I am trying to complete an inventory of the computers in our library so that we can get a hardware grant. The tool is IE-only. What bullshit.
update: now that I am done, the wacky thing is really the language. They have cool network sniffer tool that can make this a TON easier if you're doing this inventory 1) on a windows PC 2) with IE 3) on the network the computers are on. It's not a bad assumption to make. If you have only Firefox, you have to use a clunkier tool but there's still a tool for you. There's all sorts of ways to put a positive spin on this besides "browser incompatibility" No one bothered.
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lukethelibrarian 55 months ago | reply
@peter bromberg: if you are going to make a tool *mandatory* for grant program reporting, and then you choose a tool for that purpose that locks out mac and linux users, that's not unreasonable, it's stupid. sure, make it ie-only, *or* make it mandatory for grant reporting, but *don't* do both.
jessamyn 55 months ago | reply
The same screen a few hours later still shows the "Browser Incompatibility" message but now claims I AM using a compliant browser. Weird!
bckbiblio 55 months ago | reply
Do you know Kendra Morgan who works with TechAtlas? Every time I have sent feedback about things that are flukey or off they have fixed it really quickly when possible. I think that they were recently able to get it fixed so TechAtlas could run on Firefox, too, and am guessing the wording here just needs to be updated. TechAtlas is one of my favorite things from WebJunction - maybe not perfect, but useful for sure.
WebJunction 55 months ago | reply
Kendra from TechAtlas here.
About that incompatibility message (which was indeed outdated and has since been fixed)... TechAtlas provides users with several options for completing an inventory, one being the automated TechAtlas inventory tools which will only work on Windows PCs. These tools do require the user to have either Firefox or Internet Explorer. I was actually waiting on a few other things to wrap up before updating the workflows to include Firefox, but in light of this discussion, I have taken steps to update that language and you will find that Firefox will work just fine.
Using the automated tools is not a mandatory requirement for the grant process, and I'm sorry that this seems to be the perception. We have no stake or interest in the operating system or browser a library chooses to use, that's a local decision. To accommodate Macintosh, Linux, Unix etc, we do allow libraries to use a basic web form to enter the minimum details (or as much as they would like). Honestly, our goal is to help as many libraries as possible successfully completely their inventory for the grant.
When we hear that there are problems, we work to fix them quickly and to provide support to anyone who asks for it. But we can only fix things that people report. Feel free to email us anytime at techatlas@webjunction.org - some of our best improvements to the software have come from user requests and suggestions!