[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Where, oh where ...

[Jesse Ephraim]

Don;

Unfortunately, there really isn't a well-written, updated, thorough guide to Evergreen out there (to the best of my knowledge).  There are a number of partial guides, but even if you put all those together, there are some major gaps.  A couple of years into things, and we're still trying to fill in the gaps in our knowledge. That's one of the drawbacks of open source systems, unfortunately - documentation isn't the first thing on the mind of developers.  My bet is that we would see a LOT more libraries adopting Evergreen if there were decent documentation and a good front-end to the installation process.

Most of the major docs that have been done are available here:
http://docs.evergreen-ils.org/
http://www.open-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php



Jesse Ephraim
Director, Roanoke Public Library

308 S. Walnut
Roanoke, TX  76248
jephraim at roanoketexas.com
817-491-2691

From: open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org [mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] On Behalf Of Donald Butterworth
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 5:46 AM
To: Evergreen Discussion Group
Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Where, oh where ...

Hi everyone,

After years of wanting to experiment with Evergreen our IT dept has loaded 2.3 on a local server. True it's on a 7 year old Omnitech, with almost no memory, that sits under the desk of our IT director on the other side of campus. But, hey, it's something; and there is the promise of more to follow once he's finished with a dSpace upgrade. I have a dream that two years from now our current system with become a memory. Time will tell.

So ... now ... where do we start? We've downloaded the manual from the website, but what I really need is the "Idiot's Guide to Getting Evergreen Up and Running". The contents would look something like:

Welcome to Evergreen
DO THIS FIRST
Go here, do this. Then go here, and do that.
DO THIS SECOND!

You get the idea. Is there a document like this available anywhere? What would be exceedingly helpful would be a Video Version of the Idiot's Guide. It would be so much easier for some of us to watch how to get things started. For example, it would help us greenhorn users avoid staring at the screen for 30 minutes searching for the admin drop-down menu, which is on the top right of the screen. Any chance that someone has made a try at this?

Of course, much of Evergreen is quite intuitive for people who are used to using an ILS. We were able to import a file of bib records without a crash on our first try. But there are three things that we particularly need help with at this point. What tag is used in a bib record to supply item data so that when a bib record enters the system it automatically generates an item record? And, what tag is used in a bib record to supply order data, so that PO lines can be populated automatically? Where does one go to define the subfields for these tags?

Thanks for your insights.

Don

Don Butterworth
Faculty Associate / Librarian III
B.L. Fisher Library
Asbury Theological Seminary
(859) 858-2227
don.butterworth at asburyseminary.edu<mailto:don.butterworth at asburyseminary.edu>


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