Old news

New feature announcement!

In addition to the standard level tracking via checkbox, ReadingRecord can now track which prize was given, task was completed, prize drawing item the reader is interested in, etc. The way it works is each level has a drop-down list instead of a checkbox. To mark a level complete you select an item from the drop-down list.

The best way to get a feel for how this works (and if you might be interested in using it) is to experiment with the newly-updated demo site.

Setup form updated for 2019

The setup form has been updated and is ready to go for 2019.

The Colorado State Library continues their support of ReadingRecord!

In order to promote reading programs of all kinds and the use of ReadingRecord to track these programs, the Colorado State Library is continuing their sponsorship of ReadingRecord in Colorado:

• Colorado libraries WITHOUT dedicated IT staff can use ReadingRecord free of charge to track reading program participation, including 1,000 books before Kindergarten. This offer is limited to the first 20 libraries to sign-up, so get your request in soon.
• Colorado libraries WITH dedicated IT staff can get $50 off the regular price of $150/year to track reading program participation, also including 1,000 books before Kindergarten. There is no limit to the number of libraries that can take advantage of this offer.

Many thanks to Beth Crist at the Colorado State Library for continuing to support ReadingRecord!

Note: ReadingRecord is available as a hosted service to all libraries, not just those in Colorado. It has been used across the United States and Canada since 2008 to register over 947,000 readers and track more than 1.6 million completed levels for reading programs of all kinds at libraries of all sizes.

The Colorado State Library continues their support of ReadingRecord!

In order to promote reading programs of all kinds and the use of ReadingRecord to track these programs, the Colorado State Library is continuing their sponsorship of ReadingRecord in Colorado:

• Colorado libraries WITHOUT dedicated IT staff can use ReadingRecord free of charge to track reading program participation, including 1,000 books before Kindergarten. This offer is limited to the first 20 libraries to sign-up, so get your request in soon.
• Colorado libraries WITH dedicated IT staff can get $50 off the regular price of $150/year to track reading program participation, also including 1,000 books before Kindergarten. There is no limit to the number of libraries that can take advantage of this offer.

Many thanks to Beth Crist at the Colorado State Library for making this happen!

Note: ReadingRecord is available as a hosted service to all libraries, not just those in Colorado. It has been used across the United States and Canada to register over 680,000 readers and track more than 1.1 million completed levels for reading programs of all kinds at libraries of all sizes. For more information about ReadingRecord, please see the Wiki at http://www.readingrecord.net

ReadingRecord sponsored by the Colorado State Library!

In order to promote reading programs of all kinds and the use of ReadingRecord to track these programs, the Colorado State Library is sponsoring the use of ReadingRecord in Colorado.

The Westminster Public Library was the primary sponsor of ReadingRecord as it began to grow, hosting it free of charge for small libraries in the state of Colorado from 2008 thru 2015. In 2015 the Colorado State Library began sponsoring ReadingRecord for Colorado libraries. Those libraries eligible for free hosting were migrated from servers run by the WPL to servers operated by Limited North LLC, owned by Eric Sisler. The migration was transparent and remained in place until the end of 2015. In 2016 libraries in Colorado eligible for free hosting will begin using the 'readingrecord.net' domain rather than the 'readingrecord.org' domain owned by WPL. Other than this change ReadingRecord will continue to function as it has in previous years:

• Colorado libraries WITHOUT dedicated IT staff can use ReadingRecord free of charge to track reading program participation, including 1,000 books before Kindergarten. This offer is limited to the first 20 libraries to sign-up, so get your request in soon.
• Colorado libraries WITH dedicated IT staff can get $50 off the regular price of $150/year to track reading program participation, also including 1,000 books before Kindergarten. There is no limit to the number of libraries that can take advantage of this offer.

Many thanks to Beth Crist at the Colorado State Library for making this happen!

Note: ReadingRecord is available as a hosted service to all libraries, not just those in Colorado. It has been used across the United States and Canada to register over 680,000 readers and track more than 1.1 million completed levels for reading programs of all kinds at libraries of all sizes. For more information about ReadingRecord, please see the Wiki at http://www.readingrecord.net

• The 2016 setup forms have been published! Please be sure to read:
  • ReadingRecord Setup Form Instructions
  • Field Descriptions and Options

• ReadingRecord surpasses the 1 million completed levels mark! Since 2008, ReadingRecord has:
  • Registered 683,329 readers.
  • Tracked 1,179,950 completed levels.
  • See the statistics page for details.

• The 2015 setup forms have been published! Please be sure to read:
  • ReadingRecord Setup Form Instructions
  • Field Descriptions and Options

• The 2014 setup forms have been published! Please be sure to read:
  • ReadingRecord Setup Form Instructions
  • Field Descriptions and Options

• The demo sites have been updated and a Demo site info page has been created.
• The setup & customization form is being updated.

Various updates to the Wiki, including:

• Added 2013 statistics.
• Updated the Project Status page.
• Updated the Wishlist for next version page.
• Updated the main page for 2014.

