White papers and Case studies

White papers and Case studies

 

 

 

 

Author:L.J.Haravu, Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management
The Development of Institutional Repositories using the NewGenLib Library Automation And Networking Software

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NewGenLib is a recent addition to the market place for library automation software in India. NewGenLib is strongly predicated on the use of contemporary and international metadata and interoperability standards. NewGenLib also uses contemporary n-tier based architecture and open source components. These features make the software not only affordable but also scalable and relatively easily maintainable because each of its layers can be sized or upgraded when needed. Unlike other Indian library automation software that have been on the scene for over a decade and a half, NewGenLib is fully based on web technologies in all its versions. Equally importantly, the networking/consortium version of NewGenLib allows cost-effective networking of libraries via the web using a single server and software infrastructure.....


Author:L.J.Haravu, Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management
Comparison of two open source integrated Library Systems (ILS): Koha (version. 3.0) and NewGenLib (version. 2.2 beta)

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Note: The current version of NewGenLib is 3.0.2

The last five years have seen the emergence several of open source ILS originating from New Zealand, Philippines, USA and India. The names, Evergreen, Koha (www.koha.org) and OPALS (Open Source Library Automation Systems) and NewGenLib (www.newgenlib.com) have been doing the rounds of library circles and in the literature, mailing lists and blogs of librarians. Each of these began as projects and had sponsors who funded it. All these are now available as open source offerings under the GNU GPL system.

Evergreen began as a Project of the Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS) and is in use by the Georgia Library PINES (Public Information Network for Electronic Services), the public library automation and lending network for more than 275 libraries and affiliated service outlets in almost 140 counties in the US. Evergreen is targeted to public libraries and is mostly used in them. Acquisitions and Serials management modules are under development. Koha was funded by a group of three libraries of the Horowhenua Library Trust (HLT) in New Zealand and was targeted to public libraries initially but now has academic library users as well. OPALS was targeted to the US K-12 school library market. NewGenLib is the first open source ILS from a developing country, India, and is the result of a partnership between a professional trust, Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management (KIIKM) and a software company, Verus Solutions Pvt. Ltd.,(VSPL) both in Hyderabad, India. NewGenLib was funded purely by private sources and of the three mentioned above has the smallest budget. Since its inception, NewGenLib was designed with all kinds of libraries in mind and hence has all the modules that are normally associated with ILS. NewGenLib was also developed to provide support to the workflows and practices that are common in India and other S.Asian countries. Unlike Koha and Evergreen which started of as open source projects, NewGenLib was a commercially licensed offering until Jan 2008 when it was made open source under GNU/GPL.....