7 Open Source Library Software to Consider…07.22.09

Here is an excerpt from a very useful post by Brett Bonfield on In the Library With a Lead Pipe titled W-E-B-S-I-T-E, Find Out What It Means To Me:

“It’s interesting how many people don’t really understand the concept of open source. People often describe freeware as open source, or they’ll describe free web-based applications as open source, or applications with APIs that allow for mashups. There are articles all the time, on some of the most popular websites, that recommend free software but don’t distinguish programs the authors gives away for free from software that is actually open source.

For a program to be open source, it has to meet two basic qualifications

1. The author has to provide full access to its source code
2. The software has to be accompanied by a license that protects the contributions and rights of the community…

In my opinion, there are seven open source software projects worth considering

• Blacklight (demo)
• Evergreen (demo)
• Kochief (demo)
• Koha (demo)
• Scriblio (demo)
• SOPAC (demo)
• VuFind (demo)

There’s some apples-and-oranges going on here, in that some of these packages are just components of a website and require other software in order to do everything a library website needs to do (such as inventory management). Other packages cover the entire process…”

OCLC’s Cloud Computing for Libraries – Ramifications…06.10.09

OCLC seems to jump from one pan on the fire to the next this year. Let me point out below the Library 2.0 gang post Library System Suppliers View of OCLC Web-Scale about their most recent interesting podcast about another recent and potentially controversial announcement. It is worth a listen when you find the time.

“In last month’s show there was some speculation as to what reaction there would be from the organisations that supply ‘traditional’ library systems to the OCLC announcement of their web-scale, cloud computing, library system initiative.

In an attempt to answer that speculation I took the unusual step of bringing together a specific set of Library 2.0 Gang members from that community as against our usual open house of whoever is available.  The result was an interesting conversation between Ex Libris’ Carl Grant, Nicole Engard from LibLime, Talis’ Rob Styles and newcomer from Axiell, Boris Zetterlund…”

Library 2.0 Gang 06/09: Library System Suppliers view of OCLC Web-scale [00:50:35m]: Download

FREE Webcast “Consider the Source: The Integrated Library System Marketplace”…06.02.09

Consider the Source: The Integrated Library System Marketplace

Sponsored by Polaris Library Systems. Starts June 16, 2009, Tuesday, 2:00-3:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

When it comes to selecting an Integrated Library System (ILS), there are many factors to be considered with respect to both commercial and open source solutions. Customer support, third party integration, consortia concerns, underlying platform, and institutional stability are key parts of the equation. More than ever, libraries must consider the source of the software applications that keep all library resources accessible, manageable, and affordable, with the ILS at the center of its operations.

PANELISTS:

Ross McLachlan, Deputy Director, Technical Services, Phoenix Public Library (AZ) – McLachlan will discuss the library’s recent integrated library system conversion, and how Phoenix Public Library reached their selection decision. Phoenix Public Library is using application programming interfaces (API) to foster a Web 2.0 friendly environment for both its staff and patrons. In this environment, PPL is able to take advantage of open source applications and discovery level search tools such as Endeca which can enhance the library’s service and content management.

Jim Duncan, Director, Networking and Resource Sharing, Colorado State Library – Duncan will discuss the process being used by the state of Colorado in its investigation of the feasibility of a state-wide integrated library system. Categories of concern include support issues and funding sources. Concerns of existing consortia must also be considered. Proprietary/licensed and open source solutions are being reviewed, as is the success of several hybrid systems currently in operation.

Scott Reinhart, Assistant Director, Carroll County Public Library (MD) – Carroll County Public Library is currently in the process of reviewing both proprietary and open source integrated library system solutions. Reinhart will report on the findings, present an overview of ILS options for libraries today, and how to identify the right technology partners for your library.

Moderator: Josh Hadro, Technology Editor, Library Journal

The inaugural showing of Considering the Source: Integrating Library Systems, sponsored by Polaris Library Systems, is on Tuesday, June 16, 2:00-3:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. If you can’t join us on June 16, register now and we’ll send you an email when the archive is ready to be viewed, at your convenience.

“Implementing a Next Gen OPAC”…05.17.09

Implementing a Next Gen OPAC   with Jeff Wisniewski

Technology, Social Networking Audio Conference   Tuesday, May 19, 2009 1:00 pm ET One Hour   Member: $54.00 Non-Member: $74.00   Interested in wading into the next generation OPAC waters? From selection to implementation to federated search integration to evaluation, learn valuable information on the state of the market and get tips on everything from integrating cool free content to promoting your new system to ways to insure your implementation runs smoothly. Find out what you should know, what your vendors aren’t telling you, and get insights into all that is Next Gen OPAC. The Benefits Learn about the next generation OPAC marketplace Get insight into how to select, implement, and promote a new system easily and effectively Take away valuable tips on everything from how to compare products to enhancing your new catalog with free content Who Should Participate Any staff interested in this exploding area of library technology will benefit from this session. If your library is thinking about investigating this landscape or is in the process of selecting or implementing one of these tools then this program will be of particular use. Key Topics You Will Explore What current products can, and can’t, do How to implement a next gen OPAC with a minimum of time and effort How to promote and encourage buy-in from both staff and users Ways to enhance your catalog data and to make your content mixable and movable Jeff Wisniewski Jeff Wisniewski received his MLS from the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences. He is the Web Services Librarian for the University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh, where he maintains the Library System’s public Web site, staff intranet, coordinates technical support for Pitt’s University-wide ETD program, and project manages new technology initiatives. Developed for the Education Institute by Darlene Fichter’s Northern Lights Internet Solutions, Inc., in Saskatchewan

FREE Online Discussion April 21, 22- Open Source Integrated Library Systems…04.15.09

Thanks to Rick Mason on Libology:

“For those interested in Open Source Integrated Library Systems such as Koha, Evergreen, Open Library Environment Project (OLE), OpenBiblio, etc., the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) will be holding an e-forum on April 21st and 22nd. From the announcement:

Please join us for a free ALCTS e-forum discussion!   Participation is open to all.

