Review of Open Source Initiative (OSI) Website

Resource: http://www.opensource.org/

This website is created by Open Source Initiative (OSI) which is a nonprofit organization to manage and promote open source software. The website gives readers a detailed definition of 'open source'. Open source software is free to distribute. There are some limiting conditions, they all must operate under license. It lists various open source licenses, such as 'GNU Library or Lesser General Public License (LGPL)'. It also provides some links to other resources, such as: rich references, books, open source software. Those links contains good tutorial materials for people to understand and review open source as applied in the various organizations including libraries. The website contains a good overview of the history and structures of OSI. It lists all the events concerning open source all over the world, gives news about open source applied at various organizations, and posts recent blogs about open source. The website also has Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to allow the user ask the questions. The website provides some projects and initiatives which improve the quality of open source models both for developers and users, and for the public sector. Although this website doesn't directly show the information about open source movement in the library market, it gives some links about open source software in libraries and stories about the open source movement in libraries. This website is good for people to understand, and research the fundamental information of open source software. It is a good starting point to get involved with the open source software.

Review of Greenstone Digital Library Software Website

Resource: http://www.greenstone.org/cgi-bin/library

This Website introduces what is known as Greenstone Software. Greenstone Digital Library Software is an open source, multilingual system which has the ability to build and serve digital library collections. It provides a new way of organizing information and all the information can be published on the internet or on CD-Rom. Greenstone was developed by the New Zealand Digital Library Project at the University of Waikato, in cooperation with UNESCO and Human Info NGO, and was launched in 2000. On the home page, the website outlines different versions for Greenstone. The website offers several detailed instruction manuals to support installation and maintenance. It gives different platforms and interfaces for Greenstone. The website lists numerous examples about many libraries and organizations using Greenstone as their libraries management system. Some links are provided to allow quick and easy navigation across web pages. The website also has Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) which the user can ask questions, and some experts answer the users questions. There are 11 documented sample collections and various tutorial materials available. Finally, there is a support part on the website. It offers users' and developers' mailing list, this gives users and developers more useful information which was provided by consulting companies on a commercial basis. Digital libraries are getting more popular, and open source software has been increasingly used by libraries. This website is fantastic for people want to know and learn more about Greenstone digital library software.

Review of 'Librarys Facilitate Open Access to Information with Open Source Software'

Burger T. N. (2007, January 22). Libraries Facilitate Open Access to Information with Open Source Software. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/01/10/167250

Tina posted this article at 'www.linux.com' on Jan 2007. She asserts that open source software and libraries share some common features such as being free to use and the open access to information. But until recently, the use of open source software in libraries was still slow, due to the lack of relevant supports for developing highly specialized library software. However, this is changing, because of the development of some mature open source software for libraries, such as Koha. Koha is a full-featured open source library management system developed by Katipo Communication of New Zealand for Horowhenua Library Trust. Koha is a Maori concept describing a gift given as a sign of thanks and respect. This article introduces three stories about three libraries using Koha as their libraries' management system. These three libraries are: Crawford County Federated Library, Nelsonville Public Library, and Near East University Library. All of them have successfully implemented using Koha for their libraries. Koha fits in very well in their libraries; it is free, flexible, fast, and provides the ability to organize union-catalogues. It can also create the most advanced search engines to the libraries. It is customized, and each of the libraries can control their development lifecycles. The libraries don't need an IT staff to manage software and develop software features, and the software features are those staff and patrons really want and need. Open source can save time and money. It is a good idea to switch on open source for the library market. This article is an excellent case study for people implementing open source software for library management systems.