Meeting Minutes for 09/03/2024

Demo of new features, bug fixes, and documentation for the upcoming release (Minute ) 

• Release Notes

Discussion Topics

VuFind

• Discussion topics (Minute 00:26)
  • Western migrated to VuFind
  • CMU migrated to Marmot-supported Vufind
• Link to development priorities for the next release by VuFind Community
  • https://vufind.org/wiki/changelog

Pika

• Discussion topics 
  • Introduce the newest Discovery Partner: Clearview Public Library District (Minute 7:10)
    • They are going live with Pika in September.
    • Clearview is a smaller library district north of Denver, in Windsor and Severance.  
    • The implementation is with Polaris, a new ILS integration for the Development team.
    • Polaris is an Innovative product with very robust APIs. 
  • Browse category management and cleanup (Minute 8:26)
    • This is mainly for the MLN1 & MLN2 libraries, so Marmot members.
      • This is also good information for the Discovery Partners.
    • No one from the MLN1 and MLN2 libraries can delete browse categories because the categories can be shared amongst other libraries.
    • Since no one at those libraries could delete browse categories, a glut of obsolete, incorrect, or non-working categories must be deleted.
    • For the MLN1 production site, having numerous browse categories may lead to too many lines in the database table, making the entire table inaccessible to users.   
    • If you create a browsing category that does not work as you want it to, please change the title to include the word "delete" so Ashley will know you want it deleted.  
    • You can also look at older browse categories that you are no longer using and change their titles to include the word “delete.”
    • Discovery Partners will have an OPAC admin who can delete browse categories. It might be a good idea to have the librarians mark browse categories with the word “delete” to help determine which ones need to be deleted.
    • Ashley also offered group training for anyone interested in learning more about browse categories. Ashley will send out a Doodle poll to get something scheduled for the fall.
  • Updated Websites (Minute 40:16)
    • If you have updated our websites and would like your Pika themes updated, please let the Pika team know so they can ensure the two match.

Discussion of development priorities for the next release (Minute 35:37)

• After the Clearview Library District goes live, the Software Development team will shift their focus to:
  • Islandora upgrade project
    • Working with an external consultant
    • The project will take about nine months to complete
    • The kickoff for the project will be in early October
  • Home pickup location via Sierra 6.3 (if LION has early access)
    • This portion of the project will integrate the home pickup functionality into Pika
    • This functionality will benefit a lot of libraries
  • Picking back up on feature requests
    • Going through some existing feature requests
    • Looking for new feature requests
    • A feedback survey to help prioritize the functionality request should be available by the next Discovery Committee meeting.

The next meeting is Tuesday, December 3, 2024