It is only in the experimental stage at this point so needs testing to catch bugs, but it will not be the production interface until Evergreen 4.0.
On Mon, Oct 7, 2024, 5:11 PM Lussier, Kathy <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Terran, > > Thank you for sharing this info, Terran, and for sending the link to the > test server running this code! > > What a big change to the circulation interfaces! Modernizing the > circulation interfaces is probably a project that is long overdue, and I'm > sure there are a lot of good UI improvements on top of the accessibility > improvements. I don't have specific feedback on the interface, but I have a > question and also a concern related to the process for introducing a major > UI change to Evergreen. > > My question is whether this code is being considered for 3.14. From my > review, it clearly falls in the camp of new feature, and, with the beta > release already available, my understanding is that we should no longer be > introducing new features into the release. Am I misunderstanding our > release policy? > > Here is my concern. As a community, I think we need to do a better job of > communicating potential major changes to the software before coding > starts.. By giving the community the opportunity to provide feedback at an > early stage, we can better ensure that these changes are going to meet the > needs of the majority of libraries using our community software. I have > this expectation of my community partners primarily because, when I first > arrived in the Evergreen community and started asking questions about > development, other community members emphatically told me that I needed to > share my plans early on. I listened. When I share NOBLE's plans for a > development project via the general list, I do so precisely because I want > to find out if the development is likely to cause problems for others using > the software. This worked well for the last project NOBLE funded. We > thought the OPAC visible flag should also determine visibility in the staff > catalog. We asked the question. Other Evergreen libraries told us they have > use cases for seeing in the staff catalog an org unit that is not visible > in the public catalog. We updated our requirements to incorporate this > feedback. My hope is that everyone gets what they want when that code is > eventually merged into the software. > > This update to circulation is a significant change to a place in the > software that is often used by part-time staff. Because they are part time, > training can be a challenge because there are specific issues they may only > encounter occasionally, and they need an intuitive way to help them address > it. Rolling out a major interface change will be tricky, and I would like > to know that our circ experts in this community have had enough time to > fully engage with this proposed interface and provide feedback before it > gets merged. I know it will not be forced upon people in the next release > because it's still in experimental mode, but once it gets merged, we've > essentially made the decision on behalf of the community that it is okay > for the circulation interface to make this shift. > > When I first came on board at NOBLE a little over a year ago, we had not > performed an upgrade in over a year because of another major interface > change that lost some features our libraries depend upon. We have since > upgraded with the most critical of these features restored, but I know of > at least one other consortium that has still held off on upgrading. That's > what happens when we make major overhauls to an interface without adequate > community feedback in the development at all stages of the development > process. The new interface may meet the needs of a handful of > libraries/consortia, but other Evergreen libraries then need to make tough > decisions about upgrading despite a critical feature missing or staying on > an older release as it moves out of community support. Greater community > engagement won't fix all of these problems, but it goes a long way in > mitigating them. > > I heard that the cataloging interest group recently had a meeting that > included a demo of the interface changes introduced to buckets. I think a > great next step for this project would be a similar presentation for those > heavily involved in circulation (I don't know if we have an active > circulation interest group.) Such a demo will ensure that more community > partners buy into the change to the interface and maybe even provide > suggestions for making it work better for those who work at their circ > desk, thereby benefiting everyone else in the community who may have a > similar concern. > > Beyond this project, I would love to see a set of best practices for > communicating with the community when embarking on a development project, > particularly when that development makes a significant change to people's > current workflows. I volunteer to work on this and am willing to pull > something together by myself, but I'm also happy to work with others if > anyone else wants to incorporate their feedback into the best practices. > After all, we are a community, and I know incorporating everyone's feedback > into this best practices document will make it better for everyone. > > Just my two cents for what it's worth. > > Kathy > > > -- > Kathy Lussier > she/her > Executive Director > NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange > Danvers, MA > 978-777-8844 x201 > www.noblenet.org > > > > > On Mon, Oct 7, 2024 at 4:07 PM Terran McCanna via Evergreen-circ < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> >> Hello everyone - >> >> During Feedback Fest this week, please take a look at the updated >> (Angularized) circulation interfaces that are loaded onto >> https://butternut.evergreencatalog.com/eg/staff and available through >> the "Circulation (Experimental)" menu. >> >> Note that these elements are still missing from the new interface because >> they are not yet complete: Hold groups, refresh penalties, display alerts >> options. >> >> Also note that the old/current interfaces will still be the default in >> Evergreen 3.14, but the default will most likely change to these new >> interfaces in Evergreen 4.0 >> >> Please add any issues you find with the new interfaces to the omnibus >> ticket here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2065344 >> >> Thank you! >> >> >> [image: logo with link to Georgia Public Library Service website] >> <https://georgialibraries.org/> >> >> Terran McCanna, PINES Program Manager >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> Georgia Public Library Service >> >> 2872 Woodcock Blvd, Suite 250 | Atlanta, GA 30341 >> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/2872+Woodcock+Blvd,+Suite+250+%7C+Atlanta,+GA+30341?entry=gmail&source=g> >> >> (404) 235-7138 | [email protected] >> >> https://help.georgialibraries.org | [email protected] >> >> [image: logo with link to Georgia Public Library Service Facebook page] >> <https://www.facebook.com/georgialibraries>[image: logo with link to >> Georgia Public Library Service Instagram page] >> <https://www.instagram.com/georgialibraries/>[image: logo with link to >> Georgia Public Library Service LinkedIn page] >> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/georgia-public-library-service/>[image: >> logo with link to Georgia Public Library Service Threads page] >> <https://www.threads.net/@georgialibraries> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Evergreen-circ mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://list.evergreen-ils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/evergreen-circ >> >
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