TechEssence.info

I've been writing a lot about open source stuff lately, and I find my back getting up everytime I have to refer to Evergreen or Koha as an open source ILS. You see, I think the ILS (Integrated Library System) is exactly what we're trying to get away from with open source products such as Evergreen, Koha, OPALS and (please god) the others that are sure to follow.

So, I propose we let go of the image of the monolithic, tightly integrated (as in immobile and inflexible), closed, proprietary and non-standard ILS when we talk about open source versions of library software. I propose we say Open Source Library Software (OSLS).

If you haven't seen the new Amazon Windowshop site, you gotta click on over right away. This is where we are going. It's a complete experience. The user has complete control plus it has audio (music and spoken word) AND it includes great CD and book cover images as well as movie clips. Using space bar to get a bigger view of the items grouped together. Click the space bar again to zoom in. It's fun, it looks great and it walks and talks and sings!

Oh, and you can click on stuff to buy it or download it. So, it's simple too.

Now, while you are there...think about this. Imagine that (as you click the right arrow key) you are scrolling through material from your catalog in Dewey order (okay, imagine something even better than Dewey). Using the up arrow key takes you to related material (e.g. "See Also").

I'm thinking this would make a very nice addition to Amazon's Web Services product offering.

I've been using the expression "learned helplessness" a lot lately because that's how I see the situation libraries have found themselves in after a decade of integrated library systems.

I find it particularly disturbing because so much of the work I do seems to bump into roadblocks that point squarely at the ILS. And worse than the roadblock is the shoulder shrugging of so many of the library folk using that ILS software.

Too many worthy projects have died because the currently available integrated library systems (ILS) available today from commercial, proprietary vendors don't and won't support libraries and the services they've like to be providing to their customers.

Library Journal picked up on the Talis podcast about the Library Software Manifesto

The folks at Talis pulled together a group of knowledgeable folks to discuss the Library Software Manifesto published here at TechEssence.info. It has now been published on the Talking with Talis web site as a podcast.

Last week I gave a talk at the 2007 CODI Conference (Customers of Dynix, Inc.). I had decided to take as my topic a "library software manifesto" in which I would outline the rights and responsibilities of libraries and library software vendors. I posted about this on the Code4Lib mailing list and used some of the resulting comments in the resulting Library Software Manifesto published on this site.

This is offered in an attempt to rationalize the relationship between libraries and library systems vendors, which is presently unhealthy. I encourage comments directly on this post (see below) or emailed to me directly.

Consumer Rights

• I have a right to know what exists now and what is potential future functionality. — Marketing materials may tout a new product or a new version of a product, but I have a right to know what I will receive if I buy the product today.
• I have a right to use what I buy. — For example, it should not cost extra to create another index of my data.
• I have a right to the API if I've bought the product. — An application program interface (API) is simply a structured way for one application to communicate with another. In other words, the ability of a software program to send a structured query to another application and receive a structured response. Using the API for a product I've bought should not incur an additional charge.
• I have a right to complete and accurate documentation.
• I have a right to my data. — This includes the ability to bring forward not just my records, but also usage data (for example, how many times a book was checked out), since such information will be increasingly important for relevance ranking and other purposes.
• I have a right to have read-only access to the database. — There are many good reasons why customers should be blocked from writing directly to an underlying database, but there are none for being able to only read from the database.
• I have a right to not have simple things needlessly complicated.
• I have a right to know the development path and timeline for a product I have purchased.
• I have a right to take technical questions to staff capable of understanding and answering them.
• I have a right to not be an involuntary beta tester.
• I have a right to have my work on local customizations and settings preserved across upgrades.

Consumer Responsiblities

• I have a responsibility to know the needs of my users.
• I have a responsibility to put the needs of my users before my own.
• I have a responsibility to communicate my needs clearly and specifically.
• I have a responsibility to verify that the enhancement requests I make are really what I want.
• I have a responsibility to assign enhancement priorities fairly. — Not every enhancement request can be top priority.
• I have a responsibility to realize I'm not special. — Therefore we should try to come to agreement on how to do the same things so we can minimize the investment in writing software to help us do it.
• I have a responsibility to select software using a fair and reasonable process. — Specifically, can we all agree to stop the pain of the RFP process? Please?
• I have a responsibility to report reproducible bugs in a way as to facilitate reproducing them.
• I have a responsibility to report irreproducible bugs with as much detail as I can provide.
• I have a responsibility to view any adjustments to default settings critically.

Shared Responsibilities

• We share a responsibility to begin from a position of mutual respect. — Only after a party makes an ass of themselves should we be free to make disparaging comments about them.
• We share a responsibility to communicate well.
• We share a responsibility to establish and maintain a rational enhancement process.
• We share a responsibility to keep the needs of the end-user paramount.
• We share a responsibility to lighten up and have fun! — I mean, no one dies in libraries. Let's get some perspective.

Note: Substantial contributions to this manifesto were made by Thomas Dowling and Carl Grant. This was first made public at the 2007 CODI Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, 8 November 2007.

"On September 5, 2006, over 250 libraries in the Georgia consortium, PINES, began using a next-generation integrated library system (ILS) they wrote from scratch. Within two months they racked up two million checkouts and half-a-million renewals for a collection of eight million items and 1.5 million borrowers." — "Dawn of a New Era," Library Journal, February 15, 2007.