jcowles-blog

[jcowles-blog]

Don’t forget the fun.

We are awash in evidence of the importance of play for learning and have been for years. Yet, I think that the reason we play in the first place--not the reasons we should play or use to justify play, but the reason we do play--sometimes gets lost.  We play because it’s fun. So, fun is of the utmost importance for creativity and learning (for kids and adults) and we shouldn’t feel embarrassed about designing spaces, programs, and services for fun first. Fun shouldn’t need to be justified. Simone Giertz Yahtch gets this. Pete Prodoehl, creator of Pizza Bagel Bot and the Hammer of Futility, (and many others) gets this. We all need to get this.

More Simone More Pete

[jcowles-blog]

What needs to be said about ILEAD USA - Wisconsin

I can be a somewhat cynical and skeptical person. I survive on dry wit and sarcasm-- it’s built into my personality. I’ve been known to scoff at the overly earnest. But on some level I know that I care a lot about true sincerity and passion and that layer of cynicism and skepticism is there to protect me from disappointment. All of our minds have these sorts of dysfunctional ways of helping and protecting us, if we let them.

But sometimes you just have to close your eyes and drink the kool-aid. You have to trust.

ILEAD USA - Wisconsin was one of those times. A bit of background information can be located here, for the uninitiated. To summarize, six teams of librarians from various parts of the state and library organization types assembled around a community need that each team identified. Over the course of around 9 months and three separate in-person sessions of several days each, the teams developed a project to address that community need. Each team was guided by a mentor assigned by the program, in addition to a head mentor that helped to make sure teams stayed “on the rails.”

The projects were important and turned out to be very exciting, potential-filled things but the real emphasis was on building up people and teams. In that respect, I think the program was a wild success and we must find a way for this type of program to continue. In the six years I’ve been working in WI libraries this program is the most important thing I have seen us do as a community to secure the long-term future of library leadership in the state and we need to bring it to more than these first 30 participants.  

From my perspective, the success of the whole ILEAD experience was built on three things: compassion, trust, and vulnerability.

Compassion is maybe a strange word to use but after reflecting on it I think it’s an appropriate one. Developing as a leader is hard and it is something that many of us would have struggled through with or without the ILEAD USA program. For the national ILEAD USA organizers, the team at DPI and all of the mentors to invest such time, effort, and money to give us this program that many of them wish they’d had earlier in their own careers, truly is an act of compassion. They took caring about us as professionals and people seriously, which is a brave thing when you know there are cynics in the room, and I think we all realized we were being given that gift. The program seemed to be designed very conscientiously to give us all opportunities to struggle - sometimes as a team, sometimes internally as an individual.  (Sometimes as a state when the video feeds didn’t work!) We learned from the struggle and felt rewarded. Even the mentors and organizers were not spared from some beneficent struggles.

Trust grew out of that compassion and the tone it set. And, frankly, out of spending day after day with these people nearly from sun up to sun down. Our ILEAD USA in-person sessions were exhausting and there were times that I felt like the demands were unreasonable. “We have to produce a video within a couple days in March? And we don’t even know exactly what our project is yet?” Trust grew between team members as we got to know each other and work through the challenges. Trust was signaled from the Department of Public Instruction as they secured funding for small project grants to ensure that our projects could be accomplished. Mentors grew to trust the participants and their own ability to act as mentors.

Vulnerability is the origin of the most memorable and meaningful moments of the ILEAD USA program. Team members grew comfortable enough to be real with each other. Head mentor Stef Morrill gave some difficult, personal keynotes dealing with insecurities and struggles in her professional history. A panel of the team mentors (Jeff Dawson, Gus Falkenberg, Jean Anderson, Krista Ross, Joy Schwarz, and Tasha Saecker) told some deep, intensely personal stories about their experiences at our final session and answered questions with an honesty I have never seen in any other type of professional library setting. At our final “Stef Time” (a meeting between my team, our mentor Tasha, and head mentor Stef Morrill) we talked about how we never hear this kind of honesty at library conferences. For a moment, the conversation turned to how we might change that and bring more authenticity and deep honesty to that sort of event. But I actually don’t think that it’s possible. These moments of vulnerability were how we cashed in all that trust we had been building and they would not have been possible without it.

It really did become a virtuous cycle. You feel/receive compassion, you build trust, you feel able to be vulnerable, your vulnerability is met with compassion and around you go again.

A possible fourth component, that unfortunately may not be replicable, is the serendipity that comes from having all the right people in the same room together, which we certainly did.

