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Open Source Software's and Their Impact on Library and Information

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Open Source Software's and Their Impact on Library and Information Vol. 5(4), pp. 90-96, May, 2013 International Journal of Library and Information DOI: 10.5897/IJLIS12.038 ISSN 2141–2537 ©2013 Academic Journals Science http://www.academicjournals.org/IJLIS Review Open source software’s and their impact on library and information centre: An overview T. Raghunadha Reddy* and K. Kumar Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering and Technology (SVCET), Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, India. Accepted 12 April, 2013 In this era of transition from information age to knowledge society, the libraries have much greater challenges to face. The whole insight of library has now changed from collection of books to a single window knowledge bank. This paper discusses the definition and features of open source library management software, criteria of selection of best open source library management software, their, advantages and limitations. Open source library management software is a solution to reducing that cost. The paper describes in brief about the feature of some of the open source library management software like Greenstone Digital Library, DSpace, KOHA, E-Prints, NewGenlib, PhpMyLibrary, OpenBiblio, Avanti, etc., which are useful for developing digital library and institutional repositories. Key words: Greenstone, DSpace, KOHA, E-Prints software. INTRODUCTION In the present era digitalized databases are being of source code (Kamble, 2012). To be certified as open compiled in majority of the library services, which are source, the license of a program must guarantee the right based on information technology as well as resources to read, redistribute, modify, and use it freely” (Rich available in electronic formats. In order to manage all Christie, 1999). kinds of resources and information, libraries require high “Open Source Software is computer software whose quality integrated software, along with cutting edge source code is available under a license (or arrangement retrieval tools. However, the high price of such software such as the public domain) that permits users to use, prevents most of the libraries from using them. So as to change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in deal with this issue, and for the benefit of research modified or unmodified from (www.richchristiecomputer. scholars and the user communities of libraries, different com), It is often developed in a public, collaborative NGOs, organizations and individuals have developed manner. It is the most prominent example of open source software, which are distributed free of cost. Known as development and often compared to user generated free/open source software, these are extensively available content” (Wikipedia). on the internet and can be downloaded, installed and distributed. Limitations with OSS Definitions Open source software (OSS) is computer software whose source code is available under a license for users to look “Open source promotes software reliability and quality by at and modify freely and permits users study, change, supporting independent peer review and rapid evolution and improve the software, and to redistribute it in *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Reddy and Kumar 91 modified or unmodified form (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Reasons for the success of open source software’s open_spurce_Software). The OSS differs from the closed source or proprietary software. The primary difference Openness between the two is the freedom to modify the software. For any up gradation/change in the OSS, the library The generally open conducted development corresponds needs support. In case of OSS, there is no body to solve to the academic tradition to directly exchange results of problem, either one have to hire some expert to solve (scientific) work, provide research data etc. So far, that problem or library should make arrangement with some “rule” attaches itself to the experiences of many people company. Open source products require technical uses established communication channels and co- expertise to operate and maintain open source costs operation methods (Figure 1). more to support because the software is typically self supporting. Generally, a commercial software company will immediately respond on customer requests for any Flexibility problem. With OSS, if one does not do it himself, he is at the mercy of a disjoint community of developers. Many OSS projects integrate a large number of deve- lopers with very different emphasis and background. This facilitates the understanding for special requirements Selection of library management software and, at the same time, offers the potential to quickly implement needed adjustments. Selection of library management software (LMS) is not a simple task. Sometimes librarians go with either Speed renowned software or maximum number of usage of the library. Selection of LMS may consist the following The speed by which there is reaction to problems, errors points/steps, which might help the librarians (Kumar, or security leaks of the software is legendary. A large 2010) to select the right software for their house-keeping group of people that want to make a product successful operations as well as information retrieval. There are immediately undertake the tasks and test new versions, many LMS, which are very popular and being used by is significantly faster and more successful than the number of libraries. Librarians may have the proprietary competitors. comprehensive study about them before taking decision in this regard. While examining the software, librarian must have the followings information about the software Motivation which might help them to select the right software for housekeeping operations as well as information retrieval. OSS developers are (experience themselves) part of a community that works on a collaborative success (- - How it matches the library’s requirements product). Often they are, by the way, no part-time hobby - Product quality developers but professional developers that create OSS - Features and functions full-time. Also, the standard for governmental financed - Staff training and support service projects to provide the resulting software cost-free for - Operating system others (that does not necessarily mean OSS or free - Hardware and software requirements software), supports the motivation. - Functionality: What modules are available, values additions to existing functions - User interface: Navigation, error alerts, intuitive, custo- Open source software in the field of library and mization information management - Design: Flexibility, switching from one module to another, multifunction modules, does it enhance the In comparison to other sectors, the emergence of productivity ‘Free/Open Source Software’ in the field of library and - Conforming to standards: MARC, Z39.50, ISO-2709, information management are more viable option as the etc. cooperation and coordination are the key issues in library - Scalability: Single user-multi use network. Can it be services. Library professionals have always focused on used in client server LAN architecture or fully web cooperation, resource sharing, consortia and on open browsing architecture access, standards, archive initiatives; and so on in order - User-controlled customization to help each other in collection development and - Reports that help take decisions implementation of tools and technologies, among others. - Security levels This attitude and the prevalent economic situations have - Migration of data or data transfer facilitated the development of Free/Open Source 92 Int. J. Lib. Inf. Sci Figure 1. Reasons for the success of open source software’s. Software (Seeran, 2011) in the field of library and Features information management. In the initial stage, due to lack of awareness on technical aspects, right of use, sus- KOHA is web-based Integrated Library Management tainability, and so on, there has been a lot of confusion System (ILS), with a SQL database (My SQL preferred) among librarians about ‘Free/Open Source Software’. For backend with cataloguing data stored in MARC and instance, several arguments have been put forward that accessible via Z39.50. The user interface is very free software, by its very nature, is not well supported, configurable and adaptable and has been translated into and can only be installed and made ready to use by many languages. Koha has most of the features that computer experts. This misconception prevents non- would be expected in an ILS, including: computer professional librarian to utilize this type of software, who prefer the easy to use commercial - Simple, clear interface for librarians and members software that have user-friendly interface. (patrons) - Various Web 2.0 facilities like tagging and RSS feeds - Union catalog facility Selected open source software’s - Customizable search - Circulation and borrower management Major software’s developed and available are described - Full acquisitions system including budgets and pricing briefly along with their special features and uses (Figure information (including supplier and currency conversion) 2). - Simple acquisitions system for the smaller library - Ability to cope with any number of branches, patron categories, item categories, currencies and other data KOHA - Serials system for magazines or newspapers - Reading lists for members KOHA has the distinction of being the first open source - Easy barcode printing etc. integrated library management system, which includes all the main functions related to library management. It is web-based open source software distributed under the ABCD
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