April 21-22, 2009:  Open Source ILS and Technical Services:   High Risk or High Reward?

Moderated by Clint Chamberlain, University of Texas Libraries, and Rob Van Rennes, University of Iowa Libraries, members of the ALCTS CRS Acquisitions Committee.

Over the past few years, many librarians have expressed dissatisfaction with our current ILS, citing inflexible systems, high costs, and lackluster vendor service.  Some libraries have consequently pursued Open Source ILS such as OLE, Koha, and Evergreen.  Join this e-forum to share your experiences with and your questions about Open Source ILS and your thoughts on the future of the traditional, proprietary ILS.   We are particularly interested in hearing about experiences with the technical services aspects of Open Source ILS:  acquisitions, management of continuing resources, and cataloging.

Discussion will start Tuesday, April 21, 9AM EST and will conclude Wednesday, April 22, 5PM EST.

You can sign up at http://lists.ala.org/sympa/, go to the ALCTS section, then select alcts-eforum@ala.org…”

Z39.50 Client eZcat from Book Systems, Inc…04.14.09

from Book Systems, Inc. is the Z39.50 software I use in conjunction with our ILS software Atriuum which has adequately met my needs to date.

Online you can see a video tour of eZcat titled What is eZcat? (RT: 16:42).

“eZcat is a dynamic software package that makes cataloging and editing MARC records virtually effortless. It lets you download MARC records across the Internet from the Library of Congress, university libraries, and large public libraries that have Z39.50 servers. This video will assist you in configuring eZcat and loading your records into Atriuum.”

Library Catalog OPAC “Juice Project”…04.09.09

The Juice Project

Here is an excerpt of a post titled Juice Up Your OPAC bt Richard Wallis on the Panlibus blog today about adding “juice” to your library catalog’s OPAC which I find very interesting and potentially helpful:

“…The Juice Project is an open source initiative, which I launched at the recent Code4lib conference, with the specific objectives of making it easy to create extensions for web interfaces such as OPACs and then make it even easier to share those extensions in an open community of those who want to enhance their interfaces but do not have the skill or experience to do so.

Open and easy are two key facets of the approach used for this project.  JavaScript code gurus may find the way Juice is implemented a little over complex, but it is that approach which should make it simple for the non-gurus to adopt and use.

The design of the extension framework, which is Juice, separates the extension itself from the code that interfaces to a particular web application.  The result being that an extension created to be used on say a VuFind OPAC can be re used to extend a Talis, or a Horizon, or any other OPAC or indeed any other suitable interface.

Obviously if you are going to make changes to your interface, you need some ability to access and change the mark-up that creates the web pages.  Many libraries have staff that are capable and confident enough to make a simple change to an interface – adding a link to another site in the footer, changing a bit of text on the home page etc.  Juice is targeted at exactly those staff.  On the Juice Project site there are simple ‘How-to’ documents, that step you through how to add the couple of lines of code to introduce Juice in to your interface, and then how to copy & paste examples into your version of Juice to add shared extensions…

So, calling all those that want to add value to library and other web interfaces, take a look at and join the Juice Project.   It is early days and we haven’t as yet got many interface types identified and supportable in Juice, but the more that join in and share what they know the sooner we will be able to share the innovation between all libraries.”

Read the Latest Edition of The International Survey of Library Automation…04.05.09

(Image:  ihome.ust.hk/…/diploma/libauto/libauto.html)

Here is Marshall Breeding‘s 2009 summary of his latests “International Survey of Library Automation ”…regarding the perceptions of libraries toward their automation systems, the organizations that provide support, and the quality of support they receive. It also aims to gauge interest in open source library automation systems”…

 

Most Positive Perceptions

Polaris emerged this year as the ILS product with the highest positive ratings in the categories of product and company satisfaction. Libraries using AGent VERSO from Auto-Graphics gave the highest rankings for customer support and loyalty to the company for future business. Library.Solution from The Library Corporation received highly positive marks from its customer libraries in all categories. Libraries using Polaris, AGent VERSO, and Library.Solution showed the least interest in open source ILS products. These three companies received extremely high satisfaction ratings from their libraries, with average scores separated by very thin margins.

Negative Perceptions

The survey results reveal high levels of dissatisfaction by libraries running legacy ILS products. Athena and Winnebago Spectrum, both systems acquired by Follett Software Company that will not receive ongoing development, received the lowest ILS satisfaction scores and indicated the least likelihood that they would purchase an ILS in the future from this company. Libraries using Dynix gave low marks regarding their satisfaction with the product (5.14) and for SirsiDynix as a company (4.81), but rated support more moderately (5.76). Horizon libraries gave SirsiDynix very low marks as a company (4.32) but registered moderate satisfaction for the product itself (5.68).

The number of negative comments provided on the survey forms overwhelmingly exceeded positive ones.