If you’re tired of all this talk about feelings and/or prefer bullet lists detailing your ROI, here we go.  What did we get out of this investment in the ILEAD USA program?

30 people with some real, tested leadership and teamwork skills who have the confidence to use them (We invest a lot of effort as a national library community in envisioning the future of libraries. ILEAD USA invested in creating the people who can execute that future.)

30 future library leaders who all know and trust each other on some level

6 innovative team projects, many of which will continue on in large or small ways, contributing to the library community on an ongoing basis

At least 3 WLA conference sessions as a direct result of ILEAD USA, as well as demonstrations, social functions, and other extracurriculars at WLA based on relationships formed around ILEAD USA

7 mentors who have a clearer picture of their own leadership and confidence in their roles as mentors for the library community

And the benefits radiate out through our networks from there. Imagine if we did this with a new cohort every couple years. How would that change our library community in a decade?

Unfortunately, the money has dried up for the time being. The IMLS Laura Bush grant that had funded the program ends in 2015. Illinois (the home base of ILEAD) does not plan to have a program in 2016 because of that and the Illinois budget impasse. There is interest, among some of the 10 states that participated in ILEAD USA in 2015, in working on an ILEAD USA program for 2017 with funding likely coming from the states. The Division for Libraries and Technology at the WI Department of Public Instruction is committed to finding a way to do this type of program in the future.  

We, as a community, have to make sure that happens. And we have to make sure the character of the ILEAD USA program that made it so successful--the compassion, trust, vulnerability, and the time it takes to build those things while learning and doing--is preserved in a meaningful way. Please support DPI in their effort to find a way.

And now for some individual shout-outs. Denise Anton Wright and Ryan Claringbole of the Public Library Development Team at DPI not only organized this whole thing and coordinated our local schedule and needs with the national program but had also attended ILEAD in Illinois in 2014 as apprentices to prepare for the task. Both invested an extraordinary effort and deserve to be recognized for that. John DeBacher provided support and emcee services and even offered an optional mindfulness meditation session during one of our free time periods (thanks!). Kurt Kiefer made sure that ILEAD USA could happen this year, secured additional funding, and provided the organizational support to make sure that Denise and Ryan could pull this off. Stef Morrill, director of WiLS and head ILEAD USA WI mentor, inspired us and helped create the atmosphere that made all of this possible. Jeff Dawson, Gus Falkenberg, Jean Anderson, Krista Ross, Joy Schwarz, and Tasha Saecker showed us their humanity, went along with our half-baked ideas and helped us understand what it is to be a leader in this community. I am grateful especially to have gotten to know our team mentor Tasha better. Finally, I didn’t know any of my team members well when we started but every one of them has turned out to be an amazing, dedicated professional with whom I hope to have a lasting connection: Kim Boldt, Melody Clark, Bryce Kozla, and Holly Storck-Post. I may have had a different perspective on the program without such a great team. Also, thanks to all the speakers inside and outside DPI who came to share your knowledge with us.

ILEAD USA was a gift.  Let’s keep it going.

[jcowles-blog]

@bmmsben and others on their experiences with 3d printers in libraries.

[jcowles-blog]

Collect them all.

This is another book that I sort of know what it’s about, and what I sort of know that it’s about is meat.

[jcowles-blog]

Hey, someone made my thing! And they found it confusing and had some print issues, but it was still useful. I’ll call that a success.

[jcowles-blog]

They're the latest addition to so-called "maker spaces" showing up in a number of libraries. But as libraries work to redefine their purpose in the digital age, it also raises questions about misuse.

[jcowles-blog]

The Public Library R&D Department: Designing & 3D Printing iPad Stands for Stop Motion

Back in March our Kids/Teens Coordinator asked if we would be able to do a stop motion animation program using an iPad app. I said, “Yes, probably. We have a couple iPads. But I’ve never done it so we’d have to do research on apps and accessories we might need.”

Just a couple days later I was at the first session of ILEAD USA - Wisconsin where one of my teammates shared that she had recently done stop motion programs at her library. Read her experience here. She recommended Stop Motion Studio, which has free and pro versions. We ended up producing a stop motion video to communicate what our ILEAD team intends to work on (hint: code literacy).

