AN IMPLEMENTATION OF AN OPEN SOURCE LIBIMS SOFTWARE ...

AN IMPLEMENTATION OF AN OPEN SOURCE LIBIMS SOFTWARE: “KOHA” AT MEDICAL LIBRARY MRI D.S.Thubellage, M.U.T.Perera, A. Samaranayake, A.H.K. Balasooriya

In collaboration with WHO & Ministry of Health

Background  System was introduced at a workshop

organized by the HELLIS (Librarians) network and MOH sponsored by WHO in 2013

(Some of the content of this presentation was gathered from the internet)

Medical LibraryMedical Research Institute

Few users due to limited time space etc despite enough resources Irregular use Limited staff Less user friendliness of the set up Keenness of users to use modern technology

Purpose  to describe the need of an automated system

for the library, the selection process and criteria that led to the implementation of the Koha 3.14 library management system (LIBIMS) at the Medical Library of Medical Research Institute, Colombo 08, Sri Lanka

Design,Methodology,Approch  Analysis of the need of an automated system  Search for available software in the internet  Analysis of them and compare  Formulating the criteria to fulfill  Selecting a suitable product for implementation

Koha and Commercial LMS: S.No

Core services

Alice

Libsys

New Genlib

Soul

01

Acquisition

1

1

1

1

02

Cataloguing

1

1

1

03

Circulation

1

1

04

Web/OPAC

1

05

Serials

06

VTLS

Libsuite

Koha

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

Biblio format

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

07

Data exchange

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

10

Standards

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

11

Cost(Approx.) Rs.

30Lakh

40 Lakh

Open Source

8Lakh

65 Lakh

40 Lakh

Open Source

Open Source Integrated Library System Products :   

  

MicroLCS, Emilda Evergreen FireFly GNUTeca Avanti

  



 

Koha OpenBiblio phpMyLibrary PMB(PhpMyBi bli) PYTHEAS WEBLIS

Criteria for Evaluating Open Source Integrated Library Systems : 

Active current development under way



Cataloging, circulation, patron access catalog modules , acquisitions and serials control should be available. (Integrated library system)



MARC (MAchine-Readable Cataloging) standards – supported(MARC 21).



The source code and documentation should be available for downloading under the GNU General Public License



The product should be currently in use in many libraries acros the globe



Scalability



Adaptability and user friendly system

Findings  Koha 3.14 was selected because it is open

source & considered more future –focused than other open source as well as proprietary products, and comparatively more room for customization to meet the future needs of the library service, comparatively easiness for the installation and the available immense community support.

koha  Developer(s): Koha Community

 Initial release :January 2000  Stable release: 3.16.3 / August 27, 2014; 34 days  

 



ago Written in Perl Operating system :Dabian ( Recommended) Type: Integrated library system License :GNU General Public License v3 or later Website: koha-community.org

What is Koha ?  a full featured Integrated Library System (ILS). no cost for

the license, have the freedom to modify the product to adapt it to your needs, etc.  Originated in New Zealand  It is currently maintained by a dedicated team of software

providers and library technology staff from around the globe.

Why Open Source Software “Koha” ? 







Proven, Stable Technologies: Koha is tried and tested and has demonstrated both stability and scalability, used in thousands of libraries worldwide. Software Collaboration and Resource Sharing: software solutions that are freely available to all libraries worldwide. libraries benefits from the contributions of other participating library systems. Long term Support: With proprietary software, source code is 'closed' and support and future development of the product rely on the success and resources of a single vendor. If the vendor goes under, so does your product support. Open-source solutions rely on stable code bases developed and supported by many providers worldwide. User-driven: open-source software user-driven--you decide what features are important and deserve attention rather than a vendor. continued----

Why Open Source Software “Koha”? Contd…. 









Cost-effective: paying licensing fees for proprietary solutions, users of open-source software can often deploy the product using in-house resources. They pay only for needed support or any additional vendor services they require Innovation: code is open, users are free to innovate and improve the software to meet their needs Free innovation also means that open-source software has much faster development cycles when compared to proprietary software Free/open source software koha is an economical alternative to reliance upon commercially supplied software. It means the cost involved development, license, upgrading, maintenance etc., lower than commercial software. koha does not need the initial cost like commercial software Free/Open source Koha has all the features of commercial software Motivate and encourage staff to creativities

What does it cost Koha? 

Free/open source software Free download under the GNU General Public License



Users of open-source software Koha can often deploy yourself using in-house resources. They pay only for needed support or any additional vendor services they require



It means the cost involved development, upgrading, maintenance etc., Koha does not need the initial cost like commercial software



Here cost means commitment, dedication, and a long term efforts to sustain and development of the software

Who uses Koha?  More than 2000 libraries worldwide are

using Koha, including academic, public, school and special libraries, in Africa, Australia, Canada, USA, France, India and, of course, New Zealand. Along with a committed team of programmers its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their task

Koha Users Eg. Name

Type

website

Antioch University

Academic

http://library.afognak.org/

Northland Bible Baptist College

Academic

https://libcat.nbbc.edu/

Open University of Sri Lanka

Academic

http://lib.ou.ac.lk/

Childcare Resource and Research Unit – University of Toronto

Academic

http://circonline.ca

West Liberty Public Library

Public

http://opac.wlpl.org

Nelsonville Public Library System (7 library branches

Public

http://search.athenscounty.lib.o h.us/

Horowhenua Library Trust

Public

http://www.library.org.nz/

Asian School of Business,Trivandrum Kerala

Business school

www.asb.edu.in

Koha Features               

A full featured modern integrated library software (ILS) OS independent any operating system. Linux, Unix, Mac, Windows Web based. Web-based Interfaces. We can integrate with website Full MARC21 and UNIMARC support for professional cataloguing Multilingual and multi-user support Library-Standards-Compliant. industrial standards & protocols Customizable web based opac. circulation system Online reservation Full catalogue, circulation, acquisitions, library stock management. Web based OPAC, public to search the catalogue Major industry-standard database type (text, RDBMS), SQL,MYSQL. Serial management module Print your barcode Export and import records, ISO2709 Purchase suggestions

