taking the plunge open source software for libraries
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Taking the PlungeOpen Source Software for Libraries
Talk at the Online Information Show, Dec 1st 2011by Gerhard Bissels and Matthew Edmondson
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Tuesday, 6 December 11
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Have you ever used Open Source Software?
Tuesday, 6 December 11
Cost: implementation and ongoing support (no license, competition between support contracts)Support: no risk of software being discontinuedVersatility: code can be changed or added to
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
What is Open Source Software?
• Source code in the public domain
• License allows to• to study• change/improve• distribute
• Written in collaborative manner
Tuesday, 6 December 11
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
The First OSS LMS
Tuesday, 6 December 11
Koha @ Horowhenua public library, New Zealand - the library that first wrote Koha, and gave it to the world as a ‘gift’ (Koha is the Maori word for ‘gift’)
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
The First OSS LMS
Tuesday, 6 December 11
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
The First OSS LMS
Tuesday, 6 December 11
Koha in use at a US public libaries’ consortium
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
The First OSS LMS
Tuesday, 6 December 11
Koha in an academic environment
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
The First OSS LMS
Tuesday, 6 December 11
Koha in a specialist library
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Why Open Source Software?
• Cost
• Support
• Versatility and Adaptability
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Excursion: how GB came to explore OSS as part of a leaner way of running a library (financial difficulties at CAMLIS) -, but also in order to gain flexibility of future development
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Cost• Licensing
• Implementation
• Hosting
• Maintenance
• Support
• Versatility and Adaptability
Tuesday, 6 December 11
No licenseCompetition between vendors/support providersSoftware can be adapted to the changing needs (see later)
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Support
• Choice of support provider(s)
• From 100% in-house to SAAS
• Support contract recommended
Tuesday, 6 December 11
Library is not tied to any one provider, and can even split support and development tasks between several contractors (e.g. development of different functionality)
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Versatility
• Your last system migration - ever!
• Have LMS developed as your needs change
• Cost of additional functionality is often shared with other libraries
Tuesday, 6 December 11
Once an OSS system is in place, change of requirements can be accommodated through adaptation of software - much cheaper than a system migration, and much less stressful!
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
OSS Library System
• Horowhenua (NZ) 1999
• Various Web 2.0 facilities (tagging, RSS feeds)
• Customizable search
• Circulation incl. self-issue
• Full acquisitions system including budgets and pricing information (including supplier and currency conversion, EDI)
• Ability to cope with any number of branches, patrons, patron categories, item categories, items, currencies and other data
• Serials module
• Reading lists for members
• Can be integrated with other software, e.g. authentication
Tuesday, 6 December 11
Koha in use in hundreds of libraries worldwide - mature system
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Beyond the LMS• ERM (Electronic Resource Management), incl. link
resolver
• Discovery
• E-publishing (Open Journals System, Repository)
• VLE
• Authentication
• On-line shop
• ...
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OSS offers alternatives to many library software applications, or even dominates (e.g. there are no proprietary repository packages)!OSS allows integration of applications (e.g. one authentication across all packages; on-line shop links from Koha OPAC)
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Beyond the LMS
• Lower cost of OSS allows libraries
• to afford additional software
• to afford software earlier
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Lower initial investment - libraries an afford to implement packages such as ERM before they’ve got into a pickle
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Library Co-op & Software Coop
• Library software
• Outsourcing of services (e.g. management of on-line resources)
• Consultancy
Tuesday, 6 December 11
© 2001 Library Co-op LLP. Company registered in England and Wales no. OC366378
Demos at library.coop
• library.coop
Tuesday, 6 December 11