Santhigiri College, Thodupuzha chooses Me for Koha Support

I am happy to announce that Santhigiri College, Vazhithala, Thodupuzha has chosen me for the cloud-hosted koha support provider. The entire legacy data from SOUL was migrated over to Koha ILS.

About the Library

Santhigiri library consists of a large number of books on Information Technology, Social Work, Management, Psychology, Religion, Accountancy, and general themes. Our library also has several international and national journals, magazines, newspapers, and CDs. Internet connection in the library enables the students to have online access to global resources. The library is open from 8.30 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.

The OPAC is available at https://library.santhigiricollege.com/

An Open-source Invoicing Application for Freelancers/SMBs

The crater is an open-source self-hosted invoicing application based on the Laravel PHP framework targeting individual users or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Crater Features
  • Invoice: Create and send invoices to clients
  • Estimate: make an estimate or offer a price
  • Track Payment: tracking transactions and payments
  • Expenses: record and track expenses
  • Reports: make a billing report
  • Taxes: set the type of tax
  • Mobile App: Android and iOS mobile versions available
Environment
  • OS: Debian 11/Ubuntu 20.04
  • Web Server: Apache
  • PHP: 7.4
  • Database: MariaDB 10.3
  • Subdomain: crater.opensio.co.in
  • SSL: Let’s Encrypt
  • Crater: v5.0.6
Install LAMP Stack

sudo apt install -y apache2 mariadb-server libapache2-mod-php php-common php-bcmath php-mbstring php-mysql php-tokenizer php-zip php-curl

Securing MariaDB installation.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Restart apache.

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Download Crater

Download Crater on craterapp.com/downloads.

sudo wget https://craterapp.com/downloads/file/5.0.6 -O crater.zip

Unzip crater.zip

sudo apt install -y unzip && sudo unzip crater.zip

Move the crater folder.

sudo mv crater /var/www/html/

Change the ownership and permissions of the folder.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/crater/
sudo chmod 775 /var/www/html/crater/storage/framework
sudo chmod 775 /var/www/html/crater/storage/logs
sudo chmod 775 /var/www/html/crater/bootstrap/cache

Create virtual hosts file.

sudo vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/crater.conf

Enter the virtual host configuration.

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName crater.opensio.co.in
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/crater/public
<Directory /var/www/html/crater/public>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/crater_error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/crater_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Activate the rewrite module, virtual host, and restart the apache web server.

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2ensite crater.conf
sudo systemctl reload apache2 && sudo systemctl restart apache2

Create database.

sudo mysql
create database crater;
create user ‘crater’@’localhost’ identified by ‘crater123’;
grant all privileges on crater.* to ‘crater’@’localhost’;
flush privileges;
exit

Install SSL using certbot.

sudo apt install python3-certbot-apache -y

SSL request for subdomain crater.opensio.co.in

sudo certbot –non-interactive -m info@opensio.co.in –agree-tos –no-eff-email –apache -d crater.opensio.co.in –redirect

Installation Wizard

Browse to the subdomain (crater.opensio.co.in)used for the installation wizard.

Click Check Requirements to check if the server meets the requirements to run Crater.

Crater System Requirements

If it meets the requirements click Continue.

PHP extensions

Checking directory permissions. Continue.

Directory Permissions

Configure Site URL and database. Enter the database name, username, and password that was created previously. Save & Continue.

Database Connection

Domain verification. Verify Now.

Domain Verification

Mail configuration, enter the name and email address as the identity of the email sender. Save.

Mail Configuration

Account information, enter your name, email, and password. Save & Continue.

Account Information

Company information, enter company name and country. Save & Continue.

Company Information

Company preferences, select currency (cannot be changed later), date format, and time zone. Save & Continue.

Company Preferences

Install Crater complete.

Reference: https://docs.craterapp.com/

7 Reasons Why Blogs are Important in Library and Information Service

As the world’s information continues to grow at an exponential rate, it’s becoming more and more important to have library and information service providers that understand the changing times. With the advent of blogs, information professionals can reach out to their patrons in new ways while also sharing their own expertise with the world. These are seven reasons why blogs are important in library and information services.

