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Thanks for providing your input Carl. I think is very good to get the thoughts on this issue form someone with your background. For those who haven't read it, even though it is a couple years old, I'd recommend reading the article that Carl Grant and Rolad Dietz published in Library Journal back in June 2005 on "The Dis-Integrating World of Library Automation." It is available at: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA606392.html Edward Carl Grant said the following on 11/06/2007 2:23 PM: > I'm willing to jump in here as a long time vendor to add to the > customer responsibility list some items that would make developers/ > vendors a lot happier.. > > 1. Select software using a fair and reasonable process for both the > vendor and the organization (one could say a lot more here!) > 2. Make sure you know the needs of all users of the product > (especially the END-users - get them involved! I promise, in most > cases, their needs are NOT understood). > 3. Acknowledge, accept and honor the deadlines that YOU bear in the > development timeline. (The phrase "teflon-customers" comes to mind > here...) > 4. Understand that more functionality means more complexity in the > code. This means: > a. You've got to accept responsibility for helping to test > software. There can be 1000's of pathways through code. We know you > want bug-free code, but the developer/vendor can't > test them all by > themselves or you'd never actually get the code! > b. If you're paying a commercial vendor to support/maintain, > understand that costs should go up to compensate them for supporting > that increasing complexity. > 5. Try to standardize practices, **where possible**, between like > institutions. Use development resources for great ideas, not just > to support local idiosyncrasies... > 6. Understand if you're trying to please everyone, it means lowest > common denominator. If you're trying to lead and develop new ideas, > somebody is going to be upset. It's not the > developer/vendors responsibilities to decide which of these > apply to > your institution or what to do about it when it happens. Decide up > front, are you following, or are you leading? > > Carl > > Carl Grant > President > CARE Affiliates, Inc. > E: [log in to unmask] > M: 540-529-7885 > O: 540-552-2912 > 866-340-9580 x 801 (Toll-Free) > Website: www.care-affiliates.com > Adium: carl_r_grant > Skype: carl_grant > > On Nov 6, 2007, at 1:33 PM, Roy Tennant wrote: > >> On 11/6/07 10:27 AM, "Jonathan Gorman" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >>> How about an equivalent list from the vendor/software developer's >>> perspective? >>> I think that would help balance the picture, but perhaps that's >>> already in >>> your plans ;). >> >> Funny you should ask...I had originally intended to do this, but >> then I was >> wondering if it start to be redundant -- that is, would a number of >> points >> simply be restated from the vendor's viewpoint? But if there are >> unique >> points to make from that perspective it would be worthwhile to >> include them. >> This is an area where I consider myself even more ignorant than >> usual, so if >> those of you who work on that side of the fence would like to chime >> in with >> relevant manifesto points from the perspective of developers and >> vendors, >> I'm all ears. Thanks, >> Roy -- Edward M. Corrado http://www.tcnj.edu/~corrado/ Systems Librarian The College of New Jersey 403E TCNJ Library PO Box 7718 Ewing, NJ 08628-0718 Tel: 609.771.3337 Fax: 609.637.5177 Email: [log in to unmask]