Tag Archives: Open Source

New Hybrid ILS Front End

Posted on 14 August 2010 by Rick Mason

A regional group of public libraries in Antwerp, Belgium have announced a new hybrid OPAC for their library software. They have merged WordPress with AquaBrowser to create a web presence with the capabilities they felt were most important for their … Continue reading →

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Practical Open Source for Libraries

Posted on 1 August 2010 by Rick Mason

Nicole Engard has posted the slides for one of her presentations: Practical Open Source Software for Libraries (Part 2)

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Open Source ILS Glossary

Posted on 23 June 2010 by Rick Mason

Earlier this month, Equinox Software‘s Bob Molyneux posted an Open Source ILS Glossary in Pdf format.  It is a great overview of the concepts and environment of the current open source library software environment. Today Bob posted an updated version … Continue reading →

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Practical Open Source Software Website

Posted on 27 April 2010 by Rick Mason

Nicole Engard’s forthcoming book, Practical Open Source Software for Libraries, has a page on the accompanying website consisting of links mentioned in the book.  Not only is this a tantalizing glimpse of the book, but it is a source of … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Libraries, Library 2.0, Online Services, Open Source, Publishing, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Open Source Integrated Library Systems

Posted on 2 March 2010 by Rick Mason

Found a fantastic slideshow covering the basics of Open Source ILS software via the Proverbial Lone Wolf Librarian: Open Source Integrated Library Systems View more presentations from stellacomans. Direct link to the slides on SlideShare

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Business Models and Comments

Posted on 1 December 2009 by Rick Mason

A link to a thought-provoking article on Open Source business models was posted by Stephen Abram on his blog, Stephen’s Lighthouse.  If you follow that last link, you may note that not only does he post the link “without comment”, … Continue reading →

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Perfect Storm

Posted on 16 August 2009 by Rick Mason

The Perfect Storm is a brief essay in the current issue of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) newsletter.  G. Sayeed Choudhury, the author of the essay, states that “Universities have authentication and authorization systems to identify who … Continue reading →

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RECAPing PACER

Posted on 16 August 2009 by Rick Mason

PACER is the online access portal for “U.S. Appellate, District, and Bankruptcy court records and documents nationwide”.  Because the documents it provides are created by the federal judiciary, they are not copyrightable; because PACER is the only place to obtain … Continue reading →

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Open Source Documentation

Posted on 10 August 2009 by Rick Mason

One of the more frustrating things about open source software is the fact that many projects have little-to-no documentation.  William Shields, a software developer from Australia, posts about his experiences and concludes that he isn’t going to patronize projects that … Continue reading →

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The State of Open-Source Library Software

Posted on 22 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Brett Bonfield has a great post, actually more of a long essay or article, on open source library software projects.  W-E-B-S-I-T-E, Find Out What It Means To Me (great title, but certainly more limited than the post’s topic) covers a … Continue reading →

Posted in ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, OPAC, Open Source, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sugar for Your Computers

Posted on 12 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Sugar is the desktop environment developed for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, and it is now available as an open-source download through the Sugar Labs project.  This could be a fantastic way to keep older computers useful and … Continue reading →

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Open Source Survey

Posted on 6 July 2009 by Rick Mason

If you have a few minutes, answer a few questions for Nicole Engard, the Open Source Evangelist for Liblime (how’s that for a job title?).  She is conducting an online survey because, in her words: “I am working on some … Continue reading →

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HTML 5, Google Wave, and the Future of the Web

Posted on 4 June 2009 by Rick Mason

Amidst a great many other topics, HTML 5 has been on my mind the past couple of weeks.  It started on Tuesday, May 26th, with Kevin Yank posting HTML 5 : Now or Never? on the SitePoint blog.  He was … Continue reading →

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Open Source ILS and Technical Services

Posted on 15 April 2009 by Rick Mason

For those interested in Open Source Integrated Library Systems such as Koha, Evergreen, Open Library Environment Project (OLE), OpenBiblio, etc., the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) will be holding an e-forum on April 21st and 22nd.  From … Continue reading →

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Strategic Thinking Guide for Academic Librarians in the New Economy

Posted on 24 March 2009 by Rick Mason

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has issued a new report titled Strategic Thinking Guide for Academic Librarians in the New Economy (pdf). It joins the growing chorus of reports that indicate that we are in for a … Continue reading →

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Open Source Attitudes

Posted on 22 January 2009 by Rick Mason

Karen Coombs has a post on the Library Web Chic blog about getting feedback for a problem she was having with Drupal, an open source content management system. She points out, and rightly so, the fallacies that techies run into … Continue reading →

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What I Use – 2009

Posted on 3 January 2009 by Rick Mason

I thought I’d try something new and summarize the software that I use on a regular basis.  I have been thinking about this, as I have recently switched from one software program to another in a couple of areas, and … Continue reading →

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Ohio RFPs for Open Source

Posted on 15 December 2008 by Rick Mason

The State Library of Ohio has just released a Request For Proposal for an Open Source Statewide Resource Sharing System (Pdf). Their summary page (which will soon contain an F.A.Q.) states that The desired product would provide a seamless resource … Continue reading →

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DSpace Reaches 500 Installations

Posted on 14 December 2008 by Rick Mason

DSpace, the open-source digital repository system, reached the 500 installation mark earlier this month.  Earlier this year I did a bit of research on various repository solutions, and DSpace was the one I was most impressed with, and it seems … Continue reading →

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Rational and Well Thought-Out OCLC Response

Posted on 17 November 2008 by Rick Mason

Over the past few days, I have been gathering my thoughts together in order to post an essay-style overview of the issues surrounding the OCLC records policy changes.  As of now, I am going to put those thoughts aside, as … Continue reading →

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