Dear Dr. Goudar, I really appreciate the efforts you have made in implementing Koha in a University library set up. In this context, I would like to share my experience in migrating from Libsys to Koha (OS version). The migration became inevitable because the vendor of our commercial LMS stopped support even when Annual Maintenance Contract was renewed on time. Also, we have taken a decision of implementing RFID for which integration with LMS is very essential. The LMS Vendor has quoted the cost of NCIP module of Libsys exorbitantly high. These are some of the factors which has led us to switch over to Koha. Apart from this, our objective was also to fund a small bit towards the development of the software (Koha - OS version), rather than funding a commercial software by continuing its AMC. We have also evaluated several commercial and Open Source LMS and to a large extent arrived at the same results as yours. I would also like to share some of the challenges we have faced while working with Koha so far. We have implemented all the modules of Koha (Acquisition, Patrons, Cataloguing, Circulation and Reports). We found Acquisition module at a very primary stage which needs lots of customization to make it usable. Also, in most of the Koha implementation in India, I found that the Circulation and OPAC are the most used modules. We have taken the services of Rapid Radio Ahmedabad and OSSLabs for the customization of all modules of Koha, mainly acquisition module. All the customizations have been taken up by the Vendor after the approval of Koha Community and its developers before changing the source code. And the features which have been customized for our library will be a part of the source code of Koha OS version in the upcoming releases (as per the feature release schedule of Koha release manager). Some of the features that have been added to Koha acquisition and other modules are given as below: Staff member can add the the recommended title on recommender's behalf Acquisition details of the biblio item is attached with each item record in staff client. This is to enable the library staff to find out the price, discount and other acquisition related data of the item.In OPAC, name of recommender in Item details, to be captured from acquisition module for each item Export of pending (for approval) purchase suggestions in csv & print format Export new arrivals list by date range in in csv & print format, display data in compact format (preferably ISBD)Modification in Order Basket display; addition of new columnsModification of purchase suggestion list, better filtering, ordering and sortingStatus of titles in suggestion list to be marked as pending, duplication checked, available in library, approved, rejected, ordered and received. The status to be shown in recommender's OPAC profile under hi/her purchase suggestions. Sorting of suggestion list by the statuses such as pending, duplication, approved, checked etc.Export of suggestion list by status category in csv and printable format.Email notification to recommender's once his/her recommended title is received in the libraryReports in csv and printable format:Accession register Members circulation history (from individual member record)Members overdue history (from individual member record)Members checkout history (from individual member record)"Archival of exchange rates datewise; and capture of the rate for a given date during the receipt of the book with the invoice Rectification of alphabetical sorting of titles in Koha OPAC Major database fields are made available in the guided reports so that customized report can be generated from any koha modulesDuplicate search (a cumulative search interface where in we can search the records from catalogue, order baskets, rejected, and suggestion pool) when a title is recommended and listed in the suggestion list We have ensured a commitment from the service provider to make the customized feature acceptable to the Koha community and be the part of the open source stable release in due course. The grey areas in Koha: Serial control for online journals: As we have all the serials in online only format, where as the serial control module is suitable only for print only version.Guided Reports: Though we have tried to make more and more database fields available in guided report, still customized report generation is quite challenging. Looking forward to hear more success stories from professionals who have implemented Koha and migrated from commercial LMS. With best regards Nabonita -- Nabonita Guha Library-cum-Information Officer Library, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur Post, Bangalore 560064 Karnataka, India Phone: +91-80-22082930 Email: nabonita@jncasr.ac.in Web: http://lib.jncasr.ac.in OPAC: http://lib.jncasr.ac.in:8081

Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 16:36:10 +0530 From: mailman@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in To: lis-forum@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in Subject: [LIS-Forum] KOHA-UoM Experience-Universal Suitability-Discussion

Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 10:48:47 +0200 From: Ishwar Goudar

Dear Professionals,

*I invite experiences, comments and opinions of professionals in the matter concerned to the selection of and migration to suitable Library Management System (LMS) for different kind of libraries taking into account of all factors like size and type of libraries, service after sale, cost factor, customization, availability of community for development in case of Open Source S/W, stability in the market, world wide popularity, compliance to international standards, cost, etc.* This discussion should help professionals for selecting suitable LMS and also for migrating from one ILMS to other if required. I have given below a detailed account of the entire process we did while adopting new LMS and implementing it. * Our Experience at University of Mysore*:

*Background:*

Our library had adopted Libsys 13 years back itself and was used for creating few thousand OPAC records. Later in 2001 SLIM was used for adding a sizable number of records to our OPAC. For some reason or the other these LMSs were not used for other housekeeping activities. After my joining UoM one year back I did lot of home work for choosing suitable LMS including the continuation of Libsys and SLIM. I did not want to jump for a new one immediately, but try the ones for which we already had licenses although for old versions of these LMSs. I contacted both the vendors, but failed to get favourable response, as both insisted on selling their new versions with very high price rather than helping us to revive the old versions.

