{"id":919,"date":"2015-02-10T17:14:35","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T01:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/galencharlton.com\/blog\/?p=919"},"modified":"2015-02-10T17:14:35","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T01:14:35","slug":"ogres-hippogriffs-and-authorized-koha-service-providers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/galencharlton.com\/blog\/2015\/02\/ogres-hippogriffs-and-authorized-koha-service-providers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ogres, hippogriffs, and authorized Koha service providers"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do ogres, hippogriffs, and authorized Koha service providers\u00a0have in common?<\/p>\n

Each\u00a0of them is an imaginary creature.<\/p>\n

\"20070522<\/a>
20070522 Madrid: hippogriff — image by Larry Wentzel on Flickr<\/a> (CC-BY)<\/em><\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Am I saying that Koha service providers are imaginary creatures? Not at all — at the moment, there are 54 paid support providers listed<\/a> on the Koha project’s website.<\/p>\n

But not a one of them is “authorized”.<\/p>\n

I bring this up because a friend of mine in India (full disclosure: who himself offers Koha consulting services) ran across this flyer by Avior Technologies:<\/p>\n

\"Avior<\/p>\n

The bit that I’ve highlighted is puffery at best, misleading at worst. The Koha website’s directory of paid support providers is one thing, and one thing only: a directory. The Koha project does not endorse any vendors listed there\u00a0— and neither\u00a0the project nor the Horowhenua Library Trust in New Zealand (which holds various Koha trademarks) authorizes<\/em> any firm to offer Koha services.<\/p>\n

If you want your firm to get included in the directory, you need only do a few things<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Have a website that contains an offer of services for Koha.<\/li>\n
  2. Ensure that your page that offers services links back to koha-community.org<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. Make a public request to be added to the directory.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    That’s it.<\/p>\n

    Not included on this list of criteria:<\/p>\n