Open Source Systems for Libraries

Can anyone recommend a Java class for reading MARC records in jdk1.1.
(My apologies if this is overly technical for oss4lib.)

I've looked at James ("Java MARC events", http://www.bpeters.com/) but
this requires somethig called JDOM which seems to need Java 1.2.  

The reason I'm not using Java 1.2 is because I use Debian Linux, and
Java 1.2 has such restrictive licensing terms that Debian (and other
Free Software projects) are ignoring it.  I need to either find a Java
1.1 alternative, or byte the bullet and install jdk1.2.  Does anyone
have any experinece to share, either way?


Thanks,
Gordon

Hi,

Of possible interest to members of oss4lib. Not open source but open
content (but of course I've announced jake2marc there).

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free_MARC_Records/messages

Mark


Mark Jordan
Librarian / Analyst, Systems Division
W.A.C. Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada
Phone (604) 291 5753 / Fax (604) 291 3023
mjordan@... / http://www.sfu.ca/~mjordan/

This week's stories from oss4lib.org:

OpenBook Technical Beta Preview
BioMail-0.63


 -=-=-

OpenBook Technical Beta Preview
(dchud - 2001-10-20)

from Openbook-l: "By popular request, we have posted on our website a new OpenBook
Technical Beta Preview release.  This release includes: MARC21 bibliographic, authority, community, classification and holdings format, as well as a major circulation component and a rudimentary Z39.50 client in the OPAC as well as in the
cataloging interface. (Z39.50 can be best described as early beta!)...  If you
want to get some experience with the interface and the system, please visit demo.trfoundation.org/opac/ [http://demo.trfoundation.org/opac/] since it runs the most up-to-date build of our current system at all times."



BioMail-0.63
(dchud - 2001-10-17)

from fm, changes include: "Several bugfixes, an expanded online FAQ, and a new suspend account feature."  Check it out at biomail.org [http://biomail.org].




Now available:  super snazzy oss4lib tshirts and mugs --
$3/shirt or $2/mug goes to your faithful maintainer. :)

  http://www.cafepress.com/oss4lib


Syndicate oss4lib headlines:

  http://www.oss4lib.org/topics/list.php?func=rss

By popular request, we have posted on our website a new OpenBook Technical
Beta Preview release. 
( http://www.trfoundation.org/projects/download.html ) 
This release includes: MARC21 bibliographic, authority, community,
classification and holdings format, as well as a major circulation component
and a rudimentary Z39.50 client in the OPAC as well as in the cataloging
interface. (Z39.50 can be best described as early beta!) 
This release is NOT easy to install and requires significant Linux
administration experience and the ability to build large software packages
from source code, particularly MySQL, PHP-4.0.6 and YAZ-1.6. Further the
documentation is bare bones and likely missing steps. Further the easiest
install is done using a "virgin" Red Hat 7.1 sever install as described in
the installation documents. 
We can NOT OFFER technical support for this pre-view release since we are
concentrating on building the final release and feature set. If you want to
get some experience with the interface and the system, please visit
http://demo.trfoundation.org/opac/ since it runs the most up-to-date build
of our current system at all times. 
Happy Computing! 
-Willem

Andrew K. Pace <andrew_pace@...> wrote about the MyLibrary@...
mailing list:

> Not to find fault with the immediate needs of the community, but the
> discussion has seemed much more focused on how the system can be installe=
d,
> and not on how it can be improved.  The early days of the list (way, way =
back
> in the grand spring of 2000) talked about features and enhancements, and =
some
> of those suggestions informed development of the product, but as more and=
 more
> folks flocked to the sandbox, mylib-dev took on the flavor of a helpdesk.=
  I,
> for one, began to lose interest.
>=20
> Some of the initial concern for the listserv community was based on the
> distinction between those who would be only interested in the technical
> aspects of downloading, maintaining, and tweaking the software, and those=
 who
> were more interested in the public interface, its services, and use.  I w=
onder
> whether the listserv is serving either group.  Seems to me, we don't talk=
 much
> anymore about why we want portals; it's more about how we get them up and
> running and how we justify their existence.  Seems to me their hasn't bee=
n a
> whole lot of sharing when it comes to development and use of the software=
,
> either.

