Open Source Library Automation

1. Open Source Library Automation The Current State of the Art Marshall BreedingDirector for Innovative Technologies and Research Vanderbilt University http://staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/breeding http://www.librarytechnology.org/

2. Program Description One of the major movements in the library automation arena involves the explosive interest in open source ILS. Open ILSs now stand as viable options for libraries. This workshop will present open source ILS options in the context of the overall library automation industry and pose the questions that librarians need to ask as they make decisions between open source and traditionally licensed automation systems. While open source presents exciting opportunities, it’s important to go forward with realistic expectations. Attend this workshop to explore the options.

3. Library Technology Guides • http://www.librarytechnology.org • Repository for library automation data • Lib-web-cats tracks 37,000 libraries and the automation systems used. • Expanding to include more international scope • Announcements and developments made by companies and organizations involved in library automation technologies

4. Automation in Connecticut Libraries

5. Recent Upheavals • Industry Consolidation continues • Abrupt transitions for major library automation products • Increased industry control by external financial investors • Demise of the traditional OPAC • Frustration with ILS products and vendors • Open Source alternatives hit the mainstream Breeding, Marshall: Perceptions 2007 an international survey of library automation. http://www.librarytechnology.org/perceptions2007.pl January 2008.

6. LJ Automation System Marketplace Annual Industry report published in Library Journal: • 2008: Opportunity out of turmoil • 2007: An industry redefined • 2006: Reshuffling the deck • 2005: Gradual evolution • 2004: Migration down, innovation up • 2003: The competition heats up • 2002: Capturing the migrating customer

7. ILS Industry in Transition • Consolidation through mergers and acquisitions have resulted in a fewer number of players; larger companies • Uncomfortable level of product narrowing • Increased ownership by external interests • Yet: Some companies and products continue on solid ground Breeding, Marshall “Automation system marketplace 2008: Opportunity Out of Turmoil” Library Journal. April 1, 2008.

8. Results of industry turmoil • Disruptions and business decisions to narrow options have caused major shifts in the library automation industry • fueled the open source movement and created a huge market for companies supporting open source ILS • Influx of business towards companies with reliable track record • Traditionally licensed and open source ILS alternatives will coexist in the ILS arena

9. Open Source ILS enters the mainstream • Earlier era of pioneering efforts to ILS shifting into one where open source alternatives fall in the mainstream • Off-the-shelf, commercially supported product available • Still a minority player, but gaining ground • Next LJ Automation System Marketplace article will update the score • Are they next-generation systems or open source version of legacy models?

10. Open Source Software Broad Trends

11. Open Source Infrastructure

12. IT Infrastructure • Linux • Apache • Lucene • Solr • MySql • PostgreSQL

13. Web Server deployment Source: Netcraft www.netcraft.com

14. Operating System Market Share • IDC figures for OS on new server shipments 3Q 2007: • Windows Server: 67.1% • Linux: 22.8% • Slight gain for Windows/loss for Linux over previous quarter

15. Trends • Open Source Software well established in for general IT infrastructure • Linux emerging as the dominant flavor of Unix • Commercial options continue to prosper

16. Open Source Library Software (non-ILS)

17. General Infrastructure Components • Index Data • YAZ toolkit • Z39.50 • SRU/W • Zebra XML Search Engine • Metaproxy • “metasearching proxy front end server for integrating access to multiple back-end Z39.50-compliant databases” • MasterKey federated search engine

18. Open Search Federated Search

19. LibraryFind • Open source federated search • Built-in OpenURL resolver • 3-teired caching • Customizable interface • Developed by the University of Oregon Libraries

20. Masterkey • Developed by Index Data • Highly optimized, multithreaded searching of many databases • Faceted browsing of results • Demo: masterkey.indexdata.com

21. Digital Repository Applications

22. Fedora • Open source digital repository engine • Not an out-of-the-box solution • Many organizations have developed their own interfaces and applications built on top of Fedora • VTLS Vital product based on Fedora • Supported by Fedora Commons • http://www.fedora-commons.org/

23. Dspace • Institutional Repository Application • Originally developed by Hewlett Packard and MIT • http://www.dspace.org • Widely deployed by Universities for institutional repository projects

24. Keystone • Developed by Index Data • Open source digital repository application • Digital content management • Federated search • OAI harvesting • Link resolver services

25. Open source discovery products AKA: Next Generation Catalogs

26. VUFind – Villanova University Based on Apache Solr search toolkit http://www.vufind.org/

27. eXtensible Catalog • University of Rochester – River Campus Libraries • Financial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation • http://www.extensiblecatalog.info/ • Just received a second round of funding from Mellon • $283,000 (April 2006) • $749,000 (October 2007) • Wider institutional participation

28. Scriblio • Formerly WPopac • OPAC based on WordPress

29. A Mandate for Openness

30. Opportunities for Openness • Open Source • Alternative to traditionally licensed software • Open Systems • Software that doesn’t hold data hostage

31. More Open Systems • Pressure for traditionally licensed products to become more open • APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) let libraries access and manipulate their data outside of delivered software • A comprehensive set of APIs potentially give libraries more flexibility and control in accessing data and services and in extending functionality than having access to the source code. • Customer access to APIs does not involve as much risk to breaking core system functions, avoids issues of version management and code forking associated with open source models.

