C/W MARS has joined together with two other Massachusetts networks, Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) and North Of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE), to explore migrating to a new platform for their libraries’ system software. The decision was made to go with Evergreen, which is an open-source library system developed in Georgia in 2006. Evergreen has since been adopted by libraries and library systems throughout the world.
Being open source, the new software will allow us to make changes to our own system and provide beneficial control over the development, maintenance, reliability and adaptability of our most essential services and their associated costs. In the long run, it will provide C/W MARS the opportunity to design an information system that will fit the needs of our users, rather than fitting within the limits of privately licensed software.
C/W MARS will be migrating in two stages: all academic library members will be moving to Evergreen at the beginning of July. All of our public library members will be migrating mid-October. During this transition, patrons may see some changes in service at various times over the next five months. They will begin highlighting those changes next week, and continue to post updates to their website and link through their Facebook page.