(Please excuse the cross-postings.)

To date, a number of institutions have adopted the MyLibrary@... portal
software, a user-centered, customizable interface to a library's collection
of information resources implemented as open source software. Pat Leamon
(pat.leamon@...) has compiled this list to date:

  1. Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama (http://mylibrary.auburn.edu)

  2. Biblioth=E8que cantonale et universitaire, Universit=E9 de Lausanne,
Lausanne, Dorigny, Switzerland (http://pcbcu432.unil.ch/mylibrary/)

  3. Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
(http://john.curtin.edu.au/mylibrary/)

  4. Universit=E0 Carlo Cattaneo (LIUC), Castellanza, Italy
(http://mylibrary.liuc.it/mylibrary/)

  5. Lund University, Lund, Sweden (http://mylibrary.lub.lu.se/)

  6. George Mason University, Virginia, USA (http://mylibrary.gmu.edu/)

  7. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
(http://my.lib.ncsu.edu/)

  8. Wheaton College,  Wheaton Illinois, USA
(http://libweb.wheaton.edu/mylibrary/)

  9. Quinney Natural Resources Research Library, Utah State University,
Logan, Utah, USA=20
(http://www.quinneylibrary.usu.edu/lib/myquinney/mylibrary/)

There are a few other implementations based on the original software but
running modifications of it.

The questions are, "Are libraries fooling themselves when it comes to open
source software? Is it a viable option to commercial software considering
the fact that many libraries do not have the technical resources to sustain
or contribute to open source software? Is open source software in libraries
really 'freeware?'"
=20
--=20
Eric Lease Morgan
University Libraries of Notre Dame

Does anybody here have experience installing OpenAFS?

I'm still not quite sure I know how AFS is suppose to work. Suppose I
install both server and client AFS software on my Linux (RedHat 7.1) host.
Suppose I also define a particular file system to be accessible via AFS.
Third, let's suppose that users can authenticate on another host using a
university-wide system. Thus, other questions I have are, "How do I define
what users can read/write to my AFS-accessible file system(s), and how does
my server know about the authenticated usernames validated elsewhere?"

Finally, there seem to be three AFS implementation available for Linux:

  1) Transarc
  2) Arla
  3) OpenAFS

Of the three, OpenAFS seems to be the most up-to-date and supported. Does
anybody have any experience with OpenAFS and/or any of the other Linux AFS
solutions?

-- 
Eric Lease Morgan
University Libraries of Notre Dame

http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/240.html
 
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/241.html

Peter Binkley
Interface Development Coordinator, TAL Online
email: pbinkley@...
phone: 492-5282, ext. 242 
fax: (780) 492-9243
post: Cameron Library 4-30
      University of Alberta
      Edmonton Alberta 
      T6G 2J8

Here is another FYI, there is a "MyLibrary@..." at this address:

  http://mylibrary.liuc.it/mylibrary/

This one is sponsored by Universita' C. Cattaneo - Biblioteca "M. Rostoni".
For more information, ask Corso Matteotti (clucchesi@...) or share your
comments on the list.

'More tomorrow!

-- 
Eric Lease Morgan
University Libraries of Notre Dame

Just as an FYI, there is a "MyLibrary@..." at the following address:

  http://mylibrary.lub.lu.se/

The folks there have taken the MyLibrary@... source code and made it a
production service. For more information, ask Pat Leamon
(pat.leamon@...) or share your comments on the list.

-- 
Eric Lease Morgan
University Libraries of Notre Dame

There are a few bits of interesting news for those following the Avanti
project ( http://www.avantilibrarysystems.com ).

Version 0.4 of Avanti is due to be released on or around 25 October 2001.
It has been over a year since the last real release, version
0.3.1.  Following was a complete rewrite of the code base beginning in
January 2001.  Version 0.4 is a reference version that sets the stage for
subsequent development through version 1.0 (a development roadmap can be
found at the project website). Although it is not a complete library
system suitable for a production environment, version 0.4 defines the API
structure, basic architectural and user interface elements of Avanti, and
embodies its design philosophy.  It is at the vanguard of what is
expected to be a period of intense, rapid development leading up to
version 0.5, a simple but complete OPAC and circulation system, due some
time in December 2001.

