The recording of our October 12, 2021 KLAS IRC / IMC Users' Group Meeting held as part of the APH 2021 Annual Meeting is now available.

During this meeting, we shared IRC-specific features and functionality added to KLAS since our August 24, 2021 KLAS New Features webinar, upcoming development, Q&A, and discussion including a status update on the ongoing project to integrate KLAS with APH. At this time, we expect our customers to be able to submit APH orders from KLAS in the fourth quarter of 2021, and we plan to be able to automatically pul APH catalog info into KLAS by the first quarter of 2022. 

Hello, IRCs and IMCs!

I hope you were able to join us at the KLAS IRC / IMC Users' Meeting at the 150th APH annual meeting, but if not, we’ve got you covered. Read on for a couple highlights, and info on where to find more.

KLAS IRC / IMC Installs by State

7.6r2e Highlights

The latest version of KLAS includes some IRC / IMC-specific updates, especially to WebOrder. Here are a couple examples:

• Added a "My Account" link in the Main Menu of Web Order to allow a user to view their own record.

This does away with the need for that confusing “self” relationship. Users are now able to access their own record via the “My Account” link in the Main Menu instead of by searching for themselves. While this is a small change, we think it’s a big improvement!

• Added a "Change Patron Status" function

The new screen launches from a button on the Main Details screen and allows a user to request a status change and provide a reason.

For example, a requestor can change a former student’s status to Moved, with a reason of “moved to another district this summer.” If the new district registers the student, it will be easier to tell that it’s the same child and not just the same name. Plus, even if the new district is out of state, the student will already be correctly updated to remove them from the former district's APH Census count.

We can hide this button if you prefer the users contact you directly for all status changes. But if you choose to allow it, this is a great way to make updates quick and easy for both you and your requestors.

For more information about these updates and more, check out the KLAS 7.6r2e Full & Web Functions Release Lists.

7.7r1 Highlights - to be released Oct 2018

This upcoming KLAS release has quite a few behind-the-scenes adjustments that should make the staff-side KLAS application a little faster and better all around. For example, it will not require Admin Privileges to install, eliminates the need for Open VPN for remote users, and it supports more “special characters,” such as diacritics.

More Info

To learn more about the latest and upcoming updates, and watch demos of some of the new IRC features, make sure you’re logged in to KLASusers.com and check out the 2018 APH KLAS Users' Meeting Recording. (You must be logged into klasusers.com to access the article.)

Don’t have time to watch the recording? The 2018 APH KLAS Users' Meeting article has the PowerPoint slides available for download!

Every Instructional Resource and Material Centers throughout the nation is trying to do the same thing, and that is to make sure that every student with a visual impairment has what they need. In the month of August all schools will be returning to session, this means a stress test of all our processes and practices. There is no one size fits all for resource centers, we all meet the need in our own way. But, there is power in discussing how we do what we do. It gives the space for others to be creative with ideas they may have not thought of. At the very least we might not need to re-create the wheel because our neighboring state might have an amazing solution to the problem that we are facing. Below are three narratives of how Oklahoma, Colorado and Arizona prepare for the summer and the start of the school year:

From Pepper Watson, Oklahoma Instructional Materials Center:

Around the first week of May, we send out an email asking for the names of all graduating seniors. In June, we also do a query for seniors and compare lists to see who is actually graduating and who will remain for Adult Studies. We then make sure all graduating seniors have returned all items checked out to them. At this point, we either mark them GRADUATED and delete their account from our system (required by our State Dept of Ed) or contact the TVI about items still needing to be returned.

All textbooks are due back to the AIM Center by June 15th so the first thing we do at the beginning of June is find out what books have not yet been returned and send out notices to those TVIs. (Most of our school districts get out May 15th so we have most materials back by the end of May).

During June we also conduct inventory on all 5822 shelves in the AIM Center. I have a staff of four and it takes us all of June to get this completed. Upon completion, we run an inventory report and begin to restock our shelves for the next school year. (We do this throughout the year, but we concentrate efforts now when school is out, and we have a bit more time).

