[Imc] equipment

[Paul Kotheimer]

hi all

a few developments i have to report, of which y'all might want to know:

Jay Morris and i worked together to list all the potentially loanable
items in the production room cabinet.  jay e-mailed that list to Maiko,
who said she would be willing to turn the list into a production equipment
reservation and check-out database. 

nobody has been using the current SERGEI-based equipment check-out system
which i designed to serve as an interim system until Maiko has a chance to
work her magic in computer-land.

what we could use is a simple paper-based system (a quarter-sheet sized
pad of equipment check-out sheets for example) for check out, coupled with
a routine whereby staffers regularly enter info from equipment check-out
sheets into Maiko's database.  

this design would account for the fact that many people won't have time to
power up a computer just to do an equipment check-out, and would still
allow organizers and producers to ask a computer a question like (for
example) "where is minidisc recorder #2?" and get lucy's contact info as
part of the answer, along with the estimated return date, and other
reservations on the item. aside from the data-entry time delay--which has
been proven inevitable by the real-world field-tested absolute-zero use of
the current paperless system--the computer would (in theory) answer
correctly.

what needs to be done for this system to be complete?

1.  design and duplicate the "quarter-sheet" equip check out form. 
2.  train borrowers to use it ALWAYS 
3.  complete and implement Maiko's database design 
4.  train staff to enter data from quarter-sheets to database 
5.  co-ordinate in-advance, from-anywhere online equipment
reservation with on-site-only, paper-based, spur-of-the-moment checkout.

this could be a nightmare, but what the heck?  it can't be too much worse
than what we have now.

that's my status report.  i'll check in with Jay and Maiko as soon as i
can about progressing toward a finished system.

P.S. what working group does this fall under?  i see it as somewhere in
between news, tech, and space.

solidarity,
paulko:)theimer
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THE HAND-MADE RECORD LABEL 
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