Library systems – going open source?

I attended a seminar last week by PTFS Europe – a company who install and support open source library management software. The most well-known open source systems are Koha (for small to medium libraries) and Evergreen (mainly for library consortia). I was surprised to find the vast majority of the (large) audience from universities and public libraries and a little research suggests few FE colleges have considered the open source LMS option, despite pioneering the use of open source with software such as Moodle. 


PTFS understandably wanted to get a positive message out about open source systems, but notwithstanding this, I was impressed by the software I saw and its functionality, as well as the pace of development (6 monthly releases of Koha) and growing community of users. The paid support of PTFS or similar companies (and there are several in the UK) would give you confidence in the stability of the system, with the peace of mind of having technical support, if needed. Could open source library systems be an option for FE and why is interest so limited? 

"Koha" is Maori for gift. New Zealand image
by theboywiththethorninhisside on Flickr

Functionality
Koha is entirely Web-based and offers a very wide range of features, including many extras which have been developed by Koha users, or developers at organisations like PTFS. Koha has many worldwide users and its presence in the UK is growing. Staffordshire University recently adopted the system and other high profile libraries have it - for example the Kings Fund and Halton Council library service. If you take a look at an example of the Koha OPAC, you can’t fail to be impressed. 


Licensing
“Open source” means that a piece of software’s source code is freely available and any development is made available to all users and developers. There is no charge for the software itself, but unless you are willing to support and develop it in-house, you will need to pay a third party company to install it, migrate data from your old system and provide technical support. Open source library systems certainly shouldn’t be seen as a cheap or free option then. 


Costs?
I asked the PTFS people why they hadn’t made inroads into FE and they feel the main reason is cost. Compared to a typical FE college using a system like Heritage, they feel they can’t compete on the annual maintenance charge. They may be right -  if anyone has had a quote from PTFS or another company, do get in touch with me. 


Sharing your LMS
If your college has recently merged, or is in merger talks, Koha and Evergreen operate in multi-site mode very well. Colleges are also increasingly talking about sharing systems (such as HR, VLE) with other colleges to save money. An open source solution like Koha or Evergreen could fit the bill here, as maintenance costs could be shared, but the individual partners would still have their own LMS and catalogue. 


Attending this seminar opened my eyes to the open source option for library systems and the fact that big libraries like Staffordshire University are adopting them says something about their quality and possible future impact. Whether FE adopts open source library technology, still seems to depend unsurprisingly on money, as well as the fact that many libraries are simply happy with their proprietary systems (nothing wrong with that!). Heritage IV from IS Oxford is very dominant in FE and to be fair to them, does a pretty good job for most FE libraries. 


Useful links
Koha community website
Evergreen LMS 
PTFS Europe
Software Co-op (UK Koha support company)
VU find (open source library resource portal)