Ten Open Source Tools Which Will

Transform Your Library and Your

Library Budget*

David Hughes

Systems Librarian

Dublin Business School

*

Free and Open Source Software You

Can Think About Using in Your Library

So, What Is Open Source Software?

History -1

1980s

Four Software Freedoms:

Freedom to run a program for any

purpose

Freedom to study the mechanics of the

program and modify it

Freedom to redistribute copies

Freedom to improve and change

modified versions for public use

History - 2

1990s

History - 3

Rebranding (1998)

+

Open Source Initiative

Eric S. Raymond and others

Non-profit

Promote open source software

Pragmatic, business friendly approach “to dump the moralizing and confrontational attitude that had been associated with 'free software'" and instead promote open source ideas on "pragmatic, business-case grounds” – Michael Tiemann

Acronyms

OSS – Open Source Software

F(/)OSS – Free & Open Source Software

FLOSS – Free/Libre Open Source Software

"Near as I can figure ... people think they’d be making an ideological

commitment ... if they pick 'open source' or 'free software'. Well, speaking as

the guy who promulgated 'open source' to abolish the colossal marketing

blunders that were associated with the term 'free software', I think 'free

software' is less bad than 'FLOSS'. Somebody, please, shoot this pitiful acronym

through the head and put it out of our misery.“ – Eric S. Raymond

Acronyms are used interchangeably

A Distinction Without a Difference?

Activist Pragmatist

“Open source is a development methodology; free

software is a social movement” – Richard Stallman

‘…despite philosophical differences, proponents of open source

and free software "often work together on practical projects.“’

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Source_Initiative

Free Software Foundation

4 freedoms

Software made available with source code

Anyone, for any purpose, can study, change,

and distribute the software on any platform

Open Source Initiative Definition

Free Redistribution of program

Source Code included

Derived Works must be allowed

Integrity of The Author's Source Code*

No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups

No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavour

Distribution of License

License Must Not Be Specific to a Product

License Must Not Restrict Other Software

License Must Be Technology-Neutral

* Modification may not be permitted under specific circumstances/derived works may require a different name

https://opensource.org/osd

Practical Differences

Free Software Foundation

No Restrictions

Open Source

“You can look at the source code”

May prevent modification

Also

“Tivoization”: hardware blocks execution of modified programs

“Nearly all open source software is free software, but there are exceptions”

Is a program “free” or “open source” – check the license!

A Disclaimer

Open ≠ Free

1) ‘To understand the concept, you should

think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as

in “free beer”’ – Richard Stallman

2) “Support for openness usually requires

people, and they are often the most

expensive component” - Martin Weller

Why Use Free/Open Source?

Free!

Lower costs

No lock-in

“Real-time” modification

Better quality

Better security

Better privacy

Modify and adapt

A Brief Note on Quality

But only if the eyeballs are paying attention

A Brief Note on Security

Digital Rights Management

World-Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

“Encrypted Media Extensions”

“Anti-Circumvention” Laws

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/04/standardized-drm-will-

make-us-less-safe

A Brief Note on Security 2

http://www.cfr.org/privacy/protecting-data-privacy-user-friendly-

software/p37551

A Brief Note on Privacy

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/avg-privacy-

policy-browser-search-data 18/09/15

A Brief Note on Privacy 2

https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/08/health-

apps-sell-medical-data/ 08/03/16

Why Not Use Free/Open Source?

Hidden Costs

Support

Set up

Hosting

User friendliness

Developer driven

Vulnerabilities

But…

You may be using open source software

already

Open Source & Libraries

Why?

More Why

Open Access

Open Education Resources

Open Scholarship

…Open Source

Open Source fits well with

Library Philosophy and Values

Yet More Why

Diversity of the Library sofware

ecosystem

Proprietary systems

Open source systems

Keeps vendors honest

http://librarytechnology.org/Mergers/

Last Why

Everybody wins!

