[Evergreen-web-team] General intro and BEYOND!

[Bob Molyneux]

> Hi All,
>
> I like what Bob has started here (see his message below for context). 
>  I think I could see this as a jumping off point for (as you say) a 
> gentle onramp to Evergreen (or Evergreen 101).  I might tweak some 
> things a bit but I assume that you (Bob) are open to additional 
> contributors/editors and not envisioning this as 'your' piece.
Of course--with many eyes all infelicities of expressions and mistakes 
are shallow. *ahem* I see it as a kind of template or a direction. The 
on ramp will eventually lead to more technical discussions and that 
would necessarily involve others.

>
> One question about the accuracy of one of the statements in the piece: 
> that all but one installation are in the US or Canada.  The Google map 
> shows installations the Republic of Georgia, Tasmania, Australia, and 
> the Netherlands.  And there's also Armenia, not on the Google map. 
>  So, maybe some clarification or correction needed there.
Anoop and I have chatted about the Tasmanian consortium. As he knows, I 
am skeptical that the libraries in Tasmania are actually running 
Evergreen for reasons that I could detail. It is listed in the Evergreen 
libraries because of correspondence I was involved with some time ago 
but, as I say, I am now skeptical but I concede the evidence is 
ambiguous. The IISG/IISH is not running Evergreen now. I had an email 
from them last week or so and was told me they were scheduling an end of 
June migration. That was the last I heard.

The Fundamental Scientific Library and its group has not migrated to 
Evergreen. I just checked the catalog link. Lori, I will send you the 
details off list.

> And now to the Web Team Hit Squad...reading Bob's text and thinking 
> how it could be put to use right away caused me to look at the FAQ 
> page because lots of this info is also in the FAQ page.  As I looked 
> it over, I realized that page (FAQ) could use some attention.  One 
> thing is that it is written in the voice of the PINES folks (why did 
> you create this software....so that sort of thing should be 
> addressed).  I'd also like to see it displayed in a way that is easier 
> to jump to the FAQ that interests you instead of having all that 
> content to scroll through.  Move the TOC from the far right into the 
> body perhaps?
I thought this was a possible use. What I am concerned about is that 
there are people stumbling on the site who would be lost and maybe 
discouraged. We are getting a different kind of person interested in 
Evergreen. The evolution of the questions we have been getting over the 
years is just fascinating. There are now folks who are showing up not as 
geeks committed to open source but librarians who don't know the 
technology and, moreover, don't care but have problems that open source 
software can solve or they need consortial software. They want to 
understand what is involved with Evergreen and a nice, clear 
introduction and a clear path to explanations of Evergreen's many 
aspects will work. Same with the LIS students. We have a bad rap as 
being bad at documentation. It is a problem that, IMHO, it is time to 
attack.

I was thinking last night about maybe an annotated table of contents 
would be a good start but hadn't thought it through enough to blurt it 
out. I could see that kind of structure could mix the technical with the 
non-technical. Read me first? I don't know.
>
> Jim, you proposed a site architecture here: 
> http://www.evergreen-ils.org/dokuwiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=webteam:eg_sitemap_proposed_20110509.pdf and 
> I'm wondering if we should try to move in that direction to the extent 
> we can with existing content.
>
> Jason and Anoop, I'd love to get your take on that idea.  I'm not 
> talking about a full blown cutover to Jim's proposed site architecture 
> but just to use this is a guide that makes sense.  I'm also open to 
> modifying said guide.
>
> I think it would be nice to have a site architecture in mind as we 
> move incrementally forward since we now have a good handle on what 
> we'll need eventually.  So, I'd like to propose we tentatively agree 
> on this or another site architecture so we don't keep having to have 
> the same discussions repeatedly about what should go where. We could 
> even share the site architecture we are working toward with the larger 
> community.  It might spur some interest in developing some of the 
> content we need.
>
> Lori
>
> P.S. I copied in the larger Web Team on this so invite your thoughts.
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 7:12 AM, Bob Molyneux <bob at esilibrary.com 
> <mailto:bob at esilibrary.com>> wrote:
>
>     Jim et al.
>
>     I am about to start on the glossary but thought I'd send this to
>     you. The idea I had in starting this the other day was as a
>     general intro to Evergreen so it is not only a draft but a concept
>     as in: worth pursuing or not? The idea is for something general
>     for non-technical folks to land on. I would envision links off
>     this and it could be lengthened to provide an intro to the more
>     technical stuff. What I have called a gentle on ramp.
>
>     I don't know if this is the kind of thing being envisioned for
>     Evergreen 101 and/or the LIS students and faculty. Anyway, here 'its.
>
>     And on to the wiki. Jason tells me I had a wiki account and kindly
>     reset the password so that should be good.
>
>     Bob
>
>
>     -- 
>     Bob Molyneux
>     | V.P., Business Development
>     | Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
>     | phone: 1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457) x710
>     |      : 770-709-5570 <tel:770-709-5570>
>     | email: bob at esilibrary.com <mailto:bob at esilibrary.com>
>     | Skype: ESI-Bob
>     | Web: http://www.esilibrary.com/
>
>


-- 
Bob Molyneux
| V.P., Business Development
| Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
| phone: 1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457) x710
|      : 770-709-5570
| email: bob at esilibrary.com
| Skype: ESI-Bob
| Web: http://www.esilibrary.com/