[Koha] A map showing Koha "Pay for support" companies - Was subject: Re: Liblime, Koha, BibLibre and FLOSS

[Walls, Ian]

One difficulty I can identify:  some vendors have multiple locations.  

1.  Does each location get a 'pin'?  How is a location defined (do home offices count, or only the company office)?  Do 'pins' have weight?  Wouldn't that essentially give geographically diverse vendors more entries, and might that not be considered unfair to geographically-localized vendors?  

2.   Paul brings up a good point: geographic location is less important in a web-based environment.  If a region doesn't have a 'pin' nearby, that doesn't mean it can't get a contract; nor is a library required to contract with the nearest vendor.


I like the idea of a map, because it is less arbitrarily ordered than a list.  If we can agree on a fair way to represent vendors on such a map, then great.

Perhaps it makes more sense to encode the critical vendor info in a database table or XML document, and then provide multiple interfaces for viewing that data.  That way, prospective customers can view the vendor list in terms that are relevant to them at the time.  I'd be happy to help work on the data structure and interface design for that.

Cheers,


Ian Walls
Systems Integration Librarian
NYU Health Sciences Libraries
550 First Ave., New York, NY 10016
(212) 263-8687


-----Original Message-----
From: koha-bounces at lists.katipo.co.nz [mailto:koha-bounces at lists.katipo.co.nz] On Behalf Of Irma Birchall
Sent: Sunday, October 25, 2009 7:11 PM
To: koha at lists.katipo.co.nz
Subject: Re: [Koha] A map showing Koha "Pay for support" companies - Was subject: Re: Liblime, Koha, BibLibre and FLOSS

Hi all, 

A map view of listed commercial support receives a + 1 from me. 

Some libraries will choose to work alone, others with a local Koha service
provider, others will scan the global skills base. 

When looking for support, most clients look for a specific blend of:
experience, languages spoken, rates, availability, packaged services,
involvement with the Koha Project, the F/OSS Community, prior
recommendations, etc to match their specific situation and needs with the
offerings of a service provider.

Listed vendors usually mention their physical geographical location and if
they work with libraries located elsewhere. Perhaps even adding on their
website a map showing the location of their clients ....

I love maps! Yes, and used to love cataloguing maps of all types and
projections! ...

Best regards, 
Irma 
CALYX information essentials


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