[Koha-devel] The Potential Death of Koha in Pennsylvania Libraries
The State Library her in Pennsylvania has started planning for a state-wide ILS. My Director, John Brice attended a tech committee netting this past Friday, bringing myself and Cindy Murdock as well. At the meeting, it was announced that HSLC and Equinox will be installing Evergreen in 33 libraries currently using Millennium. In all likelyhood, in the future all the libraries in the state will be required to switch over to Evergreen. Needless to say, my boss and myself are extremely upset by this proposition to say the least. I would applaud the choice of a FOSS ILS, but the choice would not bring any advantage. It appears to me to be a strictly financial decision. The idea being pushed at the meeting was to give libraries as little choice as possible to keep down costs. If we were forced to switch to Evergreen, not only would our huge investment in Koha via time and money be thrown away, but we would be forced into a new system over which we would be no control or ability to customize. We would have no control over the quality of service, as the servers are planned to be centralized somewhere within the state. I do not relish the idea of our current freedoms being taken away. Kyle http://www.kylehall.info Information Technology Crawford County Federated Library System ( http://www.ccfls.org ) ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel
Re: [Koha-devel] [Koha] The Potential Death of Koha in Pennsylvania Libraries
I personally don't know. I'm not well versed in state library politics myself, but this is what my Director believes is coming down the road, and he's not happy about it. Kyle http://www.kylehall.info Information Technology Crawford County Federated Library System ( http://www.ccfls.org ) On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 8:57 AM, Cab Vinton bibli...@gmail.com wrote: Wow, does the State Library really have that much authority over individual libraries (legal or otherwise)? I would find that hugely surprising. But then here in NH we don't even have any county-wide systems. For the most part, it's every town/ city library for itself ... Cab Vinton, Director Sanbornton Public Library Sanbornton, NH On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 8:44 AM, Kyle Hall kyle.m.h...@gmail.com wrote: The State Library her in Pennsylvania has started planning for a state-wide ILS. My Director, John Brice attended a tech committee netting this past Friday, bringing myself and Cindy Murdock as well. At the meeting, it was announced that HSLC and Equinox will be installing Evergreen in 33 libraries currently using Millennium. In all likelyhood, in the future all the libraries in the state will be required to switch over to Evergreen. Needless to say, my boss and myself are extremely upset by this proposition to say the least. I would applaud the choice of a FOSS ILS, but the choice would not bring any advantage. It appears to me to be a strictly financial decision. The idea being pushed at the meeting was to give libraries as little choice as possible to keep down costs. If we were forced to switch to Evergreen, not only would our huge investment in Koha via time and money be thrown away, but we would be forced into a new system over which we would be no control or ability to customize. We would have no control over the quality of service, as the servers are planned to be centralized somewhere within the state. I do not relish the idea of our current freedoms being taken away. Kyle http://www.kylehall.info Information Technology Crawford County Federated Library System ( http://www.ccfls.org ) ___ Koha mailing list k...@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel
Re: [Koha-devel] [Koha] The Potential Death of Koha in Pennsylvania Libraries
In this vein, you may be interested in a new OCLC report: Research Libraries, Risk and Systemic Change http://www.oclc.org/research/news/2010-03-25.htm which is not just about research libraries. They discuss risk management and delineate many of the risks as: Many of the risks rated as high (impact and certainty) pertain to: - human resources and organizational culture, including a lack of attention to cross-training and reallocation of existing staff - lack of critical skill sets for managing data sets, engaging directly with research faculty, or retooling technological infrastructure - an organizational culture that inhibits innovation - difficulty in attracting and retaining staff in a competitive environment where fewer credentialed library professionals are available - uncertainties about the appropriate qualifications for library managers who may require skills developed in other sectors. Then on p. 16 under Strategies for Mitigation, they continue: We believe that increased reliance on *shared infrastructure* along with increased outsourcing and regional consolidation of services will enable more rapid deployment of the services that research library users want and need moving the following risks into a more acceptable range of impact and occurrence: - Library cannot adjust fast enough to keep up with rapidly changing technology and user needs (Risk 19). - Increased inefficiencies and expenses due to lack of functionality of legacy systems and IT support (Risk 20). - Due diligence and sustainability assessment of local or third party services is not completed, tracked or analyzed (Risk 21). Their solution of a shared infrastructure would seem to mirror your case in Pennsylvania. While I understand such a conclusion, the upshot of if seems to be we sink or swim together. I think that instead of having everyone crowd into the same lifeboat, it would be just as logical to foster individual initiatives, while making sure everyone shared their work. Still, I can understand that going to this level of trust (the foundation of the entire open source movement) does not come easy to an administrator who is responsible for results. Perhaps you can reach some level of agreement. I am sure that everyone is nervous and still in the search for answers. James Weinheimer j.weinhei...