1) Blogging is cheap

A great advantage of blogs is that they’re free to set up and maintain. If you have a bit of technical savvy, you can create a WordPress site for free. (Incidentally, if you don’t have technical savvy, there are plenty of platforms that offer easy blogging tools.) Some other platforms (such as Tumblr) do have sign-up fees, but generally, it’s possible to get started for free on any platform.

2) Blogging is fast

The great thing about blogs is that you can create one pretty much instantly, whereas a regular website takes months to put together. This speediness makes blogging ideal for communicating with readers quickly. In fact, thanks to RSS feeds, bloggers can post information almost immediately—as soon as it’s ready—and their audience receives those updates automatically.

3) Blogging generates discussions

Not only do readers get a chance to interact with you (the author) directly, but also they can also participate in discussion forums that involve other bloggers. For example, if you’re writing about open access or copyright reform, it might be worthwhile to provide a link to relevant discussions happening elsewhere on your weblog. Additionally, you may inspire others to start their own blogs – and your posts will become a jumping-off point for conversations about blogging as well as any subject(s) that interest you.

4) Blogging improves search engine ranking

A library’s presence on search engines can be improved through regular blogging. This is because, even if you do not add new content to your site, search engines crawl it regularly to see if anything has changed. If they find fresh content on your website—in a word, a new post—they will move you up in their rankings.

5) Blogging promotes content marketing

A library’s main goal is to share knowledge. But marketing is an important part of any business, including libraries. Library blogs help a library engage with customers, spread its mission, and encourage interaction. While there are many online platforms for content marketing, blogging has become one of the most popular ways for businesses to get their name out there. Every post you publish can be another step toward building your brand presence on social media—and leading more visitors to your website!

6) Blogging keeps records of your activities

There’s no better way to keep a record of what you’ve done, what you’ve achieved, how you did it—and, more importantly, how people feel about it. By creating a library- or information-oriented blog that publishes frequently (at least once per week), library workers can organize their thoughts on any subject or activity in one place for easy access. You may even attract local patrons who stop by just to read your updates—which isn’t bad for marketing!

7) Blogging creates awareness about your services

Some libraries use their blogs to make people aware of library-service changes. People who read your library’s blog might learn about a new service, or how to access an existing one, that they didn’t know existed. This may prompt them to visit your library. Some blogs feature posts that directly inform readers of upcoming events or services.

Conclusion

In today’s connected, digital world, it’s more important than ever for libraries to stay at the forefront of trends. The power of a library is inherent in its ability to bring people together—both inside and outside of its walls. And blogs can be powerful tools for facilitating these connections. Read on to learn more about how you can incorporate blogging into your library or information service department with ease.

What the Heck is Agile Librarianship?

Agile librarianship, in short, can be defined as the ability to quickly and effectively adapt to changes in your environment and the digital world has made the change a constant component of all of our lives. This guide will help you learn how to apply agile principles to your everyday life and become an agile librarian to stay on top of the ever-changing technologies that affect libraries the most.

Agile Librarianship Overview

Web 2.0 is quickly giving way to Web 3.0, which will alter how we use technology, what we expect from our online experiences, and how libraries as institutions must react and adapt to serve their constituencies. As a librarian, you may be ready for the change in your current position but maybe aren’t sure how to start looking for that new position that takes advantage of these shifts in technology and culture. Perhaps you are just thinking about starting a career in library science or have just graduated with an MLISc degree and want to get your feet wet before plunging into professional services? No matter what stage of life or career you are at, there are certain skills every agile librarian needs: communication, collaboration, project management; analysis, execution; research methods; organization and time management; ability to learn new technologies quickly; web design skills; IT expertise.

Challenges and Opportunities

The library profession is changing, like many other professions and industries. In fact, some even call it a revolution, pointing to a new era of library 2.0 which has taken us from card catalogs to digital catalogs and now pushes us toward e-books and e-learning modules. What’s next? I asked myself that question, when I became familiar with a movement called Web 3.0 – the web as an application platform that can support everything from apps running on smartphones or embedded systems all the way up to rich client desktop apps and beyond. Like Web 2.0, Web 3.0 holds great promise for libraries if we play our cards right; thus we need an agile librarian who is not afraid of change but knows how to handle it wisely.

