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0098-7913/03$–see front matter © 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.PII: S0098-7913(03)00002-9

Open Source Software: An Introduction from a Serialist’s Perspective

Steve Oberg, Column Editor

This article provides a brief introduction to the open source software (OSS) move-ment in libraries from a serialist’s perspective. After defining what the open source soft-ware movement is about, the article highlights three examples of OSS applications inlibraries: jake (Jointly Administered Knowledge Environment); Koha and Open-Biblio, two open source library systems; and MyLibrary@NCState. It concludes bysuggesting some sources for further research and study and encourages serialists toget involved in this worthwhile movement. Serials Review 2003; 29:36–39. © 2003

Elsevier Science Inc. All Rights Reserved.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. This oft-repeated maxim has been proven time and again, espe-cially when it comes to technology that supports serialsmanagement activities; however, perhaps there is a tech-nology tool that, although it sounds too good to be true,really delivers what it promises after all; a tool that is use-ful, free, and can be readily customized to suit local li-brary needs. The tool to which I refer is open source soft-ware (sometimes known simply as OSS). The developmentof open source software in libraries is growing in popu-larity, mirroring a shift in the broader world of softwaredevelopment in which greater scrutiny is being given toalternatives to software that is commercially available,usually expensive, and often difficult to customize. Somewell-known examples of this movement are the Linuxoperating system, which is slowly gaining some small in-roads against the Microsoft Windows hegemony; theApache Web server, the most commonly used Web serverplatform in the world; and Mozilla, the open source Webbrowser on which newer versions (6.0 and up) of theNetscape Web browser are based.

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Although still rela-tively isolated and with plenty of detractors who areeager to downplay its significance, the development oflibrary-related open source software holds considerablepromise for selected areas of library service, includingserials management. What is this movement? What aresome successful examples of open source software appli-cations already in use? Where can additional sources of

information about open source software be found? Thiscolumn provides a brief introduction to OSS by address-ing these questions from a serialist’s perspective.

What is the Open Source Software Movement?

Eric Lease Morgan, chief architect of the open sourcesoftware-based MyLibrary@NCState portal tool andone of the more enthusiastic proponents of open sourcesoftware in libraries, accurately points out that the opensource software movement involves both a philosophyand a process.

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The philosophy part of the movementdeals with how software is intended to be used and dis-tributed. One of the most influential elements within theopen source software movement is the GNU (a recursiveacronym for GNU’s Not Unix) Project and its GNU Gen-eral Public License (GPL). The intent of the GPL is tomaintain “a user’s freedom to run, copy, distribute, study,change and improve the software.”

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Rather than usingthe term “copyright” to describe the protection of thesefreedoms, the GNU Project prefers the interesting alter-native term “copyleft.”

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The process side of the opensource software movement relates to how software iscreated and maintained, usually within the context of aloose-knit group of interested software coders, all ofwhom work directly with the software code. This networkof people shares its expertise by improving and buildingup the software application’s functionality over time inthe interests of an end result that is greater than the sumof its parts. This is one case in which too many cooksdon’t spoil the broth (to borrow from another timewornmaxim)—at least, that’s the way it is supposed to work.The GNU Project sounds very similar in spirit to the co-operative efforts CONSER members have expended over

Oberg

is Electronic Resources Librarian, Zondervan Library,Taylor University, Upland, IN 46989-9141; e-mail: stoberg@tayloru.edu.

Bits and Bytes:

Serials System Insights

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Oberg / Serials Review 29/1 (2003) 36–39

the last few decades to build an authoritative, continuallyupdated source of serial bibliographic information.

When defining this movement, it is important to real-ize that it has been around a long time—since the early1970s.

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Just as many librarians erroneously think thatoutsourcing cataloging work is innovative and cuttingedge when, in truth, it’s been done since the early 1900s,people also falsely herald the open source software move-ment as a pioneering effort of the last ten years or so. Whathas changed recently is the acceleration of broader inter-est in, and the widespread development of, open sourcesoftware projects, including those that are library based.

What Are Some Open Source Software Applications Currently in Use?

Perhaps the best way to comprehend the possibilities thatopen source software development offers to libraries is tofamiliarize oneself with existing projects. Although thereare a number of projects from which to choose

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I high-light the following three projects because they directly re-late to serials and because they illustrate the diverse usesto which open source software development can be put.

jake (Jointly Administered Knowledge Environment),the brainchild of Daniel Chudnov and colleagues at Yale,is based entirely on the open source software develop-ment model. This important tool is well documented anddescribed elsewhere,

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so it is not necessary to go intogreat detail about it here. Designed as an up-to-date ref-erence source for finding information about journals,this resource has quickly become an indispensable toolfor many librarians who struggle to cope with the tasksof finding out which vendor databases index a particularjournal, whether a particular database provides full textor not, or what a particular index’s journal citation form

for a journal title translates into. Other libraries havetaken jake’s software and extended and modified it. Oneof these is Simon Frasier University Library, which hasdeveloped its own version of jake, known as SFUjake.

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Inaddition to building its own version of jake, SimonFrasier has created a complementary open source soft-ware tool called jake2marc. Jake2marc enables the auto-matic creation of MARC bibliographic records from jakedata, and is built upon yet another commonly used, opensource software tool, MARC.pm, a PERL module thatreads, manipulates, and creates MARC records. Chudnovhas gone on to champion the OSS cause by helping to de-velop and maintain the oss4lib discussion list, as well asthe www.oss4lib.org Website.

