Open Source Workshop

[Chris Peterson/Amigos]

Title:  Open Source Software in Libraries [hands-on workshop]
Date:  February 25, 2005
Location:  Dallas, TX
Presenter:  Eric Lease Morgan

According to the Open Source Initiative, "the basic idea behind open source
is very simple: when programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the
source code for a piece of software, the software evolves. People improve
it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that,
if one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems
astonishing."

This workshop will provide structured opportunities for participants to
experience how open source software can be used to implement many
library-specific processes using open source software. Processes such as
reading and writing MARC records, creating and maintaining databases,
providing user-friendly interfaces to indexed content, hosting a World Wide
Web server, and most importantly, bringing all of these processes together
to providing meaningful library collections and services.

Objectives:
  Participants in this hands-on workshop will learn skills enabling them
to:
    * Bring up a Web server and serve simple HTML files
    * Write and run very simple computer programs
    * Use a Z39.50 client to search for and download MARC records from the
Library of Congress
    * Read, write, and create reports against sets of MARC records
    * Index MARC records and HTML files and make these indexes available on
the Web as CGI scripts
    * Read, write, and convert XML files
    * Create a very simple library catalog using a relational database

Audience:
Library directors, managers, catalogers, reference librarians,
bibliographers, archivists, electronic resource librarians, systems
librarians, IT managers -- all types of librarians.

Prerequisites:
Participants should be able to type, have an understanding of the
fundamental principles of librarianship, and most importantly, be willing
to learn.

Presenter:
Eric Lease Morgan is the Head of the Digital Access and Information
Architecture Department at the University Libraries of Notre Dame. He
considers himself a librarian first and a computer user second. His
professional goal is to discover new ways to use computers to improve
library and knowledge services. Applied research and development has
included investigations in traditional library science, digital libraries,
information retrieval, and human-computer interaction. In 1994, he began
the Mr Serials Process, a systematic method for collecting, indexing, and
disseminating electronic serials. This matured into Index Morganagus. One
of his more recognized accomplishments is the development of a portal
application called MyLibrary. In 2002 he was awarded the Bowker/Ulrich's
Serials Librarianship Award for his serials work as well as MyLibrary. In
2004 he was awarded the LITA/Library Hi Tech Award outstanding
communication in library and information technology.

For more information, go to:
http://www.amigos.org/learning/catalog/shopping/product_details.php?id=163

Christine Peterson
Library Liaison Officer, Amigos Library Services
14400 Midway Road, Dallas, TX  75244-3509
800/843-8482 x2891 (message only)
512/671-1580 (phone and fax)
EMAIL:  peterson at amigos.org


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