I, personally, do a lot of KLAS maintenance during this time. Everything from lost items to creating new equipment and textbook holdings to updating patron records. If we have a copy of the new APH catalog, I also use this time to update prices in the vendor catalog in KLAS. This saves a bit of time later down the road and also gives me an idea of how much price increase we are dealing with overall. (This year the price increases have been steep, especially on textbooks!)

I divide my federal fiscal year into quarters on my calendar. I then divide my total FQ funds by 4 and make note on my calendar how much I should have spent by each of these dates. I started doing this about 7 years ago and it’s an easy way of tracking funds, so we aren’t going crazy the last month to spend all of our money. We are very fortunate in that we have moveable shelving and have a lot of storage space. Therefore, we can keep our shelves stocked and have very little wait time to get products out to our students.

From Jim Olson, Colorado Instructional Materials Center:

Start early: CIMC has a book order deadline of April 1st every year. For example, the deadline for 2022-2023 book orders was April 1, 2022. We will accept book orders any day of the school year, but do not promise that the TVI will have even one volume of braille if the order is received after the deadline. Of course, we do everything possible to fulfill every book order no matter what time of year it is received. This puts some responsibility on the TVI to coordinate with the classroom teachers to ensure book orders are submitted in a timely manner.

CIMC staff tracks which students typically receive books from us and will reach out to TVIs if they have not ordered books for their student by the deadline. TVIs are busy people! They have a lot on their plate, caseloads change often, and students move around. Contacting the TVI if they have not placed book orders for a particular student saves the CIMC and the TVI a lot of stress later on.

Ship book orders to districts before June, if possible, if we are pulling from our inventory or if the vendor is able to fulfill our order early. A lot of our TVIs like this because they know they have the book waiting for their student when school starts in the fall. This also lessens the workload for the CIMC staff in August since we have already shipped. We try to clarify with TVIs when they place the order whether or not we can ship during the summer months. Making a note in the Material Request module of Klas regarding dates we can or cannot ship for a particular order has helped us stay organized. If you make the note when you create a new order (in the shipping instructions box) it will print on the packing slip. Easy for staff to identify if we are shipping or holding the order. We also put the email address of the TVI who is receiving the book in the shipping instructions box. Any time we ship orders we send a quick email to the TVI so they know to be watching for the shipment to arrive.

Mid-July: Contact braille vendors who still have open orders. Run PO/Requisition listing report in Klas. If possible, we try to let TVIs know the status of their open orders before school starts.

From Jared Leslie, Arizona Instructional Resource Center:

We begin the conversation with teacher in our districts when we begin the Federal Quota Census. In January when we are sending notice about the census, we include language about best practices of thinking for the next school year. This could mean preparing for your equipment needs or your textbook needs. After the census is fully completed in March, we begin our conversations that are singularly focused on equipment and textbooks.

This email notification shares with all teachers what items are checked out including consumable items. Then the teacher indicated what items we expect back at the resource center for inventory and quality checks. If an item or text is going to be utilized next year or over the summer teachers have the option of renewing a checked-out item. After the renewals we begin to start receiving the returns, we get about 2,500 to 3,000 different items that are returned during this time. It takes us about 4-5 weeks to fully process the returns after they are all fully received. At that same time, we are fielding new equipment orders and new textbook orders. Our Quota orders do not get filled/ordered until about halfway through the summer. Our textbooks start ASAP.

Once returns are completed and all our titles are placed with our transcribers, then preparation for shipping begins. The space that we used for receiving returns transitions to a staging area for outbound shipping. We pre-box up all of the items that have been requested waiting for the week for when teachers return. Once we have a confirmation of the teacher work week in a district, we then ship out the completed orders. This allows for items to have less of a likelihood of being lost or misplaced.

As students arrive, this prompts another ordering wave, which is considerably smaller than the summer wave. But, because of this fact we need to maintain some capacity for item fulfillment and braille transcribers.

Items, Copies, and Consumables (oh my!)

Do you know the difference between the Item Tab and the Item List Tab, between Tracked and Consumables titles, and between a Copy and an Item? Do you know how to use Batch Add Items for tracked titles and consumables?

