> Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 10:48:47 +0200
> From: Ishwar Goudar <goudarishwar@googlemail.com>
>
> Dear Professionals,
>
> *I invite experiences, comments and opinions of professionals in the matter
> concerned to the selection of and migration to suitable Library Management
> System (LMS) for different kind of libraries taking into account of all
> factors like size and type of libraries, service after sale, cost factor,
> customization, availability of community for development in case of Open
> Source S/W, stability in the market, world wide popularity, compliance to
> international standards, cost, etc.* This discussion should help
> professionals for selecting suitable LMS and also for migrating from one
> ILMS to other if required. I have given below a detailed account of the
> entire process we did while adopting new LMS and implementing it.
> *
> Our Experience at University of Mysore*:
>
> *Background:*
>
> Our library had adopted Libsys 13 years back itself and was used for
> creating few thousand  OPAC records.  Later  in 2001 SLIM was used for
> adding a sizable number of  records to our OPAC. For some reason or the
> other these LMSs were not used for other housekeeping activities. After my
> joining UoM one year back I did lot of home work for choosing suitable LMS
> including the continuation of Libsys and SLIM. I did not want to jump for a
> new one immediately, but try the ones for which we already had
> licenses although for old versions of these LMSs. I contacted both the
> vendors, but failed to get favourable response, as both insisted on selling
> their new versions with very high  price  rather than helping us to revive
> the old versions.
>
> *Exercise for Selection of New LMS:*
>
> We did a serious exercise before choosing KOHA.  We constituted a committee
> of experts in the  field to recommend the suitable LMS for UoM. We also
> conducted one full day brain storming  session on this matter by inviting
> 7-8 librarians using  different LMSs. I had also distributed 7 page list of
> criteria for consideration and discussion.
>
> As you are aware there are number of commercial in the market and Open
> Source ILMSs. The good ones under commercial category are very costly ( in
> the range of 1.5 -15 lacs) depending upon the sophistication of the system,
> size of the library, after sales service, their market stability, etc. Some
> of them costing around 1.5-3.0 Lacs  are not
> suitable for bigger libraries like university libraries.
>
> We short listed NewGenLib and Koha based on many criteria. For the last few
> years NewGenLib is available as open source LMS.  However, for the last one
> year or so the developers are vending  an enterprises version of NewGenLib
> as they claim.  While the earlier version of NewGenLib is still available in
> OS the developers have stopped giving service to OS version users as
> indicated by their mail to me. Unfortunately we don't have NewGenLib  user
> community like that of KOHA for providing guidance, service,
> custamisation and adding new features for its open source version. We also
> don't have 3rd party service providers for NewGenLib OS version.
>
> We decided to go for KOHA as we felt that it is not only suitable for UoM
> with all its best features and functionalities, but we can get service
> support by a established third party like OSS Labs, Bangalore. More
> importantly improvements in functionality and features of KOHA are ensured
> due to its strong community world over. OSS Labs also has received some
> international support for its contribution towards KOHA 3.4 Version.
> Koha also has over a dozen vendors worldwide that provide services and
> develop the software. Several libraries around the world sponsor development
> and contribute to Koha in other ways like testing, documentation and even
> development. *Koha has always been and will always be open source and free.*
>
>
> *Automation Model Adopted at UoM and KOHA: *
>
> We have 58 libraries directly under UoM participating in our automation
> program including Main Library, Libraries of 5 colleges, 13 institutions
> and  36 Departments.
> Once completed, the OPAC will have about 10 Lacs records.
>
> *OPAC is single for all libraries:  Centralised database, decentralised
> inputting and housekeeping activities and Universal access to OPAC;  Unique
> accession number for every record in the OPAC irrespective of their location
> in different libraries. We also plan to issue patron ID cards with Unique ID
> Number across all libraries. This card would serve as Universal card among
> the group of libraries concerned.
>
> We have hosted our database in cloud hosting environment  (Amazon C2) and
> there by no expenditure on server, maintenance, manpower, air-conditioning,
> etc.  We pay nominal monthly rental to the server maintenance.  All
> participating libraries access the server directly for their housekeeping
> activities.
>
> **Status of KOHA Implementation:*
>
> So for we have added about 2 lac bibliographic records from 5 participating
> libraries to our OPAC.  MARC 21 is strictly followed. KOHA has been in use
> for Acquisition of books and other documents.  Membership IDs are being
> printed through KOHA.  Circulation section work has been experimented
> successfully  on trial basis taking into
> all features including creation of patron database, transactions, fine
> calculations, reminders, etc. The same will be practiced next week onwards
> coinciding the commencement of new academic year.  We will start Serials
> Control job very soon.
> We are downloading bibliographic records from libraries like LOC using
> Z39.50.
> Anybody can access our OPAC at* http://libcat.mysore-univ.org/*
> Both our library staff and users are very happy with features and
> functionalites of Koha.
>
> *We have not even spent one third of what we would have spent for a medium
> priced commercial LMS.  The amount we paid to  our service provider Nucsoft
> (its OSS Labs unit), Bangalore** covered installation and configuration,
> migration of existing data, training, little bit customisation, hosting
> initially on cloud hosting environment and AMC for one year.
>
> *The server is 99.95% reliable, accurate and 24 hours on time without any
> breaks.  We need not spend our time and money and space for server,
> air-conditioning and its maintenance or for system administration. The
> infrastructure is also scalable, additional system resources can be procured
> within minutes if required.
>
> *Koha Capabilities at a High Level:*
>
> Koha is the most advanced open source  Integrated Library Management System
> (ILMS) in the world. It has won many awards and is being used by thousands
> of libraries.
