Open Source Open Source Solutions Solutions for Public Librariesfor Public Libraries

Randy RobertshawTyngsborough Public Library

What is “Open Source”?

“Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.”

Open Source Initiative

“Open Source” Software = Reduced Cost + Higher Flexibility

“Open Source” Solutions Pros

– Community of Support– Almost no licensing costs– No vendor lock-in– Customizable/Flexible

“Open Source” Solutions Cons

– Project stagnates or simply folds– Cross-platform capability of “Open Source” solution– Commercial solutions are often offer more features.– Productization (Documentation, White Papers,

Manuals) is not incomplete or non-existent.

The “Open Source” Design Cycle

Idea/Need Experimentation

Beta / Prototype

Project CommunityFormation

Release 1.0 (for higher)

Evolution / Stability

Stagnation / Abandonment

Release Cycle

Based on a model originally depicted in Open Source for the Enterprise by Dan Woods and Gautam Guliani.

“Crossing the Chasm”

Innovators & Early Adopters have a high tolerance for risk and deficits in the technology.

Early & Late Majority have low tolerance for risk and are not interested necessarily in new functionality.

Key Questions to Ask About Open Source Software Solutions

1. How MATURE is the solution?

2. Does your organization have the SKILLS?

3. Is the ROI meet your expectations?

Open Source Maturity ModelHow MATURE is the solution?

1. AgeSolution should be >2 years in age.

2. Multiple Supported Platforms At least Windows & Linux operating systems.

3. Momentum Regular release schedule, no sporadic in nature.

4. PopularityA leader in open source software for its purpose.

5. Design QualityWell-defined API, compartmentalized architecture, well-written code.

Open Source Maturity ModelIs it easy to USE?

1. Setup CostSimplified Install Process, Adequate Documentation, Support Forums, Mailing Lists, and Possible 3rd Party Support.

2. Usage Cost Manuals, 3rd Party Support.

3. End User SupportForums, Mailing Lists, 3rd Party Support

USE Criteria – How much productization is there for the solution?

Open Source Maturity ModelDoes it INTEGRATE well?

1. ModularityModules/Components a plenty, well-defined API's

2. Collaboration with other products Integration with other products

3. Standards Compliance Current with industry standards

4. Developer SupportDeveloper Forums, Mailing Lists, etc.

Open Source Skill Set Model

COMMON PITFALLS OF OPEN SOURCE ADOPTION IN ORGANIZATIONS

1. Management underestimates the technology skill level of its personnel.

2. Personnel have an unrealistic view of their own technology skill level.

3. Open Source deployment is underestimated.

4. “Key-Person” Dilemma

Open Skill Set ModelMEASURING SKILL SETS

ROI (Return on Investment) Model

ROI (Return on Investment) ModelThings to consider...

Open Source vs. Commercial solutions' differences are not easy to quantify.

Some Open Source solutions actually have licensing fees.

“Cost of Narrowness” With Open Source solutions, the burden is on the organizations to develop or learn the skills. If accepted, anything is possible.

For Commercial solutions, the burdens take less time, but the range of possibilities is narrower and is restricted to the market's whim.

Just Beginning?

Avoid the use of Linux at the onset.

Look for mature open source applications that are Microsoft-Friendly.

Focus on applications that have specific functions: wikis, content management systems, or desktop apps.

Look for open source applications that replace existing systems or can extend existing services.

“Open Source” Solutions for Desktop Applications

Need Some FOSS?

puTTy

Show Me the FOSS!SourceForge http://sourceforge.net/

FreshMeat http://freshmeat.net/

OSDir.com http://www.osdir.com/

O'Reilly CodeZoo http://www.codezoo.com

MacForge http://www.macforge.net

Open Source as http://www.osalt.com/ Alternative

PortableApps.com http://www.portableapps.com/

Are You Getting FOSSed?Type of Software Proprietary F/OSSWeb Browser Internet Explorer Mozilla Firefox; Opera

