Re: [CODE4LIB] Experience with VR in libraries
Thanks Mike. We're taking a slightly modified approach I think. We too see VR as an opportunity to pilot communities but we're not waiting to see if there is a justifiable need, we're showing and defining the need. We see VR (and 3D printing and understanding electronics, software and informatics) as pathways to the creation of new knowledge, based on existing knowledge. Thus we're positioning this as a natural extension of what libraries have always done and thus must continue to be involved in. Since we're building a large Innovation Hub in our Research Park here at OU, we've positioned the Innovation Edge (and the OVAL within and which are located in the Library at the center of the campus) as a logical connection to the larger, more richly resourced Innovation Hub. But we're showing the Library as the place to go to learn how to use the tools of the Hub in creating entrepreneurship, innovation while also supporting research and instruction across all domains from the Humanities ! to STEM. We believe it's critically important for libraries to tie their existing resources and knowledge into those environments so they can define this as a yet another way to express knowledge and to create it based on existing knowledge (think CD's->DVD's->iTunes->Streaming in the music industry). The formats knowledge is created in, and expressed in, will continue to evolve. Positioning your library at the forefront is a an ever evolving task as well. We see VR as just one more way to do that, therefore we feel we must help to lead the way, not just follow (I guess I'm a fan of Steve Jobs thinking: "They don't know what they want until you show it to them"!). More videos of what we're doing are listed below; Electronics workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOmfNjfiMts Data management: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw-9_Mnq4jQ Geovisualization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ad7i5bNtc8 Informatics/Software Carpentry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEXvNwRQ5Lk Carl Carl Grant Associate Dean, Knowledge Services & Chief Technology Officer University of Oklahoma Libraries E: carl.gr...@ou.edu M: +1.540.449.2418 O: +1.405.325.2611 Twitter: carl_grant LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Flickr, Facebook On Mar 24, 2016, at 11:40 AM, Mike Nutt <mrn...@ncsu.edu> wrote: > Cool work, Carl! > > We're using a somewhat inductive approach to VR support, first gathering > information about campus needs. > > Along with our distance education unit, we have piloted a community of > interest on campus around VR. Right now this is taking the form of a Google > Plus Community and face-to-face, interdisciplinary meetups. Data collected > through discussion is helping us determine our direction, including whether > or not there is a justifiable need for shared VR infrastructure on campus. > > If you have a tech lending program, you could dive right in and start lending > devices. We have/have had AR/VR devices in our Tech Lending Beta Program > (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/techlending/techlending-beta-program). A reservation > form allows us to capture information from users (e.g., their department) and > their intended uses. > > If you are at a big research school, you may have a searchable database of > funded research projects. We've used our sponsored research portal to search > for projects that have "virtual reality" and similar terms in their titles. > This helped us identify faculty to target for the interest group and what > kinds of devices faculty are interested in. > > Thanks, > Mike > > Mike Nutt > Director of Visualization Services > Digital Library Initiatives > NCSU Libraries > 919.513.0651 > Join the Code+Art community > > Exchanges with me at this address can be disclosed to third parties.
