Charting Our Own Course

The Massachusetts Evergreen Experience

Kathy Lussier, MassLNC

Tim Spindler, C/W MARS

Jeff Klapes, Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield

The Massachusetts Evergreen Project

  • MassLNC Background & Timeline
  • Challenges and Opportunities from an Administrator's Perspective
  • Engagement with Front-Line Staff
  • Collaborating with a Larger Community

About MassLNC

  • A collaborative project among C/W MARS, MVLC and NOBLE to jointly implement an open-source library system.
  • Started in 2009 with a $412,000 LSTA Grant.
  • Shared development and mutual support system.

Why Did the MassLNC Networks Choose Open Source

  • Ability to Try the System Before Deciding
  • More Control Over Features in the ILS
  • Engaging End Users in Design and Testing
  • Adopting Transparent Development Processes
  • Control Over Costs
  • Avoiding Vendor Lock-In

MassLNC Timeline

June - September 2009 -  Evaluation of Evergreen and Koha

October 2009 - MBLC awards LSTA grant - networks recommend adoption of Evergreen

February 2010 - MassLNC coordinator begins

August 2010 - MassLNC joins first development partnership and issued first RFP for development

May 2011 - MVLC goes live on Evergreen

May 2012 - C/W MARS and NOBLE go live on Evergreen

MassLNC Timeline

July 2012 - MassLNC moves out of grant period and under new governance

August 2012 - New Development Committee comprising both library and network staff begins to meet

April 2013 - MassLNC starts process to find consultant to evaluate Evergreen performance

May 2013 - MassLNC holds its first Massachusetts Evergreen conference

 

 

MassLNC Timeline

October 2013 - MassLNC becomes one of three partners to sponsor prototype of new browser-based client for Evergreen

March 2014 - MassLNC and Bibliomation host Evergreen International Conference in Cambridge

May 2015 - MassLNC begins advertising for part-time developer, who will be first new hire since the hiring of a project coordinator.

 

 

Development Projects with
 MassLNC Involvement

  • Texting call numbers and holds notifications
  • Patron message center
  • Responsive design catalog for improved display on mobile devices
  • More flexibility in the way the system fills holds
  • Large-scale acquisitions improvements
  • Activity metric (upcoming) - more popular items will get a boost in relevance ranking

What Makes Us Unique

The cooperation of three distinct Evergreen sites is unique in the community. It leads to cost efficiencies in shared development projects, gives us a stronger voice in the community, and provides local opportunities to share expertise.

Challenges and Opportunities from an Administrator's Perspective

Engagement with Front-Line Staff

Collaborating with a larger community

MassLNC community involvement at various levels

Core Committers

  • Thomas Berezansky, MVLC
  • Jason Stephenson, MVLC

Code Contributors

  • Thomas Berezansky, MVLC
  • Kathy Lussier, MassLNC
  • Christine Morgan, NOBLE
  • Michele Morgan, NOBLE
  • Suzanne Paterno, NOBLE
  • Dan Pearl, C/W MARS
  • Jason Stephenson, MVLC

Documentation

  • Jim Keenan, C/W MARS
  • Joan Kranich, C/W MARS
  • Kathy Lussier, MassLNC
  • Tim Spindler, C/W MARS
  • Tracy Swaim, formerly with MVLC

Evergreen Executive Oversight Board

  • Kathy Lussier, MassLNC (2012-2015)
  • Tim Spindler, C/W MARS (candidate)

Bug Squashing Day Participation

  • Thomas Berezansky, MVLC
  • Martha Driscoll, NOBLE
  • Joan Kranich, C/W MARS
  • Christine Morgan, NOBLE
  • Michele Morgan, NOBLE
  • Dan Pearl, C/W MARS
  • Jason Stephenson, MVLC

Evergreen Security Team

  • Thomas Berezansky, MVLC
  • Kathy Lussier, MassLNC
  • Jason Stephenson, MVLC

Working with other development partners

  • Many of our development projects are done with the financial support and shared expertise of other development partners.
  • MassLNC Wall of Fame

High Priority Projects Don't Always Need to Cost Money

Partnerships Beyond Evergreen

Evergreen and Koha worked on shared NCIP code to provide a connector to the new Massachusetts Commonwealth Catalog.

Benefiting from the Development of Others

  • schema.org - provides structured data so that a library's resources are more discoverable by search engines.
    Evergreen core committer Dan Scott
  • The ability to place one hold on multiple bib records of a title and to identify which formats are acceptable to fill the hold
    Sponsored development from BC Libraries Cooperative

As A Group We're a Stronger Voice in the Community than if We Stand Alone

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