Presentation on free and open source software for libraries presented at DBS Library Annual Seminar 10/06/2016

1. Ten Open Source Tools Which
Will Transform Your Library and
Your Library Budget*
David Hughes
Systems Librarian
Dublin Business School

2. *

3. Free and Open Source Software
You Can Think About Using in Your
Library

4. So, What Is Open Source
Software?

5. 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

6. History - 2
1990s

7. History - 3
Rebranding (1998)
+

8. 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

9. 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

10. A Distinction Without a
Difference?
Activist Pragmatist
“Open source is a development methodology; free
software is a social movement” – Richard Stallman

11. ‘…despite philosophical differences, proponents of open
source and free software "often work together on practical
projects.“’

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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!

15. 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”

16. Why Use Free/Open Source?
Free!
Lower costs
No lock-in
“Real-time” modification
Better quality
Better security
Better privacy
Modify and adapt

17. A Brief Note on Quality
But only if the eyeballs are paying attention

18. 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

19. A Brief Note on Security 2
http://www.cfr.org/privacy/protecting-data-privacy-user-
friendly-software/p37551

20. A Brief Note on Privacy
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/avg-privacy-
policy-browser-search-data 18/09/15

21. A Brief Note on Privacy 2
https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/08/heal
th-apps-sell-medical-data/ 08/03/16

22. Why Not Use Free/Open
Source?
Hidden Costs
Support
Set up
Hosting
User friendliness
Developer driven
Vulnerabilities

23. But…
You may be using open source software
already

24. Open Source & Libraries
Why?

25. More Why
Open Access
Open Education Resources
Open Scholarship
…Open Source
Open Source fits well with
Library Philosophy and Values

26. Yet More Why
Diversity of the Library sofware
ecosystem
Proprietary systems
Open source systems
Keeps vendors honest

27. http://librarytechnology.org/Mergers

28. 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

29. The Open Source
Library

30. 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

31. Recommended Extensions

32. 1a. Tor Browser
“The Onion Router”
US Naval Research Laboratory
Anonymous Web Browsing
Modified Firefox
Download and run
Tor License (BSD)

33. 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

34. 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)

36. Koha Features
Tagging, comments, sharing
RSS feeds
Book covers
Cataloguing templates
Z39.50
Off-line circulation
Browse virtual shelf
Integration with EBSCO Discovery Service

39. 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)

40. Evergreen Features
Book reviews
RSS feeds
Facet searching
Book covers
Browse virtual shelves

42. Watch This Space
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/04/22/ebsco-kuali-
open-source-project/

43. 4. Repository Software
MIT/HP Labs 2002
Open Access
Repositories
Cross-platform
PDF, Word, Image files
Customisable
Installation required
DSpace License

47. 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)

48. 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

49. 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

50. Omeka @DBS

53. 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

55. 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

58. 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

61. An Aside:

62. 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

66. 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

68. Or…
2005 fork of Mambo
2nd most used Content Management
System used on web
Installation required
GNU General Public Licence

70. 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

76. 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

77. Alternatively
Ball State University 2010
Web-based
LDAP authentication
“Well-written” & “aesthetically pleasing”
Installation required
GNU General Public Licence 3.0

78. 10. LORLS – Reading List
Software
Loughborough University (Gary
Brewerton) 2000
‘Bibgrab’ citation capture applet
Integrates with OPAC
Installation required
GNU General Public Licence

82. But Wait, There’s More!
Guide on the Side

83. And More!
https://foss4lib.org/

84. 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?

85. Is Open Source for
?
Yes!
Easier for bigger libraries, but..
Smaller libraries
Develop a business case
Forge relationships (NETWORK!):
IT department
Other libraries

86. Hosting
Download and run
Internal hosting
External hosting

87. Thank You!

88. 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)

89. 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/

90. 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/

91. 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/

92. 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/

93. 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

94. 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/

95. 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/

96. Resources - 9
Hosting
@mire http://atmire.com/
Interleaf http://www.interleaf.ie/
PTFS https://www.ptfs-europe.com/
Bitnami https://bitnami.com/

97. This is the end of the line