Open source software like Koha offers libraries an alternative to proprietary software. It provides libraries with access to a global community of developers that help improve and expand the software. While some libraries may have concerns about open source like lack of support or features, companies like ByWater Solutions provide support, training, and work with libraries to add new features to open source software like Koha. Overall, open source aligns well with library values and can offer advantages over proprietary options.

1. Open Source for Libraries
Nicole C. Engard
Vice President of Community Outreach
ByWater Solu=ons
nengard@bywatersolu=ons.com

2. What isn’t Open Source?
• “We don’t have the staff to handle
open source.”
• “Isn’t that insecure?”
• “I don’t want to share my data!”
• “How can it be any good if it’s free?”
Common Open Source FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt)
Comic: Author: Unknown | Year: Unknown | Source: Unknown

3. What is Open Source?
Open source soSware is soSware that users have the ability to
run, distribute, study and modify for any purpose.
Open source is a collabora=ve soSware-­‐development
method that harnesses the power of peer review and
transparency of process to develop code that is freely
accessible.1
Open source draws on an ecosystem of thousands of
developers and customers all over the world to drive
innova=on.2
1,2 hWp://connect.educause.edu/display/47941

4. The Cathedral
(proprietary so1ware)
• Development occurs
behind walls
• Source code is
usually not provided
-­‐ kept locked up
• Corporate hierarchy
The Bazaar
(open source so1ware)
•Code developed over
the Internet with
several others in
public view
•Source code open to
all users
•“Given enough
eyeballs, all bugs are
shallow”
hWp://www.catb.org/~esr/wri=ngs
/cathedral-­‐bazaar/cathedral-­‐bazaar/
The Cathedral & The Bazaar

5. What is Koha?
• Koha was developed in 1999 by the Horowhenua Library
Trust in New Zealand
• Koha is the Maori word for a special kind of giS -­‐ a giS
with expecta=ons (not an acronym or all caps)
• The expecta=on with Koha is that you will share with all
other Koha users the features you develop, the
experiences you’ve had and the lessons you’ve learned
Learn more: http://bywatersolutions.com/what-is-koha/

6. Open Source Governance
What kind of quality control is there?
•Most open source projects have a release manager or a manager of some sort
who reviews the code and approves it before adding it to the final release
What is the role of the community?
•The community looks out for the best interests of the soSware. They work as
the governing body behind all decisions related to the soSware. The
community decides what features to develop next and who the managers are.

7. Open Source is a Starfish
[W]hen we’re used to seeing something in a certain way, it’s hard to imagine it being any other way.
If we’re used to seeing the world through a centralized lens, decentralized organizations don’t
make much sense … Decentralization has been lying dormant for thousands of years. But the
advent of the Internet has unleashed this force, knocking down traditional businesses, altering entire
industries, affecting how we relate to each other, and influencing world politics. The absence of
structure, leadership, and formal organization, once considered a weakness, has become a
major asset. Seemingly chaotic groups have challenged and defeated established institutions.The
rules of the game have changed … [I]n 2005 when Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, those
on the ground had the best knowledge, but they were powerless to implement large-scale rescue
plans. Instead, before the spider could react, information had to be relayed up to the head, and then
the head had to process the information, strategize, and finally react.Viewed from this perspective,
what happened in 1935 in the Keys and in 2005 in New Orleans wasn’t necessarily any one
individual’s fault. Yes, some individuals could have made better decisions, but the real culprit
each time was the system itself. It’s times like these that you need a starfish.
The Starfish and the Spider:The Unstoppable
Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman,
Rod A. Beckstrom

8. Open Source Community
•Open source is about more than free soSware
•Community is crucial to the growth of open source
•Without shared knowledge and collabora=on the project will not
grow
•People who use open source can collaborate and contribute in many
ways with the community
•Write code
•Write documenta=on
•Debug
•Educate others

9. “Crowdsourcing has it genesis in the open source movement in
soSware. The development of the Linux opera=ng system proved that
a community of like-­‐minded peers was capable of crea=ng a beWer
product than a corporate behemoth like MicrosoS. Open source
revealed a fundamental truth about humans that had gone largely
unno=ced un=l the connec=vely of the Internet brought it into high
relief: labor can oSen be organized more efficiently in the context of
a community than it can in the context of the corpora=on. The best
person to do a job is the one who most wants to do that job; and
the best people to evaluate their performance are their friends and
peers who, by the way, will enthusias@cally pitch in to improve the
final product, simply for the sheer pleasure of helping one another
and crea@ng something beau@ful from which they all will benefit.”
Howe, J. (2008). Crowdsourcing:Why the power of the crowd is driving
the future of business. NewYork: Crown Business. p.8
Open Source Crowdsourcing

