Thursday, September 23, 2010
Muddiest point for week three
The obvious advantage of open source software use in the library is cost. But what are the other advantages, and what are some of the disadvantages? Is there appropriate support for open source software? Does the life of open source software rival that of paid software, or does it disappear faster?
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Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI understand your questioning of open source software. Is it worth it? Is it better to shovel out the couple of grand for vendor software, i.e. ProQuest (which is very good by the way). I feel that open source software is an excellent choice. When I went to Library Science school for my undergrad, I saw the light in my Automation class with Koha. This is a wonderful open source ILS that allows you to download whatever you like for your own personal use. As you questioned earlier in regards of the software staying around for a while, the answer would be maybe. As long as you play by the open source software rules you are in clear.
While I'm not an expert, I think Open Source software, such as Linux and StarOffice, does not have the support required for use in a library setting. What do you tell a patron who must email a document using the library's StarOffice when the recipient of the email might only be able to read it in Word?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Erin: Open Source software, although useful in the sense of it being compatible with virtually everything, I can only imagine patrons ire over having to use more than one type of software just to read emails. Or trying to explain it all to patrons . . . where I work, they have a hard enough time accessing yahoo's email.
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