Re: [CODE4LIB] Experience with VR in libraries
Thanks Sarah. Here is a video we just published on YouTube that shows a bit of what we're doing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmL3T28Ud1k Carl Carl Grant Associate Dean, Knowledge Services & Chief Technology Officer University of Oklahoma Libraries E: carl.gr...@ou.edu M: +1.540.449.2418 O: +1.405.325.2611 Twitter: carl_grant LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Flickr, Facebook On Mar 24, 2016, at 10:27 AM, Coates, Sarah <sarah.coa...@okstate.edu> wrote: > I know the University of Oklahoma Libraries is doing some really cool things > with VR and other things. Here's the page for their Innovation @ the Edge > program: https://libraries.ou.edu/edge which also has contact information. I > think they've been doing VR stuff for at least a year or two now. > > Sarah > > -- > Sarah Coates, MA, MLIS > Special Collections and University Archives > 204 Edmon Low Library > Oklahoma State University > 405-744-6076 > sarah.coa...@okstate.edu > > > From: Code for Libraries <CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU> on behalf of Jacob > Ratliff <jaratlif...@gmail.com> > Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2016 10:11 AM > To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Experience with VR in libraries > > I would recommend going to www.polygon.com and looking for articles by "Ben > Kuchera." He's a video game journalist and VR enthusiast and has been > writing extensively about the VR landscape for a few years. Definitely a > good place to start. > > Jacob > > > On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 11:08 AM, Edward Iglesias <edwardigles...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Hello All, >> >> I am in the midst of putting together a proposal to try out some VR gear in >> our library with the thought of eventually providing some student space to >> support it. Any reccomendations on equipment or things to looks out for. >> So far we are looking at a couple of Oculus Rifts and perhaps an HTC Vive. >> >> Edward Iglesias >>
[CODE4LIB] March 9-11, 2016 PASIG: Registration and Semi-final Agenda
Donna Harland, Oracle 2:30 - 3:00 PM : Coffee Break 3:00 - 3:30PM : Topic 4: Designing Systems for Long-term Preservation : Thorsten Lange, P Consult 3:30 - 4:00 : Putting It All Together (TBD) 4:00 - 5:00 PM Panel and Discussion Facilitated panel discussion, asking storage experts a stock of questions about the current state & future of storage technology. I.e., “will everything be in the cloud in 5 years?” “Audience Requirements” Session: audience members present key questions or requirements that they have to the storage and industry experts. 5 PM Adjourn 5:30 Reception Day 2: Thursday, 10 March 2016 8:00 AM Registration Opens 9:00 AM Hosts’ Welcome: Czech Technical Library: Martin Svoboda; Slovak Chemistry Library: Jozef Dzivak 9:15 AM PKX / Practitioners Knowledge Exchange: Case Studies in Preservation & Archiving Architectures and Operations Powerhouse speakers give detailed overviews of their preservation needs and solutions and proposed solutions, from a practitioner’s standpoint. These structured presentations provide an in depth view of preservation systems design and operation, including lessons learned. These case studies are from a variety of industries and domains (libraries, archives, museums, corporate) and dealing with a diversity of content. 9:15 - 9:35 AM -- Qatar National Library: Krishna Chowdhury, Qatar National Library(QNL) 9:35 - 9:55 AM -- The University of Oklahoma’s “Galileo’s World Exhibition”, it’s use of hi-tech and the resulting digital preservation needs: Carl Grant, U. of Oklahoma 9:55 - 10:15 AM -- LOCKSS PLN: Vicky Reich, LOCKSS 10:15 - 10:45 AM -- Coffee Break 10:45- 11:05 AM -- DPN: Mary Molinaro, David Pcolar, DPN 11:05 - 11:25 AM -- CSC - IT Center for Science Ltd.: Mikko Tiainen, CSC 11:25 - 11:45 AM -- Discussion on Major Themes Across All Case Studies 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM Lightning Talks Participatory presentations on late breaking developments, compelling breakthroughs or burning issues from the PASIG Community (archives & industry; practitioners and thought-leaders). These 5 minute, informal talks may be prepared in advance, or spontaneously produced. 