*Exercise for Selection of New LMS:*

We did a serious exercise before choosing KOHA. We constituted a committee of experts in the field to recommend the suitable LMS for UoM. We also conducted one full day brain storming session on this matter by inviting 7-8 librarians using different LMSs. I had also distributed 7 page list of criteria for consideration and discussion.

As you are aware there are number of commercial in the market and Open Source ILMSs. The good ones under commercial category are very costly ( in the range of 1.5 -15 lacs) depending upon the sophistication of the system, size of the library, after sales service, their market stability, etc. Some of them costing around 1.5-3.0 Lacs are not suitable for bigger libraries like university libraries.

We short listed NewGenLib and Koha based on many criteria. For the last few years NewGenLib is available as open source LMS. However, for the last one year or so the developers are vending an enterprises version of NewGenLib as they claim. While the earlier version of NewGenLib is still available in OS the developers have stopped giving service to OS version users as indicated by their mail to me. Unfortunately we don't have NewGenLib user community like that of KOHA for providing guidance, service, custamisation and adding new features for its open source version. We also don't have 3rd party service providers for NewGenLib OS version.

We decided to go for KOHA as we felt that it is not only suitable for UoM with all its best features and functionalities, but we can get service support by a established third party like OSS Labs, Bangalore. More importantly improvements in functionality and features of KOHA are ensured due to its strong community world over. OSS Labs also has received some international support for its contribution towards KOHA 3.4 Version. Koha also has over a dozen vendors worldwide that provide services and develop the software. Several libraries around the world sponsor development and contribute to Koha in other ways like testing, documentation and even development. *Koha has always been and will always be open source and free.*

*Automation Model Adopted at UoM and KOHA: *

We have 58 libraries directly under UoM participating in our automation program including Main Library, Libraries of 5 colleges, 13 institutions and 36 Departments. Once completed, the OPAC will have about 10 Lacs records.

*OPAC is single for all libraries: Centralised database, decentralised inputting and housekeeping activities and Universal access to OPAC; Unique accession number for every record in the OPAC irrespective of their location in different libraries. We also plan to issue patron ID cards with Unique ID Number across all libraries. This card would serve as Universal card among the group of libraries concerned.

We have hosted our database in cloud hosting environment (Amazon C2) and there by no expenditure on server, maintenance, manpower, air-conditioning, etc. We pay nominal monthly rental to the server maintenance. All participating libraries access the server directly for their housekeeping activities.

**Status of KOHA Implementation:*

So for we have added about 2 lac bibliographic records from 5 participating libraries to our OPAC. MARC 21 is strictly followed. KOHA has been in use for Acquisition of books and other documents. Membership IDs are being printed through KOHA. Circulation section work has been experimented successfully on trial basis taking into all features including creation of patron database, transactions, fine calculations, reminders, etc. The same will be practiced next week onwards coinciding the commencement of new academic year. We will start Serials Control job very soon. We are downloading bibliographic records from libraries like LOC using Z39.50. Anybody can access our OPAC at* http://libcat.mysore-univ.org/* Both our library staff and users are very happy with features and functionalites of Koha.

*We have not even spent one third of what we would have spent for a medium priced commercial LMS. The amount we paid to our service provider Nucsoft (its OSS Labs unit), Bangalore** covered installation and configuration, migration of existing data, training, little bit customisation, hosting initially on cloud hosting environment and AMC for one year.

*The server is 99.95% reliable, accurate and 24 hours on time without any breaks. We need not spend our time and money and space for server, air-conditioning and its maintenance or for system administration. The infrastructure is also scalable, additional system resources can be procured within minutes if required.

*Koha Capabilities at a High Level:*

Koha is the most advanced open source Integrated Library Management System (ILMS) in the world. It has won many awards and is being used by thousands of libraries.

All modules including Cataloging, Circulation, OPAC, Acquisitions, and Serials Control are integrated. Compared to all other LMSs the Cataloging, OPAC and Circulation module are superior with many useful features and functionalities. The user community loves Koha's OPAC.

