Just an interesting tid-bit I learned today. LinkedIn and MySpace have upgraded their searches using Lucene. Matt Asay writes:
Arguably, the Web could not exist without open-source software, which is why I continue to believe it’s critical that we find ways to encourage open-source contributions in a Web world that isn’t bound by Open Source 1.0’s licensing.
Wondering what I’ve been up to at work lately? Well I’ve been swamped with getting ready for the ‡biblios.net beta test.
‡biblios.net is a free, hosted version of the open-source ‡biblios metadata editor (www.biblios.org) that LibLime released earlier this year. In addition to the editor, ‡biblios.net includes some extended community features such as integrated real-time chat, forums, and private messaging.
‡biblios.net also provides access to the world’s largest database of freely-licensed library records. The database will be freely available to ‡biblios.net subscribers and non-subscribers alike via Z39.50, OAI, and direct download.
Furthermore, the database itself will be maintained by ‡biblios.net users similar to the way that Wikipedia’s database is maintained by users.
We’re now looking for enthusiastic participants to help shape the final production release of ‡biblios.net. The beta test will start this week and we’re looking for copy and professional catalogers alike to test out the new service. Sign up ASAP at http://www.biblios.net
Can’t test, but want to keep up with us? Follow us on Facebook.
I haven’t gotten a copy of this report yet, so I can’t tell you (first hand) what’s covered, but I didn’t want you to miss out. So, if you get a chance, stop by your library and check out a copy of the newest Library Technology Report by Marshall Breeding (that’s what I’ll be doing).
In this issue, Breeding details the differences between using an open source approach to that of using conventional proprietary software for automated operations.
“In the past, our options were differentiated on the basis of features, functionality, price, and performance of the software and the perceived ability for a given company to develop its products into the future and provide adequate support. Do these factors differ with open source ILS products?”
Breeding’s report can help answer that question as well as defines open source and provides an overview of the various open source options currently available to libraries, including Koha and Evergreen.
Keep an eye out for more info from me after I get a chance to read this guide.
Based on information from a recent Gartner report, 85 percent of companies are already using open source and 15% more plan on using it soon!!
According to a 274 companies polled in various industries in North America, Europe, and the Asia/Pacific region - including a cross section of small, midrange, and large enterprises - some 85 per cent of the companies have adopted open source software within their system, middleware, or application software stacks. And from back at the cusp of spring and summer, the remaining 15 per cent polled said that they were planning to deploy open source software within the next 12 months.
Learn more from The Register and ZDNet.
When I was taking my digital library course in library school, I decided to play with Greenstone. Greenstone is an open source digital library software package and now there is a new release available.
We are pleased to announce that the Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac OS/X and Source distributions of Greenstone v2.81 are now available for download from:
http://www.greenstone.org/download
The main focus has been on multilingual support. Improvements include handling filenames that include non-ASCII characters, accent folding switched on by default for Lucene, and character based segmentation for CJK languages.
This release also features our new installer, which is 100% open source. Previously we had relied on a commercial program for this, which incurred a significant cost in keeping up to date; consequently we decided to develop our own installer, based on the excellent open source installer toolkits already available.
There are many other significant additions in this release, such as the Fedora Librarian Interface (analogous to GLI, but working with a Fedora repository). See the release notes for the complete details. Specific issues fixed in the 2.81 release can be viewed in Greenstone Trac here and here.
Technorati Tags: greenstone, digital library, open source
We get a lot of survey requests via the open source lists I subscribe to and I like to share them with you all so that you too can participate. Here’s the latest:
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Instructional Technology at the University of Tennessee. For my dissertation, I am studying why people contribute to Free Open Source Software (F/OSS). I want to know what motivates you to join and contribute to F/OSS. The survey should take no more than 15 minutes and asks for no identifying information.
Please click on the following link to take the survey. If you are interested in the results of the survey, please send me a message.
http://ubiquity.utk.edu/limesurvey/index.php?sid=45871&lang=en
Your help is highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Hoda Baytiyeh.
hodabn@utk.edu
Yep - you read that right - it’s finally coming!!! Years after the first KohaCon in France, the planning of a US conference has finally begun.
April 16-17th I’m looking to host a Koha innovations and sharing group here in the US. - Plano Texas would be the place. This is a reserved date - more info to come.
This 2 day workshop would have lab access and presentation space. There would be a charge to cover lunch both days and other misc expenses. Any leftover money would be given to the KUDOS users group as seed money.
If you would be interested in attending, presenting or sharing - something that you have done along with sitting in and learning about what other users and what the developers are working on let me know!
dschust1@tx.rr.com
David Schuster
Plano Texas
going live Jan 5th, 2009 as a LibLime customer! - this is open to all koha users and those interested. More information on the schedule to come after I figure out interest.
Read the email and keep up the planning by signing up for the Koha List.
[update] Check out the Koha Wiki for more info. [/update]
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 that:
An open source evangelist (and I include myself in that category) would be doing a disservice to the library community and to the success of open source if they were to dismiss the existence of risk in open source and ignore the different natures of those risks. It’s true that open source software and support may not be appropriate in every situation, but it’s probably also true that in any organization there are some appropriate circumstances for the right open source software. Even the most risk-averse organization may be well served by an open source product with the right vendor package. Remember, an open source product with vendor support is not inherently any more or less risky than a proprietary product.
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.
Technorati Tags: open source
Make sure you mark your calendars, invite your colleagues, and share info about this event with all of your library friends:
Date: Mon, Nov 24, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM EST
Duration: 1 hour
Host(s): Brenda HoughWhy are some libraries making the decision to use free and open-source software? Popular reasons include: it’s free! It’s customizable. You are vendor-independent. Security and reliability are also cited as benefits by users.
Is open-source software right for your library? How can you get started? Join this FREE webinar to learn more.
Via the press release:
SOUTHBOROUGH, MA, November 1, 2008 - For the past few years NELINET, a non-profit library consortium serving New England, has been championing the benefits of open source software to the library community. The rise of interest in open source solutions in the library world reflects the needs of many organizations to easily develop customized and cost effective solutions for everything from integrated library systems to web site.
NELINET is truly committed to the open-source movement. To underscore this commitment, NELINET’s has just launched its new web site powered by the Drupal open source Web content management/portal system. NELINET Executive Director Arnold Hirshon is excited for what the future of open source offers for libraries, “By developing our new website with Drupal, we want to be able to show our members the possibilities of what you can do with open source software – even with limited resources.”
The release continues on to remind members that they can try out open source software in the tech sandbox:
NELINET will continue to explore other open source solutions and provide guidance to the membership looking to find efficient and productive ways to help run their organizations better. In 2007, NELINET unveiled the Tech Sandbox - an online resource where organizations can try out new library technologies with an eye to evaluating them for installation or purchase. Open source products currently available to try out include, DSpace, Harvester2, Evergreen, Koha Zoom, Moodle and MediaWiki.
I love seeing the organizations we’ve grown to respect promoting and using open source!
Technorati Tags: nelinet, open source, drupal