Evergreen 2.0.0: What it has (and does not have)

Back in early 2010, I responded to the call for proposals for the OLA SuperConference with the following proposal for a session called Evergreen 2.0: What doesn't it have?:

The first release of the Evergreen library system in September 2006 brought circulation, cataloguing, reports, and a modern OPAC. Evergreen 2.0, expected in early 2011, promises deep support for acquisitions, serials, telephony, and more. The range of features will be highlighted and weaknesses exposed.

Talk about great timing! My talk was accepted and scheduled for February 3rd, and of course Evergreen 2.0.0 was released exactly one week before that! So not only was I able to accurately predict when Evergreen 2.0 would be available, I was actually able to deliver a presentation based on reality. I believe I provided a balanced look at Evergreen's current strengths and weaknesses, and as with my sessions in previous years at the OLA SuperConference, all of the seats in the room (25 or so) were filled. There were unfortunately a number of people who poked their heads in the door and, seeing the lack of available seats, moved on to some other presentation. So, interest in Evergreen remains strong amongst the Ontario crowd - and maybe next year I can swing a larger venue! I was also really fortunate to meet several people after the session who expressed interest in contributing to the Evergreen project in various ways; I'm always eager to welcome new members to the community of Evergreen contributors, so here's hoping that works out

If you were one of the people who couldn't get a seat, or you're just interested in catching up with the state of Evergreen at the 2.0.0 release, the presentation itself is available in HTML form (ahh Slidy). I have also made the ASCIIDOC source and screenshots for the presentation available in a Bazaar repository. The presentation is licensed under the Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike license in the hope that others in the Evergreen community may find the material useful for learning and sharing with their own libraries, and may want to fill in some areas where I may have left gaps (feel free to fork the repository and send patches my way!). It would be great if we could collectively pull together a kick-butt presentation for Evergreen advocacy, and I would be delighted if my material served as a starting point for that effort.