Library Information System Analysis - Case Study Example

Library Information System Analysis Insert Insert Vendor and System Evergreen falls under the open source software. The license is according to GNU General public license version 2 or previous versions. Consequently, it is free to download, alter or disseminate to other people. It is one of the projects under the Freedom Conservancy. The software is very robust, enabling the location of library materials. Further, it allows them to catalog, carry out efficient management and to disseminate these materials (Yang & Hofmann, 2013). They also help manage back-of-house operations including circulation, acquiring the library materials and sharing of these materials with other libraries. It automates a broad range of books ranging from small, consortia and large libraries. They include special, academic, public, school, tribal and home libraries across the world (Zou & Liu, 2009). It was developed in 2004 when PINES had no options for an existing vendor that could support such a large project. Evergreen is a project initiated by Georgia public library system in 2006 to meet their internal wants for use by public libraries in Georgia. Though it is still growing, it has eleven committees and over 65 persons that have contributed its patches. Discussion of the system Strengths Evergreen has a lot of advantages that make it stand out that includes its use as a Meta search engine. It is also a transaction processing engine and another web application. Evergreen is robust due to message passing framework. In addition, it is free to download, change and share. As a result, it escapes the constraint in the proprietary software (Abbott, 2010). In broader spectrum, it has a larger community and a very powerful one that is determined to ensure that it sustains it at the acceptable standards. The site runs a blog (http://www.open-ils.org/blog/) that notifies users of the changes and updates made on the system. To nail it all, Evergreen benefits from collaborating information for support in line with the growth of open source software. It has a number of companies offering to migrate, to support, to host and to develop services for the betterment of the system. A case in hand is Equinox that also runs the Equinox blog (http://blog.esilibrary.com/). It lists a glossary of terms that enables users to comprehend what open source software is, information relating to a library system that will open source and compares the strengths and weaknesses. Another blog supporting Evergreen is The Resource Sharing Cooperative of Evergreen Libraries (http://www.rscel.org/). The service that proceeds delivers unlimited support to live chatting, providing resources, and other supporting duties to users. The U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services funds RSCEL which by implication is one of the Evergreens supporting communities that exist online. Evergreen is always stable even when exposed to extreme load capacity that other systems fail when they reach that state. It handles so many users who need services from the same system simultaneously. Further, it has been built to accommodate the dynamic needs of the libraries (Holden, 2007). It is a very secure system in existence. As a result, it guarantees the safety of the patrons data and their privacy. The manner of implementation encompasses a lot of flexibility so that users of the system and the administrators find it very comfortable to use. Weaknesses Any other system out there has weaknesses. Evergreen incurs a lot of costs for training and support purposes. Staff also needs training periodically so as to maintain the system properly (Resource and sharing cooperative of Evergreen Libraries website, 2009). Suitable clients may even be forced to sign contracts with companies like Equinox, which increases their budget. Justification of appropriateness of the system Evergreen is a very appropriate system for any library that wants to offer a lot of flexibility to its customers and staff. First, the system is robust and can be customized according to the particular needs of any given organization be it large or small. Secondly, they have a lot of support from both experts and the community as a whole each addressing a different issue. The fact that is open-source provides a number of benefits including reduction in the initial costs, support, and maintenance. Users can freely share, download and change to suit them. The geographic location of the concerned consumers does not limit Evergreen as a system. They can access it in the manner that best suits them. More so at the time of their choice. The hardware and software framework to support the successful implementation of Evergreen is readily available (Equinox Software Website, 2010). Software, for example, to run on the server is all but open source. One only needs connection to the internet to access this software. The minimum requirements especially concerning the hardware are not exaggerated to warrant its acquisition. They are average properties that can be accessed quickly and at affordable prices. Evergreen comes with a lot of documentation to guide both the users, technicians and the administration in making future decisions concerning the user of Evergreen in that organization. System Features Evergreen provides the user with a broad range of services that include: Acquisitions Delivery of assets, the overall speed of copying the grid, purchasing orders, invoice charge creator and how distribution of editor load increases (Equinox Software Website, 2010). It will be much distinct in sites that transact a lot of