Meanwhile, our Kids/Teens Coordinator discovered some ideas for mounting the iPads for filming, including this slick 3d printed tripod mount. (Unfortunately the creator did not share the files.) Our friends in Madison have some awesome custom-built stop motion animation stations but we don’t have the budget for that. So, I scanned Thingiverse for a tablet stand that would work well for stop motion. The trouble with most stands is that they’re designed for comfortable tablet use rather than photography. They tend to lean back too far - even the adjustable versions. Other options included this delightfully creepy memento mori tablet stand. Then I stumbled upon this design. 

Made with OpenSCAD, this design allowed me to easily adjust the “angle of repose” without having any real knowledge of how the object was created. I set the angle to be almost upright--just 3 degrees of repose--and made the slot just slightly larger than the depth of an iPad Air 2. I was also able to stretch the design out (rather than clipping multiple small stands onto the iPads). This makes for a sturdier, more stable base when filming. 

Two issues were quickly apparent with my first prototype. First, the iPad sat a little too snugly in the slot. Second, having changed the angle to be almost upright, I created a problem with this design because an iPad could easily fall forward if bumped. So, I added feet and made the slot 0.1mm wider.

Well, it was ugly. It was like the iPad stand version of a platypus. But I wasn’t worried about it tipping forward any more. The width of the slot was just perfect.  However, at this point I started realizing I may have been a little too zealous with my near-upright angle of repose.

It would work but the foreground of the camera image started a little further away than I would like - I was concerned this would impact filming. The angle could, of course, be adjusted by inserting a shim under the new front feet but I wanted the “default” angle to be one that would work for most situations. So I went from 3 degrees to 9 and reprinted.

That angle is looking better but--surprise!--that slot is too snug again. This time I took the angle to 11 degrees and widened the slot another 0.1mm.

About halfway through printing the next prototype, I realized that actually, both angles are useful. The very slight angle can be used for close-up filming with the iPad flipped so that the camera is near the table. The deeper angle can be used as I originally imagined, with iPad oriented so that the camera is near the top. How best to use both angles? Why not make a double stand? Create a model for each angle, turn one of them around, and then smash them together into a single object! (Now this is almost getting clever!)

Also, the smooth bottom surface and the very slight warping from the 3d printer make it very easy to spin this stand around accidentally. Simply pushing the shutter in the stop motion app would easily move it out of place. Gripper pads to the rescue!

So at this point everything was almost coming together perfectly. But there was one thing that was bothering me. When I started, I had a simple template for a slotted base where I could just change a couple numbers to make it fit my device and angle.  By the end of this process, to make a change I had to go through a fairly cumbersome and inexact process of changing the slots and angles, then recombining the stands, adding the feet, eyeballing alignment at a couple different stages, etc.

This is when I really geeked out and committed myself to learn enough OpenSCAD to recreate the original file with all my changes and additions. OpenSCAD designs objects using a sort of programming language. This way, I have a strictly mathematical object.  Anyone can download OpenSCAD and my file, change a couple clearly marked numbers, and export a printable file that fits their tablet and use case. And everything is perfectly lined up every time.

If you’re still reading this, you are probably as mentally exhausted as I was documenting all of it. Someone with a background in engineering or a modicum of training with CAD probably could have done this faster and better but I’m pretty proud of how refined I was able to make this silly thing as a Librarian/IT guy working over the course of four days, mostly between other projects.

Ride, captain ride, upon your potato ship... (Yes, that’s a thoroughly sprouted potato with a screw in one end... just something I had around.) Backdrop shot by Serge Melki (cc) https://flic.kr/p/5pZhTB

To print the stand or try your hand at customizing it, check it out on Thingiverse.

[jcowles-blog]

Podcasting is having a moment and these power producers for PRX's Radiotopia say the best way to start is to just hit 'Record'.

[jcowles-blog]

How will Sanickiosk stack up against Webconverger?  We'll see.

[jcowles-blog]

Google Voice Poems

Hey from who or what. Hey, he better through. He isn't gone. Hey long time. Goodbye hey.

--

I don't know he how are you listening in this  claiming that I didn't know what I was talking about  in the thanks anyway.  I don't really know what was going on in that I,  and just unaware of you know whether or not I should.  What. What.  The other part of the says. As far as you know.  Hassan hell.

--

Initiates TNC listen HI stop the debate,  and they didn't have the tax. Yeah. Yes, phone. Hello Paul,  I've got and I was cinema

--

Hello thing  hey bye bye hey hey hello.  This is. Hey, Yes hello, hey this is yes.  Hey, hey hey hey hello Hey,  Yes, Hello. Hello. HI HI. Hello. No. Hello. Hello.  Hey, Yeah, hey, hey. So,Hello  Yeah, hey hey. Bye. Yeah, hello hey thing.  Yeah, we're far as well.  Hello, Yes news. Yo.  Yeah, Hi burger and I hope.  Yeah going. And hey. 5 days. Bye.

