Open Source Solutions Offer Superior Service

1
Open Source Solutions Offer Superior Service

• Howard County Library
• nearly 5 million annual circulations
• over 2 million visits annually
• large, active, engaged customer community
• 300 customer computers
• 250 staff computers

2
Why open source?

• Howard County Library uses a wide range of open
  source computer software in order to
  
• provide customers with internet and computer
  access
  
• expand access to library collections and
  services
  
• contain hard costs for software licenses and
  computer hardware

3
Why choose open source? CNET
October 2, 2007
4
What does open source mean?

• Access to source code
• Freedom to make changes
• Rich user / developer community
• minimal costs free of costs but not cheap
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vGVOnFdMf0RU

5
Who creates open source software?

• Communities
• groups are successful
• Developers
• Benjamin Keen
• http//www.benjaminkeen.com/
• Anyone in this room

6
What are open source solutions?

• Apache
• Firefox
• OpenOffice
• GAIM
• Linux

7
How do you migrate to open source?

• Watch and listen to what folks need
• monitor help desk
• review change requests ignoring proper names
• ie a request for Access is really a request
  for a database
  

8
How do you migrate to open source?

• Add first take away later
• OpenOffice on current operating system
• Firefox along side other web browser
• Ubuntu machines along side MS Office machines

9
How do you migrate to open source?

• Orient first, train only if needed
• prior to first orientation, determine key uses of
  application
  
• train to that list
• ie If staff use word processing for evaluation
  writing, show how to do an evaluation in
  OpenOffice Writer
  
• Review existing documentation augment if needed

10
What has Howard County Library done with open
source?

• LAMP
• LuMix Firefox
• OpenOffice
• Groovix

11
What has Howard County Library done with open
source?
LAMP...Linux Apache MySQL PHP
12
What has Howard County Library done with open
source?
LAMP...Linux Apache MySQL PHP
13
What has Howard County Library done with open
source?
LAMP...Linux Apache MySQL PHP
14
What has Howard County Library done with open
source?

• LuMix Luis Salazar Mike Ricksecker
• initial open source offering
• custom kernel on 250 PACs (Public Access
  Computers)?
  
• deployed 2004
• Firefox 0.9 with Open Office, XPDF for document
  viewing

15
What has Howard County Library done with open
source?

• OpenOffice
• word processing, spreadsheet, presentation,
  database
  
• given to staff along side MS Office 97
• encouraged migration
• available on all customer machines
• will be only option for all by April 2008

16
What has Howard County Library done with open
source?

• Groovix Public Access Computers
• OpenSense Solutions, Inc. -- Michael Pardee
• extensive functionality available on all
• Firefox Opera GAIM Open Office RealPlayer
  Mplayer
  
• 300 PACs Dell GX 150s (5 years young)?
• 2-3 help desks tickets a month system-wide
• no open source print management

17
What have other libraries done with open source?

• University of Vermont Bailey Howe Library
• 42 workstations on 11SLIM machines
• Mead Library, Sheboygan WI
• SIP2 authentication
• users login with same barcode/pin as self check
  units
  
• Time Quotas and Guest Passes
• custom computer reservation system

18
What will Howard County Library do next with open
source?

• Ubuntu
• Paperless purchasing and accounting
• HRIS
• Koha
• Mobile Mobile Mobile

19
What will Howard County Library do next with open
source?

• Ubuntu
• all staff computers are being moved to Ubuntu
• weve started with willing staffers
• migration complete in Summer 2008
• weve left all XP machines in place renamed them
  HACs (Horizon Access Computers)?
  
• purchased HPs for Ubuntu install --- all staff
  machines will be same hardware and same image

20
What will Howard County Library do next with open
source?

• Paperless purchasing and accounting
• accounting process 60 invoices a week
• many are received in the Central offices and sent
  to branches
  
• goal is to image them and store images in local
  database users will approve payment via web
  based interface

21
What will Howard County Library do next with open
source?

• Human Resources Information System
• HR process managed manually, using spreadsheets
  and mail merge to generate forms
  
• specifications being developed
• open source options of which we are currently
  aware
  
• OrangeHRM

22
What will Howard County Library do next with open
source?

• Koha
• open source integrated library system
• staff and customer interface are web based
• kids catalog, faceted searching, frbr, etc
• April 2008 launch projected

23
What will Howard County Library do next with open
source?

• Mobile... appliances... staff.... services
• OpenMoko?
• roving computers
• micro chips in staff?

24
Sage observations

• Discomfort is not part of our world and change
  can cause discomfort
  
• Lack of consensus on computers and the role
  they play in service
  
• Limited computer skills among staff even among
  those you assume get it

25
What can you do ?

• Consider what you need
• survey, talk, survey again
• try
• approach software with an open mind
• know that any problem will be perceived to be
  software-related remember most are user-caused
  
• lean into discomfort

26
What can you do?

• Research
• Eric Hebert, of Degree Tutor, has some ideas
• Talk to key vendors
• Open Sense Solutions, Mike Pardee
• http//opensensesolutions.com/
• LibLime, Joshua Ferraro
• http//www.liblime.com/

27
How can you do this?

• Start with us
• http//www.hclibrary.org/oss2oss.php
• use our surveys
• http//www.hclibrary.org/training/GroovixFAQ.htm
• learn Open Office from us

28
What has Howard County Library accomplished by
this work?

• Fiscal responsibility
• 3000 Groovix support contract for 300 computers
  
  
• 10 / computer for all software os, apps,
  security
  
• Extended services
• all customer computers offer
• screen magnifiers and word processing
• We are presenting at PALINET!

29
Thank you for your interest

• Howard County Library
• Amy Begg De Groff
• amy.degroff_at_hclibrary.org
• OpenSense Solutions
• Mike Pardee
• michael.pardee_at_open-sense.com
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vPa1RCg-Ccp0