Rose Cornelson Montgomery Library
Date: 31 August 2011
To: Ned Morris, Ann Harken, Chris Lynn
From: Stephen Tulloh
Subject: Modernizing the Library
The library must become more efficient--that is, easier to manage and easier to investigate--lest it return to a patronless storage area that it had come to be until a couple of weeks ago. We have an extensive collection of religious information that could be useful to parishioners, students at local colleges, and patrons of the public library if only they knew more about our holdings. An electronic management system, similar to the system by which the public library operates, will allow volunteers to direct the use of the library's information more effectively and will make the library's holdings more searchable, opening the library to more people. If we shift to an electronic management system, it would differ from the public library's system in two major ways. Our system would be free, and it would be adaptable.
Current System
There are three ways a patron can investigate the library's holdings, and each requires the patron to be in Satterlee Hall. He/she can browse the shelves, leaf through the card catalog, or peruse a printout. One problem is the library may not have what the person wants or needs, but he/she put forth effort to come to the library. Although leafing through the card catalog is quicker than browsing the shelves, it is inconvenient because the cabinet occupies a corner of the library workroom, a space that accommodates one person. To search for items via subject, one must stoop or squat. Another problem is the organization of the printout, via call numbers, which is beneficial to librarians, not patrons.
If a patron wants to borrow an item, he/she must complete a series of tasks to check out the item. First, the patron must complete a registration card. Second, he/she must file it. Third, the patron must sign the check-out card and write the date on it. Fourth, he/she must file that card.
That process is not difficult. Cataloging all the donations since 2005, however, will be difficult. The database, if it remains, has not been updated for six years. The library received hundreds of donations throughout that period. If we do not shift to an electronic management system, volunteers will need--for each item--to determine the call number, to type three similar cards for the catalog, to enter the information into the database, and to type a check-out card. Again, volunteers will need to do all the aforementioned for each item.
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New System
Shifting to an electronic management system will not consume more time than maintaining the current system. Such systems generate call numbers via International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN's), and they eliminate redundant tasks, such as typing three similar cards for a catalog. They also produce all the relevant information a patron needs to determine whether an item meets his/her needs. Furthermore, patrons can search for an item via author, title or subject, and they can do such remotely.
Libraries have been shifting to electronic management systems because the systems are more efficient. However, with respect to public and academic libraries, those systems are expensive to install and maintain. For libraries with significantly fewer holdings, there are cost-effective choices, one being open-source, integrative software.
Open-source software is available to the public for free. The developers reason that those who use the source codes will modify them, ensuring the applications will be more useful and errorless than compiled applications, which tend to become outmoded sooner. (For more information about open-source and compiled software, please refer to Appendix A). Because users customize the codes, open-source software continuously evolves, and there are networks of users that provide technical support.
Our Options
There are six reputable providers of open-source, integrative library management software. At one end of the range is Liblime Koha, which is appropriate for public and academic libraries. It charges for a warranty and technical support. Georgia's public library system developed and maintains Evergreen, but it, like SOPAC2, requires Apache, an internet service provider, and MySQL, open-source database software, both with which I am not familiar. At the other end of the range is Library Thing, a community for individuals who want to catalog their books online. In the middle of the range are OpenBiblio and BiblioteQ. Both are for midsize libraries, but OpenBiblio lacks refinement.
My Recommendation
Windows supports BiblioteQ, and the code is in a language (C++) I understand. The application will simplify the management of the library and will make it more serviceable. Volunteers will be able to catalog books, periodicals, audiotapes, compact disks, videotapes, and digital versatile disks, and they will be able to do such without comprehensive knowledge of Dewey Decimal Classification, for the software will generate control, call and class numbers via ISBN's. Thus, the classification of items will be less subjective. The application also will produce images of covers by way of Amazon and will retrieve information--title, authors, publishers, et cetera--by way of Z39.50 queries. (For more information about Z39.50, please refer to Appendix B.) Because the software shortens the time to catalog items, volunteers will be able to focus on other administrative tasks--such as creating accounts; updating patrons' information; generating lists of overdue, requested and reserved items; and printing and interpreting statistics.
