Introducing the New Club Library!

[John.Devonshire]

John, I use both Chrome and Safari. Is it possible to get those browsers connected? No pressure.
Please and thanks
Ed

Ed, I've checked and it works on Chrome and Safari as well!

[Victor.Abraham]

Congrats!!!! Jane is the first official patron of the new digital library!!! She reserved an eyepiece a few days ago and we made the exchange yesterday.

I encourage everyone to go in and see what we've got. If you want to try a piece out please put it on hold and I will receive a notification at which point I'll reach out and we can make arrangements for pick-up.

The rules, as I understood them, were that items could be borrowed for up to 30 days. I've made an executive decision to extend that to 60 days, to allow borrowers to fully enjoy the equipment. Given that we've had less than ideal viewing conditions this year, it seems fair to extend the time allowed. If no other requests come through for a particular item then the time can be extended.

Also coming soon... As announced at our last general meeting, some items will be up for sale soon. I think we'll post them on the forum in some format.

[Ed.Mizzi]

Kudos to Jane for being the first to borrow from the online library.

Ed

[John.Devonshire]

Congrats!!!! Jane is the first official patron of the new digital library!!! She reserved an eyepiece a few days ago and we made the exchange yesterday.

I encourage everyone to go in and see what we've got. If you want to try a piece out please put it on hold and I will receive a notification at which point I'll reach out and we can make arrangements for pick-up.

The rules, as I understood them, were that items could be borrowed for up to 30 days. I've made an executive decision to extend that to 60 days, to allow borrowers to fully enjoy the equipment. Given that we've had less than ideal viewing conditions this year, it seems fair to extend the time allowed. If no other requests come through for a particular item then the time can be extended.

Also coming soon... As announced at our last general meeting, some items will be up for sale soon. I think we'll post them on the forum in some format.

Victor,

Do we have an official address and instructions I can post on the website?

[Victor.Abraham]

I would recommend two different posts:

• On our public website post a quick blurb about the digital library with over 280 items accessible for members to borrow. Maybe list some of the items (everything from telescopes and  eyepieces to counterweights and specialty accessories) I would recommend against posting the link publicly
• Send out the website link via an email blast to the membership with the instructions.

The instructions are:

• Access via the link: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/HamiltonRASCAdmin/
• Enter your 5-digit RASC membership number when prompted (reach out to outreach@hamiltonrasc.ca if you do not have or do not remember your member number.
• Finding items is as easy as waiting for the pictures to scroll by or by typing your request in the search bar.
• You can inquire about items or put them on hold to reserve them.
• You'll be contacted to make arrangements for pick up.
• Your borrowing date will start from the date of pick up and last for 60 days, at which time you'll receive a reminder to return the item(s).

[Bruce.Murray]

Victor,

Great work putting the lending library in place.

Bruce M.

[Victor.Abraham]

Oh one other thing for the posts (both website and email to members). The initial target for this was September for our new year, but with the help of Rhea Sekhon, our intern, we were able to get it up and running a whole month sooner!!!

[Ed.Mizzi]

Giant Kudos to Rhea!!!

Ed

[Victor.Abraham]

6 New Titles Added to the Digital Lending Library

In addition to the 167 books, 110 accessories and 14 telescopes in our library, we now have 6 new manuals for Questar telescopes.

[Victor.Abraham]

13 new items added to the library. A variety of cables donated by Dave Dev.

You can search by "cable" to find them.

[Victor.Abraham]

25 new items added to the library.

Including some really neat additions, like:

 

• a Tasco 15TE-5 76mm refractor, generously donated by Bob Prociuk. Sadly this scope has been hiding in a box in virtually brand new condition. It's a very capable scope from an era when quality was still a top concern for manufacturers
• a vintage Bausch & Lomb Criterion 8" SCT
• a variety of guides from the McLaughlin Planetarium
• a second copy of Neil deGrasse Tyson's book on Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
• a book on the 2024 Solar Eclipse
• and a book by our latest monthly meeting speaker, Dr. Mark Tovey, featuring a collection of astronomically related poetry

New items being added weekly so go check it out: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/HamiltonRASCAdmin

[Ed.Mizzi]

Great work Victor. You're soon going to have a world class astro library.

Ed

[Victor.Abraham]

Well I'm hoping it becomes univers-al.