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When one thinks of software tools for serials manage-ment, a logical connection is made to the traditional in-tegrated library system (ILS), on which most librariesheavily rely for serials acquisitions, check-in, cataloging,and binding workflow. These functions are among themost complex and demanding for ILS software develop-ment, and require a sophisticated understanding on thepart of ILS vendors to successfully develop. Unfortu-nately, an open source ILS that incorporates even themost basic functionality needed for serials check-in, hasnot yet been developed. (I would be most interested tohear from any readers of this column who may knowotherwise and are aware of any new developments in thisarea. Please contact me via e-mail with any informationyou may have at stoberg@tayloru.edu.) Most such sys-tems, such as OpenBiblio

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or Koha,

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provide rudimen-tary cataloging- and acquisitions-related functionality,but this functionality focuses mainly on both systems.For example, demo versions show cataloging or acqui-sition templates that provide input for ISBNs but notfor ISSNs. Figures 1 and 2

provide examples of this for

Figure 1. Cataloging template for OpenBiblio library system

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Oberg / Serials Review 29/1 (2003) 36–39

OpenBiblio (cataloging) and Koha (acquisitions), respec-tively. Many other standard serial-related data elementsapparently are not yet in place. One example is the lackof an equivalent to the 362 (Dates of Publication And/OrSequential Designation) field in cataloging. Althoughthese efforts at building a complete, open source librarysystem are laudable, it is obvious that these systems donot yet provide the necessary serials-related functionalityto be taken seriously by those who are responsible for se-rials management in libraries with a substantial serialscollection. In spite of this limitation, open source librarysystems offer a real opportunity for certain categories oflibraries, such as those in many Third World countriesthat have no money to spend on a traditional ILS yet needa computerized system to manage their collections better.

The MyLibrary@NCState portal software is perhapsone of the clearest demonstrations of the possibilities forlibrary-focused open source software. Built as an “exten-sible implementation of a user-centered, customizableinterface to a library’s collection of information re-

sources,”

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the MyLibrary@NCState software has beenadopted and customized by fourteen different librariesthroughout the world as of January 2002. Among manyother features provided by this system is the ElectronicJournals section, which provides the ability to highlightthose e-journals to which the library has access. The bib-liographic databases section, in turn, provides a space tocreate customizable links to journal indexes. Figure 3 il-lustrates one library’s implementation of the MyLibrary@NCState model.

Where Are Additional Sources of Information about Open Source Software?

If you are interested in learning more about the opensource software movement in libraries, or, even better, areprepared now to give open source software a try your-self, there are several sources available for further ex-ploration and study. Among them is the www.oss4lib.org

Figure 2. Acquisitions entry form for Kona Library system

Figure 3. MyLibrary Page at Wheaton College (IL)

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Oberg / Serials Review 29/1 (2003) 36–39

Website,

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one of the richest resources on this topic avail-able. In addition to providing a catalog of open sourceprojects as previously mentioned, this site also containsthe searchable archives of the oss4lib e-mail discussiongroup, and several good articles that provide differentperspectives on open source software.

Eric Lease Morgan figures prominently in OSS-relatedliterature and discussions. In a recent article on this topic,he not only explained more about OSS in a user-friendlyway, but also addressed many of the major criticisms thathave been leveled at this movement, including its economicviability.

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Marshall Breeding provides a realistic assessmentof the viability of open source software vis-à-vis vendor-supplied ILS development.

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Finally, David Brettauer sup-plies a comprehensive yet readable description of the his-tory and background to the open source movement.

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Conclusion

Many possibilities exist for the beneficial implementa-tion of open source software in libraries. Although notcovered specifically in this column, it is necessary to ac-knowledge that there are also many potential pitfalls toOSS—for example, the need for programming expertisewithin the library and the possibility that time spent en-hancing open source software simply may be too costly.Although by no means exhaustive, it is my hope that thisbrief introduction to open source software has piqued in-terest and perhaps even stimulated greater participationby serialists in this worthwhile movement.

Notes

1. Peter Schlumpf, “Open Source Library Systems,”

Library Comput-ing

18, no. 4 (1999): 323–6.

2. Eric Lease Morgan, “Possibilities for Open Source Software in Librar-ies,”

Information Technology & Libraries

21, no. 1 (March 2002): 12–15.

3. GNU Project—Free Software Foundation (FSF), “The Free Soft-ware Definition”, 1996–, http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html(8 December 2002).

4. Ibid.

5. David Bretthauer, “Open Source Software: A History,”

Informa-tion Technology & Libraries

21, no. 1 (March 2002): 3–10.

6. For a comprehensive list, see the excellent project registry at www.oss4lib.org/projects/.

7. Daniel Chudnov, Cynthia Crooker, and Kimberly Parker, “jake:Overview and Status Report,”

Serials Review

26, no. 4 (2000): 12–17.

8. Simon Fraser University Library, “SFUjake: Search,” http://mercury.lib.sfu.ca/~tholbroo/sfujake-mason/search.html (8 December 2002)

9. Sourceforge.net “Oss4lib.”

10. For more information on OpenBiblio, visit the Website at http://obiblio.sourceforge.net/.

11. For more information on the Koha Open Source Library System,visit the Website at http://www.koha.org/.

12. Scott Watkins, scott_watkins@ncsu.edu, “Re: myLibrary,” 14March 2002. Discussion list message (8 December 2002).

13. Sourceforge.net “Oss4lib.”

14. Morgan, “Possibilities for Open Source Software,” 14.

15. Marshall Breeding, “The Open Source ILS: Still Only a DistantPossibility,”

Information Technology & Libraries

21, no. 1 (March2002): 16–18.

16. Bretthauer, “Open Source Software,” 3–10.