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM Lunch 1:15 PM The Frontiers of Preservation Discussions on the recent developments and challenges facing those who are tackling digital preservation. Digitization of Globes : Thomas Ledoux, BnF LOTAR - T-Systems: Uwe Helber, T-Systems Citation of Scientific Methods - A State-wide Service Model for Reproducible Computational Science - Klaus Rechert, Freiburg University oldweb.today: using EaaS for authentic rendering of web archives - Dragan Espenschied, Rhizome TOPORAZ (mix of 3D, geospatial, Virtual Reality) - Matthias Razum, FIZ Karlsruhe PreForma Project, Emanuel Lorrain, PACKED vzw Preserving the Sky: Design Challenges for the Square Kilometre Array - Iain Emsley, Rahim Lakhoo, Andreas Wicenec, Markus Dolensky (Abstract: The archiving system of the Square Kilometre Array has a design lifetime of not less than 50 years. The science data products will include preservation metadata compliant with the standards of the International Virtual Observatory Alliance.) Future Integration of Data Management Planning Systems - Matthias Hemmje, U. Hagen 3:00 PM Coffee Break 3:30 PM Vendor / Industry Interaction Vendors provide a 20 minute overview of updates, current and future trends. A chance for them to share their vision for the future of preservation and archiving, followed by a panel discussion on select topics. Confirmed as of December 20, 2015: Ex Libris DPN Oracle Preservica Arkivum Panel discussion on: Tape futures (e.g. LTO 7) Cloud Hybrid Architectures IAAS Conference Reception Day 3: Friday, 11 March 2016 9:00 AM Project Updates on Digital Preservation Community Developments EUDAT2020 : Rob Baxter Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) : William Kilbride OPF : Carl Wilson, Becky McGuinness KEEP : Luis Faria LOTAR : Uwe Helber, T-Systems LOCKSS Update : David Rosenthal, LOCKSS Web Archiving : Nicholas Taylor, Stanford U. 11:00 AM Hardening Existing Systems with Preservation Capabilities Many sites have an existing system for managing their digital assets, and are not in a position to implement a large-scale, dedicated preservation system in addition. What can be done in these environments to increase the digital preservation capabilities of existing systems while making the most of current investments? This session will feature 4x12 minute talks with a panel discussion at the end about how sites with repositories in place have approached making them more preservation capable. Speakers: P Consult : Thorsten Lange Fedora : Tom Cramer, Stanford U. and Neil Jeffries, Oxford U. TBD The ARCLib Research Project - A Complex Solution for Long Term Archiving of (Library) Digital Collections. This is a review of LTP Pilot project of the Masaryk University as well as a new follow-up ARCLib project. : Martin Lhoták (Library o
[CODE4LIB] Job: University of Oklahoma Libraries is looking for a Metadata Imagineer
The University of Oklahoma Libraries is looking for a Metadata Imagineer. Using analysis and programming skills along with their knowledge of metadata, the Metadata Imagineer will work collaboratively with our metadata creation teams, digital scholarship, research data and other departments as well as the Library and University administration to ensure that the investment made in metadata is exploited fully by: Transforming existing metadata into Library Linked Data and automating the synchronization of that data; Correlating existing metadata with other campus data to enhance the utilization of the library resources through user discovery, access; Use metadata to drive reporting/analysis of collection usage trends; Working to employ linked data strategies; semantic approaches and ontologies while working on initiatives related to the discovery of digital resources; Utilizing bibliometric and altmetric data and algorithms to accurately understand and convey the impact of the publications and research of the faculty and professional staff of the University; Working with new, emerging knowledge networks and mappings to find strong correlations and relationships between accessible data silos that exist in fields of research ranging from humanities to STEM as a foundation for new research, teaching and knowledge; Examining new ways to use data analysis and tools to help accelerate and reform the scholarly peer review processes; Identify, design, and