In case you haven't seen it, here's the schedule for the Evergreen Conference (official site is http://evergreen2012.org/) that will be held in Indianpolis, Indiana April 25 to April 28:

Wednesday, 4/25

Wednesday, 4/25
8:00-10:00 Registration Open
9:00-12:00 Hackfest
10:30-12:00 Web Team / Communications Committee meeting
12:00-1:00 Lunch on your own
1:00-4:30 Exhibits open
1:00-4:30 Hackfest
1:00-2:30 Cataloging Working Group
1:00-2:30 DIG Interest Group
1:00-2:30 Reports Interest Group
2:30-3:00 Afternoon snack break by EBSCO Publishing
3:00-4:30 System Admin Interest Group
3:00-4:30 Training Interest Group
4:30-6:00 Vendor reception co-hosted by Backstage Library Works and Google

We're in the middle of a bit of a redesign of the RSCEL website.  Trying to simplify it and not duplicate information here that you can find on the evergreen-ils.org website.

One thing we're planning to keep alive is an Evergreen directory (aka the Evergreen Initiatives). It is a directory that you can choose to put your organization into for the purposes of facilitating networking between Evergreen libraries and Evergreen community members.

For the moment...it is here:

http://rscel.evergreen-ils.org/evergreen/about/projects

Berklee College of Music is sponsoring development to add an auto-suggest feature to Evergreen Open Source ILS search interfaces. 

Read all about it here:  http://blog.esilibrary.com/

Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative (MassLNC) & Equinox Software, Inc. (Equinox) are excited to announce a new development project for the Evergreen Open Source ILS.  This project is the result of an RFP issued by MassLNC in August 2011.  The parties anticipate the coding will be ready for testing by the end of April, 2012.  MassLNC is sponsoring the project and Equinox developers will be spearheading the work. 

Some of the highlights include: 

• enhancements to the open-ils.pcrud service to enable fleshing, include fleshed objects, and to make it respond to requests faster

• the creation of a generalized API to ultimately facilitate the simplification of existing UIs and provide for new UIs based on simple, reusable components

• support for applying and saving distinct sets of columns for any individual screen using the column picker, specifically including the holds view in the patron holds screen, the title holds screen, the browse holds shelf screen, and the pull list for holds request screen

• enhancements to the patron search and holdings maintenance with the addition of support for double-click behavior

• enhanced navigation of Acquisitions providers and fund lists so that users will be viewing/retrieving funds and providers based on their permissions and will be able to filter on fields in the grid

• the ability to save distinct receipt templates for an individual screen

• list interfaces will supply a row-number column, useful for scanning a long list without losing one's place

• the addition of a customizable toolbar per given user

• enhancements to the catalog bib record display, checkout, the Vandelay interfaces for importing records, and purchase order interfaces to support real-time display of updated data without having to manually reload

• enhancements to the interfaces using column pickers to enable sorting by multiple columns

• the addition of an easy return to search results from MARC record view

• the addition of a new tab button in the Staff Client (beyond the existing hot-key and file menu options for doing this)

• Org Units will be able to hide various fields in the copy editor based on local policy

• enhanced record matching and overlay in Acquisitions to provide an automated method for matching incoming acquisitions records to existing catalog records

• flexible scoped searches of the catalog based on pre-defined groups of copy locations both at the owning library and consortial level

• more flexibility as it pertains to library selector display and OPAC-visibility, including the option of hiding an org unit but not its descendants

• the last date of patron authentication will be stored, visible and reportable

• and finally, staff will be able to configure the holds pull list.      

Ever wondered where the logs from the Evergreen IRC channel live?  Well, I just found them.  Here they are:

http://open-ils.org/irc_logs/evergreen

Seems like printer problems often come up on the Evergreen mailing list so I thought I'd pull out this little exchange that seems to solve the problems with at least one printer, the SP200. May be be relevant to Evergreen 1.6 only but if you have an SP200, you'll probably want to check out this quick fix!

Hello,
Is anyone printing to a Star SP200 receipt printer using Evergreen 2.1? If you can print successfully to the SP200 from Evergreen can you tell me the driver you are using? We have tried the sp212 driver but have not had success.The printer uses a USB connection.

Good news for all Evergreen Users!

The Software Freedom Conservancy welcomes the Evergreen project as its newest member. Evergreen joins twenty-six other Conservancy members, who receive the benefit of aggregated non-profit status available to all Conservancy member projects.

Conservancy and the Evergreen community, including librarians, developers, and documenters, are excited to announce that Evergreen is now a member of the Software Freedom Conservancy.

By joining the Conservancy, Evergreen obtains the benefits of a formal non-profit organizational structure while keeping the project focused on software development and documentation. Some benefits of joining the Conservancy include the ability to collect donations, hold assets on behalf of the project, and some protection of the lead developers of the project from personal liability when engaging in the activities of the project.

Marshall Breeding has published the results of his ILS satisfaction survey, Perceptions 2010.  

This year two open source ILS products earned top marks. OPALS, targeting K-12 school libraries and Koha when supported by ByWater Solutions.

This is an email I posted to the open_ils mailing group- it was suggested that I share the contents of the email on this site- so here it is. Please contact me if you have any questions. Thanks. - Lisa

Hi All-

I feel like I am coming really late to the party.

My name is Lisa Hill and I am in charge of the KCLS catalog.I oversee the OPAC the mobile Pac and the UI of Self Checkout- self check out overall falls under our Circ Supervisor.

I apologize for not chiming in sooner- I am sure all of you know that when you migrate there are not enough hours in the day to get your work done for that first year after you go live.

My department alone has answered about 7,000 emails so far from patrons and staff alike since the OPAC went live on 09/24/10.  That does not include any telephone help or the fantastic service the folks in the branches have given to our patrons.

Matt and I will send out a more detailed email about where we think the OPAC might be going- but I wanted to give you my input regarding our OPAC and Mobile Catalog in its current form- you know straight from the horse’s mouth…

Mobile PAC

This has been one of the most gratifying parts of the project.

 Marshall Breeding announced the results of his 2010 ILS Survey and two of the big winners in this year's report are Koha and Evergreen.  And, interestingly, the big loser was none other than SirsiDynix.