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

Sun Jan 18 18:39:17 EST 2015

Thank you for all the responses.

Rogan, you inferences are generally correct.  I do not have much
experience.  I have worked with virtual machines before, and I use Ubuntu
on my personal computer, but I have never really been a sys admin.  As for
time, I do not have much time per week, but I have a soft deadline to make
something work by June.  So I possibly could set up a VM and make this
work.  However, our computer is shared with a bunch of volunteers at the
community center, many of whom are not very computer literate.  My
intuition tells me that a VM would not survive meddling from other folks.
So if a VM is the only available solution with Evergreen, I think I will
keep looking.

Terran, Surpass looks amazing, except for the ~$3000 price tag on it.
Anything purchased is likely coming out of my pocket at this point, and
there is no way I can afford that.

Yunus, Openbiblio also looks good, except it runs into the same server
problem that evergreen does.

So I think I'll keep looking for solutions.  Thanks, everyone.

On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 1:47 PM, Rogan Hamby <rogan.hamby at yclibrary.net>
wrote:

> It does still require Linux skills as it's a virtual machine whether he
> has that skill set or is willing to invest the time to learn it is a
> pre-requisite, something I wouldn't assume from the question.
>
> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 12:12 PM, Mark Ehle <markehle at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Ben did say he was decently tech savvy and asked for a way to run
>> Evergreen on a pc. VirtualBox fits the bill.
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 12:08 PM, McCanna, Terran <
>> tmccanna at georgialibraries.org> wrote:
>>
>>> 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>
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
> 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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