Archive for the ‘Conferences’ Category

Getting the source out of the bottle: practical implementation of open source applications in the information sector

Venue and date

Bloomsbury suite, Brunei Gallery, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG

Wednesday, 16th June 2010

Seminar Outline

Free open source software is becoming more popular in the information sector, but how good is it for the services we offer? How easy is it to really use the open source software to support and deliver library and information services to our customers? As well as benefits such as cost and flexibility, there is a real opportunity for professionals to use their knowledge of their users’ needs to proactively and collaboratively shape software development – rather than being passive consumers of new technologies and products. This kind of partnership with open source communities can be empowering as it is about ongoing improvements and customisation, rather than just implementing a finished end-product. Whilst not without its drawbacks, this approach also challenges traditional business procurement models. But how do you practically implement open source software in the workplace? The aim of the day will be to highlight and show case open source technologies, focusing on case studies from across the electronic information sector which show how to lead rather than follow in an open source environment.

Further Details

In the light of the UK Conference on open source software for libraries, Ken Chad reports on the growing interest which contrasts sharply with the situation only two years ago.

Link to full article

Mark Hughes, Head of collections at Swansea University and Paul Johnson, Virtual Academic Library Project Manager at South West Wales Higher Education Partnership review the “Breaking the Barriers” conference on 18th May 2009. This article is from Panlibus magazine, Issue 13, Summer 2009.

http://www.talis.com/panlibus/pdfs/Panlibus_13.pdf