@aur.edu Director of Library and Information Services The American University of Rome via Pietro Roselli, 4 00153 Rome, Italy voice- 011 39 06 58330919 ext. 258 fax-011 39 06 58330992 -Original Message- From: koha-boun...@lists.katipo.co.nz [mailto:koha-boun...@lists.katipo.co.nz] On Behalf Of Kyle Hall Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 2:44 PM To: koha; koha-devel Subject: [Koha] The Potential Death of Koha in Pennsylvania Libraries The State Library her in Pennsylvania has started planning for a state-wide ILS. My Director, John Brice attended a tech committee netting this past Friday, bringing myself and Cindy Murdock as well. At the meeting, it was announced that HSLC and Equinox will be installing Evergreen in 33 libraries currently using Millennium. In all likelyhood, in the future all the libraries in the state will be required to switch over to Evergreen. Needless to say, my boss and myself are extremely upset by this proposition to say the least. I would applaud the choice of a FOSS ILS, but the choice would not bring any advantage. It appears to me to be a strictly financial decision. The idea being pushed at the meeting was to give libraries as little choice as possible to keep down costs. If we were forced to switch to Evergreen, not only would our huge investment in Koha via time and money be thrown away, but we would be forced into a new system over which we would be no control or ability to customize. We would have no control over the quality of service, as the servers are planned to be centralized somewhere within the state. I do not relish the idea of our current freedoms being taken away. Kyle http://www.kylehall.info Information Technology Crawford County Federated Library System ( http://www.ccfls.org ) ___ Koha mailing list k...@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel
Re: [Koha-devel] Catalog Items Don't Appear in OPAC Search
Thanks Michael! I would've assumed after each time something is added to the circulation that Koha would run this script - is that not true? Does everyone have a cronjob set to run at intervals during the day to ensure the zebra index remains current? Thanks, Rick --- Rick Forristall Programmer Analyst Goodwill of Central AZ 602.535.4078 --- Through your generous material and cash donations - we provide free human services programs that create hope, jobs and sustainability for central Arizonans. In 2009 your donations transformed 25,000 lives. Good Stuff. Good Work. Goodwill. We Put People to Work! A 2009 Best Places to Work Winner www.goodwillaz.org -Original Message- From: Michael Hafen [mailto:mdha...@tech.washk12.org] Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 4:08 PM To: Richard Forristall Cc: Koha-devel@lists.koha.org Subject: Re: [Koha-devel] Catalog Items Don't Appear in OPAC Search Updating zebra is handled by a separate process. There is a script to handle it, `bin/migration_tools/rebuild_zebra.pl -z -b -a`. This should be put in a cronjob script, such as bin/cronjobs/crontab.example Good luck. On Fri, 2010-04-16 at 15:40 -0700, Richard Forristall wrote: Good day everyone, Our librarian is having trouble with the OPAC search. When a student searches for books that we know are in the database, some will not appear in the results list. Yet, if we go into the staff client and do a checkout, we can find the catalog item. At first thought, it would seem the catalog item is not getting into the zebra index so the search doesn't find it. Does Koha automatically do a zebra index when catalog items are added? Is there a setting in the Koha admin that has to be set? In OPAC, when we search for a book we don't see it in the results list. In staff client: When we want to check out the book (the library uses a barcode scanner to find the book): The book is then found and we can check it out. The impact is the student can't find some books for the work they need to complete. So only if a student happens to see the book on the shelf can he/she check it out. Thanks in advance for any/all assistance. Thanks, Rick --- Rick Forristall Programmer Analyst Goodwill of Central AZ 602.535.4078 --- Through your generous material and cash donations - we provide free human services programs that create hope, jobs and sustainability for central Arizonans. In 2009 your donations transformed 25,000 lives. Good Stuff. Good Work. Goodwill. We Put People to Work! A 2009 Best Places to Work Winner www.goodwillaz.org ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel -- Michael Hafen Systems Analyst and Programmer Washington County School District Utah, USA for Koha checkout http://development.washk12.org/gitweb/ or git://development.washk12.org/koha ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel
Re: [Koha-devel] Catalog Items Don't Appear in OPAC Search