ILS Satisfaction

Polaris ranked as the product that received the highest score in response to the question probing satisfaction with the library’s Integrated Library System with a median rating of 7.73. Fifty-one libraries using Polaris responded to this question. Last year a total of 59 responders rated Polaris 7.78, reflecting remarkable consistency across the two years. AGent VERSO earned second highest marks in this category (7.26), with Library.Solution from The Library Corporation only a fraction lower (7.20). Millennium from Innovative Interfaces, Inc. also attracted highly positive ratings (7.09).

Company Satisfaction

Polaris Library Systems also won the highest score for company satisfaction (7.76) with Auto-Graphics (7.68) and The Library Corporation (7.33) only slightly less favored. Libraries using Millennium gave Innovative Interfaces solidly positive ratings (6.44), though a notch below the top three companies. Libraries using legacy products not surprisingly noted their vendors as least satisfactory, including those using Athena (3.92), Horizon (4.32), Winnebago Spectrum (4.52), and Dynix (4.81). The middle tier of company satisfaction included those using Koha supported by LibLime (5.84), Virtua from VTLS (5.79), Voyager (5.59) and ALEPH 500 (5.20) from Ex Libris, and Unicorn from SirsiDynix (5.05).

Satisfaction with Customer Support

Libraries using AGent VERSO rated Auto-Graphics as the company providing the most satisfactory support (7.81). Polaris (7.41) and The Library Corporation (7.07) also earned highly positive ratings for customer support, just below that of Auto-Graphics. Innovative received strong marks in this category (6.46), though again just a notch below the top tier. Users of Athena (3.63) and Winnebago Spectrum (4.57) gave Follett low ratings for support.

Company Loyalty

In response to the question probing the likelihood that the library would purchase future ILS products from their current vendor, Auto-Graphics received the highest marks for customer loyalty (7.64) only slightly edging above The Library Corporation (7.50) and Polaris Library Systems (7.33). Libraries using Millennium gave mixed results, but overall indicated strong loyalty to Innovative Interfaces, Inc. (6.54). Libraries using Athena (4.32), Winnebago Spectrum (3.95), and Horizon (4.37) seem on average not inclined to purchase their next system from their incumbent vendors.

Open Source Perceptions

It’s not surprising that the libraries already using an open source ILS registered the strongest interest in future consideration of an open source ILS, with Koha as supported by LibLime toping the list (8.05). Other than these open source true believers, libraries running proprietary systems submitted responses reflecting much lower interest, with even those most dissatisfied with their current product such as Winnebago Spectrum (4.95) indicated relatively weak interest. We also observe that libraries most satisfied with their current situation, including Polaris (2.29), AGent VERSO (2.63), Library.Solution (3.00) showed little interest in open source alternatives…”

Coming April 1, 2009 Library Automation Systems Marketplace Report…03.23.09

Marshall Breeding posted the following on Library Technology Guides about the release of his latest automation report in Gathering library automation Data which is excerpted here:

“I’ve recently finished my eighth version of the ‘Automation Systems Marketplace‘ which will appear in the April 1 issue of Library Journal. This article provides a great opportunity for me to get detailed data from the companies involved in the library automation industry regarding their activities over the last year. Each year companies respond to a survey where they are asked to respond to specific questions regarding the numbers of systems sold, the personnel employed, and the like. In general, the companies involved cooperate very nicely in responding with information that seems accurate and complete.

In addition to the self-reported information provided by the companies involved in the industry, I aim to gather data from other perspectives. The “Perceptions 2008: An international Survey of Library Automation” aims to gather information from the libraries’ perspective. While the data from this survey isn’t comprehensive, it has been helpful in identifying or confirming broad trends…”

Image: “…the history of mergers and acquisitions in the library automation industry”

Marshall Breeding

Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Copyright 2007

FREE Webinar – Libraries and Open Source Software…03.11.09

 

From Karen at the Evergreen blog:

Understanding Open Source, Tues, March 17, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. ET

Join us for a Webinar on March 17 about open source software! Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/813256302

This webinar will answer the most commonly-asked questions about open source software, such as…

* What does “free” mean?
* Why are libraries using open source software?
* What kind of open source software is available for libraries?
* Do we have to maintain it ourselves? (Quick spoiler: no.)
* What are the characteristics of good open source software?
* What are some easy ways to learn more about open source software?

Bring your own questions, as well!

This webinar offers flexible access options. You can:

1. Use a computer headset with a microphone to both listen and speak

2. Phone in to a toll-based conference line, or

3. Listen in on computer speakers and text your thoughts in a chat window.

The session will open up 15 minutes early for people who want to practice their webinar skills or test their equipment.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

(Note: we have had trouble finding affordable webinar software that supported Linux workstations — let alone a satisfactory product that was itself open source. If you have suggestions, we’re all ears.)

PC-based attendees:

Required: Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh-based attendees:

Required: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or newer

FREE Webinar Reminder-Next Generation Library Catalogs…03.02.09

(Image: © 2008 SLS Library Technology Group)

Here is a reminder about an interesting FREE webinar over at OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries) taken from their schedule page:

Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:00 Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, and 7:00 p.m. GMT:

ALA Connections Salon: The Next Generation Library Catalogs, with Special Guest Marshall Breeding   Marshall Breeding has been studying, tracking, and writing about the online library catalog industry for years. Join us for an informal conversation about the promise, trends, and challenges of next generation library catalogs. 

