"Using the Crawford County Federated Library System's development of an open source web kiosk management system, as an example, this article will illustrate how an open source library project is defined, specified, written, tested and rolled out. The article will also discuss how the project was released as an Open Source project and future development of the project. The web kiosk project is called Libki and was written to authenticate users and allow access to the Internet kiosks based on time limits. Libki is a completely Open Source project and is now used by multiple libraries across the US. The client side of Libki is cross platform and supports multiple operating systems including Microsoft Windows and Linux. The administrative side of the program allows access to user logs, controls time and access and allows the librarian to log a patron off the system in real time. Libki was completely developed and written by staff members of the Crawford County Federated Library System."
In 2008, seven Michigan public libraries migrated to Evergreen, an open source integrated library system developed by the George Public Library Service. The Michigan Library Consortium and Grand Rapids Public Library provided the support, training, networking, and system administration for the system. This article examines the reasons for implementing an open source system and the challenges to running and sustaining it.
"The article looks at the development of library technology, focusing on library automation, integrated library systems (ILS), and the use of open source software. Additional topics discussed include the competition between supports of ILS and proprietary library services vendors, the decreases in library finance, and litigation between library service companies over the violation of antitrust laws. The author also presents several profiles of companies engaging in library automation services, such as Auto-Graphics, BiblioCommons, and Cuadra Associates."