10. Open Source is Easy!
“The hard drive on one of our reference desk PCs died today. I threw in a new one, but I
didn't feel like spending the day sikng through Windows updates, so I loaded Ubuntu 11.04
on it instead. The install, as I'm sure you know, only took about 15 minutes. Now, before I
add my next point, keep in mind that I manage a staff whose average age is about 63. No
joke. Most of them have been working at my facility longer than I've been alive. S=ll, once I
had Ubuntu up and running, they were literally figh@ng over who got to use the new
opera@ng system. They loved it that much.
Now I agree, Linux kicks buO. I use it about 80% of the =me. Typing to you on Mint right
now! However, I never expected novice users to take to it so quickly. Please, next =me you
do an open source webinar, impress on your aWendees that libraries aren't sacrificing a thing
by switching over to open source soSware. If anything, open source opera@ng systems and
applica@ons can be far more user friendly for the novice user than Windows will ever be...”
-­‐-­‐ Mark at the The Rahway Public Library

11. Why Should Libraries
Care?

12. Libraries and Open Source Both...
• Believe that informa=on should be freely accessible to everyone
• Give away stuff
• Benefit from the generosity of others
• Are about communi=es
• Make the world a beWer place
-­‐-­‐ Horton, G. hWp://=nyurl.com/3jvumn
Open Source & Libraries

13. • Is there support? Do I have to know
how to program?
• Do I have to skimp on features?
• Isn’t Open Source risky?
• Can I do it myself?
Common ques=ons libraries have:
Open Source & Libraries

14. ByWater Solu=ons provides you with support for Koha.
•24/7 Ticke=ng system and phone support
•We want to help! If you don’t ask we can’t fix it
•Unlimited report wri=ng
•Training refreshers
•Development where features aren’t exactly the way you
want
Support for Open Source

15. • Open Source developers follow the
rule of “Release early and release
oSen”
• Users vote with their dollars and =me
• Freedom to develop on your own
• Developers love their products
• hWp://devs.bywatersolu=ons.com hWp://www.flickr.com/photos/programwitch/2505184887/
Do I have to skimp
on features?

16. • ByWater will work with you get new features in to Koha
• Developments go through several steps before making it in to Koha
• Specifica=on
• Wri=ng
• Tes=ng
• Quality Assurance
• All developments need community approval to make it in to Koha and we
work with you to make sure your features make it in to Koha
• If the feature you’re reques=ng is highly specialized then we’ll need to
alter it to meet the needs of the masses
Adding Features to Koha

17. • Casey Coleman, chief informa=on officer for the
GSA (U.S. General Services Administra=on), said
in a speech ... that the GSA heavily relies on
open source to drive down costs, increase
flexibility of IT dollars, and reduce risk. ‘You get
much more transparency and interoperability,
and that reduces your risk,’ she said.
• hWp://news.cnet.com/
8301-­‐13505_3-­‐9921115-­‐16.html
Isn’t Open Source Risky?
• US Department of Defense memo
encourages the use of open source with
many reasons “including cost advantages,
reduced risk of vendor lock-­‐in, beWer
security, and increased flexibility. It says
that the posi=ve aspects of open source
soSware should be given considera=on
during procurement research.
• hWp://arstechnica.com/open-­‐source/news/
2009/10/dod-­‐military-­‐needs-­‐to-­‐think-­‐harder-­‐
about-­‐using-­‐open-­‐source.ars

18. Risk of Proprietary Software
• “Closed-­‐source efforts oSen suffer from flaws
and problems which the original
development team never an=cipated. Lack
of inspec=on of the code by other
programmers can mean that inappropriate
design constraints and other errors might not
be discovered un=l the code is already in
use.”
Pavlicek, Russell. Embracing
insanity : open source soSware
development. Indianapolis IN:
SAMS, 2000. p. 33.

19. Risk of Proprietary Software
• “In its 2011 Coverity Scan Open Source
Integrity Report, which was released on
Thursday, Coverity actually found that open
source code has fewer defects per thousand
lines of code than proprietary soSware code
does.”
Noyes, Katherine. “Actually, Open Source Code Is BeWer:
Report.” PCWorld Business Center, February 23, 2012.
hWp://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/ar=cle/250543/
actually_open_source_code_is_beWer_report.html.

20. •Absolutely, with the right in-­‐house skills
•Systems knowledge
•Linux server management
•Web programming
•Perl / PHP / MySQL
Can I do it Myself?

21. Now What?

22. Play Time
• I’m going to show you
around Koha a bit and
show you some libraries
using Koha.
• Ask ques=ons freely!
hWp://www.flickr.com/photos/nengard/
3253133986/

23. Keep Learning!
• Prac?cal Open Source SoAware in Libraries by Nicole C. Engard
• The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an
Accidental Revolu?onary by Eric S. Raymond
• The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless
Organiza?ons by Ori Brafman, Rod A. Beckstrom
• The success of open source by Steve Weber
• The Open Organiza?on by Jim Whitehurst

24. Keep Learning!
• Open Source SoSware and Libraries Bibliography
zotero.org/groups/freelibre_and_open_source_soSware_and_libraries_bibliography
• FOSS4Lib
foss4lib.org
•Nicole’s Delicious bookmarks
delicious.com/nengard/opensource
•Nicole’s Open Source Bibliography
www.zotero.org/nengard/items/collec=onKey/MB5S62ZP
• OpenSource.com
opensource.com

25. Thank You!
Nicole C. Engard
Vice President of Community Outreach
ByWater Solutions
nengard@bywatersolutions.com