Activist: Using FOSS is kicking back against

neoliberalism/the commodification of the

information profession

Pragmatist: using FOSS is sound business

sense

The Open Source Library

10 Software Systems – 1. Firefox Browser

Mozilla Foundation (non-profit)

Derived from Netscape Navigator

Rich collection of extensions

Download and run

Mozilla Public License 2.0

Recommended Extensions

1a. Tor Browser

“The Onion Router”

US Naval Research Laboratory

Anonymous Web Browsing

Modified Firefox

Download and run

Tor License (BSD)

2. LibreOffice - Office Application Suite

Word Processor / Spreadsheet/ Presentation / Drawing / Formula Editor / Database Manager

ODF format (ISO standard)

Supports Microsoft Office formats

Default Office suite of most Linux distributions

Now recommended for UK government use

Download and run

Mozilla Public License 2.0

3. Koha - LMS

Created in 1999 in New Zealand

“Gift” in Maori (one of the original developers is Maori)

Access by web browser (optimised for Firefox!)

Large user base

Installation required

GNU General Public License version 2 (GPL 2)

Koha Features

Tagging, comments, sharing

RSS feeds

Book covers

Cataloguing templates

Z39.50

Off-line circulation

Browse virtual shelf

Integration with EBSCO Discovery Service

Alternatively…

Georgia Public Libraries Service 2006

“stable, robust, flexible, secure, and user-friendly”

Browser-based

Uses same technology (XULRunner) as Firefox

Smaller user base than Koha

“consortia of small to midsized public libraries”

Installation required

GNU General Public License version 2 (GPL 2)

Evergreen Features

Book reviews

RSS feeds

Facet searching

Book covers

Browse virtual shelves

Watch This Space

https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/04/22/ebsco-kuali-open-

source-project/

4. Repository Software

MIT/HP Labs 2002

Open Access Repositories

Cross-platform

PDF, Word, Image files

Customisable

Installation required

DSpace License

Alternatively…

Developed by University of Southampton

PDF, HTML, JPEG, TIFF, MP3, and AVI

Perl plugins

Authority files

Integration with SHERPA/RoMEO for quickly checking publisher policies and author rights

Installation required

GNU General Public License (version 3)

Or…

“Digital asset management architecture”

DuraSpace (non-profit)

Store all kinds of content and metadata

Multiple front-ends

Hydra

Islandora

Installation required

Apache License 2.0

5. Digital Collection Management

Roy Rosenzweig Center for History & New Media at George Mason University

“Repository-Lite”

Publish and exhibit digital objects

Themes and plugins

Dublin Core metadata

Installation required

GNU General Public Licence

Omeka @DBS

Alternatively

New York software development team/US & European partner institutions

Main focus on cataloguing and data management

Separate web access application

Plugins and customisation

GNU General Public Licence

6. Library Discovery Tool

Villanova University 2010

Google-like interface

Modular and configurable

Faceted search

API to connect to EBSCO Discovery

GNU General Public Licence

Alternatively

University of Virginia/Stanford University

OPAC replacement/enhancement

Faceted Search

Part of Hydra Project (Fedora)

API to connect to EBSCO Discovery

Installation required

Apache License 2.0

An Aside:

7. Content Management System

Joyner Library, East Caroline University, Ithaca College Library, University of Miami Libraries

Open Source equivalent of LibGuides

Fully customisable

A to Z database list, staff list FAQs

Summon integration

Installation required

GNU General Public Licence

Alternatively…

Dries Buytaert 2001

Used as back-end framework for >2% of websites

1 million member community, 30,000 developers

Installation required

GNU General Public Licence

Or…

2005 fork of Mambo

2nd most used Content Management

System used on web

Installation required

GNU General Public Licence

8. Zotero – Reference Management

Roy Rosenzweig Center for History & New Media at George Mason University (again)

