Sustainability of Open Source Integrated Library System in Selected Indian Libraries

摘要

Adoption or migration to Open Source Software (OSS) for building institutional repositories, creating digital libraries, automating house-keeping operation etc. are common in libraries for many years as a cost effective solution. However many libraries are still adhere to use commercial solutions as a result of lack of sufficient knowledge in the benefits of using OSS and particularly in adopting Open Source Integrated Library System (OSILS). This study aims to investigate the attitude of potential SOUL software users in Indian libraries towards the adoption of OSILS and assess the major reasons which cause SOUL users not to adopt OSILS for their libraries. Study also makes an attempt to figure out the level of satisfaction of SOUL users with the features and functional modules of the software and their opinions on the various aspects of OSILS. From the data analysis and observations it was found that majority of the SOUL users were interested in adopting OSILS for their libraries and expressed that lack of technical knowledge required to install and maintain the software is the major concerned associated with the adoption.