[CODE4LIB] Ten years
This might be a good time to reflect upon where we've been and where we're headed. Almost exactly ten years have passed, I think, since open source software in libraries became self-aware as a movement. Sure, there has always been open source software, but I would mark the real start as when the oss4lib listserv came into being. It provided a forum for like-minded folks to kick around ideas and discuss what they were doing. I remember ALA 2000 in Chicago. That was cool! Tim O'Reilly graciously gave us space at his booth there, letting us show off the early projects we were doing. And to any of you who happened to be at NERCOMP at Wesleyan University in Connecticut the following year -- I apologise. I am not an extemporaneous speaker, as I discovered! Then Koha happened. Then Evergreen, and a multitude of other projects. Overall, I am pleased by what has happened. Open source software for libraries has matured into a real option for any library. My little project fell by the wayside during that time, but it's always been there -- I just haven't done much with it. I am returning to it now with fresh ideas. What do the rest of you think about the past ten years? What about the next ten? Peter Schlumpf Avanti Library Systems http://www.avantilibrarysystems.com
Re: [CODE4LIB] Serials Solutions Summon
Yitzchak - I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you have about Summon. I will give a brief description to answer your questions - but for any other questions you might have we can discuss offline as to not spam the mailing list with lots of propaganda for Summon - thought it is really awesome and everyone should purchase a subscription :) Summon is really more than an NGC as we are selling it as a service - a unified discovery service. This means that it is a single repository of the library's content ( subscription content, catalog records, IR data, etc.). Federated search is not apart of Summon ( thought federated search could be used along side of Summon), all of your library's content is indexed in a single repository - no need for broadcast searching. We have an API for Summon that allows you to access the service with all of the features that we offer through the Summon User Interface. This allows you to plug Summon searching into an NGC such as VuFind or Blacklight (I've done the development for Summon integration in VuFind already). Our company is also working on the Summon integration for AquaBrowser. I'd be more than happy to give a demonstration for your institution on Summon so you can see it in action and get a better understanding. Please email me directly for any other questions - or if you would like to schedule a demonstation for your library. Cheers Andrew On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 12:03 PM, Yitzchak Schaffer yitzc...@touro.eduwrote: Hello all: I see that there was an Andrew Nagy-led breakout on Summon at the con. Summon is a NGC product with the distinction of using a local copy of indexes of licensed content (by agreement with Elsevier, JSTOR, et alia) for federated search - rather than the traditional Z39.50 or API calls to vendor servers. Can anyone offer a brief summary of what was discussed? I am particularly interested in the feasibility of obtaining local indexes for use in an OSS product. Best, -- Yitzchak Schaffer Systems Manager Touro College Libraries 33 West 23rd Street New York, NY 10010 Tel (212) 463-0400 x5230 Fax (212) 627-3197 Email yitzc...@touro.edu Twitter /torahsyslib
Re: [CODE4LIB] Ten years
At first I was thinking only ten years? Really? But then I realized that you were talking about true library open source software (as opposed to librarians involved with open source projects, which clearly predated 1999), and that it was when the movement became self-aware. So then I became curious when the oss4lib.org domain was registered and a quick WHOIS lookup told me: Domain Name:OSS4LIB.ORG Created On:17-Nov-1999 23:05:50 UTC So perhaps ten years isn't that far off after all. I also had no idea it was registered by someone in Portugal. Roy On 4/18/09 4/18/09 6:17 AM, Peter Schlumpf pschlu...@earthlink.net wrote: This might be a good time to reflect upon where we've been and where we're headed. Almost exactly ten years have passed, I think, since open source software in libraries became self-aware as a movement. Sure, there has always been open source software, but I would mark the real start as when the oss4lib listserv came into being. It provided a forum for like-minded folks to kick around ideas and discuss what they were doing. I remember ALA 2000 in Chicago. That was cool! Tim O'Reilly graciously gave us space at his booth there, letting us show off the early projects we were doing. And to any of you who happened to be at NERCOMP at Wesleyan University in Connecticut the following year -- I apologise. I am not an extemporaneous speaker, as I discovered! Then Koha happened. Then Evergreen, and a multitude of other projects. Overall, I am pleased by what has happened. Open source software for libraries has matured into a real option for any library. My little project fell by the wayside during that time, but it's always been there -- I just haven't done much with it. I am returning to it now with fresh ideas. What do the rest of you think about the past ten years? What about the next ten? Peter Schlumpf Avanti Library Systems http://www.avantilibrarysystems.com --
