Koha Evergreen and Voyager A Comparison of Their

Koha, Evergreen, and Voyager: A Comparison of Their Staff Modules Ten Years of Experience, A Future of Possibilities VALE / NJ ACRL/ NJLA CUS Tenth Annual Users' Conference Friday, January 9, 2009 Sharon Yang, Melissa A. Hofmann , and Meghan Weeks Rider University Libraries

Overview of the Presentation • Introduction ▫ Open source & GNU General Public License ▫ Open source ILS ▫ Koha and Evergreen • Staff client comparison • Comparison of staff functions ▫ ▫ Acquisitions Cataloging Circulation System administration • Behind-the-scenes technologies • Cost analysis • Conclusion

Introduction: Open Source & GNU GPL GNU General Public License ▫ GNU is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix" ▫ Free to run, study, modify, and redistribute the software ▫ Support is not free Other open source licenses ▫ ▫ ▫ Mozilla Public License Creative Commons licenses BSD License Apache Software License GNU Free Documentation License

Introduction: Why Open Source ILS? • • • Financial considerations Ability to tailor to fit local needs or customization No restrictions on use User driven vs. profit driven Dissatisfaction with current ILS No vendor lock-in

Introduction: Open Source ILS • • • Avanti Micro. LCS (http: //www. avantilibrarysystems. com/) Emilda, Finland (http: //www. emilda. org) Evergreen, US (http: //evergreen-ils. org/) Koha, New Zealand (http: //koha. org) Learning Access ILS, US (www. learningaccess. org) New. Gen. Lib, India (http: //www. verussolutions. biz) Open. Biblio (http: //obiblio. sourceforge. net/) Php. My. Library, Philippines (http: //phpmylibrary. com/pml/) PMB (Php. My. Bibli), France (http: //www. sigb. net) PYTHEAS, US (http: //web 2. uwindsor. ca/library/leddy/people/art/pytheas/index. html) • OPALS, US (http: //www. opals-na. org/opals-fac. html) • Web. LIS, UNESCO & Poland (http: //www. unesco. org/isis/) In conceptual stage: • OLE: The Open Library Environment (http: //www. oleproject. org)

Introduction: Koha & Evergreen • • • English language More mature that other open source ILSs More complete functions/modules More users Available technical support and planned future releases

Comparison of Staff Modules: Koha, Evergreen, and Voyager “A thorough process of evaluating an integrated library system (ILS) today would not be complete without also weighing the open source ILS products against their proprietary counterparts. " -Marshall Breeding, Chapter 4, "Open Source Integrated Library Systems"

Comparison: Koha, Evergreen, and Voyager Koha Evergreen Voyager First developed 1999 2005 1994 First implemented by a US library 2002 2006 1994 First became a turnkey system with technical support 2006 1994 Number of libraries as of 1/09 400 305 1179

Comparison: Koha, Evergreen, and Voyager Staff Modules Koha Evergreen Voyager Acquisitions Cataloging OPAC Circulation System Serials Reports Note: Evergreen Acquisitions & Serials modules are currently under joint development by Equinox, Georgia Public Library Service, and several Evergreen libraries. No release date yet.

Staff Client Comparison Koha-web browser Evergreen-locally installed client (Windows, Linux, Mac) Circulation Cataloging Cat. C System Admin Voyager-locally installed client (Windows) Acquisitions Cataloging Circulation System Admin

Acquisitions Comparison Activities Voyager Koha Search parameters Vendors, Ledgers, Funds, Rollover Rules, PO #, Line Items, Invoices, EDI Profiles, Routing Lists, Pub. Patterns Yes Vendor name or title/vendor name only Yes (cataloging module must also be open and same operator signed in) Yes No, must search in catalog; edit in catalog (takes you away from P. O. screens) No (in planning stage) Yes No No No? Unless requesting through OPAC Yes Import MARC records View/edit MARC records Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Fiscal Period Close/Rollover Selection lists Patrons suggestions via OPAC and notification No No (use existing bib, use suggestion, or create short bib).

