[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?

[McCanna, Terran]

Regardless of whether it's feasible in a Windows VM environment or not, I really think that Evergreen is too complicated to set up and maintain for someone who doesn't have a strong skillset in system administration. A hosted ILS would be a better option, but a lot of tiny libraries can't afford that either.

Personally, if I were in Ben's position, I would investigate some of the library automation system offerings that are designed specifically for small libraries. Does anyone have any experience with Surpass? I haven't used it, but it looks like it was designed for tiny libraries (less than 5000 items) and has a standalone license option for running on a single non-networked PC: http://www.surpasssoftware.com/surpass-sl.html. 


Terran McCanna 
PINES Program Manager 
Georgia Public Library Service 
1800 Century Place, Suite 150 
Atlanta, GA 30345 
404-235-7138 
tmccanna at georgialibraries.org 
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Ehle" <markehle at gmail.com>
To: "Evergreen Discussion Group" <open-ils-general at list.georgialibraries.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015 11:26:53 AM
Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?

We ran everything in VirtualBox for a long time. Is it the PC hardware you
object to? Or just VM's in general.

On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 11:24 AM, Mark Ehle <markehle at gmail.com> wrote:

> When you have quad-core PC's with 8gb of ram, the difference is not that
> much. I've run production VM's on my PC in a pinch and our staff never
> knew.
>
> What do you suggest Ben does?
>
>
> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 11:12 AM, Rogan Hamby <rogan.hamby at yclibrary.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Mark,
>>
>> There is a big difference between running a production system on a
>> desktop VM and playing with it.  Running Evergreen in Virtual Box is common
>> for developers, documenters, etc....
>>
>> And it's important for those who don't have a systems background that a
>> VM in a server environment and throwing up a VM on a desktop with limited
>> resources are very different things.
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 11:00 AM, Mark Ehle <markehle at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Not at all dubious, Rogan. We run Sirsi Symphony as a VM and have been
>>> for years. We pretty much don't run our servers on anything else *but*
>>> VM's. It's just how things are done now. I've run Evergreen in Virtual Box
>>> (totally free) on my PC to play with it and it works just fine. Given a
>>> decent enough PC,mainly enough memory, I'm sure you could run Evergreen on
>>> a VM for a few clients for a small library.
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 10:49 AM, Rogan Hamby <rogan.hamby at yclibrary.net
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Ben,
>>>>
>>>> This was alluded to but to be clear, Evergreen isn't Windows software.
>>>> Evergreen was built to run on Linux and is commonly run on Debian though I
>>>> know it's used successfully on other distributions as well.  Honestly, as
>>>> much as I love to spread the love of Evergreen from what I can infer from
>>>> your post I don't think this would be the right direction for you.
>>>>
>>>> Running a production system on a VM is dubious though possible but then
>>>> connecting clients, doing the configuration, etc... these are going to
>>>> require a big investment of time and energy on the part of staff.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Jan 17, 2015 at 6:25 PM, Ben T. <t.ben38 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hello All,
>>>>>
>>>>> I volunteer for a tiny library that is growing.  At this point we're
>>>>> looking for a way to manage our check-outs/returns some way more efficient
>>>>> than paper and pencil.  Evergreen seems like it could be a good solution
>>>>> for us, however we are not able to afford a server at this point nor a
>>>>> subscription (we basically have no money).  Is there any way (hopefully a
>>>>> simple one) to run Evergreen just on a single Windows (7) machine, keeping
>>>>> the catalog and patron information locally?
>>>>>
>>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>> Ben
>>>>> Librarian Volunteer
>>>>> Kendall Clawson Library
>>>>>
>>>>> p.s. I am decently tech savvy, but not VERY tech savvy.  I won't be
>>>>> able to do any major amount of coding on my own.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> 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>
>>
>
>