develop schemas, ontologies, taxonomies, vocabularies, etc. for images, sound, video, text, realia, graphics, data, geospatial data, etc. Prototypes and develops automated services and applications for metadata extraction, creation, normalization, analysis, transformation, syndication, and ingest. Other areas of creative exploration will include forging new ground in the areas of automated metadata creation of all types, including descriptive, technical and administrative metadata. Coordinates special projects and performs other duties as assigned. Salary: Negotiable Preferences: Master's degree in information or library science from a program accredited by the American Library Association. Programming experience. Understanding of BibFrame, RDF, schema.org concepts. Knowledge of XSLT, Python and JSON. Knowledge of Semantic Web technologies (RDF, RDFS, OWL, SPARQL). Familiarity with semantic web W3C standards and ongoing efforts. Familiarity with repository software technologies, especially Dspace, Fedora Commons and Islandora. Knowledge of preservation standards such as PREMIS. Ability to function in a complex, multi-campus, teaching and research environment. Required Education/Experience: Bachelor's degree in programming, information technology or a related field OR an equivalent combination of education/experience in technology and operations. 18 months experience in a library or information technology organization. Required Skills/Proficiencies: Demonstrable experience in writing computer software. Demonstrable understanding of MARC, MARC-XML, Dublin Core, MODS, METS and RDF. Broad understanding of emerging trends in non-MARC metadata formats, standards and schema. Demonstrable knowledge of VIAF, VIVO, ISNI, ORCID Demonstrated experience with XML. Familiarity with linked data concepts and practices. Facility with selecting and applying controlled vocabularies. Proficient understanding of copyright law, including public domain and CreativeCommons licenses. Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills; ability to be flexible in a dynamic and changing environment. Ability to work effectively with diverse faculty, students, and staff. Excellent analytic skills, including complex problems solving. Interest in professional development and research. Ability to work independently and collaboratively. Ability to prioritize and balance various unit needs. Actively seek opportunities to serve on selected library committees. Excellent, demonstrable oral and written and communication presentation skills. Attention to detail. For more details and to submit an application: This position is posted at https://jobs.ou.edu as requisition # 22730. An Equal Opportunity Employer SPECIAL NOTE: Discussions about this position can be held at ALA-Annual in San Francisco, June 27-29. Contact carl.grant (at) ou.edu if desired.
[CODE4LIB] University of Oklahoma is looking for a Humanities Cataloger
Humanities Cataloger for the University of Oklahoma Libraries (http://libraries.ou.edu/) will use OCLC and the library management system to perform original and complex cataloging in the area of humanities and other subjects, in a variety of languages in both print and non-print formats. Tasks include work with name, series and subject authority control, and other general assignments. Creates metadata for digital projects as assigned. This position may supervise students and staff on cataloging projects. This is an instructor-level, interim position governed by the University’s policies. Interested applicants should send a cover letter, current resume or vita, and list of 3 references to Carl Grant carl.gr...@ou.edu and kw...@ou.edu. The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. www.ou.edu/eoo
[CODE4LIB] The issue of library ownership of their data
I want to bring one of my blog post to the attention of CODE4LIB members. This seems to me to need a strong response from the profession. http://thoughts.care-affiliates.com/2012/09/we-have-problem-another-vendor.html Thanks, Carl Carl Grant CARE Affiliates [Management Consulting Services] E: c...@care-affiliates.com P: +1.540.449.2418 Twitter: carl_grant Skype: carl_grant Blog: http://thoughts.care-affiliates.com Web: http://www.care-affiliates.com
[CODE4LIB] Why and how librarians have to shape the new cloud computing platforms.
