Liberate Your Library Building A Scottish Consortium November 16th 2009

Open Source:Liberate your Library

Timetable10.30 - 10.40 Welcome and introductions – Keith Shell10.40 - 11.00 PTFS Europe and Open Source – Nick Dimant11.00 - 11.15 Evergreen overview – Jonathan Field11.15 - 11.30 Costing and support model - Nick Dimant 11.30 - 12.10 Evergreen OPAC - Jonathan Field 12.10 - 12.45 Circulation - Nick Dimant

12.45 - 13.30 Lunch

13.30 - 14.00 Cataloguing - Jonathan Field 14.00 - 14.30 Acquisitions and Reporting - Jonathan Field 14.30 - 14.45 System configuration - Jonathan Field 14.45 - 15.00 General Discussion - All

Agenda

Overview of the library automation marketThe open source optionThe role of PTFS EuropeImplementing an open source solutionThe Products

Current state of the Library Management System market

• Stagnant, mature market• A few main vendors• Domination of private equity companies • Confusion over product direction– Discontinuation of systems

Current Frustrations• Slow pace of development (low ROI)– Patch and mend– Little new development

• Functionality lag– Lack of Web 2.0 capability

• Ageing technologies– E.g. Unicorn/Symphony 30 year old technology

• Declining levels of customer service– E.g. Introducing charging for doing an upgrade

• Increasing costs

Is open source the answer?

What is Open Source Software (OSS)?• A worldwide community develops and maintains it• You can download and instal it yourself• You can modify it yourself• There are companies whose business model is to help you

implement and support it, e.g.:– Biblibre– Equinox– PTFS– Bywater Solutions– Alpha G

• Free from lock in with single supplier• The software is free

Application Originally Released Fact

Apache Web Server 1995 serves 49.12% of all websites – June 2008

Linux Operating System 1991 Market share of new and used PCs running Linux is expected to grow from 3% in 2003 to 7% in 2008

Mozilla Firefox 2004 22.98% market share – August 2009

OpenOffice 1999 98 million downloads as of September 2007 – maybe 20% of business market

MySQL 1995 25% market share, 50,000 downloads per day

Java 1995 Today's six million Java developers are one of the largest communities of software developers

But no one uses open source?

... and Open Source is free

Kittens are Free

There is a cost of ownership

• Staff time• Support costs• Infrastructure

Libre and gratis

• Lower implementation costs• Cheaper on-going costs• Freedom to move between vendor• Freedom to develop what you want• Freedom to collaborate and share• Freedom to move quickly

Impact in Libraries

“Open source systems such as Koha and Evergreen have entered the marketplace as routine options”

Investing in the Future: Automation marketplace 2009, by Marshall Breeding, Library Journal, 1st April 2009

Library Market share

• OSS LMS is now largest single source of new name installations in North America – outstripping proprietary vendors

• Good presence in Indian market• Good presence in France• Growing presence in UK

Where is OSS successful?Where there are capable local support bases:– USA– Canada– India– France– Australia and NZ– Growing in the UK

The leading provider of digital archiving solutions in North America

• Formed in 1995 - desktop imaging, integrated library systems and custom search systems

• First release of ArchivalWare digital archiving solution – 2000

• June 2008 – Support of open source library management software

PTFS Customers – Partial listLibraries – Public• Whittier Public Library• Independence Township LibraryLibraries - Government• National Library of Medicine• U.S. Geological Survey• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)• Naval Research Laboratory• Department of Justice• U.S. Marine Corps (16 locations World Wide)• U.S. Air Force• U.S. Army• U.S. Attorney’s Office• Department of State• Library of Congress• Administrative Office of U.S. Court• U.S. Customs Service• International Trade Commission Library• Army Heritage Education Center (AHEC)• Department of LaborAssociations• International Monetary Fund (IMF)• American Chemical Society

Libraries – Academic• Southern Oregon University• National Defense University• George Washington UniversityGovernment Institutions – non-library• National Archives and Records Administration• Department of Interior (Labatt)• Department of Defense (Joint Chiefs)• National Security Agency• National Institutes of Health• Office Secretary of Defense (OSD)• National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA)Museums• Smithsonian Institution• Museum of African American HistoryCommercial• National Geographic• Chicago TribuneLibraries - State• Utah Government• New Hampshire State Library

PTFS Europe• Promoting open source library management

systems – Koha and Evergreen• Promoting ArchivalWare digital library• Local presence• Local expertise• Local training• Local support• Focused on European context• Backed up by major US presence

PTFS Europe – Koha Customers in 2009

European Southern ObservatoryBooz & CompanyUN Food and Agriculture OrganizationDAOSCAMLISICCROMA major health think-tankA small university in Europe

Some characteristics of Open Source Software

• Next generation technologies• Modern tools and environments• Standards based• Open• Multiple influences• Fast moving• User driven• Improved functionality – e.g. Firefox vs IE

http://www.slideshare.net/nengard/open-source-libraries

Open Source LMS software

Why promote both?

