Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
I suggest having a look at Koha. http://koha-community.org/ Quoting Ben T. t.be...@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.ha...@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 marke...@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 tmcca...@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 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Mark Ehle marke...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@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 marke...@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.ha...@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 marke...@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.ha...@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.be...@gmail.com wrote: Hello All, I volunteer for a tiny library that is growing. At this point we're looking
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
Ben, If you don’t have anyone on staff that is a trained cataloger and knows MARC formatting and other cataloging standards, Evergreen would also not be a good fit for your library. http://web.nmsu.edu/~ebosman/church/churchlib4.shtml has a list of low cost software primarily for church libraries but there are some for special libraries. Not all had pricing on their website but some are in the $300-$500 range. The list does include products Terran and Ruth mentioned. There is a “free” product on that site called Lexwin -- http://www.lex.sk.ca/index.html There is a one-year trial period and then they want you to purchase a service contract if you want to auto-load data into a LexWeb(?) It looks like it is free if you don’t want to be part of LexWeb. St Charles County Library System in Missouri developed an open source catalog called Listen 2000 that they market to Missouri libraries. I couldn’t find any recent details so I don’t know anything more. Their contact information is at http://www.youranswerplace.org/administrative-staff (this may also require knowledge of library standards). Have you tried contacting other special libraries in your area to see what system they use? You might even be able to create a partnership with some of them to defray costs and share technical knowledge. Elaine J. Elaine Hardy PINES Collaborative Projects Manager Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Ste 150 Atlanta, Ga. 30345-4304 404.235.7128 404.235.7201, fax eha...@georgialibraries.org www.georgialibraries.org www.georgialibraries.org/pines From: open-ils-general-boun...@list.georgialibraries.org [mailto:open-ils-general-boun...@list.georgialibraries.org] On Behalf Of Ben T. Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2015 6:25 PM To: open-ils-general@list.georgialibraries.org Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library? 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.
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
Just a brief addition. This looked interesting. It's basically turnkey and a hosted solution. As you can see, I linked the pricing/features page. Why not get straight to the bottom line? I +1 Terran's fundraising idea. http://www.libraryworld.com/pricing.html On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 7:19 PM, McCanna, Terran tmcca...@georgialibraries.org wrote: Ben, Ouch, I didn't see Surpass's price tag. There's something called ResourceMate that has a Lite edition for $295, and another called PrimaSoft Small Library Organizer Pro for $245, both of which are designed for very small libraries to run on a single machine. Again, I haven't used either, but they might be worth investigating. Maybe you could do a bit of fundraising so you don't have to pay out of pocket? Good luck! Terran McCanna PINES Program Manager Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Suite 150 Atlanta, GA 30345 404-235-7138 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Ben T. t.be...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@list.georgialibraries.org Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015 6:39:17 PM Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library? 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.ha...@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 marke...@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 tmcca...@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 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Mark Ehle marke...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@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 marke...@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.ha...@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 marke...@gmail.com wrote
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
The hosted solution does look interesting, though it sounds like the library's finances would not extend to $500 annually.. (it looks like the trial version is only good for 30 days?) In a similar vein if money were tight but not non-existent, Biblionix looks good too, and depending on how well they scale down, might price competitively.. Ben, if it were me I would take a closer look at OpenBiblio. Many moons ago (say nearly 10 years ago) I seem to recall installing OpenBiblio on my Windows XP desktop to the point of having it up and running for the sake of testing and seeing what it was like. It can be installed on just a Windows computer using XAMPP. (instructions are at http://osilms.pbworks.com/w/page/6466900/openbiblio%20installation ) From my recollection it was at the time one of the first times I played around with something that ideally runs in a LAMP environment (linux+apache+mysql+php/perl). I don't recall it taking a hateful amount of time to figure out XAMPP or Openbiblio's own software. So, if you use Ubuntu for your everyday desktop, and are as you said mildly tech savvy this might be a worth while experiment. I'll admit, in an ideal world it would be on a dedicated linux server with an internet connection for the public to search the catalog, but in the limited circumstances we're talking about, having it on a single Windows computer I would think would a lot better than pencil and paper, and I can't see it working any slower than pencil and paper, even if the Windows PC has to grind a bit to handle the databases and such. I agree about Ben's view on a VMs with non-tech savvy users, VMs can certainly be used in production environments, but in situations where the end-user never knows whether they're connecting to a physical computer or a VM. As much as I hate to admit it, because I love Evergreen and would prefer to see as many Evergreen libraries as possible, installing it is not for the faint of heart. I've tried once to install it for the sake of having a sandbox installation, being in a consortium where others administer our production servers and in that attempt I couldn't get past getting xulrunner installed properly. I probably need to be working on it with the IRC open on a second computer, probably during hours when the sys admins here in North America are online and I can ask questions of the folks who actually know what they're doing with it... Best of luck, and have a good day. Joe Joseph Knueven Director Germantown Public Library 51 N. Plum St. Germantown, OH 45327 937-855-4001 knuev...