Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Tech For Small Library Automation?
Kozz writes "I've recently been tapped as 'the tech guy' at my church where a group familiar with library automation wants to get digital with the relatively small catalog. Right now all the materials are simply on shelves, and people take an item down, fill out the paper card and drop it into a box, and we hope that people correctly calculate their own due dates and return the materials. We had a card catalog, but it went largely unused. We're looking for a complete solution for both administration and self-checkout; label printing, checkout receipts, and so on. Have any Slashdot readers found yourself in this position, and do you have recommendations based on your experiences?"
The main advantage of this is that anybody can browse the library's collection anytime they want. On Sunday mornings they flash the URL up on the stage.
We're still using the paper checkout process though. The old ladies that run the library are 80+ years old, and are former librarians back when Eisenhower was in office. I figure one tech upgrade at a time is all they can handle.
He who laughs last is at 300 baud.
I suggest you use PMB instead. It's very simple to install (php based) and after an hour of work, you should already be encoding new books.
Avoid Koha like the pleague. It's very powerful, but the install process can take days of work for a unix guru.
The community is very active and helpful. Koha people will ask you to RTFM or hire them.
(Having worked as tech support for my librarian gf who studied the differences between the two, I can tell you I don't invent this).