**Please excuse any cross posting.** I wanted to share with you all a blog post I've done concerning a topic I addressed at the NISO update at ALA Annual in Anaheim; Why and how librarians have to shape the new cloud computing platforms. If you heard the talk at NISO, you can skip this, but if not, I addressed some topics that deeply concern me about the future of librarianship and these new technology platforms and that I strongly feel need to be thought about and discussed by all of you. I hope you'll find the post informative and provocative and of course, would be delighted to hear your thoughts/responses on the lists, by email or on the blog. You'll find the post at: http://thoughts.care-affiliates.com/2012/06/why-and-how-librarians-have-to-shape.html Have a great weekend. Best, Carl Carl Grant CARE Affiliates [Management Consulting Services] E: c...@care-affiliates.com P: +1.540.449.2418 Twitter: carl_grant Skype: carl_grant Blog: http://thoughts.care-affiliates.com Web: http://www.care-affiliates.com
[CODE4LIB] Working with proprietary library system API's
Just a note to say that I've received some very appreciative email and Tweets about a blog post I did concerning API's on proprietary library systems. As a result, I thought perhaps it might have appeal to a wider audience than would catch it via normal means of notification, so this is to bring it to your attention. If you've already read it, or work purely with open source software, please forgive and ignore this message, but if you haven't and you work with API's on proprietary library systems you might find this post helpful: http://thoughts.care-affiliates.com/2012/04/planning-to-customize-your-new-cloud.html Carl Grant CARE Affiliates LLC
Re: [CODE4LIB] Job Posting: Digital Library Repository Developer, Boston Public Library (Boston, MA)
I think Roy's question was fair given the ambiguity of the words used and had it truly meant to develop (as from the ground up) it could have served as a good conversation starting point about how to determine the need and merits of starting another major project with what appeared to be very limited resources. Especially when there are many tools readily available from other sources/projects. But the clarification has been issued and the response that new wording is likely to be used in subsequent communications. Let's accept that and move on. Carl Grant On Sep 27, 2011, at 2:18 PM, Ya'aqov Ziso wrote: *I think it's a fair question and appropriate for this list. (Says another OCLC employee.) * *===* * * Hi Ralph, you must have more arguments, I'm sure, beyond being an OCLC employee for Roy's intervening in another institution's search. Please bring them on, thanks, *Ya'aqov* p.s. Can a candidate use CODE4LIB's discussion as a backup for her candidacy? and if Roy worries for BPL, why doesn't he worry (in writing for this list) for other institutions?
Re: [CODE4LIB] JOB - Associate Director, MITH; Assistant Dean for Digital Humanities Research, Libraries
Thank you! Sent from my iPad On Mar 29, 2011, at 1:05 AM, James Neal james3n...@gmail.com wrote: The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) and the University Libraries at the University of Maryland are seeking an experienced, dynamic, and highly talented individual to fill a joint position as an Associate Director of MITH and Assistant Dean for Digital Humanities Research in the Libraries. http://mith.umd.edu/associate-director-position-assistant-dean-libraries/ -- Mastery of language affords remarkable power. - Frantz Fanon “[T]he tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin. — Benjamin Elijah Mays, American educator and president of Morehouse College (1895-1984) I do a lot of micro-blogging on Twitter. Curious? Go to http://www.twitter.com/james3neal You can ALSO find me on http://friendfeed.com/james3neal
[CODE4LIB] Upcoming Developer Meets Developer meeting for Ex Libris Voyager Customers
Here is a great upcoming opportunity to work face-to-face with the Ex Libris Voyager development team. We will be holding the next “Developer Meets Developer” gathering at our Chicago headquarters on March 9-10, 2011. Please note that the meeting, while focused on customer developed open source extensions, is for Voyager customers only. Among the planned topics to be discussed with developers will be: Voyager Global Data Change, Voyager SMS messaging and PDS support, the new Ex Libris cloud-based services and products, and the APIs of bX, the article recommender service. Another large part of the program is the opportunity for attendees to present and discuss the Voyager-related open source software extensions they’ve developed or are planning to develop so if you have something you’d like to present, please let us know. If your want to explore topics or presentations from previous meetings please visit our EL Commons CodeShare site: http://www.exlibrisgroup.org/display/presentations/Home Please let us know as soon as possible if you’d like to participate in this meeting as seating is limited. We look forward to hearing from you. Carl Grant Chief Librarian Ex Libris T: +1-847-227-2615 M: +1-540-449-2418 E: carl.gr...@exlibrisgroup.com W: www.exlibrisgroup.com http://www.exlibrisgroup.com Twitter: carl_grant Blog: http://commentary.exlibrisgroup.com
