C S Venkatarama Reddy

The paper aims to study the Free/Open source integrated library management systems like Koha, Newgenlib and e-Granthalaya. A thorough analysis of all the three software's has been done and listed the features available in all the three ILMS. Koha and Newgenlib has more advanced and varied features than e-Granthalaya. e-Granthalaya has simple interface with less options and easy to use and install. Overall Newgenlib has more enhanced features that are significant for library automation and it can be selected as ILMS. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FREE/OPEN SOURCE INTEGRATED LIBRARY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (FOSILMS) WITH REFERENCE TO KOHA, NEWGENLIB AND E-GRANTHALAYA Vol.1,Issue.12/Oct. 2013 ISSN : 2319-8435 C S VENKATARAMA REDDY Research Scholar and Librarian, Govt. First Grade College, Bagepalli, Karnataka, India e-Library Science Research Journal Impact Factor : 0.109 Review of Literature: Cargile, Cathleen (2005) examines the potential of open source integrated library systems (OSILS) and their applications. He pays particular attention to four OSILS software's like Koha, Emilda, MyPhpLibrary, and Learning Access ILS. Brief notes are included relating to OS operating systems and programming languages. Russo Gallo, Patricia (2007) describes the characteristics of the open source library management software, PMB, including licensing, requirements and functionality, then they analyses the features of the different modules and the OPAC. The author considers PMB to be appropriate for both large and small libraries and document centres, enumerating examples of existing applications in Catalan libraries. Bissels, Gerhard (2008) describes the selection process and criteria of implementation of Koha 3.0 at the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Library and Information Service (CAMLIS), Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital. Koha 3.0 was selected because of the GNU license was considered more future-proof than proprietary products, and more open to customization to meet the special needs of the library. Dalziel, Karin (2008) reveals the OSS solutions to meet the needs of library patrons and disadvantages of OSS in respect of support by vendors and volunteers. Today, libraries can choose open source and enjoy the benefits of full support and turnkey hosting for open source ILSs. In the US, libraries currently have two options: LibLime, which supports the open source products Koha and Evergreen, and Equinox supports Evergreen only. This paper takes a look at LibLime, primarily their Koha and Koha ZOOM offerings. Helling, John (2010) compared the two leading open source library management system (LMS) packages and highlights the reasons behind a switch from one open source provider to another. It is based on practical experience. Koha and Evergreen ILMs are presented in terms of their current use as well as their future directions of development and opportunities. He compared the history of Koha and Evergreen. The former is criticized because of the recent "fork," i.e. commercial use of open source code. Problems with a local implementation of Koha are also discussed. Evergreen however, since it was developed by a library consortium, appeared the better choice for the Indiana Shared Library Catalog (ISLC), a consortium of different libraries in Indiana. Sunil, M V & Harinarayana, N S (2011) reveals that the requirements of Indian college libraries in ILS products in general and Open Source Integrated Library Systems in particular. The requirements are analyzed for the housekeeping modules and viability indicators by direct questioning. The performance of the 9 OSILS Products ABCD, Emilda, Evergreen, Koha, NewGenLib, OPALS, OpenBiblio, PMBILS and PhpMyLibrary is evaluated against the listed requirements. Muller, Tristan (2011) seeks to present the results of an analysis of 20 free and open source ILS platforms offered to the library community. These software platforms were subjected to a three-step analysis, whereby the results aim to assist librarians and decision makers in selecting an open source ILS, based on objective criteria. More than 20 open source ILSs were tested, but only three passed all the steps: Evergreen, Koha, and PMB. The main goal is not to identify the best open source ILS, but rather to highlight from which, of the batch of dozens of open source ILSs, librarians and decision makers can choose without worrying about how perennial or sustainable each open or free project is, as well as understanding which ILS provides them with the functionalities to meet the needs of their institutions. Overview of Integrated Library Management Systems: Koha: It is developed in the year 1999 by Kaptio Communications for the Horowhenua Library Trust of New Zealand. Koha is web based open source integrated library system used world-wide by public libraries, special libraries and educational institutions. The catalogue data is stored in MARC format and accessible through Z39.50 servers. It has using Web 2.0 technology for tagging and to feed RSS. It also the Union cataloguing to unity the group of catalogues and also no vendor lock-in. Newgenlib: It is an open source integrated Library Management system developed by Verus Solutions Pvt. Ltd. with Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge management, Hyderabad, India and released in the year 2005. It is web based software using JAVA and has multi-tier architecture. It is a compliant of MARC format and OAI-PMH and Z39.50. It has RFID integration and supports multi-user and multiple security levels. The latest versions are supporting the Android Mobiles and COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FREE/OPEN SOURCE INTEGRATED LIBRARY MANAGEMENT........