I just received an announcement that Relais International will be moving all or part of their software to an open source model.

Relais International has been working with libraries to develop systems to assist in providing a full range of interlibrary loan and document delivery services, for almost 10 years.

More on this will be presented at the Seventh Annual Northwest Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing Conference from September 18-19, 2008 at Portland Community College’s Sylvania Campus in Portland, Oregon.

For now you can read the press release announcing this big decision!

This via the Web4Lib mailing list:

On March 31, 2008, I will be launching the website Open Source In Libraries. The primary goal of this project is to help libraries discuss and freely use open source software to suit their needs. You are all welcome to join this community and help it grow. This is a “we” thing, not a “me” thing. Please visit the website and become a member of this new community. It’s free for everyone. There’s also an email listserv you can join. Lets all work together!

Website: http://www.opensourceinlibraries.com
Listserv: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/opensourceinlibraries

The following quote courtesy of Jeff Humphrey:

“Open source software is free in the sense that it grants freedom to the user through the absence of proprietary control. Though much open source is available without licensing fees, this does not necessarily include liberation of price. The open source model shifts most of the costs from acquisition to operations and maintenance.

One of the best things about open source software is that the code is made available to everyone to modify as they see fit. This allows users to develop the program or make changes to suit their needs even if a project is totally abandoned by the original creator. With open source, we are no longer at the mercy of closed source vendors with their forced upgrades and compatibility issues.

Open source is about community where usability takes priority over profitability. Enhancements are shared for the benefit of all users. Bug fixes are the result of users pulling together and are often resolved much faster than a closed source patch, saving organizations time and money.”
–
Allen D. Tate
Head of Computer Services
Ohio Township Public Library System
4111 Lakeshore Dr
PO Box 850
Newburgh, IN 47629
(812) 853-5468 x 313

http://www.ohio.lib.in.us/ (Library Home Page)
http://www.linuxinlibraries.com/ (Linux In Libraries)

Yesterday Mozilla announced that Firefox has been downloaded 500 million times!!

Firefox just reached 500,000,000 downloads. This is an absolutely phenomenal milestone for Firefox. It is sort of hard to imagine what that number means. For some perspective, that’s roughly the audience size of 10,000 Rome Colosseums combined. It would be the weight, in kilograms, of 8,500 Boeing 747 airplanes. In dollars, for $500 million you and 15 of your friends can fly to the International Space Station.

To celebrate they’re asking that we help people in need:

OR, you can affect change and invite 15 of your friends to play a game and feed 25,000 people. With your help we can break another milestone today with FreeRice.com –500,000,000 grains of donated rice in one day. Imagine helping to feed the hungry while picking up some new vocabulary too!

This is great news! Now if more libraries would just make Firefox their default browser on patron stations - imagine how many more downloads Mozilla would be able to report??

Open Sesame now has a new RSS feed. Please update your feed readers and use our new Feedburner feed.

What the heck is an Open Source Evangelist? That’s the question I’ve heard several times over the last month since announcing my new position at LibLime. To make it short and sweet, to evangelize is to spread the good news. So, it’s my job to spread the good news of open source to librarians.

Now for the big question, how am I supposed to spread the good news of open source to libraries around the world all by my lonesome? Well, we’re going to start small. This blog will be my platform and I want to hear from all of you who have stories to share or questions to ask. I want to learn from you as you learn from me and others. If you’ve heard me talk before you know that I’m an advocate for open-source solutions in libraries, I’ve found that the open-source community and the library community both follow a similar set of guidelines, making them the perfect partners in a push for change and enhancements for the library world.

In short, this introductory post of mine, is also a call for your assistance. For years I’ve been writing and presenting for those of us in library land and in all that time I’ve made it perfectly clear that I stand for learning. I don’t think that any one person holds all the knowledge, but I do think that librarians as a community hold a whole darn lot of it! It is for this reason that I think the best way to start in my new role is to ask to hear from all of you. I am looking for stories of how your library has used open source to improve work flow and productivity. I’m looking for stories of how open source has or hasn’t solved your problems. I’m looking to find answers to your commonly asked questions and to educate you about the pros and cons (yes, cons) of open-source solutions.

Over the next few months, I’m going to be sharing stories, answers and solutions with you all, and as we get to know each other better, I’ll look to you to help me spread the good news about open source other librarians. That’s my grand plan, that’s how I hope to make the most of my new position at LibLime and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say and to sharing knowledge with the rest of the community.

If you’d like to contact me you can do so at nicole.engard [at] liblime.com, AIM/Y!/Skype: nengard, or by phone at 888.564.2457 x714. In addition to writing here at Open Sesame, I’m also available to come talk to your organizations about open source and how it’s being used in libraries. To see where I’m teaching next, you can keep an eye on my public calendar.

You know the story. Ali Baba discovers a magical incantation that reveals treasure beyond imagination. His adventure is not unlike what’s happening right now in the library technology sphere. Historically, libraries haven’t had access to the source code, or ‘incantations’, that run mission-critical applications such as the Integrated Library System (ILS). But libraries are wising up. They’ve realized that even if source code seems like magic, having open access and freedom to innovate means they can choose their destiny like never before.

There will be a time when open source is de facto in libraries and when that time comes our dialogue about software will necessarily evolve. Distingushing between open source and proprietary development/business models won’t be revolutionary. But until that time, there’s a case to be made, issues to be raised, and arguments to be posited.

This blog is called Open Sesame. It offers a casual peek into the thoughts of our visionary staff as we pursue our mission of making open source accessible to libraries. Open Sesame is one arena where we stake out our claim. And yes, we’re a company, but we’re also people with a passion for libraries, freedom and software. In introducing ourselves, my hope is that you can get to know us personally, learn what drives and motivates us, and find a place for us in your community.

As far as the forty thieves, we won’t worry about them, they didn’t do so well in the story anyway :-).