APSIG Newsletter [50] - November 2002

Koha Library Software: an open-source initiative

Christophe Augias
Chief librarian, New-Caledonias Territorial Library (Bibliothèque Bernheim).

Koha is Maori for gift. Why gift? You may ask, the answer is that Koha is a free library database that anyone can download from the internet and use (http://www.koha.org).

Koha is also open-source, which means you actually have the rights to change the software, thus allowing skilled people worldwide to work on a common project and keep it free! Linux is probably the best known open-source example, and it is now widely used throughout the world.

Koha was first developed in 1999, and the project has continued to gain momentum ever since. More and more people are becoming involved not only in New Zealand where it was created, but also in France, Canada, the United States and Latin America.

The software was created by Katipo Communications Ltd for the Horowhenua Library Trust. The underlying idea of this company was to create a dynamic free database, which could be continually refined by users, based anywhere in the world. The advantages of such an arrangement are obvious. The software is not only free, but also librarians are no longer held prisoner by their library system's supplier! And there is a whole community of users to help answer questions or problems.

Koha seems to be evolving at a regular and promising pace. After significant changes to the system, new versions are issued and Version 1.2 was released recently. Version 1.2.3 will include templates that will allow for a translation of the software into other languages, thus opening the use of Koha to non-English speaking countries. Version 1.4 is already scheduled and will include improved Z.3950 functions and the use of MARC format.

The power of the open-source initiative concept is thus to bring together skills and good will to create efficient free tools. Koha should be an important project for the South Pacific: Just imagine a library integrated system at - nearly - no cost! A revolutionary concept indeed!

This also demonstrates the best use we, as librarians, can make of the Internet by sharing our skills and experience in order to help raise globally our professional standards, for the benefit of our readers. We can all contribute in several ways: coding, advertising and translating. The larger the community, the sooner we will see the results! Other pieces of free software could be created in the same manner, so those of us with Internet access should keep an eye out for other initiatives and alert colleagues of these developments through the various means of communication.

Koha must be advertised widely in order to develop into a fully operational library system, and I have no doubt that this indeed will be achieved.

A a