LSC 555 Information Systems Webliography: Open Source Software
by
Julie K. Merkel
| General Information | Resources for Libraries | Scholarly Findings |
- General Information
- The Origins and Future of Open Source Software
by Nathan Newman, NetAction
This website gives some good background on the history of Open Source software. It is very helpful because of its descriptions of Open Source standards, as well as interesting information on how to become an activist working to promote the use of Open Source. However, its anti-Microsoft and anti-government stance may be off-putting to some!
- Open Source Software Institute
This is the official site of the Open Source Software Institute. It provides several interesting links, including topics on the relationship of Open Source to both government and academic agencies, as well as including news updates about recent developments in Open Source programming. The site is especially helpful because it does not limit access to those who are members of the institute. A minor annoyance is the difficulty in finding the "Search" field.
- Wikipedia Definition of Open Source
This is a general definition of Open Source Software. It is especially helpful because of its links to other terms commonly associated with Open Source, as well as its inclusion of links to other sites of interest, which are organized into subject categories. However, it is unclear as to how some items on the included "See also" list relate to the topic of Open Source Software.
- Open Source Software: What is it and How Does it Work?
by Dr. Ben Kremer
This site gives some good background on legal issues related to the use of Open Souce software. Its question-and-answer format and good links to sites about legal issues make this a useful site. Unfortunately, it assumes that the readers have knowledge of certain terms, and also does not offer links to the various sections of the article.
- Open Source Resources: A Bibliography of Research and Analysis
This is a good list of general research done on the topic of Open Source software. A plus for this site is that the list can be accessed in EndNote or as a bibtext file as well as in the HTML format. However, it is not arranged topically and does not include articles that reflect recent developments in Open Source.
- Resources for Libraries
- Open Source Software and Libraries Bibliography
by Brenda Chawner, School of Information Management, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
This site is a great resource for libraries! It includes a comprehensive list of many articles written on the topic of Open Source software that would be useful to library professionals. However, the list is arranged only by the author's name and not by a topic subheading, and there are only direct links to a few of the artices.
- Information Technology and Libraries - Special Issue: Open Source Software
Jeremy Frumkin, ed.
This is an entire issue of ITAL dedicated to Open Source software. The site is quite useful as it gives abstracts for each of the articles and also provides links to several advertising sites. The articles also have interesting foci, such as the relationship between Open Source and metadata. A weakness of the site is that it does not provide links to the full texts of each of the articles.
- Usability and Open Source Software Development
by David M. Nichols, Kirsten Thomson and Stuart A. Yeates
This is a wonderful analysis of usability testing done on Greenstone Digital Library, which is Open Source collection-building software. This paper raises the point that developers of Open Source software rarely study the needs of actual users, and that the future of Open Source may be endangered for that reason. However, a major weakness of the study is that it was conducted on computer science students rather than in a library setting - despite the fact that the software was library-oriented!
- Open Source and Other Free Software for Schools
This site is a helpful resource for school libraries to use when trying to decide if Open Source software should be used. It includes helpful links to allow school libraries to search for Open Source software that is compatible with their current operating systems. However, the site fails to fully explain the meaning of Open Source, and presents it as a less-costly alternative to Microsoft software. This can be very misleading, as the hidden costs of Open Source are not mentioned.
- Quiet Revolution: Librarians Teach and Preach Open Source Software at Convention
by Ben Ostrowsky
This article was published in NewForge, the online newspaper for Linux and Open Source. It describes the advantages of Open Source library software, such as Koha. It is helpful in providing links for additional reading and also a discussion forum. While the article stresses the need for librarians to learn how to use Open Source and teach it to others, it does not give specific suggestions on where librarians might go to receive such instruction.
- Choosing and Using Open Source Software: A Primer for Non-Profits
by Michelle Murrain, et al.
This document was created by the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative. Fabulous features of this site include information on how to use Open Source to meet a particular organization's needs, and how to find support for use of Open Source. It also includes a helpful glossary. The only major lack in this site is direct links in the list of additional resources.
- Open Source Software for Libraries: Exercises for Windows Users in the Crowd
by Eric Lease Morgan
This is a great document because it gives step-by-step instructions in installing and using various Open Source Programs. It is especially helpful because it provides specific information relating to library applications, such as using Z39.50 and downloading MARC records. The only weakness I find is that the author's suggested motivations for using Open Source seem to be merely an afterthought at the end of the paper.
- Scholarly Findings
- Evolution in Open Source Software: A Case Study
by Michael W. Godfrey and Qiang Tu, Department of Computer Science, University of Waterloo
This paper discusses the growth rate of Linux under the hypothesis that Linux would grow more slowly as it became larger. The authors concluded, however, that Linux has actually grown at a super-linear rate. This paper makes the excellent point that many parts of Linux code are specific to each CPU, which makes the Linux smaller than it seems. An unfortunate aspect of this paper is that it does not take the profiles of Linux users into consideration when deriving conclusions on the speed of Linux growth.
- Open Source Software Development as a Special Type of Academic Research
by Nikouli Bezroukov, Fairleigh Dickinson University
This site gives some caveats against casual adoption of an Open Source System. This paper was published by the peer-reviewed, online journal First Monday, and has good links to the subsections of the document, and is written in an appealing, anecdotal manner. A weakness of the document is the author's failure to demonstrate the authority of the sources he cites.
- Open Source and Academia
by Laurie Taylor and Brendan Riley
This site explores the relationship between Open Source and academic research. Helpful things about this site include links to research, pedagogy, and sample assignments in the use of Open Source. A weakness of this site is its failure to define some common terms that might be unknown to a person completely unfamiliar with Open Source.
© Julie K. Merkel