Word processing Microfoft Word Open Office Writer

Presentations Microsoft PowerPoint Open Office Impress

Spreadsheets Microsoft Excel Open Office Calc

Database Oracle; ms sql server MySQL PostgreSQL

Graphics editing Adobe Photoshop GIMP

Desktop Publishing Quark Xpress Scribus

Instant Messaging AIM GAIM

Finances Quicken GnuCash; TurboCash

PDF Creation Adobe Acrobat PDF Creator; Ghostscript

Audio Editing ProTools Audacity

Flowcharting Visio Dia

Vector Graphics Adobe Illustrator Sodipodi

Email client Outlook Thunderbird; kMail

Source: Overview of Free/Open Source Software for Librarians Presentation by Eric Goldhagen

What Else Can I “Add-On”?Add-On's (Under “Tools”)Themes, Extensions, Plug-In's, Search EnginesFirefox Add-On'shttps://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/Catalog Search Engine (Keyword Search)Catalog Search Engine (Keyword Search)•http://www.mvlc.org/firefox.htmInfoRSSInfoRSS – RSS AggregatorBookmarks LinkCheckerBookmarks LinkChecker•LibX ExtensionLibX Extension

Thunderbird Add-On'shttps://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/

Open Office Add-On'sThemes & Clip ArtDmaths – Mathematical Formula Editor Dxf2calc – CAD DrawingsOOoLilyPond – Music Notation

What Am I Using?

Mozilla Thunderbird

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Filezilla

And my staff uses...

Mozilla Firefox

Public Computing, Linux, and Open Source

Factors Influencing Upgrade DecisionsPublic Libraries & the Internet Study (2006) – Florida State

http://www.ii.fsu.edu/plinternet_findings.cfm

The Status of Upgrade Schedules for PC'sPublic Libraries & the Internet Study (2006) – Florida State

http://www.ii.fsu.edu/plinternet_findings.cfm

Tyngsborough Public Library (MA)Malden Public Library (MA)Flathead Library System (MT)

Massachusetts School of PharmacyUniversity of VermontHoward County Library System (MD)

Company Founded 1999 2004

Linux OS SUSE, Red Hat's Fedora, Ubuntu Ubuntu

10-1 Solution Yes Yes

OpenOffice Yes Yes

Adobe PDF Reader Yes Yes

Cross-Over Technology Not Yet Yes(Windows Programs in Linux)

Remote Administration Yes Yes

Privacy Protection Yes Yes

Customization Yes Yes

Public Storage Folder Yes No

Turn-Key Solution Yes Yes

Public Computing Before Userful Arrived

6 Public Computer Terminals

3 Public Catalog Terminals

Varying Microsoft Operating Systems (Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows 95)

Locked-down with “Deep Freeze” and Administrative Restrictions

Norton Anti-Virus

**Constant Staff Attention

8 Public Computer Terminals (2 Pods of 4)

3 Public Catalog Terminals

Red Hat's Fedora Linux Operating System with Userful Application

Userful System:Time Session Management,Privacy Protection, Usage Reports, Click-Through Acceptable Use Policy, Virus Protection, Firewall, CIPA Filter, Supports over 14 Languages, Centralized Control, Print Control

Public Computing After Userful Arrived

The Advantages

No more stragglers at the end of a day.

Older citizens really like the Large Print profile.

Generating statistics for reports of computer use is simple.

A major reduction in staff time for computer maintenance.

Library's Internet Policy is front and center—and not cluttering the desk space.

Time Management, System Administration

The Disadvantages

1 computer is actually 4 computers

OpenOffice does not equal MS Office.

Where do I put my storage device? (i.e. floppy disk, CD, flash drive)

“I saved it on the desktop!”

Open SourceContent Management

Systems (CMS)

phpWebSite

Pitfalls of HTML/Traditional Web Publishing

Static/Outdated Content

Table-based Layout

Incoherent Navigation

Inconsistent Style and Structure

Graphically Unappealing

Lack of Interactivity

Open Source Content Management Systems (CMS)

Joomla Drupal WordPress Plone

Joomla Sites: United Nations, South Carolina State Library, Atlantic City Public Library

Drupal Sites: CERN, NASA, The Onion, Ann Arbor Public Library, oss4lib.org

Wordpress Sites: Northern Lights Insights (MN Libraires), Cook Memorial Library (NH)

Plone Sites: City of Lowell, Brazil, CIA, Rosetta Project, Keio University Library (Japan)

A Simpler Comparison of CMS

Source: IBM Internet Technology Group

Drupal Joomla!

