Open Source Library Systems: Free is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Just finished doing a webinar with Infopeople called Open Source Library Systems: Free is Just the Tip of the Iceberg. Lots of interest and some great questions that indicate people are really checking into the open source options for their library system.

The archive of the webinar as well as the slides are available on the Infopeople site.

On a side note...I use the acronym OSLS to distinguish between open source library system software and the proprietary integrated library system software currently used by most libraries (commonly referred to as an ILS). Someone in the webinar today complained that this new OSLS was unnecessary. I beg to differ.

While it is true that the current open source library software products are indeed integrated library systems (ILS) of an open source nature (OS), it is also true that I have the job of often talking about the difference between the commercial, proprietary ILS products versus the open source ILS products available. Rather than continually saying "Evergreen and Koha this" and "Evergreen and Koha that," it makes life a lot easier to say OSLS when something I'm saying applies to both of them. I supposed I could have made up the acronym OSILS or OS-ILS but somehow that didn't seem right. That makes it sound like they are some modified version of an ILS. In fact, an OSLS is a different beast from an ILS. It isn't "integrated" in the same way that most ILS products are -- as in locked together and locked down. So, I'm happy to dump the "integrated" part and leave it clean and simple and clearly distinguished from the ILS of yesteryear.

So, the webinar is about open source in general and what it means to have an OSLS versus an ILS.