next generation catalogs for libraries

Re: building the "next generation" library catalog

I don't know if it's directly relevant, but there's an interesting effort [Evergreen] in the game afoot at

This is information central for the development effort of an open source Integrated Library System (ILS), named Evergreen. This software is being developed and maintained by the Georgia Public Library Service for use by the Georgia Library PINES Program, a consortium of 252 public libraries. This software can be downloaded for free, and anyone can contribute to development efforts.

A demo of Evergreen's online catalog is located at demo.gapines.org. A bleeding edge online catalog, with all of the latest, greatest features we're working on, is located at dev.gapines.org (note the development site may be unstable). The staff client is available from the downloads section.

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It's scheduled to go live for PINES on September 5, 2006.

On Eric's note, I wish there was something more like a profession-wide "institute" (not-for-profit structure) that could lead the way in this regard. As a profession, we have little history of developing hardware and software on a "large" scale, IMHO. The classic four types of libraries - academic, school, special, and public - don't even have a common organization in the U.S., we do our own thing. Things like lobbying *for* the profession as a whole, or approaching Google as a profession for "liaison" and interactions, are things that could be done for the profession from such an organization and/or institute.

Pre-holiday musings.. from DrWeb, speaking only for himself...

Best,

Michael

Michael McCulley, Collection Analysis & Online Services (CAOS)
San Diego Public Library, 820 E Street, San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619-702-8731 / FAX: 619-233-1892
E-mail: mmcculley <at> sandiego.gov