*Costs associated with Koha:*

Many of the commercial LMSs jike costs depending upon type and size of the library, number of housekeeping clients, number of simultaneous OPAC clients we opt, number of participating libraries, modules used. Koha being open source ILMS, we don't have to pay any amount for its procurement. Licensing costs nil, no matter how many libraries or servers we use the software in or what modules we use or how many users we have.

However, to ensure proper installation and configuration of Koha, we may have to spend nominal amount to get third party service, unless we ourselves develop our expertise for installation, configuration and implementation of KOHA at our level.

*Vendor Support for Koha: * There are over a dozen vendors worldwide that support Koha including 2 or 3 in India. Our vendor, Nucsoft is 15 year old, ISO 9001 company with mature and modern support processes. They operate a 12*7 support center for Koha and offer strong service level committments.

But at the same time we are not tied to any vendor. We can change vendors or support the software on our own. This "No vendor lock-in" advantage of Koha will protect us against risks such as poor service, high prices or vendor insolvency.

*Koha Features Summary:*

Koha is web-based ILMS, with a MySQL database back-end. Cataloguing data stored is in MARC and is accessible via Z39.50. The user interface is very configurable and adaptable and has been translated into many languages.

With integration of the powerful Zebra indexing engine, Koha became, scalable to support tens of millions of bibliographic records and thereby good solution for libraries of all kinds including large Academic Libraries.

*Other Important Features of Koha include:*

- Runs on Linux, Unix, Windows and MacOSX platform on the front-end - Simple, clear interface for librarians and members - Web based OPAC system (allows the public to search the catalogue in the library and at home). - Various Web 2.0 facilities like tagging and RSS feeds - Union catalog facility - Customizable search - Can be integrated with library web site - E-mail and/or txt patron's over dues and other notices - Easy-to-use circulation policies, strong patron management, intuitive navigation, and extensive permissions for staff accounts. - Full acquisitions system including budgets and pricing information (including supplier and currency conversion) - Ability to cope with any number of branches, patrons, patron categories, item categories, items, currencies and other data (Most important) - Serials system for magazines or news papers - Koha is multi-tasking and enables updates of circulation, cataloguing and issues to occur simultaneously - Reading lists for members - Inbuilt facility for printing bar-codes and spine labels - Full catalogue, circulation and acquisitions system for library stock management. - Supports barcode and RFID implementation including bar-code generation and RFID writing. * **Feedback on Key Koha Modules: *

*Union catalog*

With its Union catalog facility one can have a single OPAC for a group of libraries. For example all libraries under one university set up including main library, departmental libraries, constituent college libraries, affiliated colleges can have single OPAC, but still carry on their respective house keeping activities including book acquisition, circulation of books etc independently without interfering in housekeeping of other libraries in the group.

Most importantly, the catalogue created once for one book by any of the library, can be used by other libraries for creating their catalogue entry without keying again the details except class and accession number.

*OPAC * Search within search is a fantastic facility. The system picks up related titles along with cover page from Google Books automatically, some time with full or partial text and contents page.

The users apart from enjoying browsing of titles can use simple and advance search features like in any other ILMSs. They can also check their borrowing details, reserve items, make suggestions for new books, etc.

*Cataloging*

The cataloging module being MARC21 and Z39.50 compliant, library staff can automatically import bibliographic records from other libraries like Library of Congress and local libraries of their choice instead of data entry again and thereby ensure quality catalogue and saving time of library staff.

*Circulation*

The circulation module is one of the best features of Koha. Apart from enabling automated transactions in the counter using bar-code or RFID the system enables the counter staff to identify the borrower with the help of the photograph and/or the digital signature. The system allows the reservation of document by the users or the library staff and also facilitates sending overdue reminders through e-mail.

*Acquistions*

The acquisition model is fully integrated with management of document suggestions, approval for procurement and budget and budget under different headings. The details of the documents already keyed in could be used for cataloging automatically.

*Serials*

While there is scope for improving serials management of Koha, as it stands it serves our purpose. The upcoming version will take care of the present shortcomings. Various kinds of reports with statistics useful for management, library staff and users can be generated in Koha.

The above mentioned opinion is based on library automation experience at NAL, Bangalore and UoM for 20 years as well my interaction with both librarians and LIS teachers. In no way I undermine the capabilities of other commercial/OS LMSs. Once again I invite a detailed discussion by professional on this topic. Please contact me if you have questions.

Thank you,

Dr. I.R.N. Goudar Visiting Professor Cum Library Advisor University of Mysore Formerly Scientist G and Head, Information Centre at NAL, Bangalore _______________________________________________ LIS-Forum mailing list LIS-Forum@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/lis-forum

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