Host: American Library Association 

Location: ALA OPAL 100 Room

FREE Webinar on OPAL – “The Next Generation Library Catalogs, with Special Guest Marshall Breeding”…02.20.09

This from an email notice today from OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries):

Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:00 Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, and 7:00 p.m. GMT:

ALA Connections Salon: The Next Generation Library Catalogs, with Special Guest Marshall Breeding 

Marshall Breeding has been studying, tracking, and writing about the online library catalog industry for years. Join us for an informal conversation about the promise, trends, and challenges of next generation library catalogs. 

Host: American Library Association 

Location: ALA OPAL 100 Room

“Extending the OPAC”…02.10.09

Richard Wallis’ post on the Panlibus blog called Extending the OPAC  here is a subject of interest to me because of my limited technological expertise and the limitations of my organization’s current ILS OPAC. I will look forward to his future posts.

“Every library’s needs are different when it comes to what they want to display to users in their OPAC – beyond the basic bibliographic information that is.  Although I must admit that I’ve been a few mind numbing meetings over the years about the ‘most appropriate’ way to display a record on screen.

Scattered around the web you will find many examples of how OPACs have been extended to enable the user link in to other services such as Amazon, or AbeBoooks, or LibraryThing, or Google Scholar, or Yahoo images, or Google Book Search, or del.icio.us, or … [insert you favourite 3rd party service here].  For most developers in the library code community, adding these extensions to their OPAC is a comparatively simple exercise. 

I believe that in the wider world, most of the folks responsible for an individual library’s OPAC would not consider themselves as coders, and would at most only be comfortable copying and pasting small bits of html in to their interface.  So how do they get these features in to their systems.  It is unlikely that you would get much help from the system vendors, as it would be difficult for them to build a product roadmap around the ever changing multiplicity of extensions and combinations of thereof.  The coding community are good at sharing code with other coders, but not necessarily in a form that is either consistent between extensions or OPACs.

I’m working on a way that will hopefully make it easy for innovators to share what they are doing not only with others in their community, but most importantly with those less code-aware OPAC managers, who may even be using different systems. 

The screen shot above shows Google Book Search preview service embedded in a Talis Prism OPAC.  What is not obvious is the simple way that it was added.  I will be going more in to depth on this open source sharing approach to OPAC extension at Code4Lib 2009 at the end of the month...”

“Perceptions 2008: An International Survey of Library Automation” Released…01.20.09

Because I had to select and implement our ILS software and may have to do so again in the future,  Marshall Breeding‘s the annual survey of ILS software from Library Technology Guides [http://www.librarytechnology.org] is of great interest to me. “Perceptions 2008: An International Survey of Library Automation” [http://www.librarytechnology.org/perceptions2008.pl] is excerpted here but I would suggest reading the article in its entirety.

“…This year, I received 1,450 responses from libraries in 51 different countries. The countries most strongly represented include the United States (1,150 responses), United Kingdom (49), Canada (99), Australia (44). As with the general demographics of the lib-web-cats database, the respondents of the library primarily come from libraries in English-speaking countries. Survey results were gathered between October 31, 2008 and January 16, 2009.

The survey attracted more responses from libraries using Millennium (293), Unicorn/Symphony (233), and Horizon (206). There were fewer than 100 responses for each of the other ILS products represented in the survey. Systems with less than 20 responses did not appear in the main statistical tables. These responses can be seen through the individual ILS Product Reports available…

The number of negative comments provided on the survey forms overwhelmingly exceeded positive ones…

Polaris ranked as the product that received the highest score in response to the question probing satisfaction with the library’s Integrated Library System with a median rating of 7.73. Fifty-one libraries using Polaris responded to this question. Last year a total of 59 responders rated Polaris 7.78, reflecting remarkable consistency across the two years. AGent VERSO earned second highest marks in this category (7.26), with Library.Solution from The Library Corporation only a fraction lower (7.20). Millennium from Innovative Interfaces, Inc. also attracted highly positive ratings (7.09)…

One of the major movements in the library automation industry in the last few years involves the entrance of open source ILS products as a mainstream option. That libraries using these products now appear in this survey reflects that this approach has made inroads among the long-established proprietary systems. The three open source ILS products represented in the survey results include OPALS, Evergreen, and Koha, though only Koha received sufficient responses for inclusion in the primary tables…”

Maintained by Marshall Breeding

Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Copyright 2007

“How Easy is Your Catalog to Search?”…12.19.08

Here is an excerpt of a helpful post about considering the user’s catalog search from the Remixing Libraries blog entitled “How easy is your catalogue to search?” [http://librarymix.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-easy-is-your-catalogue-to-search.html]:

“…Recently, however, there have been more attempts to provide a coherent – and contextual – approach to the OPAC. Let’s face facts: No one reads help pages or FAQs. It’s true – check your own web logs. So how do you help your users to get the most out of their search (and most importantly, not just walk away)? Here’s some ideas.

Little and Often 

Ok - so the big chunks of help don’t work but there’s nothing wrong with a nudge in the right direction. Check out any popular website and you’ll see succinct clues to how and why results appear as they do. The best trick I’ve found is to try and write a short sentence to explain a function and then cut it down to half the time. 

Reuse! Reuse! Reuse!

Take a look at the University of Huddersfield Catalogue (the work of Dave Pattern) – data’s been pulled from search and usage logs to create neat little features like the Tag Cloud on the front page and the Amazon-style ‘other people also searched with’ feature on the results page.

Don’t Fight Google

It’s done. People expect your search box to work like Google. In fact, not just like Google butbetter than Google. We can moan about the ‘dumbing down’ of researchers but as soon as people see that empty white box they expect to stick a string of (misspelled) keywords into it and get a result they like within the first page of hits. The sooner we learn to work within these parameters, and not fight them, the sooner we can build better mechanisms for search.And don’t even think about making the default search anything except keyword.