Koha System Architecture:  



 

Koha is based on a client-server architecture Network Server: koha can be installed on a server running Linux, Unix, Mac. The recommended operating system is stable version of Debian (Linux), although Koha can run on any modern operating system( Windows, Ubunto ) Client Workstations: Koha requires only a web browser on the workstation (a graphical browser, or even a text browser for the OPAC- online public access catalog). Koha thus functions on PCs running Windows , Linux, Macs, or even UNIX workstations Koha runs over any TCP-IP network(Transmission Control Protocol) Koha accommodates low-bandwidth connections. It is completely usable on ordinary telephone line connections. This is more true of the librarian interface than of the public interface (OPAC)

Koha Standards  





Adhere strictly to international standards. Industry standards: Z39.50, UNIMARC, ISO2709, MARC21. For technical standards: the OPAC is "valid XHTML1 ", and respects the standards of accessibility. Web standards recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium.

(1-is a family of XML markup languages that mirror or extend versions of the widely used Hypertext Markup Language) (HTML)

Koha Requirement:  Koha version 3.14 ( Latest is 3.16) Free

(download from , http://koha-community.org/ or http://www.koha.org/  Apache web server, 2.0.58 free (download from (http://www.apache.org)  MySQL. Relational Database Management System (http://www.mysql.com) free

 Perl modules 5.8.(http://www.cpan.org). free.  For Server-Linux- Dabian (RHEL 3.0, 4.0,

5.0) or Any of LINUX

Koha Server Software:  Server operating system: Dabian, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, MacOS X, or any other Unix.  Web server: Apache.  Programming language: Perl.  Database: MySQL.  Integrated Library software: Koha 3.14

Koha Client Software:  Koha requires a recent Internet browser.

 Mozilla is advised, but not obligatory. (Koha works with Internet Explorer.).  Certain data validity checks are made on the client machine, JavaScript must be enabled.  The public interface (OPAC) conforms with XHTML1.0 standards: the utility is thus compatible with alternate browsers. In particular, the OPAC can be used by people needing special assistive technology (Braille browsers, voice synthesis, text-based broswers, etc.).

Skill Requirements To Operate System:  





Koha's interfaces are designed with usability in mind and are extremely user friendly. Staff and patrons with only basic computer skills have quickly learned to use the system efficiently. The cataloging module requires an understanding of cataloging practices such as MARC, Z30.50 retrieval tools, how to add holdings information, etc. Administrators should know operating system (Linux, etc.)for maintenance, some knowledge of cataloging in setting up the system preferences.

System Overview:

Koha Resources :  http://kohadocs.org koha documentation project  http://koha.org/manual The official Koha manual  http://www.skemotah.com/ Stephen Hedges' Koha migration guide       

 

Migrating_to_Koha.html http://athenscounty.lib.oh.us/koha.html Joshua Ferraro's Koha installation guide and other Koha documents http://sourceforge.net/projects/koha Koha project CVS host (2.2/2.0 source code repository/download) http://www.mjr.dsl.pipex.com/ Koha project Arch host (2.0 source code/repository/download) http://koha.org/wiki KohaWiki http://bugs.koha.org Koha bug reporting system http://koha.org/mailing/ Koha mailing lists page http://koha.org/irc/ Koha IRC logs http://koha.org Koha Homepage http://www.ttllp.co.uk/koha/ Koha England

Main advantages  Can run a library with minimum available

qualified librarian?  Can run a library without any body ?

Yes & No  Can run a library with minimum available

qualified librarian? Yes  Can run a library without any body ? No

You need a qualified librarian to do the huge work behind the stage. This is to facilitate the librarian.

Frequently Asked Questions  Collection Size- How many books Record can koha handle?  Readers- How many readers can koha handle?  Circulation- How many transaction can koha handle per year?  Biggest Library- which is the biggest among those who uses?

Answers from the users and Developers  All the data i.e. records, readers, circulations data is stored in

database mysql. All the limitation are enforced by database and your hardware, network connectivity , not by the software.  Nelsonville Public Library System, Athens County OH, USA 7

branches; 300,000 items; 50,000 borrowers; 600,000 annual circulation OPAC: http:// search.athenscounty.lib.oh.us  The Harward County library system is switched to koha some

time back and they do transaction 50,00,000 issue per year  North East University Library, Cyprus 2 million records OPAC:

http://library.neu.edu.tr

Acknowledgement  

    

Dilara Begum, Librarian (Head of Library) , Southeast University Library, Bangladesh Sangeeta Kaul Network Manager , DELNET,New Delhi, India Mrs. Shyamalie Thebuwana- Librarian , WHO Country office Sri Lanka Mrs. Chandra Gunathilake-Librarian MRI Mr . U.Hettiarachchi- Senior Assistant Librarian University of Ruhuna, Sri lanka Mrs. Kuruppu Senior Assistant Librarian FOM,University of Colombo Specialty Board of BMI PGIM,Colombo and organizers of this event

Thank you !