--

Hey douche, see if you listen.  I forgot. That I have. To take Eric struck this time,  and something something something  I would have to put cricket, 4  with feces and her proceed.

--

Hey machine.  It's TNC a Wesson mom gave me  you know the sorry I had a steep it today If you don't know if Israel stupid

--

This is Nathan guys additional removal for you. Mister,  just got the last pretty.  I'm. I'm assuming it's gonna be the last  billing of the here just start to get pretty warm.  I'll put it out so it was Wisconsin

--

Hey, I was just calling to see if it was role crew,  that you guys had subscribe to it.  Hmm, cos I had some questions.  But I was just looking at something here  that case here It has no internet tv  and it also, is available through real cool.  And I was wondering if role crew.  If you could have role crew a m cable lake.  If I want to get. That's thing for broker.  Could I do the 2 talk to you Later. Bye Bye.

--

I dash.  It's pulling on. Ohh through the evening and we are just wondering if we could.  We could bring something with the some paid search of chicken.  Yes. Yeah that's supposed to. But.

--

Hi.  This is the pantry.  I know you're in the middle of area  and I'm not trying to see you  but so good baby boy.  It's me. I will talk on the way.  And then I gave him the kids.  Please hoband, with the movie warm  and I took his picture  and he was like in over 100 to while.  So I'm thinking it's not a Keating Beaver and something on going on.

--

our website's down,  You need your health.  You know if you could check  AirDrop us an email about what's going on.  We'd sure appreciate it.

--

I think you know  I can hopefully so.  Make up for Those You Know  lesson. SAT  sexy experience molesting  most of the ways

--

I'm working at the Santa computer in reference  and we've been having trouble with it.  Take speed this morning. can froze up so I am trait that closed everything

--

I gave you the best case scenario,  which was that you have a tomorrow,  unfortunately, i'm. I'm not able to make that happen.

[jcowles-blog]

This idea was born at last night's Maker Meetup in Fond du Lac.  Excited to see what we can create together!

Welcome. Project Fortnight is for those that are interested in participating in things such as “Project 365” or “Every Day” style projects but have trouble keeping up the commitment for long spans of time. Project Fortnight will host a variety of 2 week long creativity projects. It may be post a...

[jcowles-blog]

The most important library reports you'll read in 2013

(that title is only minor hyperbole!)

Jefferson County Library Service and Translator Labs have been facilitating some really important discussions about libraries, their role, their future, public perceptions, and more.  And we should all be paying attention.  The normal processes of our traditional library institutions (associations, consortia, vendors, etc.) move too slowly to support the kind of rapid innovation we need to undertake.  This effort is a great step in the right direction.

Focus Lab Report from May 2013

Follow-Up Lab from August 2013

Other thoughts?  Disagreement?  Leave a comment.

[jcowles-blog]

May 31, 2013

A question to Milwaukee:

After being born and raised in rural Wisconsin, and spending nearly 5 years wandering the planet as a photographer and student, I came to Milwaukee about 18 months ago because the city intrigued me. It was gritty, blue-collar and raw. It did not offer the apparition of a polished facade. Its issues were displayed prominently on its sleeve. It felt real.

Perhaps naively, I also came to Milwaukee hoping I could make a difference. Here was a place I could come and actually have a name and face as I tried to leave a positive mark as the director of a project called Bucketworks. I still believe this.

Bucketworks, for those who don’t know, just celebrated its eleventh birthday. Eleven years ago this May it was started by James Carlson and a cadre of accomplices who wanted nothing more than to explore creatively in a way that only art in warehouses can provide. There was little method to the madness, but it was one of the first collaborative spaces in the country, and in Milwaukee of all places. It was a place all about making it happen (whatever “it” was) and giving people a reason to gather and work together. It was the spot in the city for the curious and motivated to gather and create art, businesses, theater, events and products. 

Bucketworks has had its issues, much like its home city, but through thick and thin and two floods Bucketworks has managed to persevere, and in that time, Milwaukee has started to blossom. We now have the Milwaukee Makerspace, ArtMKE, the Hudson, VETransfer, Gener8tor, MARN, the Creative Alliance, Open MiKE, just to name a few. As a relatively new transplant, the vibrancy of the creative culture in Milwaukee is a sorely told story—-we are lucky to be in this time and place. But as each of these great efforts filled a niche, and as each of these efforts has been born, Bucketworks has adjusted and pushed ahead because it has always been the job of Bucketworks to be on the edge—-to be that hard-to-explain place “where things start.” 

