Although open source library automation has gained unprecedented popularity in recent years, the industry is still dominated by companies offering traditionally licensed software. In discussing the new open source software projects, it’s important to keep in mind that the vast majority of libraries continue to use proprietary ILS products and that the sales of these products to new customers is continuing at moderately strong levels. Innovative Interfaces and Polaris Library systems have made a number of new sales in North America. Ex Libris has made sales of Primo and Aleph internationally. A number of libraries have migrated from Dynix Classic and Horizon to SirsiDynix Symphony this year, although the company has made few public announcements.
Innovative Interfaces recently announced a list of ten libraries that have selected its Millennium ILS in recent weeks. These include:
- Athens State University in Alabama, moving from the Library Management Network consortium to its own hosted version Millennium
- Bridgeview Public Library in Illinois moving from Library. Solution provided by The Library Corporation to Millennium
- O’More College of Design in Franklin, TN,
- San Jacinto College in Pasadena, TX moving to Millennium from SirsiDynix Horizon
- Elmont Memorial Library joining the Automated Library Information System of Nassau County shared Millennium system
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, moving from a Dynix system to Millennium
- Oral Roberts University migrating from a Dynix Classic system
- Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, MN automating for the first time with Millennium
- Emirates College for Advanced Education a newly constituted university in the United Arab Emirates will automate its new library with Millennium
- Western Australia Department of Health library implementing Millennium
Some of the libraries moving to Polaris from Polaris Library Systems:
- Brampton Public Library, a five branch library system serving a city of 450,000 in Ontario, moving to Polaris from SirsiDynix Horizon
- Fort Smith Public Library in Arkansas, moving to Polaris from Highland Library Systems which they have been using since 1989
- Eastern Shores Library System, a consortium of fourteen libraries in Wisconsin, moving from a SirsiDynix Horizon system
- Henderson County Public Library in Kentucky, moving from a Dynix Classic system
- The Pinellas Automation Library System, a consortium of 22 libraries in Florida Prince George’s County Memorial Library, a system of 18 community libraries with a collection of over 2 million volumes, moving to Polaris from an Infor PLUS system
- The Lee County Library System in Florida, moving form a Dynix Classic system
Ex Libris has attracted a number of new customers for Primo, its discovery interface product. These include the University of Haifa in Israel, four institutions in Australia including the State Library of Victoria, Curtin University of Technology, the University of New South Wales, and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Libraries that have selected the Aleph ILS in recent months include:
- The University of Quebec in Montreal
- National Library of the Dominican Republic
- Southampton Solent University in the United Kingdom
- Fudan University in China
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China
- The Universite de Bretange Occidentale in France
These lists represent some of the publicly announced contracts involving the traditional vendors and are meant only to remind readers of that this type of activity continues. While the dynamics of the library automation industry have changed to include an ever-increasing open source component, this must be seen in the context of a market where proprietary software continues to dominate. The extent to which this dominance will continue in the long term is a major question as the library automation industry moves forward.
