Open Source Software: Role of National and International Organization Dr. Mahendra V.Mete, Librarian Department of Library& Information Science Shri Shivaji Arts & Commerce College, Amravati, India Abstract metemahendra@gmail.com mahendrammm3@rediffmail.com Software plays a vital role in information management. Open source software revolutionized the education field and international organization like UNESCO, UNDP FSF, Sourceforge, IFLA, IOSN promoted open source in e-learning, content management, digital library and integrated library management fields. In India, Knowledge commission under chairmanship of Sam Pitroda recommended open source software for e-governance and information management. In India 95 Institutional repositories developed by using open source digital Library software serving the academic community. Keywords: UNESCO, UNDP, IOSN, FOSS, INFLIBNET, NRCFOSS, OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE. Open source software becomes the world movement. Many international organizations such as UNESCO, UNDP, International Open Source Network(IOSN), Free & Open Source Software Foundation (FOSS) promotes open source Software covering most of the areas of software application and operating systems. Most of the countries in the world adopted open source software for government system. Many universities, Research Institute have initiated in developing and promoting open source software. Government of India established special department on Free & Open Source Software under Department of Science & Technology. Role of UNESCO in promoting open Source Software In 2001 UNESCO decided to embark on this relatively new approach of not only providing the software for free but also making the source codes in principle open, i.e. publicly available on the website http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/.this has finally lead to a framework of its wider Free and Open Source Portal approach promoting the idea
and adding other software, e.g. Greenstone, into their basket of supported and promoted software for better professional development also in the Southern and transitional countries. UNESCO s FOSS Portal can be found at: http://www.unesco.org/cgibin/webworld/portal_freesoftware/cgi/, with interesting links to discussions of the FOSS history, licenses and case studies. In reality however the source codes for existing ISIS software are to be requested from UNESCO, but the new software will be fully available on public websites. At Bireme/OPS/WHO a similar decision was taken in 2006. No longer would the institute charge a small fee for their software and therefore make it free, but also the sources have been and are still being prepared for publication of all their software, including the basic CISIS-modules. Their new ISIS-generation software, called ISIS-NBP (Network Based Platform) will follow FOSS-methods The ISIS software family 1 The first generation (1975) CDS/ISIS at the International Labour Organization (ILO) Centralized Documentation System merged with Integrated Set of Information Services Running on VAX OS on mainframes. Micro-ISIS G. Del Bigio joins UNESCO and creates PC-DOS based version and integrates separated functions into one general customizable, multilingual menu-based interface with full documentation as version 2.3 Version 3.0 3.8 : networked multi-user, ISIS/Pascal UNIX-version for Intel-based UNIX OS World-wide distribution and huge success in Developing Countries. 2 The second generation (1985) ISIS/Pascal programmed add-ons (e.g. Heurisko, ADEM, IRIS and ODIN, LAMP) create rich tools; e.g. IRBIS (Russia) for libraries, FAO uses ISIS for its AGRIS-system and ODIN/IRIS extensions for its ASFISIS-system Bireme/OPS (WHO Brazil) creates CISIS-tools suite for command-line database management, uses it for its huge health information databases on the Internet; these are multi-platform (run on Unix/Linux and DOS) 3 The third generation (1995)
UNESCO produces Windows version: WINISIS, with many graphical, multi media and multi-database features Full library automation systems can be and are developed, e.g. PURNA (India) Other libraries start using ISIS for full library automation, e.g. SNAL (Tanzania) uses networked ODIN/IRIS based library system for its university library Bireme distributes a web-server version of ISIS as wwwisis running on both DOS/Windows and UNIX/Linux; many applications are developed JavaISIS (Italy) and isis3w (Poland) added to the family 4 The fourth generation (2005) Advanced web-based tools spearhead further developments: GenISIS (France) allows easy creation of web-based search interfaces WEBLIS (Poland/FAO) is a full-fledged advanced web-based library automation system Bireme develops WXIS and adds XML to ISIS WXIS-based library systems are developed in Latin-America (e.g. OpenMarcoPolo) Open ISIS (Germany) creates first fully Open Source version (web server, PHPlibrary) but goes its own way (Malete, Selene) 5 The fifth generation (2008) UNESCO develops a completely new Java-based graphical interface 'J-ISIS" using not only JAVA technology but also the embedded Berkeley DB for the storage layer. This project is a fully FOSS-oriented project. BIREME develops ABCD and - at the same time - a fully new technology for its future ISIS-products: ISIS/NBP. ABCD is meant to be the first application to be migrated into NBP. NBP or 'Network Based Platform' is the new ISIS technology with as the main characteristics Flexible architecture in which 'ISIS-cells' will communicate through known protocols with several platforms and interfaces; ISIS-cells will also allow to use different storage models as these will be contained within the cells but they behave in the same standardized way towards the external technology used.
