Just to say that BLDS (the British Library for Development Studies) at the Institute of Development Studies, has partially implemented Koha, and is considering whether replacing some of the other modules of our current system might be worthwhile.
Julie Brittain
Head of Library, BLDS
--- On Thu, 17/2/11, Gerhard Bissels <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Gerhard Bissels <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Open Source LMS - experiences please
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thursday, 17 February, 2011, 4:41
Dear Ken and MJ,
in Europe, only France seems to have a significant number of Koha installations. However, in Germany the Bibliotheksservice-Zentrum Baden-Württemberg (https://wiki.bsz-bw.de), an HE body that centrally runs electronic services for HE and museums, is now rolling out Koha to all those libraries which are not part of the state-wide HE libraries consortium - e.g. at teacher training seminars. They are also producing a manual in German. See https://wiki.bsz-bw.de/doku.php?id=l-team:koha:start for more information.
In my personal experience - I implemented Koha 3.0 at CAMLIS three years ago, alongside other OSS packages -, an OSS package has a number of huge advantages over proprietary software:
Flexibility: the software can, at very reasonable cost, be made to follow the needs of the library, rather than the other way round
Integration: the software can be integrated with other OSS packages (e.g. Moodle) for a seamless user experience
Lower cost of implementation
Lower cost of support
Especially in the current climate of budget cuts and increased competition between institutions - why is it that most academic libraries stick with expensive, but very limited proprietary systems?
Regards
Gerhard
Gerhard Bissels
[log in to unmask]
On 17 Feb 2011, at 12:30, Ken Chad wrote:
> MJ is right --the situation has moved on. SCONUL's HELibTech reflects the
> current state of play in HE accurately I think. Staffordshire University
> seem to be the first HE library to go for an OSS LMS (Koha).
>
> There is a general 'Open source' page
> http://helibtech.com/HE+Systems+Review and then a list of HE institutions
> with what LMS (and other technology) they use
> http://helibtech.com/HE+Systems+Review
>
> If anyone spots any inaccuracies then they should feel free to make the
> change themselves. HELibTech is open to all.
>
> The definition of HE Institution is based on the HERO list. So I guess that
> why Franciscan International Study Centre is not on the specific HE list
> --HERO presumably don't think they are HE. It would be worth adding them to
> the list of 'other' libraries on the general open source page I think..
>
> In addition the HELibTech open source page mentions open source electronic
> resource management systems (ERMS) too---and I don't think anyone (in UK HE)
> is using an OSS one of those --yet:). Salford University have been looking
> at them as part of the MERI project http://salfordmeri.blogspot.com/
>
> Ken
>
> Ken Chad Consulting Ltd
> Tel +44 (0)7788 727 845. Email: [log in to unmask]
> www.kenchadconsulting.com
> Skype: kenchadconsulting Twitter: @KenChad
> Open Library Systems Specifications: http://libtechrfp.wikispaces.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MJ Ray [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 17 February 2011 11:51
> To: Ken Chad
> Cc: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Open Source LMS - experiences please
>
> Ken Chad wrote:
>> There are no HE libraries using open source LMS (just) yet so the
> libraries
>> listed are in other sectors..NHS, companies etc.
>
> I think that's a bit of a mistake. franciscans.ac.uk implemented Koha
> years ago and the co-op installed one at a UK university even before
> that (but it's no longer in use so I won't name it).
>
> UK universities have been pretty slow to adopt FOSS LMSes, but
> smaller HE institutions have been trailblazing for a long time.
>
> The co-op is still here, developing Koha and supporting education as
> part of our core mission, more than as a way to generate profit.
> However, we have sometimes chosen to serve more people, better and/or
> more certainly than gambling lots of resources dancing through
> procurement procedures which appear to make it hard for FOSS, hard for
> social enterprises and double-hard for a FOSS co-op! OSS-Watch.ac.uk
> offers good advice, but I don't feel it's been reflected in recent UK
> HE procurement yet. Do you think the move by government towards
> co-ops will help?
>
> Regards,
> --
> MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
> Past Koha Release Manager (2.0), LMS programmer, statistician, webmaster.
> In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
> Available for hire for Koha work http://www.software.coop/products/koha
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