The overall development aim through version 1.0 is to produce an open source
integrated library system generally directed at small libraries 
that requires a minimum of technical expertise to install, maintain and use.

The project website has been redesigned.  Existing content from the
old site will be updated and new content added over the coming weeks.

The project website now has its own domain name.  It can be accessed at
http://www.avantilibrarysystems.com .

Peter Schlumpf,
Avanti Project Manager
schlumpf@...
http://www.avantilibrarysystems.com

This week's stories from oss4lib.org:

Infotoday feature on Open Source
Citation Manager
Rakim: A Knowledge Instant Messenger
Hampshire Favors Noncommercial Web Software
OpenSourceSchools.org


 -=-=-

Infotoday feature on Open Source
(Richard Poynder - 2001-10-3)

Richard Poynder writes: "This article [http://www.oss4lib.org/topics/comments.php?topicid=246] [informed by and including comments of many regular oss4libbers in response to Richard's call for comments here and elsewhere. -ed] is now online [http://www.infotoday.com/it/oct01/poynder.htm]."  Aside from RMS's standard "but you don't mention freedom" concerns, overall this is one of the most balanced pieces I've read on this topic, particularly as it pertains to the library community.



Citation Manager
(Todd Holbrook - 2001-10-3)

Todd writes: "We've developed a new open source tool which provides some of the functionality of personal bibliographic databases like EndNote or Procite. Its working name is Citation Manager [http://stalefish.lib.sfu.ca/CitationManager/]. It runs on the server side and provides a database which handles multiple
sites and users.  The project site is missing important things like, well, everything except a link to the source code repository and the test server... but people at Access [http://cybrary.uwinnipeg.ca/conferences/access2001/] liked it and I thought I'd let everyone
else see what we're up to.  I'll be working on expanding the site into something useful, but in the mean time people are welcome to play around with the test database."



Rakim: A Knowledge Instant Messenger
(dchud - 2001-10-3)

Rob wrote to oss4lib-discuss: "i've been working on an online reference/chat system this summer, and thought some others might be interested... the aim of this software is to provide a free (both speech and beer)
alternative to the LSSI's of the world....its GPL'd.  we're using it here at Miami University (in Oxford, Ohio for you smart
asses ;^)  to do online reference for about 50-60 hours a week.... we just started using this rewrite about a month ago, and it seems to be stable enough to let others know about. its totally browser-based (no plugins, except for a sound clip that can be turned off), but limited to IE and Netscape 4.X, so it is cross-platform where those browsers exist; the browser support will be extended when i clean up some javascript for mozilla (and its off-spring Netscape6, Galeon, Skipstone), opera, konqueror, etc."  Check out rakim [http://styro.lib.muohio.edu/rakim/] and don't miss the docs [http://styro.lib.muohio.edu/rakim/install.html] (wow... docs for an initial release!).



Hampshire Favors Noncommercial Web Software
(Charles Greenberg - 2001-10-3)

Charles writes: "This
article in the Chronicle of Higher Education talks about the Hampshire College [http://www.hampshire.edu/]'s gravitation toward OSS solutions."



OpenSourceSchools.org
(brent simpson - 2001-10-2)

brent simpson writes: "OpenSourceSchools.org [http://OpenSourceSchools.org/] is a new website dedicated to fostering the adoption and successful use of free and open source solutions in education.
We have organized the site into informational categories. Our idea is to use the roles of those in the school community as a lens through which to view how free and open source software and content can serve a school. That is, instead of starting with categories such as operating systems and applications, or books and videos, we end with them. We start by asking questions such as these:
What does a teacher want or need as an instructional tool, and how would he view those tools?
What does the School Administrator or Manager need to do her job well and what issues does she want addressed?
And of course, how do open source tools fit the needs of the computer skills teacher, the system administrator or the technology co-ordinator (ICT)?
Last, but perhaps most importantly, what does the student need? How can we best serve him or her and the community?
As everyone reading oss4lib knows the library is an integral part of any school and we will welcome discussions of library and related software."




