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Thanks, Tom! The BYU app sounds like a great starting point! We do have A, B, and C weeks, as do many libraries, I'm sure, and I would want to add that feature, along with a swap board. I think I may have looked at the VT calendar a couple of weeks ago. I'll take another look. We'd also need to have a print view that could go directly to a handout, and later it would be expanded to allow patrons to sign up for events that needed pre-registration. On 8/14/07, Tom Keays <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > OT: I know Sharon was saying she'd like to develop her own code for these but... > > On 8/14/07, Sharon Foster <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > I've been thinking I'd like to develop a web-based personnel > > scheduling program. Library scheduling has some unique problems, as > > I'm sure you all know. ... > > Brigham Young University Library released open source scheduling > software for their reference desks. It's web-based (php & mysql). > > http://empscheduler.sourceforge.net/ > > The first step is to describe all the service points and coverage > needs -- number of staff needed and hours of operation. The second > step is to have all employees indicate when they are available -- > since itis designed with student scheduling in mind, this allows the > scheduler to have all the student's classes blocked in up front. Each > employee is also designated with a maximum numbers of hours to be > scheduled. > > The drawbacks are that > - it lacks any sort of automated scheduling module -- a human has to > fit all the schedules by hand. > - there's no built-in schedule swap board -- we use a wiki to > accomplish that, but it would be better if built in > - you can't note week-to-week changes in the software -- a schedule is > for the whole semester (or whatever). There's nothing to stop you from > establishing weekly scheduling with the software, but that would seem > to go against the intended goal of avoiding this. > - there is no native way to embed schedules in external web pages -- > but being mysql-based, you could easily write something > - it was last updated in 2004 and there are a few needless browser > dependencies in the scheduling interface > > Drawbacks aside, it beats the heck out of doing it in a speadsheet; > especially if you have employees staffing multiple service points. > > I don't know what the licence is exactly, but it would make a good > starting point for further development. > > > An customizable events > > calendar suitable for insertion into a library website is another task > > that interests me. > > For calendars, a lot of universities use VT Calendar from Virginia > Tech. MPOW piggybacks on the campus calendar so we don't have to > maintain it in two places. It can be pretty easily skinned to fit your > website's design schema. Also, this month's calendar can be inserted > into a page and events in specific categories can be filtered in or > out. > > http://vtcalendar.sourceforge.net/ > > If that one doesn't suit you, there are many other OS calendars out there. > > Tom >