On Sat, Jan 31, 2009 at 10:09 AM, Westheimer, Brook <Brook.Westheimer@cincinnatilibrary.org> wrote:

Hi-

I wanted to introduce myself and put something out there. I've been lurking for a minute and learning more about Koha. I found Koha when researching open source options for computer reservation and printing systems since I work with this type of software the most. Has anyone ever proposed building reservation software? I would love to contribute this element… It's such a simple piece of software and there's so much that can be improved on. I work more on the user end of technology, but I also know HTML/CSS/PHP and am learning Perl and mySQL.

Kia Ora Brook That sounds awesome, I know its something that almost all public (and probably academic) libraries would love. Chris

I agree that access control software (ACS) is very important to libraries, as most of you well know. Having struggled through two different systems, however, I suggest that actually creating a complete, viable system must not be as easy as it seems at first. There is already some simple software that will create simple logon/logoff timers on computers, but that's really insufficient for most libraries, I think. Some of the features needed might be: 1. a database to track users ((in)valid patrons, daily quantums, access status, etc)

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This implies that there must be either a database server (another component or module to write) or the system must use a distributed database which will run on each client. That by itself is a non-trivial database implementation ...and also implies that you must be able to generate statistical data on the system by using database reports ...and ideally the database hooks should be abstract, so that you can use Firebird, MySql, Firebird, PostgreSql or Firebird

2. There must be some (extensive?) options for configuration, including printing policies, enable/disable times to correspond with library open/close times, number of logins per day, configurable time limits per day, disabling multiple logins, policies for groups of people based on age or other criteria for disabling automatic Internet access (children), etc. So that's an admin module to write too. We are currently using "Userful" (userful.com), which is the better of two that we've used. Actually the basic system seems really solid, but there are/were some configuration issues that I assumed would be in the system that weren't, and those are a small thorn on the rosebush. Userful is, however, a much modified Red Hat Linux OS, and thus is much, much more stable than the other Windows system we had. You can get a free trial download from the site and see how it works (it's not open source, however). Having said the above, I certainly wouldn't want to discourage anyone from taking up the effort to write the software, and I would be willing to contribute suggestions and maybe some code if you use Python or Java--C and perl are too hard for me :). Oh, and I don't think it would need to be a part of Koha. The only thing ACS needs from the ILS is the patron data, and the SIP protocol can query the ILS for the patron data it needs. I'm under the impression that Koha supports SIP, and there's no need to bloat Koha with something that is as complex as ACS and otherwise not at all reliant on the ILS. No reason why all this code and effort shouldn't work with Evergreen and whatever else might be out there, now or later. Oh, and my strong feeling that there is no way--never not ever--access control software should be written to work on top of Windows--the configuration, update, and software application conflicts are a total nightmare-use the Userful model based on Linux, it's the best of the bunch that I've seen so far. Well heck, it's 1700 and the boss is long gone--must be Miller time. Greg Lawson Rolling Hills Consolidated Library 1912 N. Belt Highway St. Joseph, MO 64506 816-232-5479 x2303 -------------------------- Westheimer, Brook wrote:

Hi-

I wanted to introduce myself and put something out there. I’ve been lurking for a minute and learning more about Koha. I found Koha when researching open source options for computer reservation and printing systems since I work with this type of software the most. Has anyone ever proposed building reservation software? I would love to contribute this element… It’s such a simple piece of software and there’s so much that can be improved on. I work more on the user end of technology, but I also know HTML/CSS/PHP and am learning Perl and mySQL.

Best—

Brook Westheimer

LSA TechCenter Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County 513-369-6918 brook.westheimer@cincinnatilibrary.org