Re: [CODE4LIB] Serials Solutions Summon
There was some discussion along these lines over on the FederatedSearchBlog, which if you didn't see you might want to peruse... http://federatedsearchblog.com/2009/03/19/beyond-federated-search/ http://federatedsearchblog.com/2009/03/20/beyond-federated-search-the-conversation-continues/ http://federatedsearchblog.com/2009/03/30/beyond-federated-search-%E2%80%93-winning-the-battle-and-losing-the-war/ Carl Carl Grant President Ex Libris North America 1350 E Touhy Avenue, Suite 200 E Des Plaines, IL 60018 T: 847-227-2615 (Toll Free: 800-762-6300) F: 847-296-5636 M: 540-449-2418 W: www.exlibrisgroup.com E: carl.gr...@exlibrisgroup.com Skype: carl_grant On Apr 21, 2009, at 10:33 AM, Walker, David wrote: Even though Summon is marketed as a Serial Solutions system, I tend to think of it more as coming from Proquest (the parent company, of course). Summon goes a bit beyond what Proquest and CSA have done in the past, loading outside publisher data, your local catalog records, and some other nice data (no small thing, mind you). But, like Rob and Mike, I tend to see this as an evolutionary step for a database aggregator like Proquest rather than a revolutionary one. Obviously, database aggregators like Proquest, OCLC, and Ebsco are well positioned to do this kind of work. The problem, though, is that they are also competitors. At some point, if you want to have a truly unified local index of _all_ of your database, you're going to have to cross aggregator lines. What happens then? --Dave == David Walker Library Web Services Manager California State University http://xerxes.calstate.edu From: Code for Libraries [code4...@listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Dr R. Sanderson [azar...@liverpool.ac.uk] Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 8:14 AM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Serials Solutions Summon On Tue, 21 Apr 2009, Eric Lease Morgan wrote: On Apr 21, 2009, at 10:55 AM, Dr R. Sanderson wrote: How is this 'new type' of index any different from an index of OAI- PMH harvested material? Which in turn is no different from any other local search, just a different method of ingesting the data? This new type of index is not any different in functionality from a well-implemented OAI service provider with the exception of the type of content it contains. Not even the type of content, just the source of the content. Eg SS have come to an agreement with the publishers to use their content, and they've stuffed it all in one big index with a nice interface. NTSH, Move Along... Rob
Re: [CODE4LIB] [Fwd: [NGC4LIB] A Thought Experiment]
For some more background/ideas that might be useful in this conversation, just in case you haven't seen it, I highly recommend reading: www.ithaka.org/strategic-services/oss/oss-organization-for-open- source-software-study I found this a fascinating paper and while it's over a year old now and I personally question some of the conclusions, overall, it remains excellent reading for participants in this thread. Sincerely, Carl Carl Grant CARE Affiliates www.care-affiliates.com
Re: [CODE4LIB] [Fwd: [NGC4LIB] A Thought Experiment]
Alexander: I don't think you're dreaming at all. Sounds like the same vision I know several OSS service firms are trying to pursue. Not to be self serving here (really, anyone who knows me will tell you that's not my style!), but in the spirit of making sure you are aware, I'll note the following: When CARE partnered with Index Data as our strategic partner, the support of Web Services was one of the criteria that we required and found in that partner. Index Data uses Web Services throughout their products.We'll be announcing other partnerships in the months ahead, and that criteria is a continuing requirement that we've found others in the open source service/development community are meeting (and by the way, using REST!). I would also note that we have some beginning recommendations for standardized Web Services practices as a result of the work of NISO (for which I'm the immediate Past Chair and James Neal is the current Chair). But in case you're not aware of it, please look at: NISO RP-2006-01, Best Practices for Designing Web Services in the Library Context (available at www.niso.org). I know NISO would welcome more work in this area if the market is willing to pitch in and help sponsor it. * Get some outside experts in to handle usability and interaction design, and open source the result. Create a consortium or interest-group for library systems usability and user experience. Again, here we totally agree. If you look at the About Us page of CARE Affiliates webpage, you'll see one member of our organization