Open Source Solutions for Libraries?

rscrawford asks: "I'm a former web developer who's been playing with open source solutions wherever possible for just over a year, and now I'm on that obsessive track toward becoming a librarian. Now, I've seen a lot of library websites and catalog software packages that are MS-based; what open-source solutions are there for libraries, and where have you seen libraries using open-source technologies (like Linux) to solve problems?"

Comments

Library systems

[bencc99]

I work in the systems office of a fairly large UK university library, so I tend to keep a close eye on these things. Check out koha, a complete open source library catalogue system, which appears to be growing in popularity.
Also worth a look are the perl4lib and oss4lib mailing lists.

Koha

[Copperhead]

Koha, the first open source integrated library system. You can test drive it action at the Horowhenua Library Trust in New Zealand or on the Koha Test Page.

Features include:

* Simple clear interface for librarians and members (patrons) to search right from the front page.

* Customisable search - you choose which fields you want on your search forms when you set it up

* Reading lists for members - now you can find the name of that great book you read last year. NOTE: Our librarians and customers love this, but if you have concerns about keeping this information it could be disabled. This is really useful for helping homebound users get fresh books

* Full acquisitions including budgets and pricing information (including supplier and currency conversion), being kept so that you can see what you've ordered and received - so handy at end of year and audit time.

* Simple acquisitions for the smaller library

* Able to catalogue websites as items, or have them as links to existing biblios.