Now available:  super snazzy oss4lib tshirts and mugs --
$3/shirt or $2/mug goes to your faithful maintainer. :)

  http://www.cafepress.com/oss4lib


Syndicate oss4lib headlines:

  http://oss4lib.org/topics/list.php?func=rss

Please post if appropriate:

The Florida State University
School of Information Studies

Information Studies/Science/Systems

3 Assistant Professor positions available August 2002.

Ph.D. required in Information Studies/Science/ Systems/Design or cognate
area.
Teaching and research in some combination of the following areas:
management and preservation of digital information; technical design and
applications of networked information services; content management and
software design; usability testing and analysis; metadata, mark-up langua=
ges
and digital resource management standards; medical and legal informatics.
The School encourages applicants with research interests in the above are=
as
that include information access for the differently abled.

Join an award-winning faculty in a dynamic, technologically-advanced Scho=
ol
of Information Studies with 1400 students. Innovative Bachelor=92s, Maste=
rs, &
Specialist degrees offered on campus and online.  Ph.D. offered on campus.
Unique online teaching interface and research supported with extensive
in-house technical, web development, and instructional design support tea=
m.
Four state-of-the-art computer labs and an extensive library learning lab.

Participate in a rigorous well-funded research community enhanced by the
nationally and internationally recognized Institute for Information Use
Management and Policy. See list of Institute research projects at
http://www.ii.fsu.edu/

Teach in a program with expected focus on student outcomes and commitment=
 to
diversity, to collaboration, to participation in all degree programs, and=
 in
all delivery modalities. Contribute to invigorating University and
professional communities.  Explore the School=92s web site for more detai=
led
information: http://www.lis.fsu.edu/

Salary: Highly competitive and negotiable from a minimum of $52,000.  Sub=
mit
application letter detailing teaching and research interests, vita, and
contact information for three references no later than November 15, 2001 =
to:
Jane B. Robbins, Dean, School of Information Studies, Florida State
University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2100.
Interviews available immediately.

Florida State University, the 18th most wired university in the country a=
nd
among the best-endowed public research institutions, is an Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer, committed to diversity in hiring=
,
complies with the American with Disabilities Act, and is a Public Records
Agency. It is located in Tallahassee, Florida=92s state capital, an
intellectually-rich city conducive to gracious living, shaded with giant
live oak trees, and 45 minutes from the white sandy beaches of the Gulf.

September 27, 2001

____
B. K. Belton         | School of Information Studies
bkbelton@...             | 850-645-5676

One possibility is the WebRelay project of the University of Calgary Library
(code available on request, apparently):
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~zhangc/webrelay.html

Peter Binkley
Interface Development Coordinator, TAL Online
email: pbinkley@...
phone: 492-5282, ext. 242 
fax: (780) 492-9243
post: Cameron Library 4-30
      University of Alberta
      Edmonton Alberta 
      T6G 2J8





>

Is there anyone out there using a URL Rewriting proxy, ie:  EZProxy type
software?

We're implementing a squid based proxy here, but are investigating some of
the more "transparent" proxies, to give authenticated users access to
specific resources.  In our case, different users have access to different
resources (publications, databases, websites).  Access control and
authentication are done by using an LDAP based database.

Is there an open source proxy solution, that does not require the users to
change their browser settings?

For example, to access yahoo via the proxy, one might goto the URL:
http://proxy.mysite.org/http://www.yahoo.com

And henceforth, all URL's returned on the yahoo page are prepended with
the http://proxy.mysite.org.

I know that EZProxy does this.  However, it does not have the
authentication method we require, and is not open source (so therefore we
cannot modify it to suit our needs).

Best regards,

--
Stephen K. Anthony
Internet Systems Specialist
Research and Innovation Support
CISTI, National Research Council Canada
http://www.nrc.ca/cisti/
Phone:  (613)993-9045
Fax:  (613)952-8246

I've gotten a bunch of great messages already (but we still need more
volunteers!), but apparently I wasn't clear about a few things, so:

1. I didn't say I wasn't going to work on oss4lib anymore!  Just that
   I need help distributing the work a bit, the sooner the better.  So let
   me know what you can do, and we'll keep it up together.

