[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Proposed change in Vendor Listing Policy

Thu Sep 11 16:27:09 EDT 2014

What I'm curious to know from Brad and other vendors is if this is
something they would want to do.  There have been a lot of comments about
this being a burden and almost in a tone as if it was a harassment to
vendors.  I envisioned it as a positive way of pointing community members
to services they might want and thus helping the vendors.  If this isn't
something they would want then while I do think it would be better for
potential customers there probably isn't a reason to proceed.

On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 4:20 PM, Kathy Lussier <klussier at masslnc.org> wrote:

>  Thanks for the feedback Brad and thanks to Chris for his comments!
>
> I have to say Chris' comments gave me a moment of pause to rethink the
> proposal.
>
> In thinking back to the time before we implemented the new vendor listing
> procedures,  the community had a vendor page that included 1) several
> vendors providing Evergreen services 2) some outdated listings for vendors
> that were no longer offering Evergreen services and 3) a few vendors who,
> from all appearances, had never been in the Evergreen business. Even with
> the new policy, we will always have a problem where we might have outdated
> listings until somebody notices that the vendor is no longer providing
> Evergreen services. However, I do think the new policy has been great for
> removing those vendors who really didn't work with Evergreen. I suppose we
> could have removed them without the policy, but it's always helpful to have
> a written policy to point to if somebody questions a removal.
>
> Looking at today's vendor page, the listing is smaller, but I can say that
> each and every one of those vendors does indeed provide some services
> related to Evergreen. Overall, I think the page provides much more useful
> information than it did before the policy was implemented because Evergreen
> users no longer need to go through the process of contacting vendors listed
> on the page (as I did when I was starting out) just to find out that they
> really don't do Evergreen.
>
> Yes, I think the link to Evergreen services is also another step that
> might make the page more useful to Evergreen users. However, I'm now
> reconsidering whether this means we should make it a requirement.
>
> Since Brad was the vendor who responded to my query, I'm going to use
> ESI's page as an example. As Brad mentioned, they don't really have a page
> that outlines their Evergreen services. It's very easy for a user to find
> out what their services are by looking at their "What We Do" menu, and,
> since Evergreen is listed in their "Communities and Software" menu, it's
> not difficult to see that those services are provided for Evergreen. This
> is the way the company chose to present their services on their web site.
>
> However, in order to comply with the proposed requirement, they will now
> need to create a new page. Brad kindly said he would have no problem
> creating this page, but should ESI really be put in a position where they
> are required to make this change so that they can remain on the vendor
> list? Let's say it's not ESI, but it's another vendor with a similar
> Information Architecture on their web site. In this case, the vendor isn't
> as agreeable to adding a new page to identify their Evergreen services.
> Maybe the vendor is a one-person operation, and that person is just
> incredibly busy and can't get to the web site change for a few months. Is
> it right to keep this hypothetical vendor off the Evergreen vendor listing
> just because he/she doesn't have an Evergreen services page?
>
> Admittedly, I was one of the first people to say "required" when the EOB
> had the required vs. suggested discussion, but, at this time, I'm leaning
> towards not requiring. Many thanks to Chris for sharing his thoughts and
> making me look at the question in another light.
>
> Kathy
>
>
> Kathy Lussier
> Project Coordinator
> Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative(508) 343-0128klussier at masslnc.org
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
> #evergreen IRC: kmlussier
>
> On 9/8/2014 9:23 PM, W. Brad LaJeunesse wrote:
>
> Speaking as one of the vendors, I don't see a link back requirement as a
> burden, but rather it seems a simple reciprocal gesture. It seems totally
> reasonable to me. It's not like you're asking us to cut down the largest
> tree in the forest with a herring. [1]
>
> I couldn't remember, so I just took a look at our website, and while we
> don't have a link back from any of our "services" pages, we do have a link
> back from our dedicated Evergreen page. We support multiple open source
> products, and our services are at least very similar across all of them, so
> we created a page for each open source community (that don't mention our
> services, actually) and link back to each community website from there.
>
>  So, there are some changes required on our website in order to fully
> comply with this proposal (as I read it, at least), but we're fine with
> that.
>
>  Thanks for asking for input.
>
>  [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DopGxUAoAY
>
>  --
>  W. Brad LaJeunesse
> | President
> | Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
> | phone: 1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)
> | email: brad at esilibrary.com
> | web: http://www.esilibrary.com
>
> On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 5:03 PM, Kathy Lussier <klussier at masslnc.org>
> wrote:
>
>>  Hi all,
>>
>> This has been a great discussion so far!
>>
>> In addition to hearing from the general user community, I'm also
>> interested in hearing from the vendors who are part of our community.
>> Please let us know what you think because I think we ultimately want to
>> strike a balance between providing useful information to our users while
>> also not imposing an undue burden on our vendor community.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Kathy
>>
>> Kathy Lussier
>> Project Coordinator
>> Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative(508) 343-0128klussier at masslnc.org
>> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
>> #evergreen IRC: kmlussier
>>
>>   On 9/8/2014 1:28 PM, Rogan Hamby wrote:
>>
>> No, I thank you for bringing up those points and I think you're right we
>> do seem to have a slightly differently view of the intent and so these
>> discussions are good to have.  I hope we will hear from more folks!
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 1:18 PM, Sharp, Chris <csharp at georgialibraries.org
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks again, Rogan, for the continued discussion on this.  I'm glad
>>> we're able to air our respective opinions.
>>>
>>> > There was some discussion during the meeting about it being suggested
>>> > versus required. To me those elements that make it more user
>>> > friendly should be required or we start diluting the purpose.
>>>
>>> Ah, here is where I think we're disagreeing.  From my perspective, the
>>> purpose of the vendor page is to provide a simple directory that gives our
>>> project's end users pointers toward potential vendors for support.  What
>>> happens after the user sees these listings is beyond the scope of that
>>> purpose, as I see things.  I think our responsibility from the Evergreen
>>> community side ends at making sure to the best of our ability that the
>>> listings *on the page itself* are up-to-date and accurate.  I see a clear
>>> dividing line between that responsibility and the responsibility of the
>>> vendors to keep their web pages up to date.  I'm not generally for laissez
>>> faire policies, but in this case, it seems that vendors will do what's best
>>> to communicate their services to users without us needing to add
>>> requirements to do so.
>>>
>>> Having said that, I'm satisfied that I've been heard and I'll be quiet
>>> now and let community consensus decide whether or not this requirement
>>> becomes part of our vendor listing policy.
>>>
>>> Thanks for hearing me out,
>>>
>>> Chris
>>>
>>> --
>>> Chris Sharp
>>> PINES System Administrator
>>> Georgia Public Library Service
>>> 1800 Century Place, Suite 150
>>> Atlanta, Georgia 30345
>>> (404) 235-7147 <%28404%29%20235-7147>
>>> csharp at georgialibraries.org
>>> http://pines.georgialibraries.org/
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>  --
>>
>> 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>
>>
>>
>
>

-- 

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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