Hi, I wanted to go on the lists directly and let the Evergreen community know that I've had what I call a "role change" with Evergreen. After three years in Florida I am moving my family back to Northern California, where I will be director of the library at Holy Names University. This all happened fairly quickly, but for a variety of reasons it is very clearly the right direction for me and for my family.
This is an exciting time for me personally, but one that's a little sad. I have had some great experiences working at Equinox and working with the Evergreen community. It's a very exciting time to be part of the general "rethinking" that is going on with respect to library technology. I have had many fulfilling moments, from the tremendously successful first-ever conference to the strong success of the DIG. I think the most important thing I've witnessed is that the Evergreen community, as it flourishes, is developing a voice and a direction, and I would strongly encourage you to be intentional and strategic about how you shape both. For the DIG folks, you have two wonderful community voices, Shannon Dineen and Karen Collier, who have offered themselves as facilitators (if no one has stepped up to object, it would seem to me that they have been appointed or anointed or whatever), and Jason Etheridge from Equinox will be playing a stronger community role. That "public-private partnership" is key, an opinion shaped by many conversations I have had with leaders in the wider open source community. Documentation is too big and too important for both cohorts, community and vendors, not to invest resources into. We've all seen that we cannot simply expect documentation to just "happen," particularly not well-maintained, centralized documentation, and I think we all understand its importance, not only for current users but as part of the openness and transparency that open source champions. As for the next Evergreen conferences, I was thrilled to be a part of the planning meeting in Grand Rapids earlier this week, and I know that the Austin group has already reached out to them. To create a conference is to build community, in so many ways. I know the conferences will go great, and I have to say that the Amway hotel in Grand Rapids is one of the loveliest conference venues I've ever experienced-an absolute steal. Enjoy it! You have some work ahead, but the cool part is you know some of the details of that work. You know Evergreen needs a neutral third-party legal entity, representative of the community at large, to protect its assets, raise funds for collective activities, and speak as one for the project. You know you need documentation. You know the website and the wiki need to be replaced with an online presence that is professional, functional, and fosters user engagement. There will be other things you realize that you need, and that will all be part of the process. I consider myself having moved into the roles of "community librarian emeritus" and a friend and member of the Evergreen community. Naturally, in the months ahead I am going to have to focus on the needs of my family and my new job, but I'd like to continue to be a resource, and when I have something to say, I will definitely say it. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your world! K.G. Schneider Free Range Librarian [email protected] http://freerangelibrarian.com _______________________________________________ OPEN-ILS-DOCUMENTATION mailing list [email protected] http://list.georgialibraries.org/mailman/listinfo/open-ils-documentation
