SWON Libraries

Co-Sponsored by the Cincinnati Chapter of the Special Libraries Association

Date & Time

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Location

SWON Libraries Office

Speaker(s)

Nicole C. Engard is the Open Source Evangelist at LibLime and the chair of the SLA-IT Blogging Section. In her position at Liblime, she directs the company's open source education endeavors. In addition to her daily responsibilities, Nicole has been published in several library journals and keeps the library community up to date on web technologies via her website "What I Learned Today..." (www.web2learning.net) and company blog, Open Sesame (blogs.liblime.com/open-sesame). In 2007, Nicole was named one of Library Journal's Movers & Shakers.

Description

PLEASE NOTE: THIS PROGRAM IS DELIVERED THROUGH WEB CONFERENCING TO THE SWON LIBRARIES OFFICE.

The library community is abuzz about open source software. Open source usually refers to an application whose source code is made available for use or modification as users see fit. Make sense? Probably not! Would it help if you knew that open source is not just about programming, but about following a philosophy?

Still confused? Not surprising. What will open source mean to our libraries? More flexibility and freedom than with software purchased with license restrictions. This is an important path for libraries to consider. Why open source? Because both the open source community and the library world live by the same rules and principles.

Nicole Engard will give you the facts and dispel myths about open source. This presentation will not only introduce librarians to what open source is and what it means for libraries, but will also provide attendees with links to a toolbox full of freely available open source products to use in their libraries.

Critical Learning Questions

What is open source?

What are the common myths I've heard?

How can I use open source?

How can open source software improve customer experiences?

How can open source software save money?

Audience

Librarians and/or administrators who want to know the basics of open source and how it can be used in the library environment.