Know Your Data (& Fix Your Indexing)

In any kind of searching consistency is everything so we all need a firm grip on our data. A beautifully constructed catalogue record is one thing but if your search parameters and indexing are so complicated that complex combinations are required to achieve useful search results perhaps it’s time to reflect on the value of that data. A few coherent indexes with consistent data will always beat a hundred ‘correct’ ones.

Accept the Complexity 

Sometimes, however the gap between user expectations and the data is just too vast. Say, for example, that you’re predominantly a science library but you’ve also got a small audio collection – how do you provide a straightforward service to your 90% of science users but also support the 10% of audiophiles? Sometimes it comes down to accepting that you’re going to hit issues and making innovative use of zero results pages, 404s, ‘Email a Librarian’ functions and hey – maybe even a live ‘search help’ facility…”

World Library Automation Systems and Services Market Report Availaible…12.04.08

LIS Wire reported today [http://liswire.com/node/295] on the release of the April 2008 “World Library Automation Systems and Services Market” 225-page report which appears to be a valuable resource for those investigating ILS software options and is available for ONLY $3,950.

LIS Wire reported: “The report analyzes the North American market for Library Automation Systems and Services in US$ Million. The major product segments analyzed are Integrated Library Systems, Non-Integrated Library Systems, System Maintenance Services, Others (includes Hardware and Associated Library Services). Annual forecasts are provided for for the period of 2000 through 2015. The report profiles 51 companies including many key and niche players such as Auto-Graphics, Inc., Book Systems, Inc., Brodart Co Automation Div, CASPR Library Systems, Inc., COMPanion Corporation, CyberTools, Inc., Eloquent Systems, Inc., Ex Libris Group, Electronic Online Systems (EOS) International, Inc., Follett Software Company, Infor Library and Information Solutions, Inmagic, Inc.., Innovative Interfaces, Inc., Insignia Software, ISACSOFT, Inc., Keystone Systems, Inc., LibLime, Mandarin Library Automation, Inc., New Generation Technologies, Inc., Open Text Corporation, Open Text, Inc., Polaris Library Systems, SirsiDynix, Softlink America, Inc., Surpass Software, SydneyPLUS International Library Systems Corporation, The Library Corporation, and Visionary Technology In Library Solutions Inc.”

I’m sure the report was primarily generated for and will be useful to those in the ILS competitive marketplace and they can more likely afford to acquire it.  

However, for those to whom the data could help in determining which ILS software packages and companies to investigate for possible use, the cost is likely prohibitive, especially to smaller libraries or systems.  From my experience in 2006 trying to ascertain which ILS packages were available, sufficient for my application, technically compatible to my IT Dept., and would meet my organization’s budgetary constraints, this kind of information would have been invaluable. Knowing the history and longevity of various vendors, their place and role in the marketplace, and their plans for the future are also contributing factors in the ILS software selection process. Of course, I would have never been able to convince the “powers that be” in my institution to pop for a $3950 report.  Our eventual ILS software purchase and installation was only a few thousand dollars more.

There are other sources, however, so those who cannot afford such reports must be resourceful—LIKE A LIBRARIAN!

Open Source ILS in Library Technology Reports lastest issue…12.04.08

A Bibliographic WIlderness blog post “Library Technology Reports on Open Source ILS” [http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/library-technology-reports/] says,

“The newest issue of Library Technology Reports is now available in ProQuest.

Library Technology Reports; Chicago, Nov/Dec 2008; Vol.44, Iss.8

(EBSCO carries fulltext for LTR too, but their latest issue online is 14:7 as of this time.)

This issue is about Open Source Library Automation (ILSs), and is written in it’s entirety by Marshall Breeding.

As usual, Breeding does an excellent job. He delineates the open source ILS landscape, writing clearly, concisely, and accurately.  Probably not too much new information in there for the techies among us who already know this stuff (although I learned about two existing open source ILS options I hadn’t known about, one used in K-12, and the other internationally, both developed by an existing vendor, rather than customer-developed like Koha and Evergreen).

But it’s perfect for sending to administrators and non-technical librarians to understand what all this open source stuff is all about. If they don’t trust and/or understand us when we explain it, maybe they’ll trust the respected name of Breeding, and understand his very clear prose.”

Open-Source Risk Management…11.18.08

On occasion, I will relate information about Evergreen, Koha, and other “open source” products that are of interest to me.  The IT Dept. here it seems would never consider using open source tool.  I collect information on these products, however, with the idea that 1) I need to stay accurately informed and 2) maybe one day I might need to make a valid and convincing argument for such items.  Anyway, here is an an excerpt from a useful post [http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/itbloggingsection/2008/11/risk-management.html] on the blogging section of the SLA IT Division about managing risk when considering using open source products:

“Jonathan Rochkind has written an awesome article for Library Journal about risk management when it comes to open source software. Jonathan walks librarians through all of the levels of risk you might be taking choosing open source software – most of which are the same as the risks you take with any software (for home, office or library).  He also defines the different levels of open source software you’ll find out in the wild:

1. Homegrown products are used and developed by only one or very few libraries. They are usually written to meet very local requirements without much effort to generalize and are supported by the same local staff who wrote them. A risk of homegrown software is managing the transition when that original staff leaves.
2. Community support products have a thriving network of users and developers across a variety of institutions. A community of users and developers is, of course, not contractually bound to provide help, but many open source products have strong groups willing to spend time helping you for the greater good of the project.
3. Vendor support products are backed by paid commercial contracts available from companies in the business of supporting open source products. Even though these vendors don’t own the software, they provide technical help for the software via contract, very much like a support contract for proprietary software. In the general market, a well-established and successful example is Red Hat Enterprise Linux, a variant of the open source Linux OS, for which the Red Hat company offers support contracts.

