Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
On 09/24/2011 18:45, Roy Tennant wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ Weasel? -- Yitzchak Schaffer Systems Manager Touro College Libraries 212.742.8770 ext. 2432 http://www.tourolib.org/ Access Problems? Contact systems.libr...@touro.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Whistle! -Original Message- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Yitzchak Schaffer Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 1:01 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? On 09/24/2011 18:45, Roy Tennant wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ Weasel? -- Yitzchak Schaffer Systems Manager Touro College Libraries 212.742.8770 ext. 2432 http://www.tourolib.org/ Access Problems? Contact systems.libr...@touro.edu
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. Cheers Rowan On 24 September 2011 17:10, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
. At this point we are most focused on the feature set that can be activated with no human intervention. Looking for the intersection of the basic need and most automatable (that probably is not a word). Roy On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 3:14 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Ok, I tried to sign up for WSSL and you have to be in US. Also, if it will cost 'a cup of coffee a day' am I right that would be at least $700 a year? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. Cheers Rowan On 24 September 2011 17:10, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto: rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
. If you do go the iDevice route (or Android, etc), you might be able to get away without a physical scanner attached - there are several apps that do barcode recognition through the devices' cameras. Hope at least some of this is helpful. - Dave On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 10:24 AM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: From the person in a position to know: We have not yet figured out pricing. We are definitely considering the needs of the developing nations but don't have answers yet. At this point we are most focused on the feature set that can be activated with no human intervention. Looking for the intersection of the basic need and most automatable (that probably is not a word). Roy On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 3:14 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Ok, I tried to sign up for WSSL and you have to be in US. Also, if it will cost 'a cup of coffee a day' am I right that would be at least $700 a year? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. Cheers Rowan On 24 September 2011 17:10, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
problem (which is fascinating/terrifying to me - outlet to device arcing is freaky!), but many of the small linux single-board computers are low enough power draw that an APC or other battery solution could run them for a long time off of wall power; you'd need someone to unplug it when the storm was coming, but that's going to be true of the iPhone, too, likely. If you were able to find or build the right software, I could see something like this working as a server, with an iPod touch serving as the scanner, for example. You could also (if you got one with a video output) attach a scanner via USB, and use it for both check-in and check-out. If you do go the iDevice route (or Android, etc), you might be able to get away without a physical scanner attached - there are several apps that do barcode recognition through the devices' cameras. Hope at least some of this is helpful. - Dave On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 10:24 AM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: From the person in a position to know: We have not yet figured out pricing. We are definitely considering the needs of the developing nations but don't have answers yet. At this point we are most focused on the feature set that can be activated with no human intervention. Looking for the intersection of the basic need and most automatable (that probably is not a word). Roy On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 3:14 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Ok, I tried to sign up for WSSL and you have to be in US. Also, if it will cost 'a cup of coffee a day' am I right that would be at least $700 a year? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. Cheers Rowan On 24 September 2011 17:10, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan -- Cary Gordon The Cherry Hill Company http://chillco.com
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
You may want to take a look at: http://librarysupportstaff.com/4automate.html There are several free and low cost solutions but I don't know if there is one that will be a viable solution for you. Sounds like you need a self checkout system like the 3m unit that connects to III although that particular system would be priced way outside your budget. But the idea is a patron scans there card, mag stripe or bar code and then scans bar code from book/books. Still it would be the honor system. You may want to check other links from the Google I used: Linux personal library software with bar code Thomas On Friday 23 September 2011 18:27:33 you wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan -- == Thomas McMillan Grant Bennett Appalachian State University Operations Systems AnalystP O Box 32026 University LibraryBoone, North Carolina 28608 (828) 262 6587 Library Systems Help Desk: https://www.library.appstate.edu/help/ ==
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
