Open Source Library Management Systems: A Multidimensional Evaluation

Abstract : Open source library management systems have improved steadily in the last five years. They now present a credible option for small to medium libraries and library networks. An approach to their evaluation is proposed that takes acount of three additional dimensions that only open source can offer: the developer and support community, the source code characteristics and the information schema. These dimensions allow for extended comparative product review not generally possible with proprietary software. This approach is applied to seven open source systems and highlights the variety of design approaches and the different library sectors that these systems are suitable for.