Equinox Software Company History
Equinox was founded by the software team that developed Evergreen, the integrated library system (ILS) that first was used by the Georgia Public Library's statewide PINES consortium. Evergreen is a robust, large scale ILS developed using the open-source model.
The open source model promises more flexibility for libraries and better control over key software used to run basic management functions. These developers wished to continue developing Evergreen while adding capabilities not required for PINES and to foster the community that is forming around the Evergreen project. In late 2006 they started Equinox Software Inc. to continue this work. Equinox develops Evergreen and sells various services to libraries implementing Evergreen: data migration from legacy systems, training, support, and specialized development. In the process, it seeks to provide a strong support system for libraries using the software by promoting the growth of the Evergreen community.
Management Team
As company president, Brad LaJeunesse leads the management and strategic direction of Equinox Software, Inc. He has 10 years' experience in technology, including 5 years in public libraries. Brad holds a BA and MLIS, both from the University of South Carolina. As the original advocate and visionary for the Evergreen project, Brad led the project from first conception in 2004 through Evergreen’s successful launch in over 270 PINES libraries in 2006. In 2005, Brad was honored by Library Journal as a Mover & Shaker.
Jason acts as a liason between customers and the open source Evergreen community, and is responsible for the front-end design of the Evergreen staff client. He comes from a military and customer service background, has a BS in Computer Science, and 10 years of experience as a software developer and technologist. For the last five years he has been working in the library domain performing statistical analysis of library data, bibliographic matching and data mapping for system migrations, and designing and developing supplemental systems for statistical reporting, bibliographic deduping, intra-organization communication and issue tracking. Jason is one of the original core developers for the Evergreen project and was instrumental in advocating for its creation. His main focuses are quality control and assurance, documentation, and human-computer interaction.
Bill specializes in software development and client integration for Evergreen software, and in January, 2008 assumed responsibility as the lead developer for the forthcoming acquisitions services. As one of the core Evergreen engineers, Bill's primary focus for Equinox is server applications development, software customization, support tools, and systems deployment. Bill has worked in software development and support since 2001, and has experience in customer service and support development. Bill has a BS in Computer Science and a BA in English from the University of Georgia.
For nearly a decade, Mike, who leads the technical design of Evergreen, has been building large database-backed applications and enterprise monitoring systems, as well as system administration and security tools. Mike, one of the original Evergreen developers, has brought his knowledge of database architecture, search, and low-level systems to Evergreen since its inception in August, 2004. He is intimately familiar with traditional library data standards and technology such as MARC and Z39.50, as well as emerging standards such as MODS/MADS and SRW/U. Mike is an active member of the library technical community who has participated in the design of both unAPI and the CQL Bibliographic Searching proposal.
Bob works with libraries new to the world of open source and those evaluating Evergreen for their ILS. He also heads our effort with potential partners both in the open source community and those outside it. Bob has experience in a variety of libraries and taught in three library schools. His work and research have concentrated in two areas: with integrating information technology with library functions and with analyzing library data. He has compiled a number of library data series and published results of his research. He has an MSLS from Western Reserve University and a PhD from the University of North Carolina. He is working on a second edition to his textbook, The Internet Under the Hood, where he plans to expand the coverage of open source applications to capture the exciting capabilities that open source promises for the library community.
Karen G. Schneider brings over fifteen years of experience in public, academic, network, and special libraries, plus a knack for the written word, to her role as Community Librarian. Her varied tasks range from writing blog posts, web content, and publicity material, to organizing online "town hall meetings" and meeting librarians in the field to help translate community needs to Evergreen deliverables. She is in high demand as a conference speaker on topics such as open source and Evergreen, has taught in two library schools, and has published two books about library technology, over one hundred technical articles, and five literary essays.