He then breaks down the different risks associated with the different types of open source software, reminding librarians…Make sure you read the entire article and share it with the skeptics in your organization – education is the only way to fight ignorance and skepticism.”

Libraries Using Open-Source Evergreen ILS Software Continues to Grow…11.17.08

Evergreen seems to be expanding quickly.  The Evergreen website describes the software as follows:

“Evergreen is an enterprise-class library automation system that helps library patrons find library materials, and helps libraries manage, catalog, and circulate those materials, no matter how large or complex the libraries. As a community, our development requirements are that Evergreen must be:

• Stable, even under extreme load.
• Robust, and capable of handling a high volume of transactions and simultaneous users.
• Flexible, to accomodate the varied needs of libraries.
• Secure, to protect our patrons’ privacy and data.
• User-friendly, to facilitate patron and staff use of the system. 

Evergreen is open source software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL.

Want to learn more? Visit the Frequently Asked Questions or search the site. Or chat with us live.”

Of course, Evergreen is not the only “open-source” ILS sytem available (see also Koha http://www.koha.org/) but here is a list of libraries that have chosen to use Evergreen:

Georgia Public Library Service

PINES

Equinox Software

University of Windsor

SITKA (BC Pines)

Laurentian University

McMaster University

Kent County Public Library

Grand Rapids Public Library

Michigan Library Consortium

Indiana Open Source ILS Initiative

Robertson Library, University of Prince Edward Island

Marshall Public Library

© 2008 GPLS | Partially funded by the Library Services & Technology Act through the Institute of Museum and Library Services

SOPAC Integration through YourLibrarySite…11.04.08

Here is a press release from YourLibrarySite about their latest offering–of interest to those ILS users who want SOPAC functionality:

YourLibrarySite(TM) Now Offers SOPAC Integration.

The library website development team at YourLibrarySite.com (a website development initiative offered by CraftySpace, LLC) is currently integrating Social OPAC functionality with the Palos Verdes Library District’s website (PVLD.org). YourLibrarySite is using John Blyberg’s SOPAC2 Drupal module to integrate PVLD’s ILS with their website. This integration empowers library patrons to review, tag and rate biblio records without leaving PVLD’s website, and to view the content created by other patrons.

An innovative further step allows libraries to optionally share their patron input with other libraries, thereby creating a richer environment for all involved. This sharing also allows newly created SOPAC communities to “prime the pump” by displaying patron-created content from already established SOPAC communities.

About YourLibrarySite and SOPAC2:

Last year at the Internet Librarian 2007 conference, Joseph Muennich (one of the partners from YourLibrarySite) met with John and began discussing how best to enable social integration of an ILS within a library’s website. (If you aren’t already familiar with John, you may want to check out his blog at Blyberg.net). This year, John invited CraftySpace, and a small group of other library-focused developers, to a technology summit sponsored by the Darien Public Library (http://www.darienlibrary.org/). Participants learned about SOPAC2, and what it adds to the open source library community. CraftySpace is using this information upgrade the PVLD.org to a Drupal 6 site with SOPAC2 integration.

YourLibrarySite will be offering SOPAC2 trainings on the West Coast in the near future. For information, contact paul@yourlibrarysite.com or visit http://yourlibrarysite.com .

For a detailed explanation of SOPAC, see http://www.blyberg.net/2008/08/16/sopac-20-what-to-expect/  and http://www.thesocialopac.net/

Library Automation Perceptions Survey…11.03.08

Nicole Engard’s post [http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/itbloggingsection/2008/11/library-automat.html]  on surveying the latest in library automation is worth the participation:

“It’s that time of year again.  Marshall Breeding has posted information on how to participate in his Perceptions 2008 International Library Automation Survey:

We live in interesting times when it comes to automation strategies in libraries.  Competition intensifies between traditional companies licensing their products and a new wave of open source challengers.  I think that it is important to pursue research that gauges the effectiveness of the various approaches to help other libraries make decisions regarding their automation strategy.

Last year, I conducted the inaugural version of this survey, which resulted in the report titled “Perceptions 2007: an international survey of Library Automation.”  The 2007 survey included responses from 1,779 libraries.

This survey is well known and highly regarded – so make sure your opinion is heard!!  Read Marshall’s instructions and participate ASAP”

Evergreen Open Source Library Software Implementation Expanding…09.30.08

It seems like Evergreen is going more mainstream quickly as more libraries implement the Evergreen ILS software.  LIS Wire reports today [http://liswire.com/node/202] :

“The Grand Rapids Public Library has gone live with Evergreen, the consortial-quality open-source library automation software. GRPL follows Branch District Library in Branch County as the second of seven public libraries in the Michigan Evergreen project that will migrate to Evergreen by the end of the year. Michigan Evergreen is a shared-catalog project administered by the Michigan Library Consortium (MLC). Equinox Software, Inc., the support and development company for Evergreen, provided bumper-to-bumper support during the data migration process.

‘The Evergreen catalog was developed for the 275 libraries in the PINES Library system in Georgia,’ said Marcia Warner, director of Grand Rapids Public Library. ‘The move to the Evergreen system allows us more flexibility to adapt the catalog to meet our patrons’ needs, offer innovative features such as freezing holds and creating book bags, while at the same time reducing costs.’

