[Web4lib] Koha (was: Getting catalog software vendors to make more useable software choices)

[Joshua Ferraro]

On Fri, Jul 15, 2005 at 02:48:20PM -0400, Diane Madrigal wrote:
> Does Koha have size limitations?  Do any large libraries (millions of
> catalog records) use it?
Currently the largest collection I know of is 2 million records.

We're actually in the process of overhauling the data model to 
support tens of millions of records for the next version of 
Koha (3.0) due out later this year. 

The MARC indexing and retrieval engine we've chosen is Zebra 
which was designed and is maintained by another open-source 
vendor: Index Data (http://indexdata.dk). It's worth noting that 
Index Data's Yaz toolkit powers more than half of all Z39.50 
applications worldwide (including most of the proprietary systems 
many of you are using right now) and is widely recognized as the 
leading toolkit for Z39.50.

Many folks make the mistake of assuming that because something's
open source that must mean it doesn't work as well as a proprietary
system. That's simply not true. There are plenty of examples of
poorly written software in both open and closed-source models.
The difference with open source is that you can do something about
shoddy code ;-).

Koha 3.0 will be a tough act to follow when we're finished! It's 
been very impressive to see how libraries and open-source 
vendors have collaborated world-wide to make the project a success.

There are still several opportunities for sponsorship of feature 
development related to the overhaul so if you're interested
let me know.

Cheers,
-- 
Joshua Ferraro               VENDOR SERVICES FOR OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE
President, Technology       migration, training, maintenance, support
LibLime                  Koha ILS, Mambo Intranet, DiscrimiNet Filter
jmf at liblime.com |  Full Demos at http://liblime.com  |  1(888)KohaILS