[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Evergreen Newsletter, November 2008
Karen Schneider
kgs at esilibrary.com
Fri Oct 31 15:28:40 EDT 2008
*Evergreen Newsletter*
The newsletter for Evergreen open source library software
http://evergreen-ils.org
Volume 1, Issue 1
November, 2008
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* Welcome to the Evergreen newsletter!*
This is a new monthly publication by and for the communities coalescing
around Evergreen open source library automation software. See the end of the
newsletter for how to submit for the December issue of the Evergreen
Newsletter.
We will post this newsletter to the Evergreen "general" discussion list
(http://evergreen-ils.org/listserv.php) and the Evergreen blog (
http://evergreen-ils.org/blog). Cross-posting is encouraged.
=====
*Save These Dates*
** Evergreen at ALA Midwinter 2009: Come to an Evergreen social function
(Birds of a Feather Nosh Together?) Saturday, January 24, 5:30 - 7:30, at a
very nice locale near the Denver convention center. We'll open registration
for this soirée in early December.
** Evergreen at Ontario Library Association 2009: expect a Birds of a
Feather, plus enjoy the Evergreen-related programs. See Dan Scott's post:
http://coffeecode.net/archivessoirée/171-An-Evergreen-track-at-the-OLA-SuperConference-2009.html<http://coffeecode.net/archivessoir%C3%A9e/171-An-Evergreen-track-at-the-OLA-SuperConference-2009.html>
** Upcoming webinars: By late November, expect another webinar on 1.4 --
either a broad overview, or a focus on interesting features such as the
in-database circulation rules. Ask for more webinars on the Evergreen
discussion lists!
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The Path to 1.4: Release Early, Release Often -- And Test Like Crazy
** See: http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads.php
The first release candidate for Evergreen 1.4 became available October
17, 2008. By the time you read this newsletter, 1.4rc1 may have been
preempted by 1.4rc2 (the second release candidate). The Evergreen download
page should point you to the latest version.
Some of the highlights of 1.4 include a multi-target Z39.50 client built
into the staff client, in-database circulation rules, web self-check
(actually available in 1.2.3.1), courtesy reminder notices, and some work to
speed up billing.
We shook a few bugs out of the first release -- that's what testing is
for! -- so all but the most curious may want to wait a few days for 1.4rc2.
We can't say enough in favor of testing; developers and community members
test so that fewer may suffer.
The technically-facile are encouraged to download the code and install away.
The rest of us can download the staff client, point it at the development
server (http://dev.gapines.org ), and walk through typical tasks
(registering patrons, paying fines, etc.) plus play with Vandelay (the
importer-exporter), noodle around with the multi-target Z39.50 client, etc.
Share your thoughts through the Evergreen mailing lists.
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*Wiki Wonderfulness*
Hot off the press: a section on the Evergreen wiki devoted to
community-contributed documentation and tutorials. Special thanks to SITKA,
Michigan Evergreen, Evergreen Indiana, Innisfil, and Mohawk College for
sharing their time and talents:
http://evergreen-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=community_tutorials
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*Vandelay Webinar Now Online*
The community-contributed tutorials includes a link to a recording of
the October 30 webinar for Vandelay. Over 50 members of the Evergreen
community met online to see the record importer-exporter featured in 1.4.
The discussion was lively, Vandelay was well received, and more feedback for
Vandelay followed on the discussion lists (particularly for supporting large
numbers of targets).
Equinox Software recorded the session and Robert Soullier of Mohawk
College did the post-recording video editing. Bravo Robert!
=====
*Acquisitions: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road*
Acquisitions has seen steady progress. For the remainder of 2008,
development for acquisitions will slow down due to other development
deadlines. But we have dates in 2009 staring us in the face, and we
certainly hear everyone loud and clear when they tell us acquisitions is
essential, so we will pick up speed again in early 2009.
In the meantime, if you haven't done so already, you can view the
Acquisitions webinar recorded in late September:
http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads/pinesacqpreview092408.wmv
You can also view the Evergreen acquisitions roadmap:
http://evergreen-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=acq:timeline
=====
* Evergreen on Flickr and Delicious*
Evergreen now has a Flickr set (we'll upgrade to Pro if we get enough
traffic or pictures to warrant it) and a Delicious set:
http://flickr.com/photos/evergreen-ils/
http://delicious.com/evergreenils
If you're on Flickr, you can join the pool, friend the set, etc.
If you're on Delicious, you can push suggested links by tagging with the
for:evergreenils
In either case, you can add these services to Friendfeed.
Oh, and Evergreen has for a long time had a group page in Facebook --
friend us there!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6396639614
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*Documentation be Nimble, Documentation Be Quick *
Thanks to a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation, the Evergreen
project has four contract documentation writers working on these topics:
reports; Vandelay; cataloging; and acquisitions. (See, we're far enough
along with ACQ to begin documenting it!) The writers are working apace and
the drafts are looking good. Drop Karen, Equinox Community Librarian a line
if you'd like to see drafts in progress; we won't post any live until we're
farther along in the writing process.
We are considering moving to DocBook for the "formal" documentation. If
you have experience with DocBook, comment on or off one of the Evergreen
lists.
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*Evergreen at Access*
See this Evergreen Blog post for a round-up of all things Evergreen at
the terrific Access 2008 conference:
http://evergreen-ils.org/blog/?p=166
=====
*Evergreen Mailing Lists Now Archived By Markmail*
Thanks to suggestions from Evergreen community members, the Evergreen
general, development, and documentation lists are now archived by Markmail,
for easy searching and browsing and an attractive interface.
See: http://georgialibraries.markmail.org/
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* New Evergreen Libraries: Welcome Aboard!*
Below are the newest Evergreen libraries -- the Evergreen installations
known to have taken place in October, 2008. If you'd like to follow along as
libraries join the Evergreen community, you can subscribe to the Equinox
press release feed, which will announce most known Evergreen
implementations. The Equinox press release feed was recently tweaked to make
it easier to track and share the releases.
The feed: http://esilibrary.com/esi/news.rss
** SITKA
http://catalogue.bclibrary.ca/
Midway Public Library
Nakusp Public Library
** Evergreen Indiana
http://evergreen.lib.in.us/
Adams Public Library
Colfax-Perry Township
Franklin County Public Library District
Jackson County
Lebanon
Mooresville
Plainfield-Guilford Township
Union County
** Michigan Evergreen
http://ndl.michiganevergreen.org/
Niles Public Library
** Onesies
Innisfil Public Library, Ontario, Canada
http://www.innisfil.library.on.ca/
** See the growing list of Evergreen libraries:
http://evergreen-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=evergreen_libraries
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* Newsletter Administrivia*
Feel free to forward, share, etc.!
The deadline for the Evergreen newsletter is the last working day before
the first of the month... feel free to submit items earlier. The
co-wranglers for this newsletter are Karen Schneider, Equinox Community
Librarian (kgs at esilibrary.com) and John Fink, Digital Technologies
Development librarian at McMaster University.
Equinox Software, Inc.: http://esilibrary.com
Evergreen open source library software: http://evergreen-ils.org
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