[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Holds in Evergreen and order notifications

[Jill Minor]

We're curious: is there a way to set Evergreen up to flag books with a ceiling of holds (like say 8) to notify staff that more copies need to be purchased? Or do you need to be a programmer and use SQL or PHP to make that work?

[phpp2mebdAM.jpg]
Jill Minor
Electronic Services Librarian
Washington County Public Library
205 Oak Hill St
Abingdon, VA 24201
276-676-6298
http://www.wcpl.net<http://www.wcpl.net/>
Twitter: jillrhudy<http://www.twitter.com/jillrhudy>

I link patrons and staff
to technology.

From: open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org [mailto:open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] On Behalf Of Rogan Hamby
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 7:39 PM
To: Evergreen Development Discussion List
Cc: Evergreen Discussion Group
Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] [OPEN-ILS-DEV] Evergreen and QA

I'm going to look at how SCLENDS could contribute to this and make some recommendations.  I'm leaning towards $1 per staff member.  I can guarantee that my own library, York County Public Library, will do that if I have to pay it out of my own pocket in our name.  It won't be a lot.  We aren't that large but I feel like we should pay something for each one of us that hands on really uses Evergreen.  Actually, I will do that with a smile.

If we start adding up staff time ultimately saved by QA, speeding up code, etc... I think a $1 levy is pretty cheap.  I'll be glad to call it a tax.  Taxes are meant for the common good and I wish everyone felt like they had to pay into the pool.  I'd like to believe that a kickstarter could raise a good bit of cash just off frustrations of front line staff.  (I'm not suggesting a kickstarter, it's just to illustrate the point of who often feels the greatest pain but heck, maybe it would work.  If I could guarantee a certain speed I'd probably have funding for a new staff client within days.)

So, let me say, thank you Equinox.  We need movement and direction made on these big ticket tasks like QA.  I remember spending a fair bit of time talking about this last  year at the conference, then regularly since and we're almost at the next conference!  I'm going to be blunt and say that while I'm always gladdened to see efforts by individual community members or small groups funding new features, I don't think we're headed in the right direction on the big things - really big features, fundamental changes that we can build off of, big revisions to code bases like the optimization we talked about at the last developer meeting, quality assurance processes, etc...  I know no one wants to put any one vendor in too central or strong a role and I'd rather QA came out of a community effort, but there hasn't been a community led effort and I care about results.

I'm not talking about the theory of community or the principles of open source.  I do believe in those things by the way, but  I have circ and reference staff report directly to me.  I man those desks and use it myself.  Results matter and if ESI will lead the way I'll gladly buy my war bonds ... er, send them my money.

<start sandbox rant>

And I'm really, really interested in having a dialogue about other things.  I want the community to be more aware of things like the web sockets conversations and potential of a browser loaded staff client and need for optimization and I want to hear the community's feedback and who they think should be leading this up.  I think in open source there is a certain ethical mandate to take direction from the community and if you're willing to spend time on it to go that direction.  As a member of the Oversight Board I want us to be more aggressive about helping big things happen but do we have the backing of the community to do that or do they not want a central body in the at role?

I'll be honest, I don't think the listserv is the best place for these conversations.  I hope to have them a lot more at the conference, especially at the close where I'll be doing some talking about community engagement.   I'll hold Google Hangouts.  Heck, I'm willing to hold regional meetings and if I can reasonably drive to it attend.  I'd rather have a thousand people talking and make sense of overload than nothing.  I want us to look forward years ahead and be ambitious but that's me.  And that's also kind of the great thing about open source.  ESI can lead this because they're willing to.  And one guy can stand around and be loud and folks can agree or ignore him but if enough agree ... well, that's open source.  And I love open source and results.

</end sandbox rant>


On Wed, Feb 13, 2013 at 2:38 PM, W. Brad LaJeunesse <brad at esilibrary.com<mailto:brad at esilibrary.com>> wrote:
Fellow Evergreeners:

At the "future of the staff client" developer meeting Quality Assurance (QA) came up repeatedly. This is a serious issue that affects every one of us. It obviously affects all users of Evergreen, whether staff or customer, but it also greatly affects Equinox in that bugs and other software defects increase our support load and also decreases overall satisfaction with the Evergreen product. It's an issue we've been deeply concerned about for some time.

A few years ago, there was a formal and concerted QA effort. GPLS was generous to fund it, and we were making good headway with nightly builds, tests, etc. However, with funding cuts and other issues becoming priority, QA has largely been ignored and we've all felt the result. As a community, we need to correct this.

Equinox would like to be part of the solution and we very much want to re-launch and lead the QA effort, but we need the community's help and support. We have a formative plan and we have resources we can devote, but we need funding to make it happen.

We propose that Jason Etheridge will be responsible for the QA project and will direct and manage appropriate Equinox resources. Jason will have authority to pull in any Equinox developer (or any other personnel/resources), as needed, to get the job done. We propose that Equinox devote a total of one FTE to the QA effort as well as any server/hardware required. Jason will work closely with community stakeholders, coordinate, and make sure Equinox's efforts are in line with community needs. We expect, in the least, to have nightly builds and increased automated test coverage.

We believe that a 3-month period is enough to get started and see if this effort is fruitful. We're looking for $30,000 to fund a 3-month effort. If we're successful, then we'll search for further funding to keep rolling.

I understand budgets are tight and we're all looking for ways to make everything fit, but QA is an important and worthwhile project and we need your help to make it happen--to make Evergreen better for all of us.

If you're interested in making a pledge, just let me know.

Thanks for your consideration.

--
W. Brad LaJeunesse
| President
| Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
| phone: 1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)
| email: brad at esilibrary.com<mailto:brad at esilibrary.com>
| web: http://www.esilibrary.com<http://www.esilibrary.com/>



--

Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA
Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services,
York County Library System

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
― C.S. Lewis<http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis>
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