ISIS databases will no longer have out-dated limitations re database-, record- and field-sizes. ISIS databases will be UNICODE compatible. Indexing will be done by using other FOSS full-text indexers such as Lucene (from Apache Software Foundation). ISIS is being used by ten-thousands of users, mostly in the Developing Countries where it is promoted by UNESCO and BIREME (for mostly Latin America). In Latin America ISIS is very strongly represented in libraries and documentation centers (it has a 'dominant' position even here), in Africa and South- East Asia there are an unknown but high number of users, many of them often nonconnected to the internet and therefore still using older technology and with relatively poor ICT-skills. This creates a special challenge to the support of the userscommunity. At the 3rd World Congress on ISIS (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 2008) the Users Community decided to make ISIS fully 'FOSS' and co-ordinated by an 'International Co-ordination Committee on ISIS' (ICCI), at http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php.html Summarizing the long history of ISIS, one could say that ISIS combines very sound basic 'textual database' principles, a strong tradition and a world-wide but insufficiently coordinated users' community with still modern state-of-the-art technological development. From 'free' to 'FOSS' CDS/ISIS as a software has been 'free' and 'open' since its early days, long before 'FOSS' (Free and Open Source Software) became a known software model (or should it be put in the reverse way : long before 'commercial closed software' became widely practiced' ). ABCD as a software suite ABCD is the acronym for a software suite for the automation of libraries and documentation centers. In Spanish this is, in full: 'Automatisación de Bibliotécas y Centros de Documentación', which keeps the same acronym valid also for French (Automation des Bibliothèques et Centres de Documentacion) or Portugese (Automatização das Bibliotecas e dos Centros de Documentação). Even in other non-latin
languages, with some slight but quite acceptable variations, - e.g. Dutch: 'Automatisering van Bibliotheken en Centra voor Documentatie' - the acronym can still be maintained. The name itself already expresses the ambition of the software suite: not only providing automation functions for the 'classic' libraries but also other information providers such as documentation centers. Flexibility and versatility are at the forefront of the criteria on which the software is developed. This flexibility e.g. is illustrated by the fact that in principle, but also practically, any bibliographic structure can be managed by the software, or even created by itself. Even non-bibliographic structures can be created, as long as the information is mainly 'textual' information, as this is the limitation put by the underlying database technology, which is the (CDS/)ISIS textual database. Good understanding of some basic ISIS-related concepts and techniques, e.g. the Formatting Language is crucial for full mastering of the ABCD-software. United Nation Development Program (UNDP) The Asia Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) is an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that aims to promote the development and application of new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for poverty alleviation and sustainable human development in the Asia Pacific region. It does so through three core programme areas namely Policy Development and dialogue, Access and content development and knowledge management. In collaboration with national governments, APDIP seeks to assist national and regional institutions in the Asia-Pacific through activities that involve awareness raising and advocacy, building capacities, promoting ICT policies and dialogue, promoting equitable access to tools & technologies, knowledge sharing and networking. The Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are set of eight targets to help end extreme end poverty worldwide by 2015. The United Nations Information & Communication technologies Task Force created in March 2001 has worked to advance the developments goals and targets of UN, in particular those set by the Millennium Declaration. The Task Force in their report, the role of information & communication Technologies in Global development :Analysis & Policy Recommendations,states that information & communication technologies will increasingly become one of the main
enablers in the pursuits of poverty alleviations and wealth creation in developed and developing countries alike. To help awareness of the potential fro free & open source Software in this area, various UN organizations and non profits have created the FOSS: Policy and Development Implications (FOSS-PDI) initiative. Part of this initiative consists of a mailing list that discusses specific FOSS applications that address the different MDGs, information about how different countries are using open source software and coordination for events being planned around the world. International Open Source network (IOSN) The International Open Source Network (IOSN) is an initiative of APDIP and supported by the International Development Research Center of Canada. IOSN is a center of excellence for free /open source software (FOSS), Open content and open standard in the Asia Pacific region. It is a network based at the UNDP regional center in Bangkok and three center of excellence IOSN ASEAN +3, IOSN PIC (Pacific Island Countries) and IOSN south Asia based in Manila, Suva and Chennai respectively. IOSN provides policy and technical advice on FOSS to governments, civil society and the private sectors. It produces FOSS awareness and training materials and distributes them under open content licenses. It also organizes awareness raising, training, research and networking initiatives to assist countries in developing a pool of human resources skilled in the use and development of FOSS.IOSN works primarily through its web portal www.iosn.net/ that is collectively managed by FOSS community. The web portal serves as a clearing house and a platform for knowledge sharing and collaborations. 3.3 IFLA working group on Open Source Software One of the interest areas identified during the first IFLA IT section meeting in Milan, Italy in 2009 was the furtherance of open source initiatives. Open source group was formed under Edmund Balnaves discussed the ways in which open source and open access initiatives can interact and the possibilities for open source publishing systems to interact with open source library services. These activities centered on two ways. 1. Direct activities of IFLA IT section in promoting standards in open source and publishing open source frameworks for libraries.