From my posting to the ReadingRecord Google group about the system downtime (on 2013-06-15 at 7:54pm):

Greetings all,

ReadingRecord is up & running again! (Note: This problem affected only those sites ending in 'readingrecord.net', sites ending in 'readingrecord.org' were unaffected.)

I apologize for the downtime & the long response time on my part. I was taking a break from this week's chaos (moving & other non-fun activities) and did not check my e-mail in the morning before leaving for a bit of fun.

The issue was at the hosting providers site & not with ReadingRecord itself. Essentially a problem with their storage array (disk drives) caused some hosted sites (including RR) to essentially go into “read-only” mode. The problem has now been fixed on their end & the RR server rebooted to take it out of read-only mode. I have been using this hosting provider for over a year with no problems, so hopefully this is an isolated incident. I'll keep an eye on things for the next week or so, if additional problems occur I may begin looking for a new provider.

IMPORTANT: In the future if you have an urgent issue & don't receive a timely reply from me, please call my cell phone @ nnn-nnn-nnnn. (For obvious reasons I prefer not to post my cell #. If you didn't receive the posting to the Google group & need my number, please e-mail me.) It is almost always on, so you should be able to reach me.

Once again I apologize for the outage and thank you for you patience.

-Eric

• A new version of ReadingRecord (2013-04-04) has been released! This version includes many new features & improvements. Libraries wishing to run ReadingRecord for themselves should start with this version.
• At long last, documentation has been published!

A new version of ReadingRecord (2013-03-05) has been released! This version allows field labels to be customized.

The 2013 setup & customization forms have been ReadingRecord Setup Forms!

A new version of ReadingRecord (2013-01-28) has been released! This version allows the e-mail & barcode fields to be required. NOTE: This does NOT mean the fields are always required. Rather, when enabled (turned on), the fields can be optional or required.

The first open source release of ReadingRecord is now available!

ReadingRecord is finally open source! See the full announcement for details.

24 CO libraries have been setup and will be using ReadingRecord for 2012 Summer reading!

The following announcement was sent to the ReadingRecord Google Group:

Availability outside Colorado:

First off, a quick update on availability for libraries outside Colorado. Unfortunately I am still awaiting final approval. The matter will have to go before City Council and that won't happen in time for Summer reading this year. I know many libraries outside Colorado have been waiting patiently, I hope you can wait a bit longer.

Availability inside Colorado:

Library management has approved the hosting of ReadingRecord for libraries of all sizes in Colorado for 2011! I have updated the setup form & customization spreadsheet for 2011. If you have already started using the 2010 forms, you may continue to do so. There were only a couple of minor changes for 2011. If you have already submitted your forms, I will get your site setup soon.

Changes & improvements for 2011:

2010 was a difficult year for me personally. While I'm anticipating a better 2011, very little development has been done on ReadingRecord, so the feature set is in effect frozen for 2011. I will likely make some minor changes & improvements in order to dust off my hacking skills, but essentially RR will remain unchanged for 2011.

The RR Wiki:

I have freshened up the Wiki a bit, including adding this announcement.

Thanks for you continued support and interest in ReadingRecord!

-Eric

The first 8 sites are up & running in test mode:

• Aurora Public Library
• Berthoud Community Library District
• Cortez Public Library
• Fort Morgan Public Library
• Garfield County Libraries
• Security Public Library
• Southern Peaks Public Library (Alamosa)
• Wellington Public Library

For those of you who have been patiently awaiting word about ReadingRecord availability outside Colorado:

I and other library & city staff have been working to make this happen since June of 2009. Thus far everyone has been in favor of and enthusiastic about making it happen. That said, there are still a number of obstacles to overcome and while I am confident that it will happen, unfortunately it won't happen in time for the 2010 Summer reading season. My goal is to ensure that RR is available without any restrictions or encumbrances, it is simply taking much longer than anticipated and I want to make sure it gets done right the first time.

Those of you outside Colorado are certainly encouraged to remain subscribed to the RR Google Group as announcements about availability will be posted there. You are also welcome to continue playing with the demo sites & make suggestions for future versions of RR. I will also let you all know if there's anything you can do to help make RR available outside Colorado.

I thank you for your continued patience & support and I apologize that it has taken this long to make an announcement. I hope to have final approval by Fall or Winter of 2010, so stay tuned.

The 2010 setup forms are ready for use! At this time, Colorado libraries may begin filling them out.

The list of new features & improvements for 2010 has been (mostly) finalized & development has begun. For more detailed information, see the Project Status and Wishlist for next version pages.

Some wishlist items have been slated for 2010 & have been moved to the project status page to track their progress. Development has already started on a couple of features.