• Koha:– small to medium libraries

• Evergreen:– large libraries– consortia

Benefits of Koha

• Web based throughout• Excellent Web 2.0 OPAC• Full suite of modules• Fast development environment• Low maintenance• Low cost

Benefits of Evergreen

• Unsurpassed consortial functionality• High performance• High throughput• Ergonomic client• Good standalone capability• Sophisticated administration

How PTFS Europe can help

• Centre of excellence for open source LMS software

• Wealth of experience in library automation

• Commercial organisation with proven track record

Procurement can be a major obstacle“The Government will actively and fairly consider open

source solutions alongside proprietary ones in making procurement decisions,”

Cabinet Office, Feb 9th 2009

But who do you contract with when you choose Open Source?You can’t contract with a community?

PTFS Europe can make contractual commitments:

• Tender response• Functionality• Timescales• Cost• Support contract

It is not just the softwareIt is not just the software

• A new kind of business environment• A new kind of business model• Collaboration between OSS suppliers• Partnership between supplier and customer

PTFS: a business for the 21PTFS: a business for the 21stst century century• Virtual office

– IM, Skype and web conferencing– Virtual switchboard– Virtual infrastructure– Outsourced accounts and finance

• Very low non-salary costs• No commuting overhead• Relies on having high quality staff• Major price advantage over the 20th century companies

Financial benefitsFinancial benefits• No software license costs• Major savings on annual maintenance• Dramatically lower hosting costs• Lower daily rate for professional services• Annualised costing available

Changing timesChanging times

But notBut not

Implementation and Support Services

from PTFS Europe

Implementation

• Project Management• Installation and configuration of LMS• Data conversion and loading into LMS• Implementation workshop• Training• Software development• Custom work• Hosting (SaaS)

Hosting• High class data centre• We upgrade and patch the LMS and operating system• You still manage and control your LMS• Minimal involvement from your IT department• Command line access if you want it• Automatic local backup– Your data delivered to you automatically

• Annual fee, but part of our standard LMS offering

Ongoing support

• Help Desk• Bug fixes• Upgrades done as part of standard service• Web based support:– Open calls– Update calls– Review calls– Close calls

• Phone for critical calls

Software development

• Chargeable option• When is a bug not a bug?• Refine the workflow• Develop functionality• Provide whole new capabilities• Integration and interoperability• FAST development and lead times

Managing Open Source

• Updating code repository• Keeping up to date with developments• Applying bug fixes• Regular upgrades• “Release little, release often”

Share development with other users?

By collaborating and sharing development costs with other users more options become possible.

InterLibrary Loans (ILL) ?

Federated Searching ?

Forming a consortium?

PTFS can help co-ordinate these initiatives

• A survey November-December 2008• Carried out by Ian Haydock, Keele University

The use of Open Source software by UK Higher Education libraries

• We are unaware of what software is available (9)• We need software which is not currently available via Open

Source (4)• We don't have time or staffing to set up these applications

(19)• We don't have time or staffing to maintain these applications

(23)• Paid-for systems offer better support in a crisis (8)• Our institution restricts use of Open Source software (4)

Why doesn't your Library make more use of Open Source software?

• We are unaware of what software is available (9)• We need software which is not currently available via Open

Source (4)• We don't have time or staffing to set up these applications

(19)• We don't have time or staffing to maintain these

applications (23)• Paid-for systems offer better support in a crisis (8)• Our institution restricts use of Open Source software (4)

Why doesn't your Library make more use of Open Source software?

Why doesn't your Library make more use of Open Source software?

The advantages of working with PTFS Europe

• Benefits of open source software and next generation technologies

• High quality implementation and support services

• Reduced cost• Increased autonomy• Opportunities to collaborate• Fast development• Low risk

You don’t have to do it yourself!

Jonathan Field – Technical Directorjonathan.field@ptfs-europe.com

Keith Shell – Business Development Managerkeith.shell@ptfs-europe.com

Nick Dimant – Managing Directornick.dimant@ptfs-europe.com

Timetable10.30 - 10.40 Welcome and introductions – Keith Shell10.40 - 11.00 PTFS Europe and Open Source – Nick Dimant11.00 - 11.15 Evergreen overview – Jonathan Field11.15 - 11.30 Costing and support model - Nick Dimant 11.30 - 12.10 Evergreen OPAC - Jonathan Field 12.10 - 12.45 Circulation - Nick Dimant

12.45 - 13.30 Lunch

13.30 - 14.00 Cataloguing - Jonathan Field 14.00 - 14.30 Acquisitions and Reporting - Jonathan Field 14.30 - 14.45 System configuration - Jonathan Field 14.45 - 15.00 General Discussion - All