Re: [Koha-devel] Kudos.koha.org up and running!

[Kyle Hall]

> We aren't any closer because the US companies/users had no idea that a
> worldwide hub organisation was wanted. One person's actions-- who was never
> a user to begin with-- helped to spread this incorrect notion that KUDOS was
> intended to be some worldwide group. The user group in the US (KUDOS) is in
> fact making some headway and has held several meetings-- John Brice could
> update the community on where things stand. If an international user group
> were formed now, it is probably not too late to bring KUDOS in.... (maybe?)

John's out of town, but before he left on Friday, he had already
mailed the paperwork for the formation of the organization.

Kyle

http://www.kylehall.info
Information Technology
Crawford County Federated Library System ( http://www.ccfls.org )




On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 9:08 PM, Tina Burger <address@hidden> wrote:
> Hi MJ,
>
> See below....
>
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 9:53 AM, MJ Ray <address@hidden> wrote:
>>
>> Tina Burger <address@hidden> wrote:
>> > Indeed, KUDOS was always intended to be a US-specific group because (I
>> > feel
>> > like a broken record here-- so sorry about that) that's what the Koha
>> > developers and creators said they wanted at the KohaCon in France-- for
>> > each
>> > region or continent to have their own user group and no 'worldwide' one.
>>
>>
>> Was it?  I thought the initial plan was to have a US-based worldwide
>> organisation and a local organisation in France (known as Koha-F at
>> the time).  7 March 2006 seems a good summary, a few months before
>> KohaCon Paris, if anyone wants to read the IRC logs, or there's
>> http://www.nabble.com/Koha-Foundation-td3448780.html generated from
>> the email lists around the same time.
>
> At the Marseille part of the KohaCon, the consensus was to have regional
> user groups. I remember this specifically because I initially wanted a
> worldwide one as well. One argument that was made was that some companies (I
> think BibLibre was one?) noted that it can be easier to go after grant
> money, etc. if the nonprofit asking for it has been formed in the country
> you are going after the money in-- in other words, a US-based international
> nonprofit would not be as effective in going after French grants as a French
> nonprofit. They weren't the only ones who felt that way.
>
> But perhaps I'm misrecollecting... Henri? Paul? Chris?
>
>
> It's now 2009, KohaLA has been formed in France for more than a year
> (and soon its treasurer may tell me how I can pay my membership fee
> from the UK ;-) ), but we don't appear to be much closer to having
> anything in the US, let alone the worldwide hub organisation.
>
> We aren't any closer because the US companies/users had no idea that a
> worldwide hub organisation was wanted. One person's actions-- who was never
> a user to begin with-- helped to spread this incorrect notion that KUDOS was
> intended to be some worldwide group. The user group in the US (KUDOS) is in
> fact making some headway and has held several meetings-- John Brice could
> update the community on where things stand. If an international user group
> were formed now, it is probably not too late to bring KUDOS in.... (maybe?)
>
>
> I remain of the belief that we need to organise internationally to
> make it harder for people to divide and conquer our Koha community.
> We could still maybe have regional chapters, but forming and running
> KohaLA, KUDOS, KSF, TTLLP (yes, we are open to new members, but are
> developer-only and not Koha-specific, so it's not automatic and we
> probably have to exist anyway for other reasons) and other distinct
> groups in each area is wasting our supporters' time and money in
> needless administration.
>
> Theoretically, I'm not opposed to a worldwide 'hub' user group that has
> regional chapters. This would give the community much more control in a
> variety of ways and would provide a 'structure'. Perhaps it is time to
> discuss this anew.
>
> I suggest that KohaLA is given money to become the internationalised
> hub because it exists and can represent all sectors.  However, this is
> a minority view for reasons I don't fully understand.
>
> I don't know the history behind this.
>
> Regards,
> --
> MJ Ray (slef)
> Webmaster for hire, statistician and online shop builder for a small
> worker cooperative http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ http://mjr.towers.org.uk/
> (Notice http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html) tel:+44-844-4437-237
>
>
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>
> --
> Tina N. Burger
>
>
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