[Koha] Summary of Open session at KohaCon13 - with a focus on Funding the Future of Koha.

[Fred King]

Lots of lines snipped...

>> *Staccato comment #1: most of the Koha conferences to date
>> (to the limited extent I'm qualified to comment on this) have been
>> very technically focused.
> Not sure I understand what you mean here. The first 3 days, are really
> non tech focused.

Depends on your definition of tech. A lot of discussion (which I
thoroughly enjoyed and learned from) focused on what features people
wanted to improve it. As Koha becomes more widespread, I think KohaCon
could benefit from more sessions on using it:
   *Now that I have this system installed, how can I get the best use out
of it?
   *How do I get the library staff used to Koha? Training tips for
Everylibrarian.
   *How does a non-sysadmin run the system?
I'm sure others will be able to come up with more.

One likely use for Koha is to give small libraries with minuscule budgets
a chance to install an ILS at minimal cost. Maybe someone with a lot of
extra time on their hands* could design a questionnaire that a library
could download, fill out, and send to a vendor. The vendor could then
configure Koha according to the library's needs and send them a server, or
even just a hard drive. Plug it in, instant ILS! All right, it doesn't
have any books in it yet, and cataloging is far from quick-n-easy, but at
least their ILS is up and running. If there's a market for that kind of
barebones service, maybe there could be a few sessions at KohaCon on
supporting small libraries.

Sorry if I'm rambling. I need another cup of tea...

--Fred King
   kohauser at phred.us

*If I worked at a place that would give me a sabbatical, I'd do it.
Unfortunately, I don't. Besides, I have to finish my novel first.**

**I'm a very slow reader.