Elizabeth McKinney de Garcia

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Elizabeth McKinney de Garcia PINES Program
Director
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What is PINES?

• A consortium of 50 Georgia public library systems
• 275 facilities and bookmobiles
• A common library automation system
• A union database of 9 million books other items
• A shared patron database of about 2 million
  active PINES cardholders from all 159 Georgia
  counties

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PINES Current and Future Members
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About PINES

• The PINES library card is free to any resident of
  Georgia, and may be obtained from any PINES
  library.
• The PINES library card can be used at any PINES
  facility as if at the home library.
• Materials may be returned to any PINES library.

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About PINES

• Users may request materials delivered from any
  PINES library to local library, at no charge.
• New books are protected from intra-PINES loans
  for 6 months
• In FY07, more than 540,000 intra-PINES loans, as
  compared with just 6000 in FY00.
• A statewide courier service began in October 2004
  with service to all headquarters libraries in
  PINES.

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About PINES

• PINES libraries agree to a common set of policies
  and procedures--patrons have a consistent
  experience at any PINES library.
• PINES libraries agree to common fine structures.
• Fines and fees may be paid at any PINES library.
• Overdue notices processed centrally for all
  member libraries

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Benefits for Users

• One interface that is easy to use
• Users have dramatically increased access to
  statewide combined library collections
• Convenience of using all 275 member libraries
  throughout the state
• Common policies affecting the user experience

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What Do Patrons Like Best About PINES? Comments
from the PINES User Survey

• It is so easy to use. I love Evergreen. I can
  not imagine life without it!
• I love being able to get books from
  anywhere--especially if my library doesn't have
  what I'm looking for.
• I can login with my user name and not a long user
  number. I love the bookbags. I appreciate the
  status column for books on hold. I really
  appreciate the emails and phone calls coming in
  at the same time.
• You can place a book on hold from another library
  in the PINES system and have it delivered to your
  closest library for pick up--LOVE THAT!!!
• I no longer have a local library with just 30,000
  books in it. With PINES, I now have a library
  with several million books.

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Benefits for Libraries

• PINES is centrally administered.
• Participating systems have automation costs paid
  their contribution is sharing of collections.
• PINES provides training in regional locations
  convenient to member libraries.
• Centralized helpdesk and support for software and
  common policies.

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Benefits for Georgia

• Cost effectiveness
• Estimate to replace automation systems in all
  PINES libraries 15 million
• Annual maintenance for
• Individual automation systems 5 million
• PINES annual operations 1.6 million
• Approximately .80 per registered customer
• About 1/10 of the cost of purchasing individual
  automation systems

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Benefits for Libraries
PINES member libraries pay 0.00
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Budget and Funding
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Radical or Just Plain Crazy? A Crossroads for
PINES

• Unable to add larger library systems. We had
  reached the capacity of the existing software
• Reports moved out of production environment
• Daily reindex at 1pm
• Many of our policies were created around
  limitations of the software

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Radical or Just Plain Crazy? A Crossroads for
PINES

• Initial 5-year software contract for PINES ended
  in June 2005.
• 2003-2004 PINES staff conducted a comprehensive
  survey of the library automation marketplace
• Is the software driving the policy/procedure, or
  is the policy/procedure driving the software?

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What Do PINES Libraries Need?

• From the PINES Staff Perspective
• Ease of use for customers
• Enterprise-class relational database
• Scalability (ability to grow with PINES)
• Flexibility
• Data security
• Reports designed to correspond to annual
  reporting requirements

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What Do PINES Libraries Need?

• Focus Groups
• Pretend its magic
• Incredible buy-in from our members
• Participation from library staff throughout the
  development process

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Evergreen

• Evergreen Integrated Library System was developed
  using Open Source software.
• Software development began in June 2004
• All PINES libraries migrated to Evergreen
  software on September 5, 2006.
• Evergreen debuted with Online Catalog,
  Circulation, Cataloging, and Reports.
• Transactions, customer records, and online
  catalog records were migrated from the former
  system.

