READIT - 2009 - Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

Proceedings of READIT-2009, Kalpakkam - 603 102, 29-30 Dec 2009
MYLIBRARY – MyLibrary is a user-driven, customizable interface to sets of library
resources. Technically, MyLibrary is a database-driven website application written in Perl. It
requires a relational database application as a foundation and it currently supports MySQL
and PostgreSQL. MyLibrary takes three essential components of librarianship (resources,
users and librarians) and tries to create relationships between them through the use of
common controlled vocabularies. It provides the means to create collections of resources and
classify them. Unlike a library catalog, the system also allows librarians as well as patrons to
be classified in the same manner, by sharing a common set of controlled vocabulary terms
relationships between resources, patrons and librarians.
(http://dewey.library.nd.edu/mylibrary/)
OPEN SOURCE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SERVERS
A further enabling technology now available to libraries is open source content
management systems. Some of these, such as Joomla (http://www.joomla.org/), come with a
variety of example modules that make implementation of a library "framework" relatively
easy. Joomla exemplifies the new generation of content management systems that allow
relatively easy "plug-in" of additional modules for specific functions, some of which may be
open source, some shareware and some licensed (but in all cases with source code provided).
Canberra hospital has implemented Joomla to achieve a range of goals in providing access to
library services, open up discussion groups, tagging and other social networking functions
(http://tchdev.anu.edu.au/). Special Libraries have in the past been captive to wider
Information Technology department control of web-based resources. The availability of open
source content management systems provides a framework for libraries to extend their
capabilities without being entirely reliant of an Information Technology section for their
service delivery.
OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Higher education institutions worldwide face significant challenges related to
providing increased access, while containing or reducing costs. Meeting increasing and
increasingly varied demand for quality higher education is an important consideration in the
policy debate and institutional development in many countries. New developments in higher
education – from virtual universities and e-learning to open source initiatives – speak to the
efforts on the part of the traditional higher education community, as well as new providers, to
address this increasing demand. The open source movement can be seen as reflecting the
8
140