Keynote talk given at the Amigos Open Source Software and Tools for the Library and Archive conference

1. Open Your Mind:
Open Source and Libraries
Nicole C. Engard
VP of Community Outreach, ByWater Solutions
Author, Practical Open Source Software for Libraries
Community Moderator, opensource.com

2. Who Am I
• Animal Lover
• Librarian
• Writer
• Educator
• Koha Manual Author
• Open Source Community Member

3. What is Open Source
Open source software is software that users have the ability to
run, distribute, study and modify for any purpose.
Open source is a collaborative software-development method
that harnesses the power of peer review and transparency of
process to develop code that is freely accessible.
Open source is only as strong as the community behind it!!

4. Open Source FUD
• “Isn’t that insecure?”
• “I don’t want to share my
data!”
• “How can it be any good if
it’s free?”
• “We don’t have the staff to
handle open source.”
Comic: Author: Unknown | Year: Unknown | Source: Unknown

5. The Cathedral and
The Bazaar
The Cathedral
(proprietary software)
• Development occurs
behind walls
• Source code is
usually not provided -
kept locked up
• Corporate hierarchy
The Bazaar
(open source software)
• Code developed over
the Internet with
several others in
public view
• Source code open to
all users
• “Given enough
eyeballs, all bugs are
shallow”www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/

6. Open Source Governance
• What kind of quality control is there?
• Most open source projects have a release manager or a
manager of some sort who reviews the code and
approves it before adding it to the final release
• What is the role of the community?
• The community looks out for the best interests of the
software. They work as the governing body behind all
decisions related to the software. The community
decides what features to develop next and who the
managers are.

7. Crowdsourcing
“Crowdsourcing has it genesis in the open source
movement in software. The development of the Linux
operating system proved that a community of like-minded
peers was capable of creating a better product than a
corporate behemoth like Microsoft. Open source revealed a
fundamental truth about humans that had gone largely
unnoticed until the connectively of the Internet brought it into
high relief: labor can often be organized more efficiently in
the context of a community than it can in the context of the
corporation. The best person to do a job is the one who
most wants to do that job; and the best people to evaluate
their performance are their friends and peers who, by the
way, will enthusiastically pitch in to improve the final product,
simply for the sheer pleasure of helping one another and
creating something beautiful from which they all will benefit.”
Howe, J. (2008). Crowdsourcing: Why the power of the crowd is driving the future of
business. New York: Crown Business. p.8

8. Open Source Community
• Open source is about more than free software
• Community is crucial to the growth of open source
• Without shared knowledge and collaboration the project will not grow
• People who use open source can collaborate and contribute in many
ways with the community
• Write code
• Write documentation
• Debug
• Educate others
• Share ideas

9. Open Source & Libraries
• Libraries and Open Source Both...
• Believe that information should be freely accessible
to everyone
• Give away stuff
• Benefit from the generosity of others
• Are about communities
• Make the world a better place
-- Horton, G. http://tinyurl.com/3jvumn

10. Open Source in Libraries
“The hard drive on one of our reference desk PCs died today. I threw in a
new one, but I didn't feel like spending the day sitting through Windows
updates, so I loaded Ubuntu 11.04 on it instead. The install, as I'm sure
you know, only took about 15 minutes. Now, before I add my next point,
keep in mind that I manage a staff whose average age is about 63. No
joke. Most of them have been working at my facility longer than I've been
alive. Still, once I had Ubuntu up and running, they were literally fighting
over who got to use the new operating system. They loved it that much.
Now I agree, Linux kicks butt. I use it about 80% of the time. Typing to
you on Mint right now! However, I never expected novice users to take to
it so quickly. Please, next time you do an open source webinar, impress
on your attendees that libraries aren't sacrificing a thing by switching
over to open source software. If anything, open source operating
systems and applications can be far more user friendly for the novice
user than Windows will ever be...”
-- Mark at the The Rahway Public Library

11. Who’s Using Open Source
• In 2015 78% of respondents said their companies run part or all of
its operations on OSS and 66% said their company creates
software for customers built on open source. This statistic has
nearly doubled since 2010.
• 93% percent said their organization’s use of open source increased
or remained the same in the past year.
• 64% of companies currently participate in open source projects –
up from 50 percent in 2014 – and over the next 2-3 years, 88% are
expected to increase contributions to open source projects.
• Open source has become the default approach for software with
more than 66% of respondents saying they consider OSS before
other options.
www.blackducksoftware.com/news/releases/seventy-eight-percent-
companies-run-open-source-yet-many-lack-formal-policies-manage

12. Open Source Future
• 58% believe open source affords the greatest ability to scale and
43% said OSS provides superior ease of deployment over
proprietary software.
• 55% believe open source delivers superior security when lined up
against proprietary solutions. The superior security of open source
is also expected to rise to 61% over the next 2-3 years.
• When evaluating security technologies for internal use, 45% of
respondents said open source options are given first consideration.
• Cloud computing (39%), big data (35%), operating systems (33%),
and the Internet of Things (31%) are expected to be impacted most
by open source in the next 2-3 years.
www.blackducksoftware.com/news/releases/seventy-eight-percent-
companies-run-open-source-yet-many-lack-formal-policies-manage

13. Spreading the Word
• Open source is still very misunderstood in libraries
• Dispel the FUD by:
• Writing articles
• Presenting
• Using open source and doing case studies
• Teaching community leaders what it means to
choose open source in the library

14. Find a Community
• Choose an open source project you like and join
the community
• Write documentation
• Debug code
• Join the chat room/mailing list and just talk
• Share ideas for growth

15. Use your community
• Reach out to your patrons and :
• Start events on programming for kids
• Teach adults about open source
• Learn more about open source yourselves

16. Resources
• My Bibliography:
www.zotero.org/nengard/items/collectionKey/
MB5S62ZP
• FOSS4Lib: www.foss4lib.org
• Opensource.com : www.opensource.com
• Open Source & Libraries Group Bibliography:
www.zotero.org/groups/
freelibre_and_open_source_software_and_libraries_
bibliography

17. Thank You!!!
Nicole C. Engard
nengard@gmail.com
Slides: http://opensource.web2learning.net