8th Entry
NaZibah KaMaRuddiN
Discuss on how Open Source Integrated Library Systems affect library functions and librarian roles.
“Open Source’ Integrated Library System Software
The term “open source” refers to software that is free and that includes the original source code used to create it so that users can modify it. It also includes the right of redistribution; therefore, there may be products that are based on other open source products.
Major Open Access Impacts on Libraries are:
Ø  Access and usage would not be limited by password, IP address, usage hours, institutional affiliation, physical location, a cap on simultaneous users, or ability to library would have the right to lend and copy digital articles on any terms library liked to any users they liked. Library could offer the same services to users affiliated with their institution, walk-in patrons, users at home, visiting faculty, and Inter Library Loan users.
Ø  Faculty and others could donate digital literature and software without violating their licenses, and library could accept them without limiting their usability.
Ø  All use would be non-infringing use, and all use allowed by law would also be allowed by technology. There would be no need for fair-use judgment calls and their accompanying risk of liability. There would be no need to err on the side of non-use. Faculty could reproduce full-text for students without the delays, costs, or uncertainties of seeking permission.
Ø  Library would not have to negotiate, either as individual institutions or consortia, for prices or licensing terms. Library would not have to remember, consult, or even retain, complex licensing agreements that differ from publisher to publisher and year to year.
Ø  Library would never have to cancel a subscription due to a tight budget or unacceptable licensing terms. Researchers would not encounter gaps in the collection corresponding to journals with unacceptable prices or licensing terms.


Librarians have been amongst the most vocal advocates for open access. Librarians have shown their support for open access by signing on to open access initiatives and petitions. The role of the librarian, particularly during the past two decades, has further evolved to encompass the burgeoning technological developments. The roles of librarian in open sources like:
Ø  They have also been actively involved through their institutions or associations in support of OA in other ways like:
·         Educating faculty and administrators on campus.
ü  To create awareness of the library services, facilities and collections
ü  To understand the methodology and searching strategy for effective information retrieval skills
ü  To provide access of information from various printed and electronic resources
ü  To cultivate the life long learning culture.
·         Building digital repositories to support self-archiving
ü  to provide open access to institutional research
ü  To enable the library collection to stored, managed and used more systematic
ü  to store and preserve other institutional digital assets, including unpublished or otherwise easily lost
ü  to create global visibility for an institution's scholarly research;
ü  to collect content in a single location;
Ø  Workings at integrating new technologies to open access are discovering an increasing demand for their professional skills.
Of course, there are also prominent open access advocates who are librarians, and they bring to the table strong concerns with fundamental scholarly publishing issues. While this has resulted in differences of perception, it has not caused any meaningful schisms in the movement.

Libraries adopt open access initiatives as a means of providing better access to research
materials to not only its own researchers but also to a world wide audience. These open access are also means to improve the library prestige among its peers and contribute to research globally.
“Open Source’ Integrated Library System Software
The benefits of open access, open source, and open standards are numerous. The benefits include lower costs, great accessibility, and better prospects for long-term preservation of scholarly works. Libraries should embrace all three of these concepts now and in the future. By supporting open access, open source, and open standards libraries not only can help ensure that their current and future patrons will have easier and more comprehensive access to scholarly research, they will also be helping other libraries around the world, including those in disadvantaged areas, to have access to important scholarly research.
 
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7th Entry
NaZibah KaMaRuddiN
Discuss on the needs of evaluating a library software before you decide to purchase it for your library - what do you look for when you do the evaluation?

“Open Source’ Integrated Library System Software
Library automation, an up-to-date method to help libraries and library patrons to effectively use library resources, is now streamlined because of computers and software. Through computer technology and software, library patrons have rapid and more user-friendly access to the latest information. They are also able to remotely access a library's collection. Library management software used to manage everything from home libraries to small, large and huge public libraries. 
The following criteria have been used to select the software:
1.   Predictable cost and timeframes:
Purchasing packaged application software allows a library to more accurately predicts costs. Properly identified features, functions and capabilities needed by a jurisdiction will lead to a highly predictable total cost of ownership for the life of the software. When developing application software using in-house staff, costs tend to vary widely and rarely are accurate or predicable. Technology staffs often are responsible for both supporting current operations and developing new systems. This leads to conflicting priorities, delayed implementations and escalating costs. Another reason for cost escalation and project delays is the lack of fully defined or accurate functional requirements. For the most part, software packages have been used in many other municipal environments, and a forgotten or missed functional need is likely to have already been programmed into the software. Unlike in-house development efforts, the cost and time needed to install and implement packaged software can be closely estimated and, in fact, can be fortified through contractual penalties for delays.

2.  Improved Maintenance and Support Cost:
Maintaining an internally developed application requires a dedicated, knowledgeable maintenance team. Issues arise relating to internal staffing levels, how to maintain the skills of the support staff, and retention of trained technology personnel. Typically, it is easier for a municipality to justify financial needs than to obtain additional personnel. Packaged software is backed by a commercial business dedicated to maintenance and viability of the system. In order to remain a commercially viable product, the software must be updated at regular intervals to keep pace with new technology and the functional needs of its clients. Because of this, internally built software tends to become obsolete in a much shorter time frame and, over time, may experience poorer ongoing maintenance and support.

3.  Functionality of the application:
Building a system in-house requires local government users to develop detail specifications and functional requirements of the application before it can be built. This step often is shortcutted, with disastrous results. Mature packaged software vendors have functional experts to design, develop, test and enhance the application over a period of many years with many clients. Also, these vendors support a wide variety of environments and attempt to put the best practices of the industry into their application to make their software more commercially attractive. Software built in-house requires detailed knowledge of the functions to come from within the local-government user community, which may have a more myopic view of the business function.

4.  Improved use of limited resources:
With the ever-increasing demands being placed on local governments, an emphasis on reducing cost of government while improving services to citizens is paramount. Purchasing packaged software applications allows limited technology resources to focus on those unique applications and services not readily available through packaged software.

5.  Rapid deployment:
With the rapidly changing technology environment and the limited application development resources of most local governments, many systems built in-house are obsolete before they are implemented. The ability to use packaged software applications reduces the time to bring a system operational, thus allowing a local government to gain productivity improvements sooner

All the above criteria are essential to ensure that library software to function properly

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