Hi, If I wanted to create a link where the library staff could run this (bin/migration_tools/rebuild_zebra.pl -z -b -a) whenever they wanted, can this be placed into a .pl file and executed? Thanks, Rick --- Rick Forristall Programmer Analyst Goodwill of Central AZ 602.535.4078 --- Through your generous material and cash donations - we provide free human services programs that create hope, jobs and sustainability for central Arizonans. In 2009 your donations transformed 25,000 lives. Good Stuff. Good Work. Goodwill. We Put People to Work! A 2009 Best Places to Work Winner www.goodwillaz.org -Original Message- From: Chris Nighswonger [mailto:cnighswon...@foundations.edu] Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 7:03 PM To: Richard Forristall Cc: Koha-devel@lists.koha.org Subject: Re: [Koha-devel] Catalog Items Don't Appear in OPAC Search Hi Richard, On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 7:08 PM, Michael Hafen mdha...@tech.washk12.org wrote: Updating zebra is handled by a separate process. There is a script to handle it, `bin/migration_tools/rebuild_zebra.pl -z -b -a`. This should be put in a cronjob script, such as bin/cronjobs/crontab.example You might also want to checkout this FAQ: http://koha-community.org/documentation/faq/searching/#16 Kind Regards, Chris On Fri, 2010-04-16 at 15:40 -0700, Richard Forristall wrote: Good day everyone, Our librarian is having trouble with the OPAC search. When a student searches for books that we know are in the database, some will not appear in the results list. Yet, if we go into the staff client and do a checkout, we can find the catalog item. At first thought, it would seem the catalog item is not getting into the zebra index so the search doesn't find it. Does Koha automatically do a zebra index when catalog items are added? Is there a setting in the Koha admin that has to be set? In OPAC, when we search for a book we don't see it in the results list. In staff client: When we want to check out the book (the library uses a barcode scanner to find the book): The book is then found and we can check it out. The impact is the student can't find some books for the work they need to complete. So only if a student happens to see the book on the shelf can he/she check it out. Thanks in advance for any/all assistance. Thanks, Rick --- Rick Forristall Programmer Analyst Goodwill of Central AZ 602.535.4078 --- Through your generous material and cash donations - we provide free human services programs that create hope, jobs and sustainability for central Arizonans. In 2009 your donations transformed 25,000 lives. Good Stuff. Good Work. Goodwill. We Put People to Work! A 2009 Best Places to Work Winner www.goodwillaz.org ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel -- Michael Hafen Systems Analyst and Programmer Washington County School District Utah, USA for Koha checkout http://development.washk12.org/gitweb/ or git://development.washk12.org/koha ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel
Re: [Koha-devel] Catalog Items Don't Appear in OPAC Search
On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 11:51 AM, Richard Forristall richard.forrist...@goodwillaz.org wrote: Hi, If I wanted to create a link where the library staff could run this (bin/migration_tools/rebuild_zebra.pl -z -b -a) whenever they wanted, can this be placed into a .pl file and executed? Apart from the fact that rebuild_zebra.pl needs to be run as your kohauser, there is no reason it could not. ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel
Re: [Koha-devel] [Koha] The Potential Death of Koha in Pennsylvania Libraries
Weinheimer Jim wrote: In this vein, you may be interested in a new OCLC report: Research Libraries, Risk and Systemic Change http://www.oclc.org/research/news/2010-03-25.htm which is not just about research libraries. [...] Their solution of a shared infrastructure would seem to mirror your case in Pennsylvania. While I understand such a conclusion, the upshot of if seems to be we sink or swim together. I think that instead of having everyone crowd into the same lifeboat, it would be just as logical to foster individual initiatives, while making sure everyone shared their work. Not only would it be logical, it would be a very cooperative-minded approach! I cannot believe that our fellow cooperative OCLC would mean to promote a shared infrastructure that did not also allow for autonomy and independence of libraries (cooperative principle 4). That's not to say that a state government wouldn't interpret it in a way that denied library autonomy, though, so that probably doesn't do us any good. If anyone finds out for sure OCLC's thinking is informing them, maybe OCLC would comment in favour of autonomy if asked. By the way, are there any OCLC members on the list who could ask them what a worker co-op has to do to get an answer from their membership enquiries department? We last asked about two months ago. Good luck, -- MJ Ray (slef) Webmaster and LMS developer at | software www.software.coop http://mjr.towers.org.uk| co IMO only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html | op ___ Koha-devel mailing list Koha-devel@lists.koha.org http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel
Re: [Koha-devel] Test Email Page
Chris Nighswonger wrote:
I believe that there has been an effort over the development of Koha
to separate the Koha administrative functions from the system
administrative functions. Since mail setup falls squarely in the
system administrative side of things, it might be better to write a
test script which could be run from the cli.
