[Web4lib] An Analysis Of Open Source ILS Market Penetration

[Abramson, Alicia]

I agree with Karen's point--there has to be more of a proven
infrastructure that supports Open Source ILS' before more than a handful
of bleeding edge of libraries can adopt them.  I know that there are
some support companies popping up to help libraries implement and
develop Open Source ILS', but they haven't been around long enough to
develop reputations.  

For those of us not willing to sail out on the rough open seas without a
map and a trusted navigator, we won't be jumping ship soon.  

Alicia Abramson
Manager Library Information Technology
Berkeley Public Library
aabramson at ci.berkeley.ca.us
510-981-6131


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of K.G. Schneider
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 11:53 AM
To: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] An Analysis Of Open Source ILS Market Penetration


> K.G. Schneider wrote:
> >  I'm not sure what the report demonstrates except the
> > "slow-moving barge" syndrome. Or am I missing something? 
> >
> >   
> If by 'slow-moving barge' you simply mean slow to gain mass-appeal, 
> yeah.  Didn't we experience the same thing with other 
> technologies--telephone, television, computer, ipods?  The market is 
> slow at first, but then as use and word of improved performance by the

> new technology rises, so the presence of it in the marketplace
increases 
> and causes the decline and ultimate replacement of existing
technologies. 

I'm not referring to the NEW technologies. I mean the old technologies.
They ain't called silos for no reason. Ever try to climb out of a silo?
The walls are high and slippery. 

Most libraries also don't have the budgets (let alone organizational
cultures) to spin around and say, "hey, let's do this!" To move out of a
proprietary ILS you've got to do a lot of planning and yes, you are
going to spend some money to get there--plus workflow changes, training,
etc. The ILS handles many complex processes and has many dependencies,
and at this point in time, for most libraries, it's *necessary.* Even at
top speed, it's going to take some time to turn a library barge around. 

I'm actually making the opposite point you are thinking, because there
is definitely pent-up demand for "something else," whether it's
Evergreen, Koha, eXtensible Catalog, LibraryFind, WorldCat Local, Open
Library, etc. I don't know you measure it, and the one survey I saw
didn't ask questions in a way that I thought captured what's really
going on in folks' heads. It really struck me at the Symposium on the
Future of the ILS last month when I saw *library trustees* volunteering
that they were interested in open source. 

Some libraries feel quite well "penetrated" by their vendors and are
poised for change. 

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at freerangelibrarian.com 
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