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Because BiblioteQ has uniform functionality across various platforms, courtesy of Z39.50, patrons will be able to access the library's holdings remotely. And they will be able to query the library's holdings via author, title or subject. They will be able to request an unavailable item, to reserve an item, or to communicate with a volunteer. Furthermore, they will be able to gather more information through embedded hyperlinks to Amazon, the Library of Congress, or another website.
An Alternative
The library has a compiled application, ResourceMate, that Jaywil Software Development released in 2005. The problem is the version, 2.0 Plus, does not have some of the essential features volunteers will need to manage the library efficiently. For example, if we are unable to locate the database, an army of volunteers will have to spend hundreds of hours creating another catalog of the library's holdings. To reduce the number of volunteers and the amount of time that would require, we need to upgrade from 2.0 Plus to 3.0 Plus, which will cost $129.00. Then, we must upgrade the screen license from 2.0 to 3.0, and that will cost $10.00. To generate information about an item via ISBN's and Z39.50 queries--the most essential features--we must register our version and pay for support, which is $70.00 per year. Finally, to make the library's holdings searchable via the Web, we must pay $149.00. To summarize: we initially will need to pay Jaywil $358, and that does not include taxes, for something we can get at no cost.
The Future
We also will need to pay Jaywil $70.00 every subsequent year for support. On the other hand, with respect to BiblioteQ, volunteers will be able to change the graphics and information on the homepage, to update the software, and to seek help through BiblioteQ's national users' network. An army of volunteers will not need to manage the library; several volunteers will be able to prevent the neglect that has befallen it.
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Appendix A: Compiled versus Open-Source Software
If you have bought or downloaded ready-to-run software, then it is likely that software was compiled, run through a compiler that translated and formatted the source (program) code so that your computer could understand it. Few people can modify compiled versions of applications, and fewer can determine the ways developers created the parts of them. Commercial software manufacturers compile their codes to prevent other manufacturers from copying and using them. Compilation also allows manufacturers to control the quality and features of products.
In contrast to compiled software, open-source software includes the source code, for the developer wants the user to modify it, ensuring the usefulness and longevity of the product. The software development industry regards software as open-source if it meets six criteria:
- The license must not exclude other software.
- The software must not interfere with the operation of other software.
- The distribution of the software must be free.
- The software must include the source code.
- Anybody can modify the source code.
- Custom versions can be redistributed.
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Appendix B: What Is Z39.50?
Z39.50 is a standard for information retrieval. It was developed to overcome the problems with searching multiple databases--problems such as knowledge of unique menus, command language, and search procedures. Z39.50 simplifies the search process, making it possible for a searcher to use the interface of the local system to search both our library's holdings as well as other libraries' holdings.
Z39.50 corresponds to the client-server model of computing in which two computers interact in a peer-to-peer relationship with each computer having a specific functional task. The local system is known as the origin, and it performs all the communicative functions relative to a search--that is, sending a query and requesting the return of records. The Z39.50 part of the local system is known as the target, and it interfaces with the database in the remote system--for example, the Library of Congress--and responds to messages from the origin, providing records that correspond to the query.
One of the many advantages of Z39.50 is that the searcher does not need to know the details of the standard. The origin module within the local system is responsible for establishing the connection to the target, formulating the query, interpreting the results, tracking the results, terminating a session, and so forth. Thus, the searcher only needs to know one set of commands to search our library's holdings and other library's holdings.
The Z39.50 method of information retrieval is different from the traditional method, whereby a searcher uses a local terminal to log into a remote system and uses that system's unique menus, command language, and search procedures. The implementation of Z39.50 will eliminate the need for expertise in the use of a large number of dissimilar systems.
Regardless of the platform or software, systems are able to participate in an information retrieval session if both systems support the Z39.50 standard. Our library needs a system that supports the Z39.50 standard so that volunteers and patrons can perform a wide range of tasks.