>
> All modules including Cataloging, Circulation, OPAC, Acquisitions, and
> Serials Control are integrated.  Compared to all other LMSs the Cataloging,
> OPAC and Circulation module are superior with many useful features and
> functionalities.  The user community loves Koha's OPAC.
>
> *Costs associated with Koha:*
>
> Many of the commercial LMSs jike costs depending upon type and size of the
> library, number of housekeeping clients, number of simultaneous OPAC clients
> we opt, number of participating libraries, modules used.  Koha being open
> source ILMS, we don't have to pay any amount for its procurement. Licensing
> costs nil, no matter how many libraries or servers we use the software in or
> what modules we use or how many users we have.
>
> However, to ensure proper installation and configuration of Koha, we may
> have to spend nominal amount to get third party service, unless we ourselves
> develop our expertise for installation, configuration and implementation of
> KOHA at our level.
>
> *Vendor Support for Koha:
> *
> There are over a dozen vendors worldwide that support Koha including 2 or 3
> in India.
> Our vendor, Nucsoft is 15 year old, ISO 9001 company with mature and modern
> support processes. They operate a 12*7 support center for Koha and offer
> strong service level committments.
>
> But at the same time we are not tied to any vendor. We can change vendors or
> support the software on our own. This "No vendor lock-in" advantage of Koha
> will protect us against risks such as poor service, high prices or vendor
> insolvency.
>
> *Koha Features Summary:*
>
> Koha is web-based ILMS, with a MySQL database back-end. Cataloguing data
> stored is in MARC and is accessible via Z39.50. The user interface is very
> configurable and adaptable and has been translated into many languages.
>
> With integration of the powerful  Zebra indexing engine, Koha became,
> scalable to support tens of millions of bibliographic records  and thereby
> good solution for libraries of all kinds including large Academic Libraries.
>
> *Other Important Features of Koha include:*
>
> - Runs on Linux, Unix, Windows and MacOSX platform on the front-end
> - Simple, clear interface for librarians and members
> - Web based OPAC system (allows the public to search the catalogue in
>    the library and at home).
> - Various Web 2.0 facilities like tagging and RSS feeds
> - Union catalog facility
> - Customizable search
> - Can be integrated with library web site
> - E-mail and/or txt patron's over dues and other notices
> - Easy-to-use circulation policies,  strong patron management, intuitive
> navigation,           and  extensive permissions for staff accounts.
> - Full acquisitions system including budgets and pricing information
>    (including supplier and currency conversion)
> - Ability to cope with any number of branches, patrons, patron categories,
> item
>    categories, items, currencies and other data (Most important)
> - Serials system for magazines or news papers
> - Koha is multi-tasking and enables updates of circulation, cataloguing and
> issues to
>    occur simultaneously
> - Reading lists for members
> - Inbuilt facility for printing bar-codes and spine labels
> - Full catalogue, circulation and acquisitions system for library stock
> management.
> - Supports barcode and RFID implementation including bar-code generation and
> RFID
>    writing.
> *
> **Feedback on Key Koha Modules: *
>
> *Union catalog*
>
> With its Union catalog facility one can have a single OPAC for a group of
> libraries. For example all libraries under one university set up including
> main library, departmental libraries, constituent college libraries,
> affiliated colleges can have single OPAC, but still carry on their
> respective house keeping activities including book acquisition, circulation
> of books etc independently without interfering in housekeeping of other
> libraries in the group.
>
> Most importantly, the catalogue created once for one book by any of the
> library, can be used by other libraries for creating their catalogue entry
> without keying again the details except class and accession number.
>
> *OPAC
> *
> Search within search is a fantastic facility.  The system picks up related
> titles  along with cover page from Google Books automatically, some time
> with full or partial text and contents page.
>
> The users apart from enjoying browsing of titles can use simple and advance
> search features like in any other ILMSs. They can also check their borrowing
> details, reserve items, make suggestions for new books, etc.
>
> *Cataloging*
>
> The cataloging module being MARC21 and Z39.50 compliant, library staff can
> automatically import bibliographic records from other libraries like Library
> of Congress and local libraries of their choice instead of data entry again
> and thereby ensure quality catalogue and saving time of library staff.
>
> *Circulation*
>
> The circulation module is  one of the best features of Koha. Apart from
> enabling automated transactions in the counter using bar-code or RFID the
> system enables the counter staff to identify the borrower with the help of
> the photograph and/or the digital signature.  The system allows the
> reservation of document by the users or the library
> staff and also facilitates sending overdue reminders through e-mail.
>
> *Acquistions*
>
> The acquisition model is fully integrated with management of document
> suggestions, approval for procurement and budget and budget under different
> headings. The details of the documents already keyed in could be used for
> cataloging automatically.
>
> *Serials*
>
> While there is scope for improving serials management of Koha, as it stands
> it serves our purpose. The upcoming version will take care of the present
> shortcomings. Various kinds of reports with statistics useful for
> management, library staff and users can be generated in Koha.
>
> The above mentioned opinion is based on library automation experience at
> NAL, Bangalore and  UoM for 20 years as well  my interaction with both
> librarians and LIS teachers. In no way I undermine the capabilities of other
> commercial/OS LMSs.
> Once again I invite a detailed discussion by professional on this topic.
> Please contact me if you have questions.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Dr. I.R.N. Goudar
> Visiting Professor Cum Library Advisor
> University of Mysore
> Formerly Scientist G and Head, Information Centre at NAL, Bangalore
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