Community Features Very impressive. Community Builder component required.

SEO Native SEO. Very Poor. OpenSEF works, but SEO slows sites.

Forums Joomlaboard VbDrupal

Multimedia Features Video & Podcasting Video & Podcasting

Photo Galleries Native Module & Gallery2 Integration Gallery2, Flickr Integration, Expose Flash Gallery

Event Calendars Not Great. Far behind Joomla. Many options for Calendars.

Template/Themes One commercial vendor. Poor Selection. Wide Selection of Commercial & Free Templates.

Blogs Decent blogging capability. Good blogging capability.

Document Management Nothing worth considering. DOCMan project.

User Permissions Community management. Drupal's Strength. Joomla!'s architecture limits it. 1.0 designed for admininstrators.

Content Management Categories & Subcategories. Strong. No cross-categorization.

Documentation OK 1.0 is poor. Beta 1.5 will have improved Productization.

SSL Compatible Yes With Hacks.

Commercial Community Weak. Very Strong. Commercial solutions available.

General Community Decent. Non-profit driven. 100's of components. Forums are very strong.

Easy-of-Use Templates or modules installation not straight forward. Administrator back-end allows for uploads of components.

Learning Curve OK. Easy.

Size5.0 2.89MBLightweight and well-optimized.

1.0.11 16.4MB1.5 16.7MBLots of code.

Drupal vs. Joomla: The Basics

Content Management Systems

CMS Matrixhttp://www.cmsmartix.com/

Plone http://www.plone.org/

Joomla! http://www.joomla.org/

Mambohttp://www.mamboserver.com/

Drupal http://www.drupal.org/

phpNukehttp://www.phpNuke.org/

The AdvantagesThe ability to publish and unpublish.

The true integration of Library 2.0(i.e. Flickr, YouTube, Translation, Social Bookmarking)

Professional Templates at minimal cost.

A great support community.

Multiple users with varying control.

The DisadvantagesSEO (Search Engine Optimization)

The need for caching

The failures of CSS

Beware of the SPAM

Component/Module Removal

The Peril of Backups

Lessons LearnedNever use the Root directory for your website; “forward” requests to a secondary directory.

Giving credit is nice; hackers will love you!

“Everything isn't always BETA.” STABLE works.

CMS do not equate to no web-editing or scripting—just less of it!

Commercial Hosting Services offer the Fantastico program for installing OS Applications. Why not?

e-Government Podcasting

Purpose: To create an audio archive of local government meetings, while offering the public an alternative to cable-broadcasts.

MP3 File64 kps Bit Rate44.100 Sample Rate

e-Government Podcasting

e-Government Podcasting

Do you know him?

Casey Bisson, Plymouth State University

Creator of the WoPac (now, Scriblio)

Or how about him?

John Blyberg, Darien Public Library, CTCreator of the SOPAC (Social OPAC)

Open Source for Librariesoss4lib.orghttp://www.oss4lib.org/

OSS Watchhttp://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/

Code4Libhttp://www.code4lib.org/

Library Open Source Developer Portalhttp://liboss.westlib.asu.edu/

Linux Librarian http://www.linuxlibrarian.org/

Linux in Libraries http://www.linuxinlibraries.com/

Linux in Libraries Mailing Listhttp://www.ohio.lib.in.us/staff/atate/lil/

Open Source Applications for Libraries

Greenstone Digital Library

LuMix LinuxDesigned for Howard County Libraries (MD)http://sourceforge.net/projects/lumix

SOPAC (Social OPAC)

Open Source Solutions in Public Libraries

Randy RobertshawTyngsborough Public Library(978) 649-7361rrobertshaw@tynglib.org

Recommended Reading

“Wikinomics”

“Moving to Free Software”

“Open Source for the Enterprise”

http://www.tynglib.org/oss.pdf