“We applaud the Grand Rapids Public Library in taking steps to transform their library service and to be at the forefront for the state as the leader in moving to this new technology and setting an example for other libraries throughout the state to follow,’ said Lakeland Library Cooperative Director Sandra Wilson. Brad LaJeunesse, Equinox company president, added, ‘In addition to up-front cost savings and a support plan that really delivers, MLC now has the security and flexibility that open source brings to software decisions.’

The Grand Rapids Public Library was founded in 1871 and was originally located in City Hall. Today the library operates out of its main location on Library Street as well as seven other branches located throughout the city. Grand Rapids Public Library currently houses 925,000 bibliographic items and serves a population of over 197,000 residents.

The Grand Rapids Public Library will oversee day-to-day administration for the new server for all seven pilot libraries, and MLC will provide support and training to the participating libraries. Equinox will also provide ongoing technical support to MLC’s Evergreen implementation.

The library’s website can be seen at http://www.grpl.org and their new online catalog can be viewed athttp://grpl.michiganevergreen.org . For more information about the Michigan Evergreen project, see the project wiki at http://mlcnet.org/wiki or follow the latest activity at http://www.mlcnet.org/evergreen, the Michigan Evergreen blog…”

How to Prepare for Purchasing an ILS…09.10.08

Since I will eventually need to replace/upgrade our Integrated Library System software, the following post by Richard Wallis titled “Library 2.0 Gang 09/08: System Procurement” [http://librarygang.talis.com/2008/09/09/september-2008-system-procurement/] is an interesting read about the procurment process with which others must navigate:

“All are agreed that the purchasing of a library system is not an insignificant undertaking, but in these times of rapidly changing 2.0 technology and open source systems, are the current procurement processes still fit for purpose?

To help with the discussion we are joined by two guests this month who are both veterans of many tender processes:

• Karen Reece Sales Manager, Talis.
• Rob McGee Founder and President of RMG Consultants Inc.

Gang members Carl Grant and Marshall Breeding join in the discussion about the frustrations of the procurement process and how it may or may not be applicable.  There again, the process does lead to contractual rigor, but is it at the expense of stifled innovation.?

To help the discussion along Rob McGee has provided a couple of his white papers on the subject:

• Request for Proposals for Integrated Library Systems [pdf]
• Information Technology Strategic Planning for Libraries [pdf]

Although coming from differing points of view, the gang and our guests agreed on one piece of advice for libraries – make friends with your purchasing department, involving them fully in preparing requirements with vision.”

SOPAC 2.0 Open Source Social OPAC for Any ILS Released…09.01.08

Meredith Farkas posted today [http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/09/01/sopac-20-at-darien-public-library/] the following regarding Blyberg’s new release of a social OPAC that can be used with any OPAC:

“Run, don’t walk to check out the Darien Public Library’s awesome new Drupal-based website along with the John Blyberg-designed new-and-improved SOPAC 2.0. I, for one, am totally impressed with the site and the catalog. One of the biggest things about SOPAC 2.0 (short for Social OPAC) is that its component parts are going to be released as open source software, meaning that other libraries can also capitalize on John’s terrific achievement! It also was designed to work with any ILS, not just Innovative’s. In doing this, John has made a significant contribution not only to his own library, but to the profession. Too many library administrators only think about the welfare of their own library, so good for the folks at Darien for supporting John’s larger vision for SOPAC 2.0. Go John and go Darien PL!!!

Interested in learning more about SOPAC 2.0? Check out this new Talking with Talis podcast with John himself. There’s also a brief article on SOPAC 2.0 in Library Journal.”

Open Source Software Support “(Mis) Perception” Debunked…07.16.08

I have foregone even consideration of open source ILS software for use at BHM fearing that the reaction of our IT Department would be that the support needed would not be there when needed.  This has been a great concern for me as well.  The argument put for by Nicole Engard’s post yesterday “The Curioius (Mis) Perception of Open Source Support”   http://www.web2learning.net/archives/1865 put me over the edge:

“Matt Asay always writes such great posts.

Forrester finds that European enterprises cite support as their biggest reason for not adopting open-source software. This has persisted for years, with support (or, a lack thereof) consistently listed as one of the top reasons that enterprises throughout the world avoid open source.

The ironic thing is that open-source companies primarily sell support, not software. So…while proprietary-software vendors sell licenses with support as an afterthought, enterprises don’t seem to question that they’re going to get support. At the same time, open-source companies sell support with licenses as an afterthought…and enterprise buyers worry that they won’t get support.

I’m just suggesting that stifling your company’s open-source adoption because of a perceived lack of support is silly and outdated. Welcome to the 21st Century. Open-source vendors provide support as good or better than their proprietary peers. Really.

When I teach my open source classes I always focus on this detail because I know that people worry about the support model for open source software. There is also a discussion going on a mailing list I subscribe to about this very topic…”

If I ever selected an open source alternative, however, I’m am confident I’ll still face an uphill battle convincing our current IT Dept. to accept it.

BTW, I never did hear back from our IT Dept. when I requested to know why our ILS software/server was down.

Library Work After the Holiday…07.07.08

Well, I’m back in the office facing the typical Monday morning after a holiday workload and new challenges.  I am hobbling around with my bad leg still swollen and painful hoping full recovery will happen soon.  You don’t realize how much you need your “getaway sticks” until you have been immobilized.  I am behind on so many things at home so I am anticipating (fingers crossed/prayed up) that I can get somewhat back to normal by this coming weekend.

