Two Provincial Ministers, Ernie Hardeman Minister of Agriculture and Helen Johns Minister of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation, were on hand October 16, 2000 to help celebrate the expansion and renaming of Oxford Center Library, the official opening of the Gates Foundation Funded Computer Corner and the launch of Ontario Library Week. The library was greatly expanded with the help of community volunteers, Township of Norwich and Oxford County Library. The new computer center was made possible by a grant from the Gates Library Initiative through The Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation.

The Gates Foundation realizes that there is a big gap between those who have access to technology and those who do not. With the advent of the Internet, which is becoming a fundamental tool for learning, it is critically important that technology is available to everyone.

The local library has always played an important role in providing free information to the local communities. Some rural and urban libraries lack the financial resources necessary to offer widespread public access. Gates Foundation funding has provided access to four new computers, software, a laser printer and a server. The library will now play a pivotal role in helping patrons to use computers and navigate the Internet.

From Left to Right: Ernie Hardeman (Oxford MPP and Minister of Argiculture, Food and Rural Affairs), Honorable Helen Johns (Minister of Citizenship, Culture & Recreation), Sam Coughlan (Chief Librarian, Oxford County Library), Bill Semeniuk (Chair, Oxford County Library) and Mare Brown (Director of Corporate Services & Library)

New Faces at IAO Thanks to the On-Site Program

Dial-Up Network Training and Support

Rob Garon is working along with Network Administrators in the setup and implementation of a new network dial-up service. With this new service staff and politicians can get secure remote access to the county’s network system. Rob will make sure that there is a high level of support during the first few months. Presently there are about 30 users with the possibility of adding more in the future. He has also created training and documentation manuals. Rob is A+ Certified, has his MCSE and is enjoying his new career in computers. He is also a licensed Machinist and Tool and Die Maker in which he has been employed at for the last 10 years. Rob, his wife and daughter are from Tillsonburg.

Technical Writer

Tony Peachy is working with Network Administrators to assist in creating a County IT Operations and Procedures Manual. In order to help the technical staff to resolve problems in a consistent manner there is a need to have tasks documented. By standardizing the way applications and devices are implemented the IT department will be able to provide an improved service to COIN users and increase the functionality of the network. Tony will be visiting each department to find out exactly what they use and start the documentation process. Tony is from London and his work experience includes working with KPMG doing documentation for their head offices across Canada. He attended the University of Toronto and studied computer and philosophy. In his spare time he plays guitar and practices Kung Fu.

Web Page Programmers

The County of Oxford is currently expanding the various web sites that it has created. They are also undertaking a number of new initiatives including updating current pages and creating new ones. With the increase in the workload and to help the IT Department launch these new initiatives in a timely manner two additional Web Page Programmers have been added. These will act as liaison between Network Administrators and various department and municipal staff and community organizations who have web content hosted on the county web servers. They will also assist local staff to maintain their own pages.

John Crane

John is from London and has a wide area of experience in working with web design. Along with a diploma in Web Design and Digital Imaging from Fanshawe College, he worked in web design with the company Designing the Web. As a part-time instructor at Fanshawe he is familiar with various web design applications such as Dreamweaver and Fireworks. John is concentrating on the graphics for the Norwich, OCL and new County sites.

Jake Guenther

Jake discovered programming as a hobby in 1982 but found that as a truck driver there was not much time for studying. He became reaquainted with programming in 1992 by working in computer sales and service and when the opportunity became available he went back to college full time. His main focus is database and Internet. He is an IT Programmer Specialist and is A+ Certified. Jake grew up in theTillsonburg area.

CAP STUDENTS FOR THE SUMMER OF 2000

Following grant approval for the Community Access Program, Oxford County Library hired 14 CAP youth to work for the summer at various locations throughout the county. Jessica Coffey was acting Peer Supervisor with George Stock the Service Canada Coordinator.

The students had a wide variety of duties over the course of the summer. They provided computer training to the public, with the intent of encouraging computer and Internet use in the local communities. They also did Web development, library programming and provided technical support at the libraries. Each one has written four”Lost in Cyberspace” articles for the Woodstock Sentinel Review, scheduled, coordinated and promoted a variety of summer library programs.

The students were divided into groups each one with a different focus. The Business team covered such topics as shopping on the Internet, payments and security issues involved with doing commerce on the net. The Embro Library held a Youth Program that included an art program and held jam sessions for teens. The Women’s Team helped patrons create a recipe book that they searched for on-line and then created hard copies. The Web team created web pages and also helped people to understand HTML language. A Service Canada brochure that is available at the library was also created by CAP youth.

Womens Team

 

Seniors Team

Embracing new technology can be a challenge that requires determination and dedication. The Councillors in Zorra Township have shown that they are willing to put forth what it takes to become familiar with and adopt new technology. In May, the Councillors took part in training sessions with Kathryn McCulloch to become familiar with laptops, e-mail and office applications. For the majority of Councillors this was totally unique to them. In the short time since the May training sessions, they have gone from no experience with laptops to being lost when they had to go without them for a few days.

Technology is meant to make information more accessible and the Councillors of Zorra Township have found this with the Zorra web page. One of the benefits is having the Council minutes on the Web. It used to be that the Councillors would get the minutes the Friday before the Tuesday meeting, but now that they are posted on the Web, they are available, at least, up to a week before the meeting.

The Zorra Web page is updated regularly as different things happen in the community. With the election coming up there is a link on the page to obtain information on the election, candidates, voter registration/eligibility etc. The Council meetings, past and present, agendas, what’s new in the community and Oxford County, along with other links, help to keep everyone informed.

Zorra Councillors have joined COIN on the new Dial-Up service that it provides. Don commented on the fact that there were relatively few obstacles to be faced with Dial-Up. As with all technology, the farther away you live from a centre the slower your connection can become. One of the Councillors that live in an outlying area found that PDF files took a significant amount of time to download. The challenge was met by changing the files into HTML format, which download much faster.

Don is pleased with the response of all of his staff to the changes that have taken place, with regards to new technology. At the time of this article everyone was very busy with the election, but when things settle down the Township is going to work on a digital filing system. They are also working on an Intranet to improve on the internal calendar that they are already sharing. If you would like more information go to www.zorra.on.ca

Don MacLeod, Clerk Administrator of the Township of Zorra

Open Lines
Published six times per year by
IAO
Information Access Oxford

IAO Manager John Moore

jmoore@ocl.net

Editor Marian Klenk

mklenk@ocl.net