Challenges of Open Source ILS Adoption

摘要

This paper describes the results of a research studyanalyzing the challenges of the adoption of open sourceintegrated library systems (OSS ILSs) among U.S. libraries.The research team surveyed 73 libraries of all typescurrently using proprietary ILSs about their satisfactionwith their ILS, whether they have considered migrating toan OSS ILS, and some of the changes that would need tooccur inside and outside of the libraries to facilitatemigration to OSS ILSs. The results show that most of thelibraries surveyed have considered migrating to OSS ILSs.The most common reason for considering migration is thecost savings of OSS ILSs compared to proprietary ILSs.The most common issues libraries cited as reasons not tomigrate to OSS ILSs include lack of in-house technical staffand expertise and perceived lack of OSS ILS technicalsupport. This paper contributes to the field by discussingsome specific challenges libraries associate with OSS ILSs.This research will help libraries in the OSS ILS communityto better address these challenges and encourage OSS ILSadoption.