From the person in a position to know: We have not yet figured out pricing. We are definitely considering the needs of the developing nations but don't have answers yet. At this point we are most focused on the feature set that can be activated with no human intervention. Looking for the intersection of the basic need and most automatable (that probably is not a word). Roy On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 3:14 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Ok, I tried to sign up for WSSL and you have to be in US. Also, if it will cost 'a cup of coffee a day' am I right that would be at least $700 a year? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. Cheers Rowan On 24 September 2011 17:10, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Here's an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say micro-development board: http://technabob.com/blog/2011/02/03/dreamplug-mini-power-plug-computer/This isn't the best example - it's obviously being sold to a certain extent as novelty hardware, and it shows, but something like this could work fairly well as a web server for the area. You can actually get substantially cheaper than this, if you're willing to do some digging and/or do some component assembly - although, of course, then your mailing expenses might rise. It won't solve the lightning problem (which is fascinating/terrifying to me - outlet to device arcing is freaky!), but many of the small linux single-board computers are low enough power draw that an APC or other battery solution could run them for a long time off of wall power; you'd need someone to unplug it when the storm was coming, but that's going to be true of the iPhone, too, likely. If you were able to find or build the right software, I could see something like this working as a server, with an iPod touch serving as the scanner, for example. You could also (if you got one with a video output) attach a scanner via USB, and use it for both check-in and check-out. If you do go the iDevice route (or Android, etc), you might be able to get away without a physical scanner attached - there are several apps that do barcode recognition through the devices' cameras. Hope at least some of this is helpful. - Dave On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 10:24 AM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: From the person in a position to know: We have not yet figured out pricing. We are definitely considering the needs of the developing nations but don't have answers yet. At this point we are most focused on the feature set that can be activated with no human intervention. Looking for the intersection of the basic need and most automatable (that probably is not a word). Roy On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 3:14 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Ok, I tried to sign up for WSSL and you have to be in US. Also, if it will cost 'a cup of coffee a day' am I right that would be at least $700 a year? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. Cheers Rowan On 24 September 2011 17:10, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 3:14 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Ok, I tried to sign up for WSSL and you have to be in US. Also, if it will cost 'a cup of coffee a day' am I right that would be at least $700 a year? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. How big are your collections, and roughly how many circulations do you do? My concern would be that since you lack staff and resources, you'd have some real headaches if you became dependent on a system and something went wrong or whoever sets things up goes away. A traditional system with checkout cards actually works quite well and will let you see what you own, what is out, and who has it if it should have been returned. When you add up the time for keeping all the info in the system up to date, maintaining the system, teaching people how to use it, and dealing with changes in technology you may not come out ahead with automation. kyle -- -- Kyle Banerjee Digital Services Program Manager Orbis Cascade Alliance baner...@uoregon.edu / 503.877.9773
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Hi Kyle Our collection is over 13,000 and we have several thousand more waiting to be processed that we just can't get on top of. We could expand the library by a third or so if we had a more efficient system. We get 100-200 returns a week about half of which have been taken out. About 15-20% of borrowings aren't returned but we get a similar number of donations. So that's a lot of the work, typing catalogue cards and pulling them when they don't come back then retyping them when they're donated again. And figuring out what's overdue. We type the same books over and over again and yet never have db of what we've got. Our librarian tend to agree that it's not worth automating given all the difficulties and she may be right. I am very used to using computers for this sort of work and it seems kind of crazy how much time we spend on card handling. Several of the long-term volunteers are very frustrated at the lack of progress. I suppose even if I look into it and we make an informed decision against it, that's progress of a kind! Cheers Rowan On 26 September 2011 09:50, Kyle Banerjee baner...@uoregon.edu wrote: On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 3:14 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Ok, I tried to sign up for WSSL and you have to be in US. Also, if it will cost 'a cup of coffee a day' am I right that would be at least $700 a year? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. How big are your collections, and roughly how many circulations do you do? My concern would be that since you lack staff and resources, you'd have some real headaches if you became dependent on a system and something went wrong or whoever sets things up goes away. A traditional system with checkout cards actually works quite well and will let you see what you own, what is out, and who has it if it should have been returned. When you add up the time for keeping all the info in the system up to date, maintaining the system, teaching people how to use it, and dealing with changes in technology you may not come out ahead with automation. kyle -- -- Kyle Banerjee Digital Services Program Manager Orbis Cascade Alliance baner...@uoregon.edu / 503.877.9773