@oplin.org On 1/19/2015 9:30 AM, Ruth Frasur wrote: Just a brief addition. This looked interesting. It's basically turnkey and a hosted solution. As you can see, I linked the pricing/features page. Why not get straight to the bottom line? I +1 Terran's fundraising idea. http://www.libraryworld.com/pricing.html On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 7:19 PM, McCanna, Terran tmcca...@georgialibraries.org mailto:tmcca...@georgialibraries.org wrote: Ben, Ouch, I didn't see Surpass's price tag. There's something called ResourceMate that has a Lite edition for $295, and another called PrimaSoft Small Library Organizer Pro for $245, both of which are designed for very small libraries to run on a single machine. Again, I haven't used either, but they might be worth investigating. Maybe you could do a bit of fundraising so you don't have to pay out of pocket? Good luck! Terran McCanna PINES Program Manager Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Suite 150 Atlanta, GA 30345 404-235-7138 tel:404-235-7138 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org mailto:tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Ben T. t.be...@gmail.com mailto:t.be...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@list.georgialibraries.org mailto:open-ils-general@list.georgialibraries.org Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015 6:39:17 PM Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library? 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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
I realized on reflection that referred to the wrong prerequisite program, re Evergreen install instructions.. oops. That will teach me to type specific emails from memory. Have a good day one and all. Joe Joseph Knueven Director Germantown Public Library 51 N. Plum St. Germantown, OH 45327 937-855-4001 knuev...@oplin.org On 1/19/2015 11:36 AM, Joe wrote: The hosted solution does look interesting, though it sounds like the library's finances would not extend to $500 annually.. (it looks like the trial version is only good for 30 days?) In a similar vein if money were tight but not non-existent, Biblionix looks good too, and depending on how well they scale down, might price competitively.. Ben, if it were me I would take a closer look at OpenBiblio. Many moons ago (say nearly 10 years ago) I seem to recall installing OpenBiblio on my Windows XP desktop to the point of having it up and running for the sake of testing and seeing what it was like. It can be installed on just a Windows computer using XAMPP. (instructions are at http://osilms.pbworks.com/w/page/6466900/openbiblio%20installation ) From my recollection it was at the time one of the first times I played around with something that ideally runs in a LAMP environment (linux+apache+mysql+php/perl). I don't recall it taking a hateful amount of time to figure out XAMPP or Openbiblio's own software. So, if you use Ubuntu for your everyday desktop, and are as you said mildly tech savvy this might be a worth while experiment. I'll admit, in an ideal world it would be on a dedicated linux server with an internet connection for the public to search the catalog, but in the limited circumstances we're talking about, having it on a single Windows computer I would think would a lot better than pencil and paper, and I can't see it working any slower than pencil and paper, even if the Windows PC has to grind a bit to handle the databases and such. I agree about Ben's view on a VMs with non-tech savvy users, VMs can certainly be used in production environments, but in situations where the end-user never knows whether they're connecting to a physical computer or a VM. As much as I hate to admit it, because I love Evergreen and would prefer to see as many Evergreen libraries as possible, installing it is not for the faint of heart. I've tried once to install it for the sake of having a sandbox installation, being in a consortium where others administer our production servers and in that attempt I couldn't get past getting xulrunner installed properly. I probably need to be working on it with the IRC open on a second computer, probably during hours when the sys admins here in North America are online and I can ask questions of the folks who actually know what they're doing with it... Best of luck, and have a good day. Joe Joseph Knueven Director Germantown Public Library 51 N. Plum St. Germantown, OH 45327 937-855-4001 knuev...@oplin.org On 1/19/2015 9:30 AM, Ruth Frasur wrote: Just a brief addition. This looked interesting. It's basically turnkey and a hosted solution. As you can see, I linked the pricing/features page. Why not get straight to the bottom line? I +1 Terran's fundraising idea. http://www.libraryworld.com/pricing.html On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 7:19 PM, McCanna, Terran tmcca...@georgialibraries.org mailto:tmcca...@georgialibraries.org wrote: Ben, Ouch, I didn't see Surpass's price tag. There's something called ResourceMate that has a Lite edition for $295, and another called PrimaSoft Small Library Organizer Pro for $245, both of which are designed for very small libraries to run on a single machine. Again, I haven't used either, but they might be worth investigating. Maybe you could do a bit of fundraising so you don't have to pay out of pocket? Good luck! Terran McCanna PINES Program Manager Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Suite 150 Atlanta, GA 30345 404-235-7138 tel:404-235-7138 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org mailto:tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Ben T. t.be...@gmail.com mailto:t.be...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@list.georgialibraries.org mailto:open-ils-general@list.georgialibraries.org Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015 6:39:17 PM Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library? 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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
Dear Ben, May test OpenBiblio interface. Yunus On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 2:25 AM, Ben T. t.be...@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. -- Regards, Yunus
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
You might be able to run Evergreen as a virtual machine on your windows box - I would use VirtualBox. Just make sure to have a rigorous backup regimen. On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 8:51 AM, Yunus karant...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Ben, May test OpenBiblio interface. Yunus On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 2:25 AM, Ben T. t.be...@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. -- Regards, Yunus
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
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.be...@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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
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.ha...@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.be...@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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