Practical Tips for Implementing Agile Librarianship

A real-world implementation of agile practices can be done on a small scale, with an individual project, or with an entire library system; however, it’s important to figure out how to make your local library work for you before going through with any kind of transition. Here are some practical tips for implementing agile librarianship within your workplace –

Establish buy-in: Involve stakeholders (e.g., departmental leads, staff, directors) early and often so that they understand why change is needed and feel empowered by proposed changes rather than threatened by them.

Create a charter for transitioning to agile: Determine where you want to go and how you want to get there—then formalize these milestones into a roadmap that everyone understands and agrees with!

Getting started is the hardest part of any project, but having a clear direction from start to finish can really help create momentum once things begin rolling.

Get training: Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, different books or online courses may give you a good grasp of basic processes for becoming more agile – many readers have suggested The Scrum Field Guide as a starting point, but there are certainly other resources out there depending on what type of functionality you need at your disposal.

Conclusion

When it comes to staffing your library, there’s a lot to think about, and you probably don’t have time for agile librarianship, information architecture, or user experience design. However, if you want to catch your library up with other libraries that are successfully making use of these techniques on their websites, then now is the time to hire someone with those skills who can do some of those tasks while they work under your direction and supervision; again, that person might be you!

Importing contacts into Google contacts

After each workshop/seminar/program, I do receive many contacts, creating one by one on my phone is a little bit difficult task. In order to bypass this, I will just download the details of the participants from the Google form (which the participants used to register) as a CSV file and make whatever modifications are required and upload it to my Google account.

Google contacts being a user-friendly and free contact management service by the Google LCC, it is used widely across the globe for both personal and business usage. Many times, contacts or phone numbers play an important role in one’s life. Moreover, users do not want to lose them in any way due to any technical or human errors in the future. Hence, it is important to backup or create another copy to some reliable platform like Google Contacts. Apart from that, a user can upload phone numbers from Excel/CSV to Google contacts in several ways. The following is one way we can import contacts into Google Contacts. You can also upload all current contacts directly from your android phone to your google contacts as well.

Using canva for various library purposes

There are so many creative ways to share all the great things happening in your library. Canva is one tool that makes it easy to design promotional materials that are beautiful and professional. The following video will give you the basics of Canva, and how you can start using it immediately to produce amazing documents for your library website/blog, social media, and other communications.

Not all librarians wouldn’t be experts in any photo editing and manipulation software like Adobe Photoshop or GIMP, in the scenario, CANVA can be the best free and easy-to-use website/platform for creating beautiful library marketing and event promotion documents.

Personally, I do use canva for creating featured images for my blogpost for a long time.

What Is CANVA

Canva is a browser-based design tool that makes it easy to create great images/photos/videos. There’s also an exclusive handy mobile app for canva. All you want is just create a free account in canva.com with your’s/library’s email. the free personal plan is enough for our purposes.

Benefits of Canva:
  • Pre-sized social media images.
  • Designer-type templates get your graphics started.
  • Lots of size and shape options.
  • Search for stock images and pay a small fee to use – or use the free stuff.
  • Save your images to edit or download later.
  • Easy to make multiple, similar graphics from a template.
With a free Canva plan you can:
  • Import images you have the right to use and add them to designs
  • Use their free elements, stock photos, and fonts
  • Export in a range of file types including PDF and JPEG
  • Create custom dimension graphics
  • Share view or edit access with your team
Getting started

Video courtesy: Natalia Kalinska

Reference: https://youtu.be/un50Bs4BvZ8

Using UpdraftPlus plugin for WordPress backup

Backing up our WordPress website is not a tedious task nowadays, several easy methods are there to backup, You can have your website backup either manually using any control panel of your server or setting up a bash script, or even using the WordPress plugins. Via plugin is the easiest and apt way for nontechies.

In the following video, I demonstrate how to install a wonderful plugin “UpdraftPlus”, configure, and how to schedule auto backup to Google Drive cloud storage, apart from Google Drive, UpdraftPlus offers you to sync with Amazon S3, Dropbox, Rackspace, Microsoft OneDrive, etc

The skills every library professional should have

In order to deliver exemplary service to patrons, library professionals must have both knowledge of specific library services as well as of general professional skills that make them strong leaders and communicators, capable of helping library staff to improve their own performance and providing excellent customer service to everyone who visits the library. In this article, we will look at some of the most important skills that every library professional should have in order to excel in the workplace and be able to help others do the same.

