The triumph of David: A case study in VuFind customization

When Villanova University undertook a major project to restore a large-scale painting with possible ties to the workshop of 17th-century painter Pietro da Cortona, an important component of the work was detailed data collection, including time-lapse and multispectral photography. When this data needed to be presented to the general public, a number of open source technologies were used, including VuFind, the discovery layer developed at Villanova’s Falvey Memorial Library. This paper examines how VuFind was used as the glue to tie together the disparate components of the project, and by detailing the implementation strategies selected, demonstrates how VuFind's flexible and extensible architecture allows it to be adapted to a wide range of specialty projects

The Search for a New OPAC: Selecting an Open Source Discovery Layer

In early 2011, an Indiana University Libraries task force was charged with selecting an open source discovery layer to serve as the public interface for IU's online catalog, IUCAT. This process included creating a rubric of core functionality and rating two discovery layers based on criteria in four main categories: general features and functionality; authentication and account management; export and share; and search functionality and results display. The article includes information about our rubric and the two discovery layers reviewed, Blacklight and VuFind, as well as a discussion of the priorities of the task force. The article concludes with future steps and anticipated highlights for IUCAT

Utilizing discovery tools for classrooms: how do librarian attitudes on discovery impact tools they teach?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the utilization of discovery tools in classrooms with the aim of trying to assess the attitude toward them. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology adopted in this article is a literature review. Findings – Despite the author\u27s best efforts to look at the data from all angles, the author found no statistical significance in any of the data pulled from the survey. The author also tested to see if personal preference had any bearing on reference preference and found that there was no statistical significance between personal preference and reference preference. The author removed all responses that said “it depends” and the results showed that there still was no statistical significance between personal preference and reference preference. Originality/value – Libraries can rebrand their services by utilizing and advocating for discovery tools, but it will only happen if they are willing to make changes on their attitudes toward discovery tools

Open Forum: The Future of Library Systems

Moderated by Maria Collins of North Carolina State University, discussion at this open forum on the future of library systems touched on open-source library systems, cloud computing, new initiatives by the Open Library Environment (OLE) Project and OCLC, and desired characteristics of future integrated library systems. Most participants had limited experience with next-generation library systems and attended the open forum with the desire to broaden their understanding, although some were exposed to or had worked with the open-source discovery tool VuFind, the OLE Project, WorldCat Local, and the OCLC Web-scale service. A strong desire to customize library systems to meet local needs emerged as the primary factor in support of open-source software, while the fear of not being able to provide needed levels of technical support was the biggest challenge to implementing open-source systems. The ideal future library system will facilitate the management of workflow, incorporate enhanced discovery tools, and be interoperable with other systems inside and outside the library

OPAC 2.0: towards the next generation of online library catalogues

While the 4th Law of S.R. Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science (1931) says that: “Save the time of the reader”, it is a big question to ask whether the current Library catalogues precisely do this for its library patrons. There is a common understanding that the evolution of OPAC should be in line with the evolution of technology and its services. They have to be designed in such a way that the users should be able to find what they are looking for in a timely manner only then they will be more satisfied, and more likely to feel like their needs have been met. While it is mandatory that the OPACs should not be a complex matrix for the users, it is important that it should encompass the current trends and features of advancements. There is no doubt that Librarians are the Architects to design best next generation OPACs by amalgamating Web 2.0 tools and the social networking aspects to the traditional catalogues which offer interacting options to the patrons. This paper looks at the current trend in formulating the next generation of Online Library catalogues with glimpses of isolated experiments and improvements in the library catalogues coupled with various open source software packages for OPAC 2.0 and the benefits to the users therewith

Discovery and Delivery: Making it Work for Users

User expectations for complete and immediate discovery and delivery of information have been set by their experiences in the Web 2.0 world. Libraries must respond to the needs of those users whose needs can easily be meet with Google-like discovery tools as well as those who require deeper access to our resources. What has happened to bring us to this time in the evolution of library collections and services? What characterizes user expectations and how are we fulfilling them today? What can we do to prepare for the future? Are we prepared for what is to come?No embarg

It Takes a Village: Open Source Software Sustainability

This Guidebook is designed to serve as a practical reference source to help open source software programs serving cultural and scientific heritage organizations plan for long-term sustainability, ensuring that commitment and resources will be available at levels sufficient for the software to remain viable and effective as long as it is needed. One of the most significant themes of this Guidebook is that sustainability is not a linear process, with set beginning and end points. Program sustainability shifts and evolves over time across a number of phases and facets. The phases speak to where a program is in its lifecycle: getting started, growing, or stable but not static. The facets describe the different components of sustainability, each of which is critical to overall program health, but may have different timelines, goals, and resource needs. The facets deemed most critical by the Guidebook’s authors and contributors are: Governance, Technology, Resources (Financial and Human), and Community Engagement. Sections of the Guidebook will: define the phases and facets of sustainability; identify goals, characteristics, and common roadblocks for each phase in each facet; provide guidance for moving an OSS program to the next phase in a given facet, with the understanding that the same program may be in different phases along different facets of sustainability; and highlight case studies and additional resources to help a program’s research and decision-making process. The Guidebook is intended for a broad audience. While certain paths may be of more interest than others, we would recommend reading through each of the facets before returning to the one that aligns most closely with a specific role, e.g., governance for a program manager, technology for a technical lead, engagement for a community manager, or resources for an administrator. The worksheet in Appendix A can help identify the specific phase a program is in along each facet. The open source landscape is wide and varied. Bringing open source programs serving cultural and scientific heritage together under one shared umbrella can provide us all with the power to better advocate for our needs, develop shared sustainability strategies, and provide our communities with the information needed to assess and contribute to the sustainability of the programs they depend on

Full-text ETD retrieval in library discovery system: designing a framework

This paper discusses designing an open source software based library discovery system for full-text ETD retrieval on the basis of a cataloguing framework developed by using available global standards and best practices in the domain of theses cataloguing. The purpose of this prototype framework is to provide a single-window search and retrieval system for end users for discovering ETD at metadata level and at full-text level. The prototype framework is based on three-layer architecture with Koha ILS as backend metadata provider, Apache-Tika as full-text extractor and VuFind as discovery system. A MARC-21 bibliographic format, especially designed to handle TDs, is working as data handler mechanism in Koha ILS and the harvester of VuFind is tuned to fetch bibliographic data related to ETD in marcxml format. The user interface of VuFind is also configured to support accessing ETDs from global-scale services like NDLTD, OATD, IndCat, ShodhGanga etc. apart from the local level ETD collection in order to provide an all-in-one search interface for users