New option for an ILS
First spotted on LibrarianInBlack. There is a new entrant in the Library systems space and it is called Evergreen. There is a very interesting article on Linux.com about Evergreen including a brief outline of the decision to create their own system.
The most interesting quote, at leas to me based on recent experience, was this:
Librarian Brad LaJeunesse, PINES System Administrator with GPLS in Atlanta says that his “main motivator” for Evergreen was that the world of library software is “pretty dismal, and the products are awful. Trying to run a state-wide library system on duct tape and bailing wire is pretty difficult.”
It’s an open secret that ILS systems today are a frustrating mess for smart librarians (and patrons). Asked what problems he had with prior systems, LaJeunesse is quick to tally off a list: “Scalability. The ability to treat organization units as individual entities. Lack of granular permissions. Poor customer service. Lots more,” he says.
This is the second open source ILS that I’ve heard about. The first was Koha that has been around for quite some time. Another entrant is the WPopac which is concentrating on bringing the features we’ve come to know and love from the Web 2.0 world to an opac system.
The WPopac system has been written about twice, here and here, on the librariesinteract.info blog, which is a measure of how excited some of us have become over it.
The “open secret” that ILS systems are a mess has been around for a long time, and is still with us. Is it too much to hope that a another open source alternative may make the existing vendors take a serious look at what they currently offer?
Perhaps it isn’t the Library systems vendors that need to change, perhaps it is the Libraries and the Library administrators that need to change. A change in outlook away from the monolithic ILMS towards a more Open Source approach that ties together the various components using open protocols and standards may be needed.
I’m very interested in hearing what other people think.
Edit:
A lengthier article on the Evergreen system can be found at the Library Journal website.
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