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Evergreen Features

• Search capabilities similar to popular commercial
  websites
• Google-like spell-checking and search suggestions
• Added content, including book cover images,
  reviews, and excerpts
• Scalability in anticipation of PINES growth
• Enhanced security features to keep customer
  information confidential
• Customer empowerment to manage own accounts

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Evergreen Core Technologies

• Database Postgresql
• Logic/glue languages C and Perl
• Webserver Apache mod_perl
• Server operating system Linux
• Server hardware x86-64
• Messaging core Jabber
• Client side software XUL

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Evergreen Design

• Cost-effective server software is designed to
  run on inexpensive commodity hardware with an
  open source operating system.
• Reliable the software is designed to run in a
  clustered environment, giving it enterprise-level
  high availability and failover.
• Flexible Evergreen's staff client is
  cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux).

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Evergreen Features

• Customer empowerment to manage own accounts
• Streamlined online catalog that works with screen
  readers like JAWS
• Virtual book bags that can be created, managed,
  and shared by the user (including RSS feed for
  updating)

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Evergreen Features

• Local flexibility to define authorizations by
  login
• Surveys provide flexibility to collect
  information locally or PINES-wide
• Use of buckets (virtual containers) to allow
  batch changes
• Simplified merging of bibliographic records

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Evergreen Features

• OPAC view in the staff client
• Use of tabs (like Mozilla) for ease of transition
  between tasks
• Ability to search ANY field in the patron record
• Truly randomized holds which work in a tiered
  structure

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Hindsight is 20/20

• More Money
• More Time
• More Staff

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What We Did Right

• We listened, and designed the system based on
  input from library staff and patrons. This
  created a sense of ownership and pride in the
  system as it developed.

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Open Source SoftwareBenefits

• Reliability and Stability- Given enough
  eyeballs, all bugs are shallow 1
• Auditability Peer review
• Cost Financial benefits to current and future
  Evergreen users remains to be seen
• Flexibility and Freedom
• Support and Accountability

1Linus's Law according to Eric S. Raymond in
The Cathedral The Bazaar
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Renting versus Owning

• Yes, we are responsible if the AC goes out or the
  roof leaks, butit is a GREAT place to be.
• We get what we need and want
• Scalability can handle transaction load
• Local Control Increased
• Granularity of Permissions Structure
• Healthy Competition - Equinox 5 year renewal
  contract

Disclaimer The use of the word owning in this
case means taking responsibility for.
Evergreen is licensed under the GPL.
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Where We Are Now

• We went live with
• Discovery Features
• Staff Client
• Reports
• Offline Mode (Bookmobile)
• Supporting Development of Acquisitions and
  Serials Modules

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Where We Are Now

• Continued Development of Software
• Building the Evergreen Community
• Courier Service Holds Volume Increase
• Keeping Up with Network Traffic

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Where We Are Now

• Early Adopters
• British Columbia Ministry of Education
• University of Windsor
• Laurentian University
• McMaster University
• Michigan Library Consortium and Grand Rapids
  Pubic Library
• Indiana Public Libraries
• Kent County (Maryland)

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Where We Are Now
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Where Do We Go from Here?PINES-specific

• More self-service options, including online bill
  pay for customers
• Enhanced links with GALILEO
• Cooperative projects with university system
  libraries and OIIT staff
• Migration of four libraries waiting to become
  PINES members
• Ranking system for enhancements and prioritizing
  bug fixes

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Where Do We Go from Here?PINES-specific

• Increase Staffing
• Production
• Director
• Program Manager
• Public Services Coordinator
• Cataloging Coordinator
• Usability Specialist (to be advertised soon)
• HelpDesk Assistant
• System Administrator
• Software Development Manager
• Development
• Equinox Software Inc.
• Volunteer Developers from Around the World

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Where Do We Go from Here?Evergreen-specific

• Partnership with XC (University of Rochester)
• Work with partners on protocols to share
  information with other automation systems
• Develop a children's web-based catalog
• Develop DTDs to support foreign languages
• Evergreen Foundation
• Evergreen Users Group
• Evergreen International Conference

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For Further Information

• PINES online catalog www.gapines.org
• Evergreen software development www.open-ils.org
• Georgia Public Library Service
  ww.georgialibraries.org
• Facebook Evergreen Open ILS

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PINES Staff Top 5

• One Catalog View for Staff Client and Public
  Catalog
• Bucket feature for easy batch-manipulating of
  copies (copy bucket) and records (record bucket),
  including batch- transferring, removing, editing,
  and merging copies and records.
• Ability to search patrons by any field in record
• Ability to view patron record while scrolling
  down a list of names
• In-the-background searching of duplicate patrons
  during patron registration
• Fine-grained control of billings and payments ie
  "cherry picking" and annotations
• User permissions

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Questions?