Eric wins the City of Westminster “External Customer Service Champion” award for his work on ReadingRecord! The nomination from Hollie Brosseau, WPL Teen Librarian, reads:

“Eric Sisler has created Reading Record, a web-based application for libraries to track Summer Reading Program participants and statistics. Eric joined with Douglas County in 2008 to create this program and make it freely available to libraries. In 2008 Reading Record had 14,214 registered readers who completed 27,314 reading levels with 8 participating libraries. In 2009 Reading Record increased to 52,004 registered readers; 132,359 completed reading levels; and 16 libraries! Eric updates Reading Record each year with suggestions from participating libraries. Eric also maintains a Reading Record wiki, readingrecord.org, to keep everyone informed, as well as a Google Group to correspond with members.

Eric has done an outstanding job in creating this innovative program, and has put an incredible amount of his own time and energy into this project which benefits many libraries. Eric deserves to be recognized for this much appreciated program that allows libraries to manage their Summer Reading Programs more efficiently, accurately and easily.”

Thanks Hollie!

• There will be a hands-on demo of ReadingRecord at the annual Youth Services workshop held at the College Hill Library this Friday (10/16).

• The ReadingRecord Wiki is being updated, including potential new features & improvements for 2010.

4 more sites are now live with patron self-registration:

• Southern Peaks (Alamosa)
• Mesa County Public Library District
• Pikes Peak Library District
• Elbert County Library District

Random drawing functionality is now complete! This is the last of the major 2009 wishlist items. Time permitting, I may make a few more minor changes to this year's version.

3 sites are now live with patron self-registration:

• Garfield County
• Windsor-Severance
• Wellington

Good luck & enjoy!

• Twelve libraries have now been setup & are testing their sites.
• Staff notes functionality is complete and being tested.

• Six libraries have now turned in their paperwork & their live sites are being setup.

• Two libraries have turned in their paperwork & their live sites are being setup.
• Exporting & downloading data in CSV format has now been “automated” & added to the staff menu.
• Most of the 2009 wishlist items are either finished or in testing!

The 2009 setup form & customization spreadsheet are ready to go!

Setup / customization forms are nearly ready to go. In the meantime a, Self-registration screenshots page has been added to the Wiki. The page contains screenshots of the self-registration process and a legend outlining which graphics, fields and other elements can be customized.

Changes & improvements for the 2009 version are well under way. The setup / customization forms are being revised & will be available mid- to late- February.

The list of changes & improvements for the 2009 version has been finalized. The Project Status and Wishlist for next version pages have been updated. Work has already begun on some of the changes & improvements!

A Google Group has been created to replace the Mailman-hosted list used for 2008. Everyone who was on the Mailman-hosted list has been moved to the Google Group. New members who are interested in using RR in 2009 have also been added to the group.

The list of changes & improvements for the 2009 version is being “finalized”. Once finished, the Wiki will be updated & a messages posted to the group.

Participant & completed record data for all 2008 programs has been deleted from the system. Configuration data for pilot group libraries has been retained to make setup for 2009 easier.

The ReadingRecord mailing list has been shut down, in preparation for moving it elsewhere. Current subscribers will be added to the new list once it has been setup.

Aggregate statistics for 2008 have been added to the Wiki. ReadingRecord registered over 14,000 readers and tracked over 27,000 completed levels in 2008! For more information, see the statistics page.

Most programs are wrapping up for the year. A utility to export the raw reader & completed levels (records) is now available. See the raw data exports page for details about which fields are included & how to use the data.

A bunch of new reports have been added to the staff menu over the last week or so. For more information, see the features page.

The Westminster Public Library Children's program marked their 2,500th completed level this afternoon at around 1:00. Congratulations Westminster Public Library!

The Mesa County Public Library District Children's program marked their 5,000th completed level this morning at around 8:12. Congratulations Mesa County!

The Rangeview Library District self-registration site went live today. Good luck & enjoy! All pilot group sites are now live for the 2008 Summer Reading Program season.

The Aurora Public Library self-registration site went live today. Good luck & enjoy!

The Bemis Public Library & Longmont Public Library self-registration sites went live today. Good luck & enjoy!

The Westminster Public Library self-registration site went live today. Good luck & enjoy!

The Wellington Public Library District self-registration site went live today. Good luck & enjoy!

The Elberty County Library District & Mesa County Public Library District self-registration sites went live today. Good luck & enjoy!

Pilot group sites are live! Program start & end dates have been set & test data has been cleared. Self-registration will begin soon! I hope you all enjoy using ReadingRecord this year, and that your patrons enjoy it as well! Thanks for being part of the RR pilot project!

Seven of the eight pilot group sites are now live & being tested. On May 15th actual program start & end dates will be put in place, disabling self-registration until the correct date. The reader and completed level tables will also be cleared of all data created by pilot group members while testing their sites.

Katie is testing some changes & improvements made to the staff menu. If all goes well, these changes will be rolled out to the live environment early next week.

The first live site is up & running! The Mesa County Public Library District completed the forms for their Children's program, which is now live. Additional forms have been received, more sites will go live this week.

Most of the staff core functionality has been written & will be availble for testing shortly.

A mailing list has been setup to foster communication. More information about the list can be found here.

An announcement about the project was sent to Libnet.

The ReadingRecord Wiki is ready for use!