Acquisitions cont. Activities Voyager Koha Connect to university accounting software No No Add requestor information to Yes an item Ability to notify requestor of No No (Notes field only) Only if from OPAC. status Flagging an order (rush, etc. ) Yes No (Notes field only) Receiving/marking monographs Yes Subscription maintenance (patterns) Yes (Serials module) Serials check-in Yes (Serials module)

Koha Acquisitions: Issues for Libraries • Sample WALDO Requirements for Acquisitions before moving to Koha ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ Print out P. O. or email as PDF Print cancellations and claim notices Flag orders upon receipt (rush, hold, reserve, ILL) Allow budget hierarchies Print out listing of all fund codes Standing order functionality Serials acquisitions: EBSCO invoice handling, building POs for serial items, mark for automatic renewal) From: “WALDO Development Projects Enhancements for Academic Libraries, Core Development Projects, ” June 2008 • Issues raised by Arcadia University: ▫ Unable to search by order number ▫ Unable to view a particular fund and see orders from that fund

Evergreen Acquisitions Timeline • Evergreen Acquisitions and Serials Timelines (Beta, Early 2009) ▫ Federated Z 39. 50/Evergreen Bibliographic Search ▫ Basic Fund, Provider, Funding Sources, and Picklist management interfaces ▫ Support for loading vendor order records for creating POs ▫ PO creation from selected items ▫ Initial receiving interfaces ▫ Rich permissions infrastructure ▫ Support for EDI ordering and acknowledgment ▫ Support for creating brief bibliographic order records • 1. 0 (Evergreen 2. 0), Spring 2009 ▫ Serials Check-in (prediction) ▫ Distribution patterns ▫ Automatic claiming • Later ▫ Vendor web services for bib discovery ▫ Amazon Discover API ▫ Advanced shipment notification via EDI From: http: //open-ils. org/dokuwiki/doku. php? id=acq: timeline

Cataloging Comparison Voyager Koha Evergreen Import from file Yes. Bibs and (non-Z 39. 50, e. g. authority. export from OCLC Connexion) Yes* Bibs only. Yes* Through “Tools” module (not in Cataloging). Two step process. Records stay in “reservoir” indefinitely? (Coming in version 1. 4). Bibs and authority through “Vandelay” batch MARC import/export Bib import from Z 39. 50 Holdings export Yes Yes (MARC) Yes, MARC or XML Yes Authority control Yes * but ease and Yes * but how do you Automatic update of bib records from authority records Yes* No? No Global Headings Change option requires a few steps both in Cataloging and Sys Admin. Not truly automatic; has limitations in function. logistics of loading records access authority records?

Cataloging cont. Voyager Koha Evergreen Overlay/merge records Yes Suppress bibs Yes* Preserve MARC fields in target record? No Mini/short bib Yes flagging/catalog review Bib templates Yes (where fields are pre-populated with text) No No? No No. (Item templates only. ) Diacritic entry No No Yes (“Framework” under Admin. , but this defines 008 values “form of material”) “Mark for overlay”?

Cataloging cont. Voyager Yes. Koha Yes Evergreen No Global data change No. No No Metadata choices (Dublin Core, etc. ) Reorder MARC fields No. No Yes No. No MFHD (MARC for Holdings Data) Supplies ISBD punctuation Spine Labels Yes No No No Yes* Yes Tracking of changes/operator history (Update, merge, overlay, un/suppress. Tab in module. Soon (2009, V. 8) MARC only. Link on screen, uses Tools (Only “last edited by” and (Add, delete, modify only. ) library I. D. ) Maps MARC to Koha SQL Reorder subfields only. But under Tools, Label Templates (Create/import MARC)

Circulation Voyager Koha Evergreen Patron image No Yes No Bulk import of patrons Yes* Yes Not easily Recalls Yes No No Course Reserves Yes No No Calendar Yes No Offline Transactions Yes No Yes

Circulation Comparison: Patron Search Evergreen Koha • Barcode • Partial name • Browse by last name • • • Last name First name Middle name E-mail Phone Barcode ID Street address City Zip code Voyager • Last name • Barcode • ID

Evergreen Circulation Enhancements • Release candidate 1. 4 (October 2008) ▫ New interface for circulation rules ▫ Credit card payments ▫ Pre-overdue (reminder) notices • Release 2. 0 (Winter 2008/2009) ▫ Recalls ▫ Reserves (Print and Electronic) • Release 3. 0 and higher (2009 and beyond) ▫ Netflix-style hold queues ▫ Web based patron self registration From: http: // evergreen-ils. org/dokuwiki/doku. php? id=faqs: evergreen_roadmap

