[Web4lib] Question: Integrated Library Systems whose only client is a browser

[Mike Taylor]

> Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 11:15:45 -0700
> From: Karen Coyle <kcoyle at kcoyle.net>
> 
>>> Do anyone know about the requirement and responsibility of system
>>> staff maintaining Open source library systems?
>> 
>> That would be exactly the same as for proprietary systems. 
> 
> For the developers, yes, that is probably the case. But the fact is
> that most libraries do not do development work on their own systems,
> they rely on vendors. I often feel like we are comparing the
> purchase of a vendor system with running your own open source
> system, and those are not comparable.

I think we are at cross-purposes here.  I was not intending at all to
suggest that libraries that had been using vendors with proprietary
solutions should make do without vendors and roll their own solutions
using open source software!  No; that's an option for those libraries
intrepid enough to do it, but most will of course want to continue to
use a vendor.  And part of the magic of open source is that you can
choose your vendor independently of the choice of software; and you
can change vendor if you're unhappy with the service you're getting
without having to change the software too.

> So library "system staff" may not be doing programming or
> development currently, and the library may not have staff that can
> create applications.

Nor should they have to!

 _/|_	 ___________________________________________________________________
/o ) \/  Mike Taylor  <mike at miketaylor.org.uk>  http://www.miketaylor.org.uk
)_v__/\  "Omit needless words" -- Strunk & White.