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Thanks Thomas. I had a look through what they are suggesting last night. It looks like you would have to run the software on a system in the library. I find it amazing that it's cheaper for 1000s of libraries to all run their own computers and software than for us to have accounts on a central system and access it over the web. Maybe WSSL can be licensed to India or something. When they email me back I'm going to plug that! Cheers Rowan On 26 September 2011 07:55, Thomas Bennett bennet...@appstate.edu wrote: You may want to take a look at: http://librarysupportstaff.com/4automate.html There are several free and low cost solutions but I don't know if there is one that will be a viable solution for you. Sounds like you need a self checkout system like the 3m unit that connects to III although that particular system would be priced way outside your budget. But the idea is a patron scans there card, mag stripe or bar code and then scans bar code from book/books. Still it would be the honor system. You may want to check other links from the Google I used: Linux personal library software with bar code Thomas On Friday 23 September 2011 18:27:33 you wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan -- == Thomas McMillan Grant Bennett Appalachian State University Operations Systems AnalystP O Box 32026 University LibraryBoone, North Carolina 28608 (828) 262 6587 Library Systems Help Desk: https://www.library.appstate.edu/help/ ==
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Aha, the plot thickens! This sounds very promising. I'll sound very keen when they email me back! Thanks so much Roy. -Rowan On 26 September 2011 08:24, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: From the person in a position to know: We have not yet figured out pricing. We are definitely considering the needs of the developing nations but don't have answers yet. At this point we are most focused on the feature set that can be activated with no human intervention. Looking for the intersection of the basic need and most automatable (that probably is not a word). Roy On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 3:14 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Ok, I tried to sign up for WSSL and you have to be in US. Also, if it will cost 'a cup of coffee a day' am I right that would be at least $700 a year? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. Cheers Rowan On 24 September 2011 17:10, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
I agree it's a good suggestion, and something that's been asked for again and again. If OCLC prices this reasonably, I can see a lot of small public and school libraries signing up. Also, nice mugshot, Jack: http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/n/us.tn.loremville-public-library/home On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 7:10 PM, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Quoting Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ I wrote about an idea for an online service for small libraries when I got back from Kosovo. [1] It had the added (?) capability of social networking, where the social beings are libraries. It seemed to me that in many cases small libraries are more dependent on each other than large libraries are, and that in some communities (and some countries) it makes sense to allow the libraries to have a combined presence as well as separate catalogs. I didn't include circulation, in part because the libraries I had been viewing did not circulate books. But I still like the idea of a society of small libraries organized perhaps geographically as well as by collections. kc [1] http://kcoyle.blogspot.com/2008/05/easy-online-social-library-catalog.html It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan -- Karen Coyle kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net ph: 1-510-540-7596 m: 1-510-435-8234 skype: kcoylenet
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Salvete! I wrote about an idea for an online service for small libraries when I got back from Kosovo. [1] It had the added (?) capability of social networking, where the social beings are libraries. It seemed to me that in many cases small libraries are more dependent on each other than large libraries are, and that in some communities (and some countries) it makes sense to allow the libraries to have a combined presence as well as separate catalogs. I didn't include circulation, in part because the libraries I had been viewing did not circulate books. But I still like the idea of a society of small libraries organized perhaps geographically as well as by collections. I certainly agree that small Libraries tend to share more than large ones. A combined presence to me is the whole point of having a strong consortium. I applaud organisations like MassCat not only for banding together to save scant resources, but also because they have the courage to innovate. This is no small feat given the diversity of their membership. The historical pendulum swing between independence and heavy interaction fascinates me no end. There are certainly regional differences. Cheers, Brooke
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Ok, I tried to sign up for WSSL and you have to be in US. Also, if it will cost 'a cup of coffee a day' am I right that would be at least $700 a year? That's our entire annual budget. So probably only for first world countries anyway. And you're meant to have one or two full-time staff which we don't have. Still, I'll email them and see what they say. There are probably 1000s of 3rd world libraries doing everything manually still and if there are economies of scale we may be able to afford it. Cheers Rowan On 24 September 2011 17:10, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
It's so experimental, that it's having a Free *Trail*. That is a good suggestion, by the way - I'm just amused by the typo. It appears twice on this page, once on the sign-up page, and perhaps elsewhere. Also, absolutely is misspelled as absolutley on the sign-up page. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Roy Tennant roytenn...@gmail.com wrote: Actually, I have an even better option from OCLC: Web Site for Small Libraries (WSSL) http://experimental.worldcat.org/lib/ It is really aimed at very small libraries, so it is very easy to use but still has some basic circulation capabilities. It's in free trial mode now, so take a look and see if it does what you need. Roy Tennant OCLC Research On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM, JONATHAN LEBRETON lebre...@temple.edu wrote: You may be able to do something with OCLCs so-called Web Management System whereby your OPAC (in the form of WorldCat local.) and circ functions are in the cloud.. Jonathan LeBreton Senior Associate University Librarian Temple University Libraries Philadelphia PA 19122 Voice: 215-204-3184 Fax: 215-204-5201 Mobile: 215-284-5070 lebre...@temple.edu jonat...@temple.edu - Original Message - From: rowan eisner [mailto:rowaneis...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:51 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet? Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
[CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
On 24 September 2011 10:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ Actually the correct url for the Koha project is http://koha-community.org Chris
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.comwrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
If I recall correctly, Librarything has a some kind of check-in/check-out functionality, intended for people who use their personal collection as a lending library. I'm signing into my account to check right now. - Dave On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 11:51 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.comwrote: Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
They don't, actually. My mistake. How are you imagining the check-in/check-out working when there aren't volunteers - a sign out sheet? If all you want is essentially a sign-out sheet attached to a database of your collection, it wouldn't be hard to whip something up, or use an existing solution - but if you want something that you don't have to host yourself, I'm not sure there's anything that's going to get you all the way there. I'm looking now to see if I can find another cataloging site that does some level of circulation. One other thing you could do is use something like http://alexandria.rubyforge.org/features.html, and pass the datafile manually to anyone who needs to have it. Not a great solution, but the best my brain is coming up with right now. - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 11:58 PM, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: If I recall correctly, Librarything has a some kind of check-in/check-out functionality, intended for people who use their personal collection as a lending library. I'm signing into my account to check right now. - Dave On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 11:51 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.comwrote: Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
Re: [CODE4LIB] Can a library automate without a computer yet?
http://www.bookbump.com/manual.php There's some level of loaned/borrowed tracking functionality. Might do; at least closer than LibraryThing. - Dave Mayo On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:14 AM, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: They don't, actually. My mistake. How are you imagining the check-in/check-out working when there aren't volunteers - a sign out sheet? If all you want is essentially a sign-out sheet attached to a database of your collection, it wouldn't be hard to whip something up, or use an existing solution - but if you want something that you don't have to host yourself, I'm not sure there's anything that's going to get you all the way there. I'm looking now to see if I can find another cataloging site that does some level of circulation. One other thing you could do is use something like http://alexandria.rubyforge.org/features.html, and pass the datafile manually to anyone who needs to have it. Not a great solution, but the best my brain is coming up with right now. - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 11:58 PM, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: If I recall correctly, Librarything has a some kind of check-in/check-out functionality, intended for people who use their personal collection as a lending library. I'm signing into my account to check right now. - Dave On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 11:51 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.comwrote: Hi Dave It's an honesty system, card based, the way most community libraries used to work before computers. Because it's unstaffed about 15% of books aren't returned but we get a similar amount of donations. So we have that constant churn to take in and out of a card catalog manually. We need borrowers to be able to check out books. I was thinking maybe with a scanner attached to an iphone running an app. I didn't think librarything could do circulation. I thought it was just a catalog. What do you reckon? Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 21:34, David Mayo pobo...@gmail.com wrote: I think it's going to be difficult to find a solution that's entirely cloud based. What functionality do you need? If you have a very limited subset of ILS/OPAC functions in mind, theoretically a LibraryThing paid account or similar quasi-library service might suffice. I'm having trouble understanding how circulation works/is expected to work when librarians aren't present. Is there a sign-out sheet? How do you monitor for lossage? - Dave Mayo On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:42 PM, rowan eisner rowaneis...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Esme No, the library is open all hours but volunteers just come in 2 hrs a week. I'm not sure how it could work but if we leave anything plugged in it will get stolen or struck by lightning. We're in cloud forest. With koha and open-ils do we have to run the software on a server or do we just get an account on an existing system? Running a system ourselves might take a lot for us to figure out. Cheers Rowan On 23 September 2011 16:38, Cowles, Esme escow...@ucsd.edu wrote: Rowan- Having a hosted catalog and circ system seems very easy to do. There are several open source library systems such as Koha and Evergreen that might suit your needs: http://www.koha.org/ http://open-ils.org/ Are there volunteers present the entire time the library is open to borrowers? Or are you counting on borrowers having smartphones to complete self-checkout? -Esme -- Esme Cowles escow...@ucsd.edu I don't need to be forgiven. -- The Who, Baba O'Reilly On Sep 23, 2011, at 3:27 PM, rowan eisner wrote: Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but if anyone can point me in the right direction... We have an unstaffed library and can't leave a computer in it. Is there a way to automate 1) with no computer - do circulation and catalog in the cloud. Volunteers bring in laptops to do circulation and clients access catalog with iphones 2) that doesn't cost a fortune Thanks so much Rowan