is Ezra Schwartz, whose resume in this area is pretty impressive. We've only begun to work out how his contributions will contribute moving forward, but we already know we're planning on Ezra being at ALA, in the Open Solutions booth (where you'll find CARE, Index Data and Liblime) area and we're planning on his making presentations about this very topic. If libraries are willing to put resources into work in this area, Ezra is ready to go. * Make sure we've got a *clean* cut of technology between business logic and the user interface. Enforce low-key semantically-rich XHTML and use CSS everywhere. The first major product we've pushed out with Index Data is MasterKey, which is a perfect example of what you're talking about here. A total division of the technology between the business logic and the user interface can be found in this product. Dreaming? Not at all. Like I said, we're out here and we're doing it because we share in the vision and we believe this is what the market wants. If people vote with their resources and back us, Index Data and LibLime we'll deliver more of the same. But I want to underscore the importance of what you said about how important that backing is. Everyone of the open source firms that'll be in the Open Solutions booth at ALA are, to the best of my knowledge, being financed solely by the company founders. This is specifically because these people don't want to be pulled away from their customer focus, their desire to do what they believe the market wants and needs. They don't want to be dictated to by large equity investors, venture capitalists or others who are, it seems these days, looking more for financial return than doing what is right for the customers. Until such time as those kind of money people remember that the way to make money is to treat the customer right, then we'll continue to grow through self-financing which means we'll grow slowly, organically and by hoping those that think we're right, back us by buying from us. We watched and admired all of you get the OSS movement underway and we believed the market needed companies like ours to take your ideas and software to the next level. We are certainly hoping and betting a lot, that we're right. Now it's time for the market to vote. Carl CARE Affiliates www.care-affilates.com
Re: [CODE4LIB] Library Software Manifesto
I'm willing to jump in here as a long time vendor to add to the customer responsibility list some items that would make developers/ vendors a lot happier.. 1. Select software using a fair and reasonable process for both the vendor and the organization (one could say a lot more here!) 2. Make sure you know the needs of all users of the product (especially the END-users - get them involved! I promise, in most cases, their needs are NOT understood). 3. Acknowledge, accept and honor the deadlines that YOU bear in the development timeline. (The phrase teflon-customers comes to mind here...) 4. Understand that more functionality means more complexity in the code. This means: a. You've got to accept responsibility for helping to test software. There can be 1000's of pathways through code. We know you want bug-free code, but the developer/vendor can't test them all by themselves or you'd never actually get the code! b. If you're paying a commercial vendor to support/maintain, understand that costs should go up to compensate them for supporting that increasing complexity. 5. Try to standardize practices, **where possible**, between like institutions. Use development resources for great ideas, not just to support local idiosyncrasies... 6. Understand if you're trying to please everyone, it means lowest common denominator. If you're trying to lead and develop new ideas, somebody is going to be upset. It's not the developer/vendors responsibilities to decide which of these apply to your institution or what to do about it when it happens. Decide up front, are you following, or are you leading? Carl Carl Grant President CARE Affiliates, Inc. E:[EMAIL PROTECTED] M:540-529-7885 O:540-552-2912 866-340-9580 x 801 (Toll-Free) Website: www.care-affiliates.com Adium: carl_r_grant Skype: carl_grant On Nov 6, 2007, at 1:33 PM, Roy Tennant wrote: On 11/6/07 10:27 AM, Jonathan Gorman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: How about an equivalent list from the vendor/software developer's perspective? I think that would help balance the picture, but perhaps that's already in your plans ;). Funny you should ask...I had originally intended to do this, but then I was wondering if it start to be redundant -- that is, would a number of points simply be restated from the vendor's viewpoint? But if there are unique points to make from that perspective it would be worthwhile to include them. This is an area where I consider myself even more ignorant than usual, so if those of you who work on that side of the fence would like to chime in with relevant manifesto points from the perspective of developers and vendors, I'm all ears. Thanks, Roy
