it out, test it, make sure we know how it works and then roll it out over time in as many logical chunks as possible. We chose the second option, although I’m happy to hear (at least by implication) that people are eager to have the system rolled out. Thanks!
Just saying we might have made these decisions before the planned roll out date.
Yes, but, how does that Rod Stewart song go? “I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger. I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was stronger.” We didn’t know that we had the option to roll it out at a slower pace until we began arollin’ it. Even with the best project planning I’ve never had a project go exactly as planned. Sometimes you have to make strategic decisions along the way because it’s difficult to plan for every contingency when you are doing something brand new…since I don’t think we’ll be rolling out another whole new Pharos in my lifetime, I can’t really promise that next time will go any differently…Thanks for sharing your concerns!
Sorry to labor the point, but someone somewhere has done this before. We could have learned some things before rolling it out, rather than during. A lesson learned.
You’re right. Without question it’s been done before. As you may have heard staff visited UCLA and talked with Thousand Oaks. We had multiple conference calls with the vendor, and many meetings with IT. We developed lists of questions (some of which the vendor or IT could answer, some of which they couldn’t). But, ultimately I don’t have a crystal ball. And how someone does something somewhere else and how we do something here are really two different things. You can’t just copy and paste a solution from one library to another with a system that is this complex and which changes business practices for the public and staff so drastically. It’s not like we’re installing a soda machine. The decisions we make about how the system is rolled out here are tailored for here. The level of service that our patrons expect here is different than it is in other cities. The expectations that we have of ourselves are different. In fact, I do have to thank you for holding us to a high standard. I think that’s important.
Sure, no problem. And thanks for making my argument for me by listing the hurdles we had to overcome before installation. It’s nice to know we used some unanswered questions and an imaginary orb to plan the future, and that it’s not at all like putting in a soda machine, which apparently you just realized. The idea that there was simply no way to address our needs until the long planned for day of installation seems naive at best. I realize this is a huge undertaking, which is precisely why we had to assess our needs and how we would implement the software before we told everyone it would be up and running. See how that works? Anyway, at least we have the answers now (We do, don’t we..?). Thank goodness they finally, um, revealed themselves.
(OK, I embellished the last comment. This is PAUL RANTS, after all.)
UPDATE: Two weeks later and… still nothing.
UPDATE II: Three months later and..? Nothing.
