Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 Let My Software Go The Open Source Software Movement in Libraries

Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 Open Source Software Refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge, i.e., open.

Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 Not the Same as “Freeware” Is “free of charge” Is generally proprietary – users do not have the freedom to use, copy, study, modify or redistribute Source code for freeware may or may not be published Permission to distribute modified versions may or may not be granted

Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 Advantages to Using Open Source Low cost and high value Quality and reliability Security Increased freedom and flexibility Adherence to open standards

Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 Disadvantages to Using Open Source Liability for intellectual property infringement No guarantee of quality or fitness Projects can be easily abandoned or updates and fixes become less frequent

Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 Open Source in Libraries

Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 Background In December 2006 ExLibris purchased Endeavor, developer of the Voyager library system In March 2007, SirsiDynix announced the cancellation of its Horizon 8.X product and advised customers that it will release a new ILS in late 2007 / early 2008 What does the future hold for ILS?

Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 Evergreen

Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 Koha

Open Source - FDU Library Staff Meeting - Summer 2007 VALE OLS Committee A 4-member study group traveled to Georgia to look more closely at Evergreen The white paper produced by that group recommended that VALE proceed in using Evergreen as a suitable base on which to develop an open-source library system for VALE libraries More news to come…