Learn how to communicate

All library jobs require excellent communication skills, so make sure you’re comfortable communicating in writing, verbally, and electronically. This is especially important because working in a library means communicating with people from all over the world. Learning how to use programs like Skype, Google Hangouts and other video conferencing software will prepare you for job opportunities that may involve remote employees and meetings. Personal Improvements: Learning new software is an ongoing process for all librarians—whether you’re just getting started or an experienced professional.

Learn how to learn

Many librarians can easily rattle off a list of software and web tools they use on a daily basis: social media management programs, citation management systems, library catalogs, and reservation systems. Personal improvements are another familiar category of knowledge—librarians are well aware that continued education is necessary to keep their knowledge base up-to-date. But there’s another set of skills that many libraries don’t explicitly teach: personal improvement skills.

Learn how to contribute

Like any profession, there’s a range of software skills you’ll need to do your job well. If you don’t know how to code or use technical tools like Adobe Creative Suite or Survey Monkey, learn them. You won’t be behind for long. As more libraries are starting to integrate digital and physical spaces, digital technology will become a crucial part of public service—and your responsibilities as a librarian will expand because of it.

Update your computer skills

Whether you’re an IT pro or just a library employee who spends hours each day on your computer, you should always make it a point to update your software and learn about current trends in technology. Software changes rapidly, so you might not be aware of how outdated your current knowledge is until it comes time to make a change. Keeping up-to-date on new technologies helps ensure that when anything breaks down, you know exactly what to do to fix it or help others with issues.

Update your software skill

Technology may change rapidly in other fields, but when it comes to libraries, what you’ll be doing next year will probably be much like what you do today. That is why keeping your software skills up-to-date is one of your most important responsibilities as a librarian. Stay current with new programs by learning how to use them yourself or by searching for webinars and tutorials. Ask colleagues for tips and advice, too—most library employees are eager to share their expertise with others.

All the WordPress plugins that I use!

WordPress Plugins are PHP scripts that extend the functionality of WordPress. They enhance the features of WordPress or add entirely new features to your site. Plugins are often developed by volunteers and are usually free to the public. Plugins are available via the WordPress Plugin Directory. All you want is just go to WordPress dashboard –> Plugins –> Add New –> search plugins from “Search Plugins” Searchbar click install then Activate the plugin

Here  are the WP plugins that I use

Akismet Anti-Spam

Akismet is quite possibly the best way in the world to protect your blog from spam

Classic Editor and Classic Widgets

This plugin disables Gutenberg editor totally everywhere and enables Classic Editor & Classic Widgets. Once activated, this plugin hides all functionality available in the new Gutenberg block editor. Also, you will be able to use old-style Classic Widgets under Appearance > Widgets and Appearance > Customize > Widgets. There is no need to set up any configuration.

Click to Chat

This plugin makes your Web page visitors contact you through WhatsApp with a single click/tap

Easy Table of Contents

Adds a user-friendly and fully automatic way to create and display a table of contents generated from the page content.

Image and video gallery from Google Drive

A WordPress gallery using Google Drive as file storage

Jetpack

WordPress security, performance, marketing, and design tools — Jetpack is made by WordPress experts to make WP sites safer and faster, and help you grow your traffic.

Yoast SEO

Yoast’s mission is SEO for Everyone. Our plugin’s users range from the bakery around the corner to some of the most popular sites on the planet. Yoast SEO Free contains everything that you need to manage your SEO

UpdraftPlus

A most wanted plugin, (I have already set up an auto backup of my WP files and database using a script) UpdraftPlus simplifies backups and restoration. Backup into the cloud directly to Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3

Ninja Forms

Ninja Forms is a web form builder with unparalleled ease of use and features.

SlideShare

A plugin for WordPress to easily display slideshare.net presentations.

TablePress

Embed beautiful and feature-rich tables into your posts and pages, without having to write code.

WP Mail SMTP

For making email deliverability easy for WordPress

WP Popups Lite

Beginner-friendly WordPress popup builder plugin.

Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking

Secure Copy Content Protection is a plugin aimed at protecting web content from being plagiarized.

NB: Plugins can only be installed and used if you either self-host your WordPress or use a WordPress.com Business Plan

Reference: https://wordpress.org/support/article/managing-plugins/