I agree with you Chris.
Attached is such a script, to run from the command line.
Anyone care to test it out? Works fine on my Koha systems.
cheers
rick
--
_
Rick Welykochy || Praxis Services
Politics is the business of getting power and privilege without
possessing merit.
-- PJ O'Rourke
#!/usr/bin/env perl
# This script tests the Mail::Sendmail mailing service which is used internally
# by Koha. The script sends a test email to one or more recipients and displays
# the result of the test.
# Copyright 2010 Rick Welykochy, NSW, Australia
#
# This file is part of Koha.
#
# Koha is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
# terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
# Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
# version.
#
# Koha is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
# A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
# Koha; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place,
# Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
use strict;
use warnings;
use Mail::Sendmail qw(sendmail %mailcfg);
use Getopt::Long;
use Sys::Hostname;
sub help
{
print ENDHERE;
$0: test sending email using the Koha method, which uses Mail::Sendmail.
use: $0 [ option ]... recipient...
recipient ...one or more email recipients
options:
-? or --help print this help message and exit
-v or --verbose be verbose and also turn debugging on in
Mail::Sendmail
-n or --nomaildo not send email, just show what would be done
Contents of Mail::Sendmail::mailcfg:
ENDHERE
for my $key (sort keys %mailcfg) {
my $value = $mailcfg{$key};
$value = @$value if ref($value) ref($value) eq ARRAY;
printf %-25s %s\n, $key =, $value;
}
return 1;
}
sub dump_mail
{
my %params = @_;
my $message = '';
print Email dump:\n;
for my $key (keys %params) {
if ($key =~ /^message$|^body$|^text$/i) {
$message = $params{$key};
next;
}
printf %s: %s\n, $key, $params{$key};
}
print \n;
print $message\n if $message;
}
sub main
{
my $return = 0;
my $help= 0;
my $verbose = 0;
my $nomail = 0;
my %options = (
'help|?'= \$help,
'verbose|v' = sub { $mailcfg{debug} = 6; $verbose = 1; },
'nomail|n' = \$nomail
);
if (!GetOptions(%options)) {
print STDERR $0: unrecognised command line argument. Try
--help for help\n;
exit 1;
}
return help if $help;
my @recipients = @ARGV;
if (!...@recipients) {
print STDERR $0: missing email recipient. Try --help for
help\n;
exit 1;
}
my $from= postmaster\@.hostname
my $to = $recipients[0];
my $cc = @recipients 1 ? join(,
,@recipients[...@recipients-1]) : undef;
my $subject = Test email;
my $message = Hello. This is a test email, sent by the Koha script
$0.\n;
my %mail = (
To = $to,
From= $from,
Subject = $subject,
Message = $message,
'X-Mailer' = Mail::Sendmail version
$Mail::Sendmail::VERSION,
);
$mail{Cc} = $cc if $cc;
dump_mail(%mail) if $nomail || $verbose;
if ($nomail) {
print \nEmail not sent (--nomail)\n;
} else {
$return = sendmail(%mail);
print Email log: $Mail::Sendmail::log\n if
$Mail::Sendmail::log $verbose;
print Email error: $Mail::Sendmail::error\n if
$Mail::Sendmail::error;
print Email sent to @recipients.\n if $return == 1;
}
return $return;
}
exit main;
___
Koha-devel mailing list
Koha-devel@lists.koha.org
http://lists.koha.org/mailman/listinfo/koha-devel