2. I don't work at umich; this is an alum account.  Currently I'm working
   at MIT Libraries in Cambridge, MA on the DSpace project (see dspace.org
   if you're interested).


Sorry about any confusion.  -Dan

Howdy all.  It's a crazy time all around, and wherever you're at I very
much hope that all is well as can be with you and yours.  Forgive me for
the following minor imposition...


I've been managing the oss4lib site and list for the better part of nearly
three years now.  It's been an incredibly rewarding activity and what's
really amazing is how such a little, narrowly focused weblog and mailing
list can pull people together in surprising ways.  So for what it's worth
I hope there's value in this effort, however minimal, for a very long
time, and that I can continue to help support that as long as it's needed.

At the same time, I've been through a job change, absorbed a signifcant
commute, and picked up a new professional focus that directs my attention
away from open source activities in general... not that I'm not doing free
software stuff anymore, and indeed the project I'm primarily employed to
work on will be a free software project soon, but we've been in heads-down
development for a while and will stay there a little while longer before
we can start looking outward full-time, open source style.

Anyway, my schedule has shrunk down and I need some help managing the
oss4lib site.  I am hoping that a few of you might volunteer to help.

Keeping the weblog going basically consists of two activities:  first,
watching a wide range of software, software project, and industry news
services, and reporting news in scope for oss4lib to the site.  At a
minimum, this entails:

o following mailing lists for all projects listed at oss4lib
o following the daily freshmeat newsletters
o keeping an eye on slashdot, k5, lwn, lisnews, advogato, library juice,
  current cites, LJ, AmLibs, C&RL news, and more as appropriate

...ok, so many of you already do this.  That means you're already halfway
there!

The second thing is to help manage incoming news posted to the site.
This basically looks like story moderation on every other weblog, just
with our focus: it's got to be about free software and libraries, or
relate very importantly to the work of one or the other.  There's a rather
simple web interface for this.


So for all of you folks who've posted one or more of the hundreds of news
bits that have run on oss4lib since 1999, thanks!  To all of you, please
keep oss4lib in mind when you see something interesting.

For any of you who've been following this stuff for a while, or are new
and want to get involved, and might want to help moderate postings, let me
know and I'll get you set up.  It's real easy, and the whole process is
about keeping a steady watch on what's going on so the news stays reliably
focused with consistent coverage.  There isn't really _that_ much
day-to-day work to do, it just needs more and fresher eyes right now!


I'm really hoping a few of you can help out... I know I've slipped a bit
on all of this in recent months.  There are obvious stories I've missed or
been slow on, and that's not fair to the folks whose great efforts should
get reported to our three hundred-strong community.  Maybe we could be
doing lots of other stuff, but at least the site and this list give people
a known place to find news of our particular sort.  I'm sorry if that
feed's been below par lately, and I want to get it back up to snuff but am
just gonna need a little help.

So if you want to help:  tell me which news sources you watch and would
agree to post from (at a minimum, we have to cover each project listed at
oss4lib); let me know if you want to help moderate stories; let me know if
you have ideas for improvements, small or otherwise.  I'll gather up names
(hopefully! :) and post again if there are still some gaps in coverage.

Thanks in advance, and warmest regards, -Dan

News from OCLC: the SiteSearch suite is to be released under an open-source
license in the first quarter of 2002. The exact terms of the license haven't
been released yet. 

SiteSearch consists of two components: WebZ and DatabaseBuilder. WebZ is a
Web-to-Z39.50 gateway with a highly configurable and customizable interface
and a robust Z39.50 search engine underneath; DatabaseBuilder is a
non-relational database platform that is highly scalable, suitable for large
bibliographic databases. The language is Java, and it runs on Solaris, Linux
and NT. Having such a powerful, flexible, production-quality tool available
should be a real shot in the arm for library open-source software. Of
course, we'll need to see the license before we're sure.

Peter Binkley
Interface Development Coordinator, TAL Online
email: pbinkley@...
phone: 492-5282, ext. 242 
fax: (780) 492-9243
post: Cameron Library 4-30
      University of Alberta
      Edmonton Alberta 
      T6G 2J8