If you maintain physical, non copy-specific inventory at your library (that is, inventory where all copies are interchangeable), this reference is for you!

Contents

• Tab Overview
• Tracked vs Consumable
• Copy vs Item: What is the difference?
• Add a Holding
• Batch Add Items - Tracked titles
• Consumables Inventory

Download

Please log in to view available downloads. Thank you!

Remember: You are always welcome to call or email Keystone Customer Support with questions! 

Our KLAS Users' Group officers contacted some KLAS users to ask them to share how their library / organization is faring and what policy, service, or other changes they may have enacted in response to library closure or limited staffing related to Covid19. We welcome submissions from any KLAS user who wants to share their experience during this time. Please contact Chandra Thornton, President, KLAS Users' Group or Drea Callicutt, Keystone Systems if you're interested in contributing a post.

Our next guest blog post in response to this request is from Kathy Segers, Director of Accessible Instructional Materials and Outreach Services, Tennessee Resource Center for the Visually Impaired.

TN RCVI COVID-19 Plan Implementation

As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Tennessee RCVI and Outreach Services, has developed a detailed action plan to support local school districts to be able to continue to serve students with visual impairments, by providing accessible instructional materials and devices to the district and or the parents. The following is an outline of the activities that have been put in place.

• A copy of the TN RCVI COVID-19 Guidance was sent to all Directors of Special Education and Teacher’s of the Visually Impaired in March of 2020.
• A copy of the TN School for the Blind Outreach Department Guidance was sent all Directors of Special Education and Teachers of the Visually Impaired in March of 2020.
• TSB Outreach teachers are working with each local school district that they serve and are offering support for the students on their caseload which focuses on providing access to the instructional materials that the district is using. This is based on guidance from the TN Department of Education.
• Local districts were asked to share their home contract information to facilitate communication while everyone is working from home. This was well received.
• Local districts were asked to order materials needed by their students at home using KLAS. They were asked to submit the parents address where the student materials needed to be shipped before placing the orders so we would have time to enter the data in KLAS. Students names were not used to protect privacy. This has worked very nicely.
• TN RCVI has shipped on demand APH Materials and equipment that students were previously using in their local school districts to the homes of students for them to use to have access to the materials used by the local school districts. For example, if they used a Perkins Brailler or Matt Connect prior to the Pandemic, we would ship one to the home if the student could not gain access to the one at school. No new devices that the student has not previously used are being sent at the present time.
• TN RCVI has sent daily information out the parents, TVI’s, and LEA’s about accessible trainings for teachers and students, i.e., free JAWS/Zoomtext for student until June 2020, APH ExCEl Academy Training for Students with VI, Etc.
• RCVI just launched its May Newsletter, ACCESS VI with instructions for ordering and returning materials.
  New protocols for sanitizing equipment and books that are returned to TN RCVI have been developed are being used following EPA and CDC guidelines
• All staff at TN RCVI are wearing gloves and masks when in the building and are socially distancing, We are trying to have only one or two staff members in the building at one time for now.

If you have any questions about our COVID-19 Response, please contact me at

The Create Shipment tool in the Material Requests module allows you to easily create and track shipments. To use the shipper, you will need either the Material Request ID or the Patron ID for items that are already Assigned in a MatRequest.

Contents

1. Shipping Tracked Items using the MatRequest ID
2. Shipping Consumable Items using the MatRequest ID
3. Shipping Multiple MatRequests using the Patron ID

Download

Please log in to view available downloads. Thank you!

Remember: You are always welcome to call or email Keystone Customer Support with questions! 

Today's KeyNotes blog post is all about upcoming IRC / IMC KLAS user-relevant events, including:

• IRC KLAS Administrator Online Training
• KLAS IRC / IMC Users' Group Session at the virtual APH 2020 Annual Meeting
• 10/22/2020 KLAS IRC Users' Roundtable

2021 KLAS Users' Conference

Read on for more details about each of these...

