Library Management Systems - free software

This is a brief overview of free Library Management Systems (LMS) that educational and other institutions can make use of.

Some of the free ones are open source software (OSS), meaning their code too is available for modification and use.

Main features of an LMS

• Acquisitions (buy books etc.)
• Cataloguing (classify and index books etc.)
• Circulation (lend and receive)
• Serials (track periodicals like magazines)
• Online Public Access Catalog or OPAC (online access for library members)

LMS - products

The software listed below have been selected from the many that are available. Products were left out for reasons like: they were not being actively developed or did not have strong backing of a community or organizations, have outdated technology and are not suitable for use etc.

• Koha
• Invenio
• DSpace
• NewGenLib
• Evergreen
• PMB
• OpenBiblio

DIY or find a service provider

The software may be installed on your own server or on cloud. This would be cheaper - however, depending on your choice, it needs ongoing maintenance of software and hardware (apply software updates, fix security issues, upgrade hardware etc.). This option can be considered if you have a couple of people in your organization who are familiar with the relevant technology and can handle ongoing maintenance.

Alternatively, there are (third-party) service providers who take care of the software and hardware, maintenance etc. While the cost for this option would be higher, it is useful if you do not have people with technical knowledge, or if you need to save their time. The main thing here would be to find a good, reliable service provider. A trial period would help you to check out their service. Talking to an existing customer would help.

Table for comparison of LMS products

To start with, it would be a good idea to list your requirements at a high level. Then, use a table, with columns like those below, to compare the available software systems.

• Product (linked to home page)
• Target (targeted for specific types of libraries? e.g. K12, scientific etc.)
• Unique features
• Standards for communication: MARC, Z39:5. Modern alternatives to these.
• Authentication standards: LDAP
• Interfaces for staff, members: browser-based software is better
• Offline usage (when connectivity to LMS server is not available)
• Number of Installations, worldwide and specifically in your country.
• Contributors: community or company. Is community active and dedicated?
• Operating Systems supported: Hosting on Linux may cost less. Mention if software package has to be built by ourselves.
• Hosting service providers: cost, extent of technical support, whether they offer help in initial setup, backup and restore procedures, support hours, on-premise support etc.
• Total cost to institution
• Year it began: product might be more stable, but check if technology is outdated and hampers usage.
• Technology stack: to evaluate if your organization has in-house expertise, is the stack outdated and hampers usage or finding expertise.

Usage in India

Koha seems to be popular choice in India. (LibSys, a commercial LMS, is also popular in India.)

• Koha is supported in India by the AU-KBC Research Centre and other companies.
• Koha has a demo site where one can try it out (this demo link worked).
• In Tamil Nadu, the Connemara Public Library and 32 district libraries and the Anna Centenary Library use Koha. In Chennai, the MIT Campus Library and Vidyodaya school also use it, according to the AU-KBC Research Centre site.

The Great Indian Hedge

Between 1803 and 1879, the British divided India by building a Customs line (hedge) that was 4000 kilometres long. In 1998, remnants of the forgotten hedge were discovered by Roy Moxham, a British writer, who went on to write a book about it.

The Great Indian Hedge
(photo: wikipedia)

The Great Indian Hedge was initially a set of Customs houses along a road. Then dead thorny material was added to the area in between - later this became a living hedge of thorny trees, bushes and shrubs that was difficult to penetrate.

It had toll gates in order to levy tax on salt and sugar that were transported from the western part of India to the east. During the years the system was in place, millions of people died in the east (Bengal) due to starvation, cholera and lack of salt though ample salt and food were available across the hedge in western India.

Even as people were dying during famines, the East India Company transported much needed salt and food on trains to shipyards in the south, to be exported to other parts of the British Empire.

In 1879, when maintaining the hedge became difficult, the British began controlling production of salt at the source and kept the tax going.

A prominent Congress leader, S.A.Swaminatha Iyer, raised the issue of high tax on salt in the first session of the Indian National Congress, held in Bombay in 1885. Subsequently many others took it up, culminating in Mahatma Gandhi's historic Dandi March in 1930.

However, the British defied massive protests and continued the tax. It was only abolished in 1947 by the Interim Indian Government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.

A sea of men and women marches towards Dandi, 

peaceful in the face of police brutality.

For more details, see:

• Jeyamohan: உலகின் மிகப்பெரிய வேலி
• Wikipedia: Inland Customs Line
• The Great Indian Hedge - article
• The Great Hedge of India, book by Roy Moxham (also translated into Tamil, Marathi)
• The Hindu on the release of the Tamil translation of the book

Moto G2 camera error: "restart camera", or "unable to connect to camera"

When you launch the Motorola Camera app on a Moto G2, and it says "Restart camera" or "Unable to connect to camera", try the following:

• Go to Settings->Apps
• Select the Camera app that has the problem
• Force stop it
• Clear its cache and data
• Restart Camera

If the above did not solve the problem, try the following. Stop when the issue gets fixed:

• Switch off the phone. Gently press the area around the lens and restart the phone.
• Think of any recent change made to the Camera app or any other app that interacts with the Camera e.g. Google Photos. Undo the change. (To see apps in order of installation date: go to Play Store->My Apps->All.)
• If the Camera app was updated recently: uninstall updates to the Camera app and launch it again. If it works, re-install updates and check again.
• If you have Google Photos or a similar app that interacts with your camera, go to its Settings and modify any option that relates to the Camera e.g. checkbox that lets you add a link to Photos in Camera. Save changes. Restore the setting if you prefer. Check Camera now.
• Start Android in Safe Mode and check if the Camera app works. If it does, start third-party apps one by one and check if the Camera works after each step.
• Uninstall updates to the Camera app and launch it again. If it works, re-install updates and check again.
• Go to Settings->Storage. Select "Cached data" and select OK to clear the cache of all apps.
• Visit a service centre as it could be a hardware problem.