32. More Open Systems • Pressure for traditionally licensed products to become more open • APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) let libraries access and manipulate their data outside of delivered software • A comprehensive set of APIs potentially give libraries more flexibility and control in accessing data and services and in extending functionality than having access to the source code. • Customer access to APIs does not involve as much risk to breaking core system functions, avoids issues of version management and code forking associated with open source models.

33. A Continuum of Openness

34. Closed Systems End User Interfaces: No programmable Access to the system. Captive to the user Interfaces supplied by the developer Programmer access: Acquisitions Cataloging Circulation Functional modules: Data Stores: Staff Interfaces:

35. Standard RDBM Systems Database administrators can access data stores involved with the system: Read-only? Read/write? Developer shares database schema End User Interfaces: Programmer access: Acquisitions Cataloging Circulation Functional modules: Data Stores: Staff Interfaces:

36. Open Source Model End User Interfaces: Programmer access: Acquisitions Cataloging Circulation All aspects of the system available to inspection and modification. Functional modules: Data Stores: Staff Interfaces:

37. Open API Model End User Interfaces: Programmer access: Core application closed. Third party developers code against the published APIs or RDBMS tables. Acquisitions Cataloging Circulation Functional modules: Published APIs Data Stores: Staff Interfaces:

38. Open Source / Open API Model End User Interfaces: Programmer access: Core application closed. Third party developers code against the published APIs or RDBMS tables. Acquisitions Cataloging Circulation Functional modules: PublishedAPIs Data Stores: Staff Interfaces:

39. Depth of Openness • Evaluate level of access to a products data stores and functional elements: • Open source vs Traditional licenses • Some traditional vendors have well established API implementations • SirsiDynix Unicorn (API available to authorized customer sites that take training program) • Ex Libris: consistent deployment of APIs in major products, recent strategic initiative: “Open Platform Program” • Innovative Interfaces: Patron API

40. Universal open APIs? • Some progress on API to support discovery layer interfaces, but no comprehensive framework yet. • Many industry protocols work like APIs: • Z39.50, SRU/W, NCIP, OAI-PMH, OpenURL, etd • It would be ideal if there were an open set of APIs that were implemented by all automation system products. • Third party components and add-ons would then work across all products. • DLF ILS-Discovery Interface protocol. Targets interoperability between ILS and new genre of interfaces • AKA: Berkeley Accords

41. Opportunity out of the Upheavals • More options • Commercial + Open Source • More vendors • New open source support companies provide new competition • More library involvement • Libraries re-energized to make significant contributions to the body of library automation software • Traditionally licensed and open source automation systems will co-exist. We have an interest in the success of both alternatives.

42. Web 2.0 / Collaborative Computing • Currently implemented ad hoc • Many libraries putting up blogs, wikis, and fostering engagement in social networking sites • Proliferation of silos with no integration or interoperability with larger library Web presence • Next Gen: Build social and collaborative features into core automation components

43. Open Source in the ILS arena Products and trends

44. Open Source ILS enters the mainstream • Earlier era of pioneering efforts to ILS shifting into one where open source alternatives fall in the mainstream • Off-the-shelf, commercially supported product available • Still a minority player, but gaining ground

45. Tracking the Open Source Movement Through Marshall’s articles and columns

46. March 2002: Open source ILS: still a distant possibility • “I do not, however, expect to see such victories of Open Source software over commercial products in the integrated library system arena. Both broad historical and recent trends argue against a movement toward libraries creating their own library automation systems—either in an Open Source or closed development process.” • Early open source efforts included Avanti, Pytheas, OpenBook, and Koha • 3 out of 4 now defunct Source: Information Technologies and Libraries, Mar 2002

47. Oct 2002: An update on Open Source ILS • “the open source systems such as the three mentioned above are but a small blip on the radar. Compared to the thousands of libraries that acquire automation systems from commercial vendors each year, the handful that use open source systems cannot yet be noted as a trend. “ • Discussed Koha, LearningAccess ILS, Avanti MicroLCS Source: Information Today, Oct 2002 http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=9975

48. … then the world changed

49. Mar 2007: On update on Open Source ILS “As I look back at my 2002 column on open source ILS, I see that I mentioned both Koha and the Learning-Access ILS. Over this 4-year time period I have seen Koha usage increase from a single library system to two or more library systems plus a few individual public libraries and a large number of other small ones. The LearningAccess ILS is used in 15 libraries. Evergreen currently represents the largest group of libraries sharing a single open source ILS implementation. Over the same time period, well over 40,000 libraries have purchased a commercial ILS. So, relative to the entire library automation arena, those using an open source ILS still represent a minuscule portion of the whole. That said, conditions are ripe for a more rapid adoption of open source ILS than we have seen in the past. “ Source: Computers in Libraries, Mar 2007 http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=12445

50. Mar 2008: Making a business case for Open Source ILS We’re living in a phase of library automation characterized by an increased interest in open source-not just in back-end infrastructure components but also in the mission-critical business applications such as the integrated library system. Open source library automation systems, including Koha and Evergreen, have been propelled into the limelight. Recent survey data fails to corroborate broad interest that libraries are ready to adopt open source ILS. The success of early adopters of open source ILS now serve as a catalyst for others. Paths now exist with more mature systems and professional support options. As the open source movement matures, these system will need to compete on their own merits and not solely on a philosophical preference. Source: Computers in Libraries, Mar 2008 http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=13134