Fast forward 18 months from my arrival in Milwaukee to today and some of that gritty, blue-collar and raw is weighing on me. Those of you I have had the pleasure of meeting know that I have been very open about the situation at Bucketworks. It has its issues and it wears its dirt on its sleeve. Specifically, we have not been been paying rent for 4 months. For the year I have been here prior to those four months, we paid $7000/mo for 6 months and $2500/mo for 6 months before that. We are not paying rent because we spent $2500 on a broken heating system we don’t own, but because we could not afford to fix the system completely, we still paid $2500/mo to heat the space in the winter. We patched a roof we don’t own with the gracious donation of time from a Milwaukee startup that helps veterans develop job skills. We repaired air conditioners. We spent $2000 on a sprinkler system we don’t own to get the building up to code. We replaced toilets that were broken, patched floors, and fixed lights, all while running the organization.

But why not just raise the prices to cover the bills? We don’t raise the prices because we feel it is important for there to be a place in our city where a person can explore projects without breaking the bank. We believe a lack of money should not stop people from trying. Bucketworks is home to 15+ businesses on any given month who pay on average less than $200 a month to operate. If you can get past the Commons, bang for your bucket it is the lowest-cost place in the city to start a business. Bucketworks is a place where teenagers from the city come to make art while learning important things like punctuality and responsibility. Bucketworks is a place where people gather to learn English and to learn about citizenship. Bucketworks is a place where people meet to talk about open data and to teach each other about technology and mysticism and financial planning. Bucketworks is a place to sword fight, practice aerial silks and to dance. Bucketworks is where people voluntarily work together on improving healthcare. Bucketworks is the place where bees are nurtured and celebrated. In short, Bucketworks is a living and breathing demonstration of functional, diverse community in a city that is known for its silos and segregation.

Please note this isn’t a blame game that falls on our landlord or others who are currently interested in the space. I have a good relationship with our landlord—-we agree with a shake of our hands and then do the best we can. We operate like much of Milwaukee operates, and I think this is to be celebrated. Also note that this text represents solely my words and perspectives.

In closing, I want to say that Bucketworks is cleaning out its closets and washing the dirt from its sleeves. I will meet with anyone who is interested and let them know where we stand, what we need to do better and what our plan is to get there. We already have great partnerships that are interested in supporting and bringing stability to this wonderful project, but right now we need time, and in order to get that time, we need money. $18,000 would get us six months of runway on rent, $36,000 would get us twelve, and anything in between would be awesome.

As a recent transplant to this city who has seen Berlin, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Venice, New York, Mexico City, Riga, Paris and many others, I believe Milwaukee is a place to be right now. We have a city that can hide little and is full of people who want to do more. I am committed to making this a place where people have a real option when they want to try an idea. I am willing to do what it takes to bring long term stability to an awesome project in a city that is just rediscovering itself.

So the question I have is this:

Does Milwaukee want Bucketworks?

If it does, please donate what you can. If all you can do is forward this on, please do so. We have an opportunity to show that Milwaukee is a community together. We are not asking for much and we never have asked for much, but I am asking for Bucketworks now. If we reach our goal, the funds will be used for to cover rent. If we do not reach our goal, the funds will be used to find a new home. Our goal is to raise $18,000+ by the end of the business day today—-please help.

Thank you,

Tim Syth

Director of Bucketworks

DONATE

[jcowles-blog]

You heard it right.  Lomira QuadGraphics Community Library is doing some amazing things, and that now includes hosting an all-day hackathon with MakerMeetup.  You're invited.

If you want to get social about it:

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/486808158059072 Google+ Event: https://plus.google.com/u/1/events/c6mbm1raq9tr636mdqq1m9j8ifk MakerMeetup is "a group based in East Central Wisconsin in the vicinity of Milwaukee, Madison and Fond du Lac. Our goal is to build a community of makers that may be unable or unwilling to participate at the maker spaces in the nearest urban areas."

[jcowles-blog]

I hear a lot of library people talk about community goodwill for libraries as a vast reserve that we should draw on.

What if community goodwill is more like a renewable resource?  Are we replanting at a rate that will sustain us into the future?

