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

Tue Jan 20 09:04:24 EST 2015

I suggest having a look at Koha.

http://koha-community.org/

Quoting "Ben T." <t.ben38 at gmail.com>:

> 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>
>>

-- 
Jason Stephenson
Assistant Director for Technology Services
Merrimack Valley Library Consortium
1600 Osgood ST, Suite 2094
North Andover, MA 01845
Phone: 978-557-5891
Email: jstephenson at mvlc.org