funds. Usually, items delayed or canceled are marked as canceled in the database. Administration There has been increased support for more data since there was a shift from XLS format of generating reports to XLSX in Excel. It provides users with a flexible opportunity for editing reports. Further, the report templates support external links and hints that connect to other local documentation (Georgia Public Library Service, 2008). Inception of permission groups has enabled staff to set permissions from multiple groups but aimed at an individual user. Cataloging It deals with the copying, adding, viewing and editing of links of listings of publications in a library. Most of these activities will only happen after user authentication. New features include MARC Batch Import / Export screens and MARC Stream importer (Georgia Public Library Service, 2008). There is also monograph part merging that allows staff to collapse variants of bibliographic cataloging into one value. Circulation It supports features like holding shelf expire report for items that expired before today and a pillar for maintaining targeting and justifying copy level on pre-cat records (Equinox Software Website, 2010). It also has a feature for a lost and paid status. Sitemap generator It contains a sitemap that gives search engines to the pages of concern in a site. As a result, search engines will often crawl the site for pages of interest. According to Evergreen, these would involve the bibliographic detail pages. It regulates how many URLs can act per sitemap and abhor those beyond fifty thousand (Molyneux, 2010). It enlists the last editing of a bibliographic document and re-index changed or new pages. In addition, it generates a sitemap index file to point to the sitemap files. Additional hardware or software The hardware requirements to run the Evergreen fall into server hardware and those for the client. First, there are those base elements that must be there for the system to run then those supporting the functionalities of the software concerned. The minimum server requirements Avail a computer system preferably a desktop. 1 GB of Random Access Memory or more especially when the server runs a graphical interface is required. Linux Operating system is imperative to allow for the TCP connections, OPAC and clients connect to the Evergreen server. Ports 80 and 443 are left open. Minimum requirements on the client side The staff client installs on each workstation that consequently connect to the primary database located on the server machine. Such workstations require the following basic minimum specifications so as to run smoothly. They include: 512 GB of Random Access Memory Operating system should range from Windows operating system, Linux operating system and Mac OS X. Internet connection with stable speeds To communicate with the server, it needs port 80 and port 443 (Hyman, 2008). There is another additional hardware that includes printers and barcode scanners. Any printer would work ok as longs as it is configured to print receipts and slips. However, it sidelines spine label printing that is still under development. Currently, it formats spine label output on a label roll printer. In the absence of it, you will be required to carry out manual formatting. Any barcode scanner that works well with legacy systems will comfortably work with the Evergreen application. Other software needed include PostgreSQL versions 9.3, openSRF version 2.4.0, EDI translator that converts data into EDI format and Apache web server version 2.4 and above. Application Evergreen supports collaborating. Libraries need to share resources and information. In context, open-source software are increasing taking root. Suzannah Lipscomb of Equinox Software reiterates the power of consortium libraries that enables concerned libraries to share resources that will translate into increased capacity to buy (Equinox Software Website, 2010). Discounts provided here are encouraging especially for upcoming buyers. Open-source software allows libraries to support each other with information that will enable them to address their individual needs. References Abbott, J. (2010). Russian Art & Design in the Evergreen Museum & Library. Slavic & East European Information Resources, 11(2-3), 246-264. doi:10.1080/15228881003795504 Georgia Public Library Service. (2008). Retrieved February Friday, 6, 2015, from The Evergreen Project Website: http://www.open-ils.org/ Holden, C. (2007). Postsecondary Education: Evergreen Adopts Tenure like System. Science, 276(5309), 25-0. doi:10.1126/science.276.5309.25 (2010). Retrieved February Friday, 6, 2014, from Equinox Software Website: http://esilibrary.com/esi/ Hyman, B. &. (2008). Case Study: The evergreen open source integrated library system; its origins and significant implementations in the USA and Canada. IFLA Conference Proceedings, (pp. 1-6). Molyneux, B. (2010). An Open Source ILS glossary. Retrieved February Friday, 6, 2015, from http://blog.esilibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/oss_ils_glossary_060220105.pdf Resource and sharing cooperative of Evergreen Libraries website. (2009). Retrieved February Friday, 6, 2015, from rscel: http://www.rscel.org/ Yang, S., & Hofmann, M. (2013). The Next Generation Library Catalog: A Comparative Study of the OPACs of Koha, Evergreen, and Voyager. Information Technology and Libraries, 29(3). doi:10.6017/ital.v29i3.3139 Zou, Q., & Liu, G. (2009). Chinese localisation of Evergreen: an open source integrated library system. Program: Electronic Library and Information Systems, 43(1), 49-61. doi:10.1108/00330330910934101 Read More