[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Seeking funding partners for upcoming development projects

[Ruth Frasur]

Our library is willing to contribute to either/both of these projects but
it would have to be after the end of this calendar year.


On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 10:51 AM, Kathy Lussier <klussier at masslnc.org>
wrote:

>  Hi Ruth,
>
> We can work with partners on the timing that works best for them. For the
> message center project, if we are able to get the necessary commitments
> lined up quickly, I expect coding and testing could be completed before the
> end of the calendar year. This means we would prefer to have the funds
> before the end of the calendar year, but, like I said, we can work with
> potential partners if necessary.
>
> The alert development project will be implemented in the web client, not
> the current staff client, meaning that the project start time will be a
> little later. In that case, we could easily receive the funds in this
> calendar year or the next one.
>
> I hope this helps!
>
>
> Kathy
>
> Kathy Lussier
> Project Coordinator
> Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative(508) 343-0128klussier at masslnc.org
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
>
> On 8/15/2014 10:41 AM, Ruth Frasur wrote:
>
> Kathy,
>
>  When do you need the money for this?
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 10:06 AM, Kathy Lussier <klussier at masslnc.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> The MassLNC Development Committee met earlier this week to ascertain what
>> we need to move forward with some of our development projects this year.
>> With PINES' assistance, we are close to moving forward with two development
>> projects, but we still need a small amount of funds for each project.
>>
>> Alert development: This project has three components that give Evergreen
>> sites more control over their alerts: 1)The ability to designate copy
>> alerts as either checkin alerts or checkout alerts 2)The ability to add
>> temporary alerts to copies, primarily so that staff in one library can add
>> alerts to copies belonging to another library (e.g. "patron says this DVD
>> needs cleaning"), and 3)the ability for a library to suppress some system
>> alerts, such as the alerts that tell staff they have checked in a lost,
>> missing, long overdue, or claims returned item.
>>
>> Our libraries believe this project is important because, although alerts
>> are sometimes necessary and relay critical information, many of our
>> libraries find that some alerts do not provide information they need to
>> know at certain points of the circ transaction. These alerts, therefore,
>> add unnecessary steps to the workflow. Although clicking through one
>> unnecessary alert may only add a couple of seconds to the workflow, those
>> seconds add up throughout the hundreds or thousands of circ transactions
>> that occur throughout the course of the day. Also, if we remove the alerts
>> that are unnecessary, staff are more likely to pay closer attention to the
>> alerts that provide important information.
>>
>> MassLNC needs just $5,000 to proceed with this development project.
>>
>> The Message Center project will provide a central area where patrons can
>> view library messages. An Evergreen site can configure which notices will
>> appear in the message center (e.g. overdues, cancelled holds, pre-due
>> notices). The center will also display any public notes added to the patron
>> record. These notes now display in the account summary area, but can easily
>> be missed if the patron isn't looking for them. Logged-in users will get a
>> visual cue, similar to those used in many other web sites, that lets them
>> know when they have a new message (see mock-ups at
>> http://masslnc.cwmars.org/node/2927).
>>
>> Our libraries believe this project is important because users have come
>> to expect web sites to provide important information, not just through
>> e-mail, but also through the user account area of the web site. E-mail
>> communication for notices is not always reliable, and the message center
>> provides another means for communicating important information to the
>> patron. This project also takes a piece of information currently available
>> in the patron account area (public patron notes) and provides a needed
>> visual cue that lets patrons know the note is available.
>>
>> MassLNC just needs $2,900 to proceed with this development project.
>>
>> If your library is interested in either of these projects, but cannot
>> contribute the full amount required, please let me know. If we get enough
>> libraries that can only contribute a portion of the funds required, those
>> funds will quickly add up.
>>
>> Please contact me directly if you have any questions on either of these
>> projects.
>>
>> Thank you!
>>
>> Kathy
>>
>> Kathy Lussier
>> Project Coordinator
>> Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
>> (508) 343-0128
>> klussier at masslnc.org
>> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
>>
>>   On 7/25/2014 5:32 PM, Kathy Lussier wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I'm pleased to announce that Georgia PINES has joined MassLNC to help to
>>> fund the Enhancements to Evergreen Alerts and Message Center projects.
>>> Thank you Georgia PINES!
>>>
>>> We have also received some interest from Evergreen sites on the activity
>>> metric project.
>>>
>>> MassLNC would really love to see all three of these projects implemented
>>> in a future release of Evergreen. If anyone is interested in the projects
>>> and can contribute some funds, even if it's only a small amount of money,
>>> please feel free to contact me at klussier at masslnc.org with your
>>> questions.
>>>
>>> What do you get out of being a partner on one of these development
>>> projects? Putting funds to a development project is your opportunity to
>>> make a contribution to the future direction of Evergreen. It's a great
>>> feeling to see a new feature in Evergreen and to say to yourself "I helped
>>> to make that new feature happen." Budgets are tight everywhere, but by
>>> pooling our funds together, we can see some great new functionality at a
>>> lower cost for each partner. The recent MVC/CRA project (aka icon project)
>>> is a great example of a development project where many small development
>>> contributions, combined with a couple of contributions from some larger
>>> sites, resulted in some nice improvements for the whole Evergreen