The day started at work with our ILS software down.  Despite contacting our IT people immediately and following up requesting an update, I have yet to receive a response.  Of course, library resources is not the top priority in the organizations so I must wait patiently for help.  From reading the trials and tribulations of other librarians, there is frequently a problem communicating with and getting things done by IT Departments.  The “down” time for me in the library resources area forces me to spend more time today on current product production project management crises.  There are new challenges daily getting things done by everyone involved in the process necessitating a cool head, persistence, and attention to details.

Open Source ILS Software Alternative Koha…06.26.08

Previously, I had mentioned the alternative, open-source ILS software Evergreen.  I should also have made note of the other alternative that is growing in popularity as well.  More information about Koha can be found at the LibLime website http://liblime.com/products/koha which I will investigate more closely in the near future.  It appears that there are two versions of the software focused on both large and small libraries, Koha ZOOM and Koha CLASSIC, respectively.

The “About” section of the LibLime website says: “

It all started with an idea: open access to ideas and information not only builds better libraries, it builds better software too. It didn’t take long to reach a tipping point in the library industry. The dawning of a New Erain library solutions continues. Today, LibLime is the library community’s most trusted provider of open-source solutions.

Rather than sell software licenses for static, hard-to-customize software products, we’re informing libraries about the benefits of open source, enabling them to make choices about how best to provide their communities and staff with better technology services. We enable libraries to use open-source software to its full potential by providing outstanding commercial support services – hosting, migration assistance, staff training, support, software maintenance, and development – solutions tailored to each customer’s needs.

Use of open source not only lowers the per-library cost of running software, it also empowers libraries with a higher level of control over customization and the overall direction of software development.”

Circulation and the Special Library…06.23.08

Today, I thought I would touch on the unique aspect of circulation in a special library, specifically the one in which I work.  My library is run under the auspices of the Marketing Department in our large, multi-state, multi-nation, non-profit organization with patrons from various departments but most frequently from my department.

The ILS software we use, Atriuum, has an adequate, automated circulation module.  The patrons here who have been assigned patron numbers are not issued library cards because they currently would consider it unnecessary.  Physical Items that are circulated must be input by the librarian into the system and directly provided to each individual.  In reality, follow-up on returning materials circulated in a timely manner is handled through email notification by the librarian by the end of a relatively arbitrary circulation period.

Unfortunately though, success at retrieving materials is low as there are no incentives to do so and the fast-paced, deadline oriented atmosphere of the organization places relatively low importance on returning materials after they have been used for their intended purpose.  This causes in increase in re-ordering items that are actually not lost but “in use” in someones office or department for a indeterminate amount of time to make sure library resources are available to others who may need to use them.

There are a variety of internal software parameters for circulation designation by patron and item class required by the ILS software which were selected when the software was configured.  However, determining the actual length of circulation and if & when to contact that patron to try to get the material(s) back requires a sense of the particular person’s relative importance in the department and/or the organization.  The longer I work here the easier it is to determine the status of individual patrons.  I am sure this is not unique to my special library but it is important to acknowledge in practice.

“Status quo, you know, that is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in.’”–Ronald Regan

Auto-Graphics ILS Webinar participation…06.17.08

In my continuing efforts to keep abreast of our ILS software options for the future, I will be participating in an “AGent Verso” ILS webinar Thursday if I can fit it into my schedule and no emergencies arise.  Auto-Graphics (http://www4.auto-graphics.com/) describes their product:

“…AGent VERSO™ is a complete, 100% web-based, integrated library management system (ILS), designed to help libraries of all sizes efficiently and effectively manage their resources while significantly improving patron information and service delivery. Through a single, comprehensive staff interface libraries can effectively manage all their resources through a variety of integrated modules – including circulation, cataloging, serials, acquisitions, a MARC resource and digital content management- combined with an intuitive, easy to use OPAC…”

We’ll see how it turns out! 

Auto-Graphics Webinar Series – Integrated Library System
Session Name:	AGent VERSO™, Connecting library resources with people everywhere
Session Type:	Webinar
Date:	June 19, 2008
Time:	10-11 am (Pacific Time)
Fee:	No Charge

New Evergreen ILS installation…06.13.08

LISWIRE (http://www.liswire.com/aggregator/categories/1) reported on June 11: “…Whistler Public Library of the British Columbia SITKA (formerly BC Pines) Consortium has followed Prince Rupert, Powell River, Fort Nelson, and Terrace Public Libraries as the next facility to go live with Evergreen, the consortial-quality open-source library software. Whistler Public Library’s new on-line catalog can be viewed at http://whistler.catalogue.bclibrary.ca/. The migration was handled by a partnership between Alpha-G and Equinox Software, Inc. Alpha-G is an acknowledged expert in the legacy system and Equinox is the support and development company for Evergreen. The migration of Whistler Public Library is another step in a process that will see a total of 15 SITKA libraries transition to Evergreen during 2008. Two more libraries, Mackenzie and Taylor Public Libraries, are scheduled for migrations in November 2008. When MacKenzie and Taylor go live, the SITKA consortium will have 18 systems running Evergreen. British Columbia is following a gradual approach to moving libraries over to Evergreen; libraries “opt-in” on their own schedule. Many are anticipated to join over the next several years when their existing automation vendor contracts expire. The SITKA OPAC is here: http://catalogue.bclibrary.ca …”