Elected officials and library administrators gathered at the Kings Bay branch of the Brooklyn Public Library last Friday to celebrate the launch of a new laptop loaner program.
The program kicked off in Brooklyn Public Library branches in Kings Bay (3650 Nostrand Avenue) and Kings Highway (2215 Ocean Avenue), where 18 brand new laptops and charging carts are now available thanks to $50,000 in funding allocated by Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein.
“Whether you’re a student using the internet as a research aid or a senior citizen wanting to know your rights, this program will have a positive impact on all library patrons,” said Weinstein in a press release.
The laptops will help busy branches like Kings Bay by allowing people to use the laptops for two hours anywhere in the building – a departure from the policy for current desktop computers, which can only be used for 30 minutes.
Now… we’re on our way over to make sure every browser’s homepage is set to Sheepshead Bites.
The new BPL computer checkouts, equipped with shoulder-mounted laser scanner. Caution: Keep away from lighting.
The Homecrest branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (2525 Coney Island Avenue) is debuting new self-checkout service, enabling patrons to check out, renew and return books without the hassle of a face-to-face encounter.
Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, Brooklyn Public Library President and CEO Linda E. Johnson, as well as other community members and Brooklyn Public Library staff, will be celebrating the initiation of these machines at the library tomorrow, July 24, at 3 p.m.
The Brooklyn delegation of the State Assembly, of which Cymbrowitz is a member, helped acquire a Community Capital Assistant Program grant of $2 million for the Brooklyn Public Library’s self-checkout machines.
Self-checkout machines have already been installed in other local libraries, including the Kings Bay library branch (3650 Nostrand Avenue), and the Bay Ridge library branch.
According to BPL, this technologically advanced service helps library visitors borrow and return books and other items more quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, instead of assisting visitors with checkout and return, the library staff can now spend more time lending a hand to those researching or searching for specific works.
Kingsborough Community College nabbed first place in the seventh annual Digital Community Colleges Survey, a roundup of the best two-year colleges using information and technology to service students, faculty and the community.
The survey, conducted by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Education and Converge Online, put Kingsborough first in the Large Colleges category, marked by schools with 10,000 students or more. Kingsborough beat out other schools like Montgomery County Community College, Northern Virginia Community, and Queens’ LaGuardia Community College.
“As community college enrollments continue to increase, school leaders are incorporating new technologies to enhance student services and improve course curriculum,” said Cathilea Robinett, executive vice president of the Center for Digital Education, in a Newsday article.
The survey looked into how technology integrates into college curriculums, campus life, online admissions processes, online courses, online tutoring and advisory services, student and faculty training, and the use of mobile devices, which was a key indicator of success.
“Expanded distance learning offerings, use of mobile devices, and greater collaboration – among other efforts – demonstrate these winners’ drive to provide students with a high-quality education at a lower cost,” Robinett said.
Remember Vitaly Borker, Sheepshead Bay’s biggest cyberbully? This digital thug went around pissing off his clients to spur them into writing negative comments on websites across the net. The result? More Google love.
Until now.
Following the New York Times expose of Borker, Google announced that it has refined the algorithm – the mathematical calculations its software uses to order search results – to ensure that “being bad to your customers is bad for business.”
We were horrified to read about Ms. Rodriguez’s dreadful experience. Even though our initial analysis pointed to this being an edge case and not a widespread problem in our search results, we immediately convened a team that looked carefully at the issue. That team developed an initial algorithmic solution, implemented it, and the solution is already live. I am here to tell you that being bad is, and hopefully will always be, bad for business in Google’s search results.
They added that the new algorithm “detects the merchant from the Times article along with hundreds of other merchants that, in our opinion, provide an extremely poor user experience.”
So the whole world owes Borker a great big thank you for helping to improve one of the most used informational tools in human history. Another Sheepshead Bay hero, I say…
