Managing Technologies in Developing Countries: Open Source vs Commercial Options/Le management des technologies dans les pays en développement: logiciels libres vs options commerciales. Proceedings of the IFLA Pre‐Conference Satellite Meeting, Dakar, Senegal, August 15‐16, 2007

Citation

Luisa Calanag, M. (2009), "Managing Technologies in Developing Countries: Open Source vs Commercial Options/Le management des technologies dans les pays en développement: logiciels libres vs options commerciales. Proceedings of the IFLA Pre‐Conference Satellite Meeting, Dakar, Senegal, August 15‐16, 2007", Library Management, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 215-216. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120910937429

This volume is a compilation of papers presented, both in English and French, at a colloquium primarily addressing the implications of open source software to institutions and services in developing countries, particularly in African nations.

Only the abstracts of each paper and the conclusion at the end of the book are written in English and French. The full papers are published without translations. For those who do not read French, the English abstract is all you have, and I am sure you will be missing out on some of the important content on research results and experiences gained in some of the projects mentioned. Apart from the opening papers, the session themes covered recent case studies in the implementation of technologies, new technologies and new tools for development, and new projects for the future of Africa. Introductions to most of the papers start with a general background of the history of information technology use in libraries which made it possible for Western nations to advance rapidly, and consequently the digital divide has become wider for developing nations. From the case studies presented, “internet access and open source software are the main keys to narrow the digital divide”. With lack of funding as the major problem, open source should be the way to go – under certain conditions. The example of Koha, which was first developed in New Zealand, then adapted to UNIMARC and MARC‐21, was implemented at the Kinshasa Academic Library in Congo and the University of Malawi Library System. The Slums Information Development and Resource Centres (SIDAREC), an NGO in Kenya, working in collaboration with Oslo University College, also opted for Koha. Frankly, this is the first time I have heard of Koha, and I learned that it is built on the widely used open source web server infrastructure called LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl), which means that there are many computer specialists who have the skills to operate and maintain the software. One paper compares Koha to CDS/ISIS. Another open source software mentioned is PMB, which is being developed by a French company of the same name. However, many are worried that being free, it may have its own hidden costs as far as maintenance is concerned. Modifications made on it by volunteers must be made available to all users, and this means frequent updates, which may be difficult to cope with. Moreover, very skilled programmers may be required to adapt it to the needs of a particular library. Another consideration is the cost of management in a longer‐term perspective. From SIDAREC's experience, the most efficient way to support and maintain the software installations is to establish user groups or communities on the regional or national level.

The book will be useful for librarians and information managers in developing countries who are always short of funds for acquiring hardware and software and for telecommunication costs, and the internet infrastructure is simply insufficient and unreliable. There is a definite need for “offline access to online scholarly publications”. It is also meant for those who are just starting to automate their library services, for the case studies include the different stages of implementing a project, sources of funding, and challenges faced over the years. Stephen M. Mutula of the University of Botswana contributes a very concise article on emerging technologies, and the implications of globalization for libraries, which I found very informative for LIS students and practitioners in developing countries. He said that new technologies being used in libraries are exerting pressure on the library to:

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  provide hardware and software support in the library, as well as for remote users;

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  provide search ability to retrieve internet resources, such as full‐text databases, e‐journals, etc.; and

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  create a user‐friendly OPAC display for internet resources.

A proposal for an open source, open access journal database appliance (OJDA) is made by Edward M. Corrado of the USA to help libraries in developing countries with insufficient and unreliable internet infrastructure to gain enhanced access to scholarly research. It will be created using Greenstone, another open source software, and distributed and designed in such a way that connectivity to the internet is not a pre‐requisite for its use. He mentioned IFLA as one possible partner. Open source software projects have definitely been getting a lot of attention in the library world lately, and this volume of papers demonstrates that libraries in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world can successfully use them, especially when there are user communities or outside organizations that can help provide support and training.