Open Source Library Management System Software: A Review

Library management systems are commonly used in all educational related institutes. Many commercial products are available. However, many institutions may not be able to afford the cost of using commercial products. Therefore, an alternative solution in such situations would be open source software. This paper is focusing on reviewing open source library management system packages currently available. The review will focus on the abilities to perform four basic components which are traditional services, interlibrary load management, managing electronic materials and basic common management system such as security, alert system and statistical reports. In addition, environment, basic requirement and supporting aspects of each open source package are also mentioned.

Defects in Open Source Software: The Role of Online Forums

Free and open source software is gaining popularity at an unprecedented rate of growth. Organizations despite some concerns about the quality have been using them for various purposes. One of the biggest concerns about free and open source software is post release software defects and their fixing. Many believe that there is no appropriate support available to fix the bugs. On the contrary some believe that due to the active involvement of internet user in online forums, they become a major source of communicating the identification and fixing of defects in open source software. The research model of this empirical investigation establishes and studies the relationship between open source software defects and online public forums. The results of this empirical study provide evidence about the realities of software defects myths of open source software. We used a dataset consist of 616 open source software projects covering a broad range of categories to study the research model of this investigation. The results of this investigation show that online forums play a significant role identifying and fixing the defects in open source software.

Introduction of Open-Source e-Learning Environment and Resources: A Novel Approach for Secondary Schools in Tanzania

The concept of e-Learning is now emerging in Sub Saharan African countries like Tanzania. Due to economic constraints and other social and cultural factors faced by these countries, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is increasing at a very low pace. The digital divide threat has propelled the Government of Tanzania to put in place the national ICT Policy in 2003 which defines the direction of all ICT activities nationally. Among the main focused areas is the use of ICT in education, since for the development of any country, there is a need of creating knowledge based society. This paper discusses the initiatives made so far to introduce the use of ICT tools to some secondary schools using open source software in e-content development to facilitate a self-learning environment