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 marke...@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.ha...@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.be...@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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
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.ha...@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 marke...@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.ha...@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.be...@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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
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 tmcca...@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 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Mark Ehle marke...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@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 marke...@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.ha...@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 marke...@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.ha...@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.be...@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
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 marke...@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.ha...@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 marke...@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.ha...@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.be...@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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
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 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Mark Ehle marke...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@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 marke...@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.ha...@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 marke...@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.ha...@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.be...@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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
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.ha...@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 marke...@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 tmcca...@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 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Mark Ehle marke...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@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 marke...@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.ha...@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 marke...@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.ha...@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.be...@gmail.com wrote: Hello All, I volunteer for a tiny library that is growing. At this point we're looking
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
Ben, Ouch, I didn't see Surpass's price tag. There's something called ResourceMate that has a Lite edition for $295, and another called PrimaSoft Small Library Organizer Pro for $245, both of which are designed for very small libraries to run on a single machine. Again, I haven't used either, but they might be worth investigating. Maybe you could do a bit of fundraising so you don't have to pay out of pocket? Good luck! Terran McCanna PINES Program Manager Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Suite 150 Atlanta, GA 30345 404-235-7138 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Ben T. t.be...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@list.georgialibraries.org Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015 6:39:17 PM Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library? 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.ha...@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 marke...@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 tmcca...@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 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Mark Ehle marke...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@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 marke...@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.ha...@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 marke...@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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
I'm trying to address the original question. I appreciate that you have your own perspective but addressing the issue at hand requires looking at it in context of the person asking the question, not your background and your resources. Nor mine. I've made several inferences from his question. Resources are extremely limited for Ben. This includes hardware, finances and expertise. Furthermore, I suspect that time is also limited. I think it's also likely that most of their resources are Microsoft oriented, not the least being user experience. How I discuss technology solutions for different organizations will vary depending upon the resources that organization has. If I'm incorrect in any of this Ben can tell us and my response might change. But this is the reality of many small libraries. If he as a volunteer for a small library thinks he has adequate time and resources to work out all of the issues that will be inherent in this endeavor then I wish him well. I advise against it. So, other options? I'm going to echo Terran and say that hosting is great but it may be outside the financial scope of options. I'm not familiar with Surpass but that might be one. There are some cheap Windows softwares meant more for personal collections that might have some limited circulation ability or function that could be bodged together for that. There's always building a very simple Microsoft Access application if the library has access to that. I'm not a fan of it but it's an option. On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 11:26 AM, Mark Ehle marke...@gmail.com wrote: 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 marke...@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.ha...@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 marke...@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.ha...@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.be...@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
Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library?
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 marke...@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 tmcca...@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 tmcca...@georgialibraries.org - Original Message - From: Mark Ehle marke...@gmail.com To: Evergreen Discussion Group open-ils-general@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 marke...@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.ha...@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 marke...@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.ha...@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.be...@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