IRC KLAS Administrator Online Training 

In September, we conducted our first online KLAS Administrator's Training session. Next week's blog post will share details and feedback about how it went. Before that, however, I want to share the news that we are planning to offer it again and want our next session to be IRC focused. The thing is... we need your help to figure out when to schedule it so it works best for those attending.

The training is held over the course of a week, Monday through Thursday, with two sessions each afternoon (to allow participants to join from any time zone), and includes pre-class worksheets that we recommend filling out to prepare for each session and a printed Administrator's Reference manual which will be mailed to you. This training is limited to attendees who have a KLAS Administrator role, including the authority to change records and policies for their KLAS system. If you fit this description and wish to participate, please complete this short survey to help us determine the best time to offer it.

Administrator training costs $600 per attendee, but the online format means that there is no longer any need for additional travel costs.

KLAS IRC / IMC Users' Group at APH 2020 Annual Meeting

We hope all IRC / IMC staff who registered for the virtual APH 2020 Annual Meeting plan to join us for the KLAS IRC / IMC Users' Meeting at 10 AM ET / 7 AM PT on Thursday, October 8. This year's session is limited to one hour because of the compressed conference schedule, so our plan is to:

• present some highlights of what we've added to KLAS for IRCs, and what's coming next
• share some news about upcoming IRC focused training
• have a bit of time for Q&A

10/22/2020 KLAS IRC Users' Roundtable

Additionally, knowing the limited time we will have during the APH Conference, the KLAS Program Committee decided our next KLAS IRC Users' Roundtable will be held Thursday, October 22 at 3 PM ET / Noon PT. We're excited to announce that Jared Leslie, AZ IRC, will be moderating the session. We hope it will be an opportunity to continue the discussion on any topics we don't have time to fully address during the APH meeting, provide more time for users to share feedback and tips and tricks, and an additional opportunity to demo new features and functionality.

• Log-in information will be posted to the KLASUsers e-list and in the "Upcoming Webinars & Roundtables" article approximately one week prior to the roundtable.

2021 KLAS Users' Conference

Finally, we want to remind you that we're are in the process of planning an in-person 2021 KLAS Users' Conference (with the knowledge that we need to be willing to adapt and change depending on the state of COVID-19). At this time, the plan is for it to be held at Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville from June 29-July 1, 2021. This will be our first biennial conference AND the first hosted by an Instructional Resource Center. Accommodations information will be available in the near future.

We sincerely thank Dr. Kathy Segers, Director of Accessible Instructional Materials and Outreach Services, Tennessee School for the Blind for being willing to host for 2021 KLAS Users' Conference. We look forward to working with you to plan an informative, inspirational, and rewarding experience for all our attendees. The Program and Logistics Committees are already actively meeting with the goal of bringing you a well-planned conference offering opportunities for sharing great ideas and learning new ways to use KLAS to help improve the services your organization provides.

New to KLAS, stepping out of your comfort zone into a different module, or just wanting a review of the basics? Check out the Intro to KLAS manual for an overview of all the main KLAS screens and some of its primary functions.

Please log in to view available downloads. Thank you!

Note: This manual was originally designed for print, and the images are not described. If you use Assistive Technology or otherwise cannot benefit from undescribed screenshots, please see the AT Reference Document for contextual information and text-only screen contents. 

Hey, IRC KLAS-users! We’ve got several things of interest for you this week including:

• an updated Intro to KLAS user guide for IRCs
• an upcoming webinar to talk APH Integration
• and best of all, a shiny new email listserv

Let’s talk details...

Intro to KLAS for IRCs

I’ve just posted an updated version of this user guide to the Knowledge Base. It includes an overview of all the main KLAS screens and some of its primary functions. You’ll find the download on the Intro to KLAS for IRC Userspage.

Note:This manual was originally designed for print, and the images are not described. If you use Assistive Technology or otherwise cannot benefit from undescribed screenshots, please see the AT Reference Document as well for contextual information and text-only screen contents. 

Upcoming Webinar

Don’t forget! The 12/14/2021 APH Integration Update Webinar is coming up fast, and we’d love to see you there. During this session, we plan to demonstrate KLAS screens, discuss planned workflows, share development updates, take suggestions, and answer questions.

