Taken as a whole, the community and member surveys LYRASIS did a year ago found
that open source software is still in early adoption. There are notable
packages that are breaking out of that stage, but the the majority of survey
responses said that libraries are seeking assistance with figuring out if and
what software is right for them.
Marshall's numbers do show an interesting up-tick in the adoption of open
source, but I don't think we can call it a trend yet. The way the world looks
from my vantage point is that there is still a lot of interest in open source
and usefulness in a tool like the one being proposed. (I will concede to some
bias on this point, though.)
Peter
On Aug 4, 2011, at 6:13 PM, BWS Johnson wrote:
> I am fascinated by this assertion. Perhaps I'm just misreading. The
> technology adaptation curve I remember from Rogers and Crossing the Chasm
> would break down to about a third of folks finding themselves in the early
> majority. Much fizzles between the Innovators and Early Adopters, and the
> same occurs again between the early adopters and the early majority.
>
> Are you really viewing all open source at the same point in the curve, namely
> still in early adoption? Even if one were to squint and apply the lens of
> Librarians being more conservative than average in terms of adopting new
> things (which I'm not sure is true profession wide) open source and Library
> Science at this point have a history.
>
> Koha is in its eleventh year.
> Dspace is 9ish.
> This listserv is cruising about its 8th.
> Evergreen is at least 5 years on, now.
> VuFind is 4ish years.
>
> There are certainly many more that belong on this list that slip my
> mind at present.
>
> When one considers Johnson's arguments on innovation contained in Where Good
> Ideas Come From (Less scholarly than Diffusion of Innovations, but every bit
> as valuable in my eyes) the diversity contained here parallels the explosion
> in the pace of innovation elsewhere.
>
> Marshall Breeding stated that "This year SirsiDynix and Innovative
> Interfaces were especially hard struck by open source competitors." in this
> year's Automation Marketplace. I'd argue that if the development were pre
> chasm, it wouldn't eat the established competition's lunches like that.
>
>
> With all due respect, I would think that it would be fair to peg a
> large consortial entity or National Library at the right hand side of the
> curve. I think this ends up happening more often than not since there is a
> perception that if the wrong decisions were taken too early on, it would
> reflect poorly on a prestigious institution.
>
> Cheers,
> Brooke
--
Peter Murray peter.mur...@lyrasis.org tel:+1-678-235-2955
Ass't Director, Technology Services Development http://dltj.org/about/
LYRASIS -- Great Libraries. Strong Communities. Innovative Answers.
The Disruptive Library Technology Jester http://dltj.org/
Attrib-Noncomm-Share http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/