Comparison: System Administration Voyager Koha • • • Acquisitions Cataloging Circulation Security System Evergreen • Cataloging • Circulation • Security • • Acquisitions Cataloging Circulation OPAC Search Security System

Behind the Scenes Technologies Koha (3. 0) • Server software: Linux (Debian), Apache, My. SQL, Perl • Client: web browser • Limitation: any amount of data that My. SQL can handle Evergreen (1. 2. 4. 0) • Server software: Linux (Debian, Gentoo, and Ubuntu), Windows (via a virtualized Unix-guest OS such as Virtual. Box or Vmware) , Postgre. SQL • Client: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Evergreen Client Voyager (7. 03) • Server: Solaris, Windows, Linux, Oracle • Client: Windows, Voyager client (Acquisitions, Cataloging, Circulation, Reporter, System Admin)

Behind the Scenes Technologies: Installation According to a 2008 survey of 361 libraries of Koha, Evergreen and proprietary ILS, libraries did not choose Koha or Evergreen for three reasons (Riewe 2008): 1. Hard to install the system and some parts do not work. 2. Lack of good documentation 3. Lack of functionality

Behind the Scenes Technologies: Labor Costs Initial labor cost may be higher than proprietary ILS. “The higher initial labor costs of open source ILSs in some categories corroborate the view that OSS requires greater technical sophistication to use than proprietary software” (Riewe 2008). Collection Size (items) Koha Evergreen >=1, 000 & <10, 000 $1, 358 $250 >=10, 000 & <25, 000 $3, 232 $1, 350 >=25, 000 & <50, 000 $5958 >=50, 000 & <100, 000 $9, 167 $14, 600 >=100, 000 & <1, 000 $18, 023 34, 719 $953 Proprietary $375

Initial Cost of ILS Software, License fee, installation, configuration, migration of data, documentation, training (Riewe, 2008) Collection Size by Items Koha >=100 & <500 Evergreen Proprietary $250 >=500 & <1, 000 $1, 950 >=1, 000 & <10, 000 $1, 407 $25, 125 >=10, 000 & 25, 000 $3, 859 $9, 700 >=25, 000 & 50, 000 $5, 958 >=50, 000 &100, 000 $19, 250 $78, 364 >=100, 000 & <1, 000 $21, 675 $217, 609 >=1, 000 $953 $8, 000 $266, 719

Annual Cost of ILS Support Contract, Maintenance, License Fees (Riewe, 2008) Collection Size by Items Koha Evergreen Proprietar y >=100 & <500 $250 >=500 & <1, 000 $450 >=1, 000 & <10, 000 $664 $4, 708 >=10, 000 & 25, 000 $1, 429 $3, 200 >=25, 000 & 50, 000 $1, 917 >=50, 000 &100, 000 $2, 550 $18, 167 >=100, 000 & <1, 000 $6, 023 $38, 870 >=1, 000 $1698 $10, 281 $69, 250

Conclusion Staff Modules 1. Voyager 2. Koha 3. Evergreen OPAC 1. Koha 2. Voyager 3. Evergreen Libraries need to evaluate resources (budget, staffing, etc. ) vs. needs

Questions?

References • Ayre, L. and Kress, L. (2008). Software requirements specification for the acquisitions module of an integrated library system. March 2008. Retrieved Jan. 5, 2009, from http: //www. kcls. org/opensource/kcls-acquisitions-requirements. pdf • Breeding, M. 2008. Automation Marketplace 2008: Opportunity Out of Turmoil. Library Journal 133 (6), 32 -38. • Breeding, M. 2007. Next-generation library catalogs. Library Technology Reports 43 (4). • Riewe, L. M. (2008). Survey of Open Source Integrated Library Systems. Unpublished master's thesis, San José State University, 210 North 4 th Street San Jose, CA 95112. Retrieved January/February, 2009, from http: //users. sfo. com/~lmr/ils-survey. html • The Evergreen Community. (n. d. ). Evergreen [F&Q, documentation, download]. Retrieved January 8, 2009, from http: //open-ils. org/ • “WALDO Development Projects Enhancements for Academic Libraries, Core Development Projects, ” July 2008