1. Koha, Evergreen, and Voyager:
A Comparison of Their OPACs
Ten Years of Experience, A Future of Possibilities
VALE / NJ ACRL/ NJLA CUS Tenth Annual Users' Conference
Friday, January 9, 2009
Sharon Yang, Melissa A. Hofmann, and Meghan Weeks
Rider University Libraries
2. Overview of the Presentation
• Introduction
▫ Open Source & GNU GPL
▫ Open Source ILS
▫ Koha and Evergreen
• Ten visions for the Next
Generation Catalog
• Comparison of the OPACs of
Koha, Evergreen, and Voyager
based on the ten visions
• Conclusion
3. Introduction: Open Source & GNU GPL
GNU General Public License
▫ GNU is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix"
▫ Free to run, study, modify, and redistribute the software
▫ Support is not free
Other open source licenses
▫ Mozilla Public License
▫ Creative Commons licenses
▫ BSD License
▫ Apache Software License
▫ GNU Free Documentation License
4. Introduction: Why Open Source ILS?
• Financial considerations
• Ability to tailor to fit local needs or customization
• No restrictions on use
• User driven vs. profit driven
• Dissatisfaction with current ILS and vendors
• No vendor lock-in
5. Introduction: Open Source ILS
• Avanti MicroLCS (http://www.avantilibrarysystems.com/)
• Emilda, Finland (http://www.emilda.org)
• Evergreen, US (http://evergreen-ils.org/)
• Koha, New Zealand (http://koha.org)
• Learning Access ILS, US (www.learningaccess.org)
• NewGenLib, India (http://www.verussolutions.biz)
• OpenBiblio (http://obiblio.sourceforge.net/)
• PhpMyLibrary, Philippines (http://phpmylibrary.com/pml/)
• PMB (PhpMyBibli), France (http://www.sigb.net)
• PYTHEAS, US
(http://web2.uwindsor.ca/library/leddy/people/art/pytheas/index.html)
• OPALS, US (http://www.opals-na.org/opals-fac.html)
• WebLIS, UNESCO & Poland (http://www.unesco.org/isis/)
In conceptual stage:
• OLE: The Open Library Environment (http://www.oleproject.org)
7. Introduction: Koha & Evergreen
• English language
• More mature that other open source ILSs
• More complete functions/modules
• More users
• Available technical support and planned future releases
8. Comparison: Koha, Evergreen, and Voyager
Koha Evergreen Voyager
First developed 1999 2005 1994
First implemented by a US
library
2002 2006 1994
First became a turnkey system
with technical support
2006 2006 1994
Number of libraries as of 1/09 400 305 1179
9. Introduction: Status Quo
• How many libraries?
▫ Koha: 400 (9 academic libraries)
▫ Evergreen: 305 (1 academic library)
▫ Voyager: 1179
• Who provides support/services?
▫ Koha: Liblime and others
▫ Evergreen: Equinox and others
▫ Voyager: Ex Libris
• Why do libraries hesitate?
▫ Hard to install and some parts do not
work
▫ Lack of good documentation
▫ Lack of functionality
10. OPAC Comparison: Koha, Evergreen,
and Voyager
• “A thorough process of
evaluating an integrated
library system(ILS) today
would not be complete
without also weighing the
open source ILS products
against their proprietary
counterparts."
~Marshall Breeding, Chapter 4, "Open
Source Integrated Library Systems"
11. Ten Visions for the Next Generation Catalog
In addition to all the features of a legacy catalog, the Next Generation
Catalog should also include the following (Breeding 2007):
▫ Single point of entry for all library information
▫ State-of-the-art web interface
▫ Enriched content
▫ Faceted navigation
▫ Keyword searching
▫ Relevancy
▫ Did you mean…?
▫ Recommendations/related materials
▫ User contribution: ratings, reviews, comments, and tagging
▫ RSS feeds
12. Comparison: A Single Point of Entry for
All Library Information
A single search box that includes all traditional ILS
content and the full text of all the electronic resources
to which a library subscribes (Breeding 2007). Article
& full text level access.
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
13. Comparison: State-of-the-Art Web Interface
Library catalogs should be “intuitive interfaces”
and “visually appealing sites” that compare well
with other Internet search engines (Breeding
2007).
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
14. Comparison: Enriched Content
In addition to printed materials, enriched content
includes images of book jackets, movie cases, table
of contents, summaries, reviews, etc.
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
15. Comparison: Faceted Navigation
Use of facets to narrow the search results. It allows
users to interact with an information resource by
discovering the information held within rather
than having to guess in advance.
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
16. Comparison: Keyword Searching
A simple keyword search box with a link to
advanced search for libraries.
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
17. Comparison: Relevancy
In addition to relevancy based on the frequency and
positions of a keyword, a library catalog should also
consider other factors such as the number of times an
item has been checked out, the number of copies in a
library, the number of times an item has been cited,
etc.
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
18. Comparison: Did you mean…?
A technique to detect common spelling errors in a
query and suggest possible search terms. Goes
beyond a simple spell-check.
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
19. Comparison: Recommendations
A library catalog will recommend materials when it
does not hold an item a user is looking for.
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
20. Comparison: User Contributions
“A resource isn’t just a one-way presentation of
information, but rather invites user participation
and involvement” such as reviews, comments,
summaries, tag clouds. (Breeding 2007)
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
21. Comparison: RSS Feed
RSS stands for really simple syndication or rich
site summary. When incorporated into a library’s
catalog, it can broadcast new additions or other
information to users.
• Demonstration
▫ Koha
▫ Evergreen
▫ Voyager
22. Koha Evergreen Voyager
Single point of entry for
all library information
State-of-the-art Web
Interface
Enriched Content
Faceted Navigation
Keyword Searching
Relevancy
Did you mean…?
Recommendations
User Contributions
RSS Feed
23. Features that need work
• Navigation
▫ Koha (must use Internet browser)
• Subject heading browse
▫ Voyager (both a “starts with” and keyword in
heading browse) vs. Koha (poor) and Evergreen
(none)
• Advanced search
▫ AND, OR, NOT options available/explicit?
• Highlighting of search terms
24. Conclusion: Who Is Closer to Next
Generation Catalog?
1. Koha (6/7 out of 10)
2. Voyager (4 out of 10)
3. Evergreen (3 out of 10)
25. Questions & Answers
The next presentation will cover:
▫ A comparison of staff modules of Koha,
Evergreen, and Voyager
▫ Technologies behind the scene
▫ Cost analysis
▫ Recommendations
26. References
• Anderson, J.D. and Hofmann, M.A. 2006. “A fully faceted syntax for Library of Congress
Subject Headings.” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 43(1), 7-38.
• Boss, R.W. 2008. “Open source” integrated library system software [PDF document].
Retrieved December 26, 2008 from Public Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/pla/plapublications/platechnotes
• Breeding, M. 2008. Automation Marketplace 2008: Opportunity Out of Turmoil. Library
Journal 133 (6), 32-38.
• Breeding, M. 2007. Next-generation library catalogs. Library Technology Reports 43 (4).
• Riewe, L. M. (2008). Survey of Open Source Integrated Library Systems.
Unpublished master's thesis, San José State University, 210 North 4th
Street San Jose, CA 95112 . Retrieved January/February, 2009, from
http://users.sfo.com/~lmr/ils-survey.html
• Wikipedia: the Free encyclopedia. 2008. Integrated Library System. Retrieved December
29, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
