Using Open Source Systems for Digital Libraries

Citation

Chawner, B. (2005), "Using Open Source Systems for Digital Libraries", Online Information Review, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 431-432. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520510617947

In the preface Rhyno says that his book is intended to “provide a starting point” for people interested in using open source software to implement a digital library. Open source software (OSS) licenses mean that the source code for an application must be available to users free of charge, and OSS is increasingly seen as an alternative to proprietary software.

Rhyno begins by covering key concepts people need to understand to be able to build effective digital libraries; these include XML, metadata, and protocols such as HTTP, OAI‐PMH, and Z39.50. The next five chapters discuss specific open source software packages that can be used to create components of a digital library: authoring tools (image and XML editors); XSLT processors to transform XML to HTML; relational database management systems, (emphasising MySQL); and object and XML databases (Zope and Xindice). Digital library packages, such as Greenstone and Fedora, are covered next, and Rhyno concludes with chapters on scripting languages and regular expressions, web services, and long‐term management and preservation issues. There is a glossary of basic terms, an extensive list of further web‐based resources and sample projects, and an index.

Rhyno's writing style is clear and at times casual, resulting in a book that is easy to read and understand. The book's strength comes from the range of technical topics it covers; as an example, the discussion of HTTP and ways of retaining state is one of the best I have read. People who already have some experience in creating digital libraries will find that it gives them valuable information about open source tools and how they can be used in this context. But more interesting, perhaps, is what the book does not cover. There is no information on how to choose appropriate file formats for text and images, how to use metadata effectively to improve retrieval, or how to deal with usability issues. While Rhyno says that Using Open Source Systems for Digital Libraries is intended to complement (rather than replicate) existing resources, people new to digital libraries will need to use other books, such as Witten and Bainbridge's How to Build a Digital Library (Elsevier Science, 2002) or Chowdhury and Chowdhury's Introduction to Digital Libraries (Facet, 2003) to cover these omissions. The lack of a bibliography to direct readers to this type of resource is disappointing.

However, despite these weaknesses, Rhyno's book does fill a gap in the literature, and this book is recommended for library technology and digital library collections, or for practising librarians with an interest in digital libraries and/or open source software.