>>> community. Being a development partner also ensures that  you will be part
>>> of spec discussions and testing, allowing you to watch out for the needs of
>>> your users while the project is being shaped.
>>>
>>> But, wait, there's more! If you participate in a MassLNC development
>>> project, your organization will be added to the MassLNC Wall of Fame where
>>> we acknowledge and thank all of the sites that have worked with us on
>>> development projects over the years -
>>> http://masslnc.cwmars.org/node/3067. The large number of libraries and
>>> consortia listed there is a testament to the great community we have and
>>> the fact that there are so many sites out there that want to contribute
>>> what they can to help make Evergreen better for everyone.
>>>
>>> But that's not all! For a limited time only, if your organization
>>> decides to help fund one of these projects, you will receive a batch of
>>> cookies made by MassLNC coordinator Kathy Lussier (that's me). The cookies
>>> will be hand-delivered to you at the next Evergreen conference (or, if
>>> we're both there, at the next Evergreen hack-a-way).
>>>
>>> Please take some time to look over these projects and let me know if
>>> you're interested.
>>>
>>> Have a nice weekend everyone!
>>>
>>> Kathy
>>>
>>> Kathy Lussier
>>> Project Coordinator
>>> Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
>>> (508) 343-0128
>>> klussier at masslnc.org
>>> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
>>>
>>> On 7/1/2014 2:45 PM, Kathy Lussier wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Today marks the first day of the new fiscal year for MassLNC, and our
>>>> development committee has identified a few new enhancements we are hoping
>>>> to sponsor over the next year.
>>>>
>>>> We have received proposals from Equinox for all three projects, but
>>>> MassLNC needs help to fund these projects. I am sending out this e-mail to
>>>> see if there are other Evergreen sites interested in helping us fund any of
>>>> these projects. For more details, you can e-mail me directly at
>>>> klussier at masslnc.org.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Also, if you are already working on a similar project or just want to
>>>> provide some feedback for our proposed projects, please feel to share your
>>>> feedback on the list.
>>>>
>>>> These three projects are listed on the new Proposed Development
>>>> Projects wiki page at:
>>>>
>>>> http://wiki.evergreen-ils.org/doku.php?id=evergreen_features:proposed_development_projects
>>>>
>>>> ACTIVITY METRIC FOR RELEVANCE RANKING
>>>> The goal of this project is for a title's activity (circulations,
>>>> number of holds, etc.) to affect the relevance of that title when
>>>> retrieving search results. Google and Amazon use popularity with much
>>>> success when ranking search results. I think Evergreen would see similar
>>>> success if it were to incorporate activity into its relevance algorithm.
>>>>
>>>> As an example, if a user were conducting a keyword search on "abraham
>>>> lincoln,"  there are many books, movies, etc. in most US libraries where
>>>> the words "abraham lincoln" show up in the title. There would be no way to
>>>> tease out the titles that are getting the most attention by readers. In
>>>> fact, a title like "Team of Rivals" ranks very low in our search results
>>>> even though there is a fairly high likelihood it is the title the patron is
>>>> seeking.  By applying a metric based on activity, we might be able to see
>>>> those more-recently popular titles floating higher in the search results
>>>> list.
>>>>
>>>> The current proposal is to make factors like circulation and hold
>>>> activity, record and item age, and item ownership counts available as an
>>>> activity metric. Each factor will embody a "popularity badge" that a bib
>>>> record can earn, and each badge will have a five-point scale, where more
>>>> points indicate a more popular record.
>>>>
>>>> The average of the badge points earned by each record will constitute a
>>>> "popularity star rating". The number and types of badges will break ties
>>>> for average popularity.
>>>>
>>>> A new sort axis of popularity will be created to sort first on the
>>>> cumulative popularity of each record, followed by the query-specific
>>>> relevance available today.
>>>>
>>>> ENHANCEMENTS TO EVERGREEN ALERTS
>>>> I mentioned this project in the recent thread on problems with items
>>>> not checking in properly - http://markmail.org/message/rnm5s7wdxjgy3tym
>>>> .
>>>>
>>>> This project would give Evergreen sites more control over which alerts
>>>> appear during check-in and check-out. The project has three components:
>>>>
>>>> - Separate checkin and checkout copy alerts
>>>> - The ability to add temporary copy alerts from the checkin, checkout,
>>>> and item status screen
>>>> - A library setting that allows sites to determine if some system
>>>> alerts should appear at checkin and checkout.
>>>>
>>>> MassLNC's full project requirements are available at
>>>> http://masslnc.cwmars.org/node/2764.
>>>>
>>>> This project is not slated to begin until Fall 2014 after sprint 1 of
>>>> the web client project is complete.
>>>>
>>>> MESSAGE CENTER FOR THE PUBLIC CATALOG
>>>> This project would create a message center that communicates important
>>>> messages to patrons. Public patron notes will display here, and sites will
>>>> have the ability to configure any action/trigger notice to also deliver a
>>>> notice to the message center.
>>>>
>>>> MassLNC's full project requirements are available at
>>>> http://masslnc.cwmars.org/node/2927.
>>>>
>>>> Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!
>>>>
>>>> Kathy
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>  --
> Ruth Frasur
> Director of the Historic(ally Awesome) Hagerstown - Jefferson Township
> Library
> 10 W. College Street in Hagerstown, Indiana (47346)
> p (765) 489-5632; f (765) 489-5808
>
> Our Kickin' Website <http://hagerstownlibrary.org>  Our Rockin' Facebook
> Page <http://facebook.com/hjtplibrary>  and Stuff I'm Reading
> <http://pinterest.com/hjtplibrary/ruth-reads/>
>
>
>


-- 
Ruth Frasur
Director of the Historic(ally Awesome) Hagerstown - Jefferson Township
Library
10 W. College Street in Hagerstown, Indiana (47346)
p (765) 489-5632; f (765) 489-5808

Our Kickin' Website <http://hagerstownlibrary.org>  Our Rockin' Facebook
Page <http://facebook.com/hjtplibrary>  and Stuff I'm Reading
<http://pinterest.com/hjtplibrary/ruth-reads/>
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