2006 Firefox add-on (standalone version 2011)

Online synching

Generation of in-text citations, footnotes and bibliographies

Integrates with word processing software

(Relatively) easy to write connectors

Download and run

Affero General Public License

9. MRBS – Room Booking

Meeting Room Booking System

Daniel Gardner 2000

Browser based

Different authority levels

Integrate with authentication systems (e.g LDAP, Shibboleth)

Installation required

GNU General Public Licence

Alternatively

Ball State University 2010

Web-based

LDAP authentication

“Well-written” & “aesthetically pleasing”

Installation required

GNU General Public Licence 3.0

10. LORLS – Reading List Software

Loughborough University (Gary Brewerton) 2000

‘Bibgrab’ citation capture applet

Integrates with OPAC

Installation required

GNU General Public Licence

But Wait, There’s More!

Guide on the Side

And More!

https://foss4lib.org/

The Benefits of Open-Source

Innovation

Own* not Licence

Customisation

Interoperability

Community

Security

Privacy

*How easy would it be for you to switch your LMS?

Is Open Source for ?

Yes!

Easier for bigger libraries, but..

Smaller libraries

Develop a business case

Forge relationships (NETWORK!):

IT department

Other libraries

Hosting

Download and run

Internal hosting

External hosting

Thank You!

Resources - 1

General Free Software Foundation https://fsfe.org/index.en.html

Open Software Initiative https://opensource.org/

SourceForge http://sourceforge.net/

GitHub https://github.com/

Philosophical differences https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html

Libraries FOSS4LIB https://foss4lib.org/

code4lib journal http://code4lib.org/

DBS Library LibGuide http://libguides.dbs.ie/foss (under construction)

Resources - 2

Firefox Home https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/products/

Addons https://addons.mozilla.org/

Tor Home https://www.torproject.org/

Library Freedom Project ttps://libraryfreedomproject.org/

LibreOffice https://www.libreoffice.org/

Resources - 3

Koha Koha Community Home Page https://koha-community.org/

Koha Demos https://koha-community.org/demo/

Koha Wiki https://wiki.koha-community.org/

Evergreen https://evergreen-ils.org/

DSpace http://www.dspace.org/

Resources - 4

Eprints http://www.eprints.org/

Fedora Home http://fedorarepository.org/

Hydra https://projecthydra.org/

Islandora http://islandora.ca/

Omeka Home https://omeka.org/

Hosting https://www.omeka.net/

Resources - 5

Collective Access Home http://www.collectiveaccess.org/

Demo http://demo.collectiveaccess.org/

VuFind Home http://vufind-org.github.io/vufind/

Demo https://vufind.org/demo/

Blacklight Home http://projectblacklight.org/

Demo http://demo.projectblacklight.org/

Resources - 6

Subjects Plus Home http://www.subjectsplus.com/

Wiki http://subjectsplus.com/wiki2/index.php?title=Main_Page

Drupal Home https://www.drupal.org/

Demo https://www.softaculous.com/demos/Drupal_6

Joomla! Home https://www.joomla.org/

Demo https://www.softaculous.com/demos/Joomla

Resources - 7

Zotero https://www.zotero.org/

MRBS Home http://mrbs.sourceforge.net/

Demo http://mrbs.sourceforge.net/demo.php

Open Room Home https://www.bsu.edu/libraries/getopenroom/

Demo https://www.bsu.edu/libraries/openroomdemo/

LORLS https://blog.lboro.ac.uk/lorls/

Resources - 8

Assignment Calculator https://sourceforge.net/projects/assign-calc/

CUFTS http://lib-code.lib.sfu.ca/projects/CUFTS/

Guide on the Side http://code.library.arizona.edu/

Pidgin https://www.pidgin.im/

Shibboleth http://www.internet2.edu/products-services/trust-identity/shibboleth/

Resources - 9

Hosting @mire http://atmire.com/

Interleaf http://www.interleaf.ie/

PTFS https://www.ptfs-europe.com/

Bitnami https://bitnami.com/

This is the end of the line