19 July, 2002 To the Koha community; Bon Dia, Well, I've heard a little bit of feedback on modules, and it seems that most of you are leaning toward the idea of using more existing Perl modules and needing fewer Koha specific functions. If you still want to toss in your thoughts, please do -- we need to come to closure on this pretty soon though, so don't delay. I'd still like to hear from people who are using Koha. If you've got a success story (or non-success story), please send it to me (<kaitiaki@koha.org>). I'd like to be able to use some of your stories to help publicize Koha. (And if you've had problems, perhaps we can find a way to fix them.) To help get a bit more data about Koha users (how many of you are there, where are you located, etc). We're starting to put together a survey. It will be hosted on the web, and I'll be sure to announce it here. Documentation The librarian specific manual has been written (thanks to Rosalie and her band of merry librarians). Nick has given it a first review, and it is now in the hands of another reviewer (Brig McCoy, who's a new contributor). With this, the manual is basically complete. It's not done though. Look for more information to be included as we go along. If you think we've missed something in our efforts so far, please lend a hand. Translations The French translations are continuing apace. The manual has gone through a first draft and is being reviewed. The French Koha website is nearing completion, and the 'From the Kaitiaki' notes are being translated regularly. A second librarian has contacted me about a Spanish translation. Cristian and Enrique have been meeting together and have volunteered to start translating Koha and providing support to Latin American (especially Chilean) libraries interested in using Koha. Let's wish them well. Community One of the most exciting things happening in the world of Koha is the increasing amount of visibility we're getting. I've recently had email from New Zealand and New Caladonea about articles being written about Koha. I've heard from people interested in seeing Koha translated into Arabic. We've also seen some evidence that Koha is now in use on five continents. We're also starting to get some notice outside the library world, most recently we were mentioned in the Linux Weekly News (in their 'Development Section'). Wow! The future is looking bright. Thanks again to everyone who has been putting time and energy into making Koha into such a great application. Obrigado -pate Pat Eyler Kaitiaki of the Koha Project