Open source integrated library systems migration: Librarians share the lessons learnt

Abstract

To better understand how libraries experience the process of migrating to open source software integrated library systems (OSS ILSs), nine librarians from libraries of multiple types and sizes were interviewed. All these libraries are in the United States and these librarians had participated in surveys and interviews about open source software integrated library systems with the research team in past years and at the time of the interview were at different stages of migration to open source software integrated library systems, from contemplating migration to completed migration. The librarians answered questions about their open source software integrated library systems on topics such as the migration process, technical support, adaptation process, and lessons and advice from the overall experience. The in-depth responses provide valuable insights on the process of migration to help libraries understand the challenges and benefits of open source software integrated library systems and are presented in this paper.