[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Suggestions

[Donald Butterworth]

Colleagues,

It is our intent to go live with Evergreen Acquisitions and Cataloging July
1 of this year. That means we are going to get real busy, real soon. It
also means that we are likely to get used to Evergreen inconsistencies as
we get caught up in production. Before that happens I'd like to jot down
some suggestions for the sake of other Newbies. This could sound whiny, but
it comes from a spirit of trying to be helpful. As integrated library
systems go, it seems to me that Evergreen is already pretty intuitive. But
there are some inconsistencies that could be addressed I think could make
it even easier to use.

First, as a new user who is trying to set parameters for the first time, I
don't understand the logic behind dividing the Administrative parameters
into "Local" and "Server". One would think that Local would refer to
parameters for a specific branch. But in Server there are categories like
Call Number Prefixes and Circulation parameters that could be branch
specific. I'm guessing that the Local and Server categories must be more
intuitive from a programmer perspectives. What is more intuitive to me, is
dividing the parameters by module, as has already been done with the
Acquisition Module parameters. So, especially for the sake of the new user,
I'd like to see the Admin drop-down menu reorganized into the categories of
Search, Circulation, Cataloging, Acquisitions, Booking, Administration.
That or add an Parameter/Admin option to those existing drop-down menus.

Second, more consistent wording would be very helpful. For example

*Server Administration --> Acquisitions --> Cancel Reasons*

Drop-down line reads: *Cancel Reasons*
The Tab it opens reads: *Server Settings*
The header for the page it opens reads: *PO / Item / Request Cancellation
Reasons*
The index heading in Evergreen Official Documentation reads: *purchase
order cancellation, Cancel/Suspend reasons *

Ideally the wording would be consistent for all 4 locations, like it is for
example with

*Local Administration --> Closed Dates Editor*

Drop-down line reads: *Closed Dates Editor*
The Tab it opens reads: *Closed Dates Editor*
The header for the page it opens reads: *Closed Dates Editor*
The index heading in Evergreen Official Documentation reads: Set closed
dates using the *Closed Dates Editor*

Third, the index of the Evergreen Official Documentation is not tied
consistently to the labels being used in the Admin drop-down menu. For
example terms like Actor, Age, Asset, Barcode, and others do not appear in
the index even though they are used in Admin drop-down. It would be very
helpful if every heading on every drop-down menu were included in the index
of the Official Documentation.

Fourth, it would be helpful if there was context sensitive help on the
various parameter screens. For example it would be nice to have on the
Circulation Modifier screen: a) a brief paragraph describing what a
Circulation Modifier is, b) a sample modifier such as "book" included, c) a
button or a hot link header Circulation Modifier
<http://docs.evergreen-ils.org/2.3/_borrowing_items_who_what_for_how_long.html>that
would take you to the Official documentation, d) a button/link to
screenshots<http://pines.georgialibraries.org/pines-circulation-modifier-definitions>of
how other libraries have defined their modifiers.

Attached is a document that lists Admin Drop-down menu entries, Tab
wording, Screen headers, and index availability that could be used to
create more consistency.

Hoping to be helpful,

Don

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