Abstract
The explosion of the World Wide Web; dynamic nature of information technologies, such as open source; the increase in electronic resources; and the rising expectations of library users have contributed to the changing nature of the Automated Library System (ALS) since its inception in the 1970s. These changes are reflected in the conceptual differences between the ALS and the Integrated Library System (ILS). The ALS is identified as simply a database to house and retrieve a library’s holdings while ILS is identified as robust clusters of systems involving every process and module related to library operations. This article presents a review on the evolving features of some commonly adopted Open-Source ILS Software (Koha, NewGenLib, Evergreen, PMB and OpenBiblio) which had stirred ALS to ILS, as well as justifications and barriers to the use of open source software in academic libraries.
 Keywords: Automation, integrated library system, library, software
Highlights
Koha Open Source SoftwareFirst deployed in 2000, Koha is the first open source integrated library system (Reddy and Kumar, 2013) and considered the most successful of the Open Source Software (OSS) Integrated Library System (ILS) projects (Jaffe and Careaga, 2007)
The explosion of the World Wide Web; dynamic nature of information technologies, such as open source; the increase in electronic resources; and the rising expectations of library users have contributed to the changing nature of the Automated Library System (ALS) since its inception in the 1970s
A great deal has been written in relation to Open Source library tools, evaluation and impact, the focus of this paper is on open source software commonly used for library automation through integrated application of Integrated Library System (ILS)
Summary
First deployed in 2000, Koha is the first open source integrated library system (Reddy and Kumar, 2013) and considered the most successful of the Open Source Software (OSS) ILS projects (Jaffe and Careaga, 2007). Koha user interface is very configurable and adaptable which has been translated into many languages (about 47). It is the most used and this was evident from the finding of Iroaganachi et al (2015) which revealed that Koha software has gain popularity over the years especially academic libraries in Nigeria. Reddy and Kumar (2013) indicate that Koha can support Z39.50 search; simple and has clear interface for both librarians and users; and the software has been translated to many languages globally. Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0), the system enhances accessibility by implementing a wide range of recommendations to make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities Users can get their data out of Koha later on if they decide to change systems
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