What I Learned Today…

Web 2.0 and programming tips from a library technology enthusiast, What I Learned Today… covers blogs, rss, wikis and more as they relate to libraries.

Category Archives: Open Source

Code4Lib 2008: VuFind

February 29th, 2008

In Andrew Nagy’s presentation From Idea to Open Source, he took us through the process of creating VuFind, an open-source OPAC replacement/Library portal.

At Villanova, they wanted to develop a portal for library patrons that would let people search the catalog, the article databases and digital library all in one – and keep it separate from the ILS. The goal was one single interface for all library resources in order to minimize the learning curve associated with having many different interfaces.

After doing some asking around, they quickly found that many other academic libraries were having the same problem – so the question became – why don’t we do it together? Why not make this an open-source project so that others can participate and benefit from the work of others?

The Goal

At Villanova, they wanted to build a system that would work with any ILS (including Koha & Evergreen – which Andrew called “our open source cousins”) and needs to work on a variety of platforms (Linux, Windows, etc).

The goal was not to replace the ILS, keep the ILS to do what it does best – but change the web app our patrons use so that it better meets their needs and expectations. VuFind uses the ILS to pull live holdings data from and either harvest bib data (if the ILS doesn’t provide direct database access) or query existing index (mostly used on the open-source ILSes which provide a way to let you in to search directly).

By having this top layer in addition to your ILS, you can easily change ILSes in the future without disrupting your patrons or changing the way they’re used to working. All this, just by separating the OPAC from the ILS.

Making it Open Source

The next step is to take this open source and share it – Villanova is not the marketplace to sell/support software. Andrew made a call to the audience to help build a collaborative community around VuFind so that this project can take off and be successful. Since other institutions are interested in it it would be a shame for Villanova to keep it to themselves – this is why open source is the next logical stop for the project.

In order to do this decisions have to be made, the right tools need to chosen. Some options were Sourceforge and Google Code. Right now, the VuFind team chose Sourceforge – they don’t find that it has all of the tools they need, but it was a good first step in making the project shareable.

The future vision includes having a local SVN or CVS and using a tool like JIRA, TRAC, Bugzilla, etc. These options lead to true freedom, but require a hosting institution.

Positives of Open-sourcing

  • collaborative code sharing
  • idea sharing
  • university gets national attention (good for the university – and shows the directors that it’s worth spending time on)

Negatives of Open-sourcing

  • mailing list support – requires time that you may not have
  • facilitate communication – also takes time
  • possibility of people not have things unanswered due to time constraints
  • time involved with marketing – getting the word out (the true success of an open-source project is word of mouth) – requires traveling and schmoozing
  • project switching is expensive (we all have other jobs – jumping from our primary roles to assist in VuFind is time-consuming & thus expensive)

Where VuFind is now

Most importantly, we need easy ways to install the software. Everyone knows about the famous WordPress 1 minute install – this should be the goal. The product requires easy install and integration, strong user interface and strong functionality before it will be widely adopted (I’d argue that the interface is pretty strong already – just a few more tweaks and it’s there).

When open-sourcing a project you need a roadmap for organization, to keep the process agile and to communicate with the community so they know what you’re doing from time to time. The start to this is the VuFind site and Sourceforge, but as Andrew said, not everything needed can be found in Sourceforge.

Conclusions

I’ve seen Andrew talk a few times about VuFind and I think this was the best of all of the talks I saw. It showed me how I can help, it showed me that there is a plan and a pretty mapped out one for VuFind. I see this as a viable option for librarians looking for a way to to integrate searching of all of their collections in one easy to use, clean, interface.

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500 million Firefox downloads

February 22nd, 2008

Yesterday Mozilla announced that Firefox has been downloaded 500 million times!!

Firefox just reached 500,000,000 downloads. This is an absolutely phenomenal milestone for Firefox. It is sort of hard to imagine what that number means. For some perspective, that’s roughly the audience size of 10,000 Rome Colosseums combined. It would be the weight, in kilograms, of 8,500 Boeing 747 airplanes. In dollars, for $500 million you and 15 of your friends can fly to the International Space Station.

To celebrate they’re asking that we help people in need:

OR, you can affect change and invite 15 of your friends to play a game and feed 25,000 people. With your help we can break another milestone today with FreeRice.com –500,000,000 grains of donated rice in one day. Imagine helping to feed the hungry while picking up some new vocabulary too!

This is great news! Now if more libraries would just make Firefox their default browser on patron stations – imagine how many more downloads Mozilla would be able to report??

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Launchy for Windows – Like Finder for Mac

February 17th, 2008

As you know, I’ve recently gotten my first Mac. I’m still learning. One of the features I like the most is Finder. Last night my husband installed an awesome Windows app that gives Finder functionality to his PC – Launchy.

Launchy is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes!

Using this open source application, Windows users can easily mimic the functionality of Finder without switching to a Mac.

I should mention that my husband is using Windows XP. He says that Vista has a function something like this but for some reason it doesn’t work for games – so if you’re a gamer, like him, then you probably want to give Launchy a go.

[update] Derik pointed me to an awesome app that is actually closer to Launchy – but for Mac. Called Quicksilver. [/update]

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Welcome to LibLime

February 4th, 2008

My new Macbook thanks me
Originally uploaded by nengard

This week I’m in Ohio to learn about my new job at LibLime. First on the agenda – learn how to use a Mac … yikes!