[jcowles-blog]

OPAC Kiosk Stations - Dumping Windows for Linux

This is an update and expansion of Liz Rea's article at libraryhacker.org: OPAC Stations — Windows(TM) kiosks no more!.  The details below are based on version 15.0 of WebConverger and will probably still apply for a while, barring any huge changes.

When I googled "Linux OPAC kiosk" and variations on that theme some months ago  I came up with a handful of things, most of them out of date.  A Slax-based OPAC kiosk, several HOWTOs for configuring Ubuntu and Opera to work as a kiosk, a yet-to-be-finished kiosk edition of Porteus...  I tried to work with a handful of these things and they all involved reinventing the wheel to a greater degree than I wanted to.  I wanted a LiveCD-style Linux system where I could easily remaster the ISO for my kiosk needs and deploy it.  Then I found WebConverger.

The great thing about WebConverger is that the kiosk part of the equation is pre-rolled and they've created an easy "API" where you can change kiosk options simply by editing the boot parameters for the LiveCD.

Is this sounding too technical?  You can pay WebConverger to give you automated customization tools or do the customization for you!

The Nitty-Gritty:

Customizing WebConverger is actually very easy, especially if you have a little Linux command line experience.  If you don't have a dedicated Linux box handy you can try running it virtually on top of Windows with PortableUbuntu, VMware Player, or other solutions.  On your linux box, do the following:

Download the ISO.  Mine is called webc-15.0.iso; your version number may be slightly different.

Make sure you have mkisofs (sudo apt-get install mkisofs) and syslinux (sudo apt-get install syslinux) installed.

sudo mkdir /mnt/webc

sudo mount -o loop webc-15.0.iso /mnt/webc/

sudo rsync -av /mnt/webc /mnt/custom

sudo chmod +w /mnt/custom/boot/live.cfg  

Now edit /mnt/custom/boot/live.cfg and change the boot command line with your desired API options.  Mine looks like this: label live-686-pae menu label 686-pae: Live menu default kernel /live/vmlinuz2 append initrd=/live/initrd2.img boot=live skipconfig vga=771 video=vesa nomodeset splash quiet bootfrom=removable homepage=url.fdlpl.org/catalog chrome=webcnoaddressbar kioskresetstation=2 http_proxy=http://proxy.fdlpl.org:8282 bgurl=http://www.fdlpl.org/catlogo.png Breakdown of optional customizations I used:   homepage=url.fdlpl.org/catalog Sets the kiosk homepage to our OPAC chrome=webcnoaddressbar Removes the browser's address bar so that people cannot enter arbitrary addresses. kioskresetstation=2 Closes and relaunches the browser after 2 minutes of complete inactivity, clearing all cookies and session information. Important for making sure the station doesn't stay logged into a patron's account after they leave. http_proxy=http://proxy.fdlpl.org:8282 Configures the kiosk to use the specified proxy server and port. There is no easy internal way to create a whitelist in WebConverger. So what I've done instead is run tinyproxy (configured with a whitelist) on a Linux server and route the kiosks through that. bgurl=http://www.fdlpl.org/catlogo.png Changes the image/logo displayed while starting up and between sessions. A nice touch.  

Now rebuild the ISO like so: mkisofs -o /tmp/custom-webc.iso -b -r -J -l -cache-inodes -allow-multidot -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -b boot/boot.bin -c boot/boot.cat /mnt/custom  

The ISO you originally downloaded was a hybrid ISO (capable of being written to USB or CD), but the one you just created is not. To make it hybrid again, use this: isohybrid /tmp/custom-webc.iso  

Burn your custom ISO file to a CD or image a USB stick with it. Deploy and enjoy!

Screenshots

Custom background logo, shown during loading and between sessions:

Kiosk browser in action.  Essentially, a stripped-down version of Firefox (iceweasel, actually) with a custom kiosk add-on:

Conclusions

This works pretty slick and decreases time spent messing with misbehaving OPAC kiosks to near zero.  However, it would be even cooler if the kiosks net-booted WebConverger and no boot media was needed at all.  That's my next project and I'll write it up when I'm finished.  In the meantime, if WebConverger makes your life easier, please consider leaving them a donation even if you're not interested in their commercial services.

I welcome your comments! 

[jcowles-blog]

"There were dancing people costumed as Sesame Street characters ... There was a Lincoln impersonator in a Democratic Party T-shirt. There were mimes performing choreographed routines to religious music. There were abortion rights and anti-abortion activists carrying dueling signs and following each other around. There were food trucks. And there was even a man selling election-related trinkets"

Stefon?