Not sure what the APH Integration is, or wondering how it will help? Something in particular that you really, really hope it will do? Don’t miss this chance to get the inside scoop and make sure we know your priorities!

KLASusers-IRC Listserv

The main KLASUsers email listserv is available to anyone and everyone who uses KLAS... but with the transition to Duplication service, the need to keep up with NLS cataloguing, and just being a rather large and well-acquainted group, the LBPD / Talking Book Libraries tend to dominate the discussion.

We love hearing so much from them and seeing them use the list to work with each other, but we understand that you don’t need all that cluttering up your inboxes.

In an attempt to facilitate communication with and amongst our KLAS IRC Users', we've setup a new e-list specifically for you. We will cc: the new e-list with the KLAS Users' Weekly Wrap-up each Friday, which contains the latest KLASUsers.com content, release updates, forum posts, etc. for ALL KLASUsers. Otherwise, all emails to this list will be kept IRC-specific.

We hope you’ll subscribe to the listserv and join the discussion!

Keystone is offering a two-day in-depth training, round-table, and user feedback opportunity for KLAS Instructional Resource Center / Instructional Materials Center Users. An agenda with full details of each day's activities will be available soon.

Note: Keystone reserves the right to cancel or reschedule.

Prerequisites for attendance:

• Attendee must have a KLAS Administrator role in their local system
• Attendee has authority to change records and policies for their KLAS system

KLAS IRC Symposium Dates & Times:

• Tuesday, October 29 - Wednesday, October 30, 2019
• Each day's sessions will run from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

KLAS IRC Symposium Agenda

IRC Symposium agenda updated as of October 14, 2019. Also, you must be logged-in to klasusers.com to access these documents.

• KLAS v7 IRC Symposium UPDATED Agenda - MS Word
• KLAS v7 IRC Symposium UPDATED Agenda - PDF

Cost:

• $300 for the two-day symposium
• Please make checks payable to Keystone Systems, Inc

Hotels & Airport Transportation Information:

• Travel Information - MS Word
• Travel Information - PDF

Transportation:

Please contact your hotel to arrange shuttle service to and from the airport.
Local transportation to and from the hotel to Keystone's offices will be provided.

Please contact Tracey Fye if you have any difficulty making reservations, or have any questions about accommodations.

Tracey Fye
Keystone Systems, Inc.
Email:
Phone: 1-919-782-1143 or 1-800-222-9711

Registration:

Please use the below Training Registration Form to indicate that you would like to attend.

To reserve your space please register before September 30, 2019.

Well, IRCs, it's about that time again... and I'm not talking about the Holidays (though I hope they're merry). Instead, I'm talking about the APH Census!

If you have questions, need set up or other support, and / or have a set timeline for when you want to get started, please let us know sooner rather than later. 

Some things to think about:

Patron Census Notice

Do you mail or email a census notice? If so, are there any changes you need to make to the text or formatting of the notice? Do you remember how to generate it?

Queries & Reports

Do you know how to query for registered students who haven't been updated? How about querying for students that have aged out or changed grade brackets? All students or teachers with Items currently checked out? 

Check your Saved Queries and let us know if there are more you need.

Run the Related Patrons Listing (Patron module - Reports menu - Registration). Will this be helpful for your Census process? Are there any other reports you ran last year? What reports do you have questions about?

Relationship Statuses

Do you use (or want to use) a "Registered" relationship status to easily distinguish between a district's APH-qualified students and other students receiving non-APH services? 

Do you need to make any other changes to the relationship types and statuses available? 

Updating Patrons

Will your staff be updating the patron records, or will TVIs make changes using WebOrder? 

Is your staff up-to-date on how to update records and any policy or reporting changes this year? 

If changes will be made using WebOrder, do you know how to find updated students for review? (Hint: Requiring a Note makes this much easier!)

Does your patron module have the correct options in all the drop-down lists, or do you need changes?

This month is going to fly by! So please save yourselves and our support team a little panic by considering these questions and your census process as a whole, and letting us know what you need with time to spare.