[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Re: generic training server with predictable data

[Lori Bowen Ayre]

Hi Don,

That would be great!  Thanks.  Based on some of the feedback I"m getting
this time around, I'd say this effort is a go afterall.  I'll be in touch
about getting those records.

Lori

P.S.  I've been to your Kentucky campus....years ago for Ichthus.  Small
world.

On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 5:23 AM, Don Butterworth <
don.butterworth at asburyseminary.edu> wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> My name is Don Butterworth. I am the Head of Technical Services at Asbury
> Theological Seminary and have been lurking on this list for the last couple
> of months. Late last year our library migrated from Horizon to Symphony.
> After having worked with the cataloging and acquisitions modules for over
> six months, it is my personal opinion that our department's efficiency has
> been reduced by at least 20%. Because of that, if I can convince the "powers
> that be," I hope to set up an Evergreen test database here on campus, so
> that we can get a feel for the software, workflow, and level of IT
> involvement. Then, when the Acquisitions module is released in 2.0,
> thoroughly test it to see if it is a viable alternative to Symphony.
>
> I have files of OCLC MARC records, for all of last year's acquisitions,
> which I plan to import as our test database; about 10,000 records. If it is
> legal, I believe I can convince our administration to contribute them to an
> RSCEL training server, if that would be helpful.
>
> Don
>
> Don Butterworth
> Faculty Associate / Librarian III
> B.L. Fisher Library
> Asbury Theological  Seminary
> don.butterworth at asburyseminary.edu
> (859) 858-2227
>
> The opinions expressed are strictly my own and should not be considered as
> any official opinion, endorsement or statement by Asbury Theological
> Seminary.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Lori Bowen Ayre" <lori.ayre at galecia.com>
> To: "Evergreen Discussion Group" <
> open-ils-general at list.georgialibraries.org>
> Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 8:51:25 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] generic training server with predictable
> data
>
> Oooooh.  Like that suggestion.  No reason we couldn't keep the same data
> set on an available training server AND on as part of the Evergreen source.
>
> Lori
>
> On Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 5:45 PM, Dan Scott <dan at coffeecode.net> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 2010-06-21 at 17:09 -0700, Lori Bowen Ayre wrote:
>> > Hi All,
>> >
>> > I posted info about this idea and got a big 'ol nothing in response so
>> > I wanted to try one more time to verify that it really is of no
>> > interest to anyone.
>>
>> It is of interest, I just have a slight variation on your suggestion
>> which really hearkens back to a suggestion I pitched many moons ago. (I
>> think the first time might have been
>> http://markmail.org/message/dbwre7cqhmmnnlrv but I know I've discussed
>> it in several other forums since then...)
>>
>> >  Here's the idea....as one of the RSCEL projects, were thinking of
>> > setting up a training server which would have a current version of
>> > Evergreen loaded, would be accessible to anyone (much like the demo
>> > servers) but we'd make sure we kept it totally current with one
>> > matching client software download.
>> >
>> >
>> > We'd also keep data in there that you could rely on being there for
>> > training (so we'd have to refresh it on some regular basis).
>> >  Eventually, we'd contribute some exercises that people could use in
>> > their training which would use that training server and data.
>> >
>> >
>> > The idea is that you would then not have to worry about how to train
>> > your people on your own Evergreen server at the same time you were
>> > trying to get ready to go live.
>> >
>> >
>> > Also, by sharing the same data and server set-up, we could all
>> > contribute training exercises.
>> >
>> >
>> > So, if you think this would be useful or you think it would be a waste
>> > of time...please advise.  Friendly amendments are also encouraged.  We
>> > want to do something that helps people so if this wouldn't help
>> > anyone, we RSCELs will focus our attention somewhere else!
>> >
>>
>> Rather than having this data sitting just on a training server RSCEL, I
>> think it would be much more useful to have the sample data sets
>> available as part of the Evergreen source. This would enable every
>> Evergreen install to (optionally) have a reference set of data to work
>> with locally. We could build documentation / training based on those
>> sample sets of data, but also build tests on those sample sets of data
>> to ensure that the SQL schema hasn't been broken & the data can actually
>> load, a given server is working as expected, and that a given report
>> returns the expected results, and that a given API call generates the
>> expected effects.
>>
>> This could also be a useful basis on which to build tests of the
>> migration scripts.
>>
>> I do think that having an up-to-date training server always at the ready
>> would be a valuable thing and support that goal; I just think that it's
>> potentially more important to have a canonical set of sample data
>> available as part of the Evergreen source.
>>
>>
>
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