So far, I’m pretty impressed, I keep hitting the wrong buttons and can’t figure out where the home and end buttons are (do they even exist?), but I’m having fun learning.

I also got to meet some fellow colleagues and chat with them and learn more about my job. I can’t wait to jump in and start working. For now you can listen to my interview with Richard Wallis on Talking with Talis – but keep an eye out for me to start my actual work after this week of training.

You can also see my pictures from today and yesterday.

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Movable Type Follows Suit

February 2nd, 2008

When I give my blog presentations I always mention MovableType, but I also mention that it’s not open source like WordPress (which is my blog tool of choice). Now, MovableType has an open source free option for non-commercial use.

As of today, and forever forward, Movable Type is open source. This means you can freely modify, redistribute, and use Movable Type for any purpose you choose….

  • MTOS has every feature in Movable Type 4.0 along with several new minor improvements and bug fixes.
  • All plugins, themes, templates, designs, and APIs that work with MT4 work with MTOS. MTOS also works with other Six Apart open source technologies such as memcached.
  • MTOS is one of the only open source blogging tools with
    built-in support for an unlimited number of blogs, an unlimited number
    of authors, and sign-in with OpenID, with no plugins needed.

Learn more here.

Found via LibrarianInBlack.

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Another great leap for open source

January 27th, 2008

I don’t where to begin with this. I have just read several different blogs/emails/releases all about this amazing leap for the open source ILS & other open source library tools.

Let’s start with Roy:

So anyway, here’s the skinny: IndexData, WebFeat, and CARE Affiliates have partnered to create a service they’ve dubbed OpenTranslators. In a nutshell, this service makes any of the some 10,000 databases for which WebFeat has developed search connections available to be searched through SRU or Z39.50. In [one] stroke, they have made all of these sources available for searching by any application that can work with one of these protocols.

Next, Sebastian:

I don’t mind saying that this solution also addresses one of my deep, long-term beefs with the present metasearch market. Traditionally, database gateways have been hidden behind closely held proprietary APIs, and generally each vendor has painstakingly developed their own set of gateways. This practice has set the bar of entry into the market very high and has effectively stifled competition. It has also meant that resources that could have otherwise been expended on innovation and better user experiences have instead been wasted on redundant database connector development. Our interest is in developing new, exciting applications, and supporting others who are coming up with cool stuff and new services.

And lastly, the press release:

OpenTranslators will allow libraries to use the federated search interface of their choice to access over 10,000 databases using SRU/SRW/Z39.50. The databases consist of: licensed databases, free databases, catalogs, Z39.50, Telnet and proprietary databases. Libraries that already have a Z39.50 client in their OPAC will be able to connect to, not only library catalogs, but also thousands of additional databases. Those libraries that are building or already using an open source federated search tool will now be able to expand the world of information that can be accessed. Finally, for those institutions/organizations building new mashup clients, this will allow them to access and use vast amounts of additional content.

This is such a big step for libraries and open source! At least – I think it is ;) This is certainly something I will be keeping an eye on.

[update] It seems that I (and many others) may have jumped the gun on excitement. Check out some of the valid questions made by Sol at the Federated Search blog. I will be doing a lot of reading on this in the following week and see if I can come to understand it all just a bit better. [/update]

Woa – what an amazing idea!

November 7th, 2007

From a post by Joseph Lucia at Villanova on the ngc4lib mailing list:

If we look beyond money to personnel, the option looks even better. Let me suggest some numbers. What if, in the U.S., 50 ARL libraries, 20 large public libraries, 20 medium-sized academic libraries, and 20 Oberlin group libraries anted up one full-time technology position for collaborative open source development. That’s 110 developers working on library applications with robust, quickly-implemented current Web technology — not legacy stuff. There is not a company in the industry that I know of which has put that much technical effort into product development. With such a cohort of developers working in libraries on library technology needs — and in light of the creativity and thoughtfulness evident on forums like this one — I think we would quickly see radical change in the library technology arena. Instead of being technology followers, I venture to say that libraries might once again become leaders. Let’s add to the pool some talent from beyond the U.S. — say ! 20 libraries in Canada, 10 in Australia, and 10 in the U.K. put staff into the pool. We’ve now got 150 developers in this little start-up. Then we begin pouring our current software support funds into regional collaboratives. Within a year or two, we could be re-directing 10s of millions of dollars into regional technology development partnerships sponsored by and housed within the regional consortia, supporting and extending the work of libraries. The potential for innovation and rapid deployment of new tools boggles the mind. The resources at our disposal in this scenario dwarf what any software vendor in our small application space is ever going to support. And, as is implicit in all I’ve said, the NGC is just the tip of the iceberg.

Now this is a list I subscribed to back when it started, but I was totally overwhelmed by the emails – but I think I should re-subscribe and keep an eye on what people are saying – because this one idea is just awesome and so simple if you think about it.

eXtensible Catalog (XC) gets more funding

November 5th, 2007

This sounds very promising. The eXtensible Catalog project has received more funding. I love seeing open source library apps moving forward:

A $749,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the University’s River Campus Libraries will be used toward building and deploying the eXtensible Catalog (XC), a set of open-source software applications libraries can use to share their collections. The grant money will also be used to support broad adoption of the software by the library community. The grant and additional funding from the University and partner institutions makes up the $2.8 million needed for the project. The resulting system will allow libraries to simplify user access to all library resources, both digital and non-digital.

Via University of Rochester Press Release.