2. Working with other agencies actively engaged in open source to encourage regional support initiatives for open source, recommended projects that facilitates adoption of open source and work with UN/UNESCO and EIFL-Net in their open source initiatives. Key activities in working groups 1. Open source Software in libraries: Topics/Activities a) Promote an enterprise vision of open source for libraries by: Establishing an open-source sub-site with open source comparative reviews and enterprise open source architecture for libraries & with recommendations Promoting the interaction between open access and open source and institutions as publishers b) Communicate successful strategies, examples and standards in open source deployment by: Documenting / sharing experience in Integrating open source systems (LMS to Digital library. Publishing to Digital library) and promoting standardized interfaces Publishing a special issue of the newsletter focusing on Open Source. c) Examining the possibility of one-day workshop on Open Source systems at the IFLA congress in Gothenburg. Collaboration with other key institutions - UNESCO / UN /ICT 4D a) Co-operate with organizations promoting information literacy b) Virtualization approaches offer opportunities to implement out of the box examples of open source enterprise implementations (including LMS, Digital Library). Promote funding for a project developing a virtualized example of the Enterprise open source library service architecture. Government of India initiatives: National Knowledge commission Recommendation of National Knowledge commission: The National Knowledge Commission was set up by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda, to prepare a blueprint to tap into the enormous reservoir of our knowledge base so that our people can
confidently face the challenges of the 21st century. The commission made the following recommendation on the the e-gorvernance. Because of the enormous size and scope of the e-governance effort in India and because of the availability of globally recognised software talent of Indians, we must actively encourage open source software implementations and open standards wherever possible. This will allow us to have cost-effective solutions and help develop open software products and standards. It will also help improve scaling up and minimise delays caused by repeat tendering. The knowledge commission has made the following recommendation on the open source initiatives. The Knowledge commission setup a national institute for advanced training and R&D (suggested name: Indian Institute of Library and Information Science) needs to be set up. The proposed Institute would have two major functions: A. To offer training programmes in relevant areas and to conduct continuing education programmes for library and information professionals; B. To identify, sponsor and conduct R&D programmes in the fi eld of library and information science, including newly emerging research areas. Among the areas needing immediate R&D, the following were identified by the Working Group: Cross-language information retrieval, with an emphasis on information in Indian Languages; Standardization of Indian names; Vocabulary control over Indian subjects developed in terms of multi-lingual thesauri and subject-heading lists; Development of open source software; Development of Digital Libraries, both in English and Indian languages; C Networking of Libraries Infrastructure requirements for cataloguing, database creation and networking. a. Open source software should be used wherever possible at present and eventually at all levels.
b. An open source web-enabled library management software should be developed if necessary and provided to all public libraries for facilitating networking. This software should support multiple Indian language scripts and dialects. Networking of Public Libraries: The networking agencies should ensure state-of-the-art technology with the following features: i. Open source platform for the software, which also supports multilingual environment with multi-user and multimedia content creation capabilities; ii. Storage, dissemination and replication of the data through mirror sites, gateways, Portals, and inter-library loan facilities; iii. Capability to conduct exhaustive training programmes. Promote Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications in all libraries: The catalogues of all libraries should be put on local, state and national websites, with necessary linkages. This will enable networking of different types of libraries and setting up of a National Repository of Bibliographic Records and a centralized collaborative virtual enquiry handling system using the latest ICT. To enable equitable and universal access to knowledge resources, libraries should be encouraged to create more digital resources by digitizing relevant reading material in different languages; this can be shared at all levels. Peer-reviewed research papers resulting from publicly funded research should also be made available through open access channels, subject to copyright regulations. The use of open standards and free and open-source software is recommended for this. National Resource Center for Free & Open Source Software (NRCFOSS) NRCFOSS is an initiative of the Department of Technology, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of India.NRCFOSS was setup in Chennai in April 2005 with the twin roles of bridging the digital divide as well as strengthening the Indian software industry. NRCFOSS aims to contribute to the growth of FOSS in India through Research & Development, Human Resource Development
Networking & Entrepreneurship Development as well as serve as the reference point for all FOSS related activities in the country including the creation and maintenance of this national FOSS portal. Open Source Software Resource Center IBM Corporation, in partnership with Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) and the Center for development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), has established the open source software Resource Center (OSSRC).OSSRC s goals are to develop, adopt and disseminates solutions, education and content that use open standards in support of India s economic development plans. Free Software Foundation of India FSF India is a non-profit organization committed to advocating, promoting and propagating the use and development of swatantra software in India. Their goal is to ensure the long term adoption of free software, and aim for the day when all software will be free. This includes educating people about software freedom and convincing them it is the freedom matters. Open Source Forum-National Informatics Center Open source forum is an initiative of National Informatics center, to encourage participation by viewers to share their experience and important information about different open source areas. Users group on Linux, BSD, PERL, PHP, PYTHON etc. The user groups on various operating systems, application software, database management software is being formed in various cities of the country to promote, exchange the open source software experiences and contribution in the development of softwares. Information & Library Network (INFLIBNET): Working Group on Open Source Software INFLIBNET has established working group on open source software. The objective & responsibilities of the centers are given below: There are a number of open source software in the field of library and information science that are available free of cost. The Centre would create R & D
facilities to study and contribute actively in their development. The Centre would work towards adoption and modification of open source software for LIS community in India. INFLIBNET has developed SOUL 2.0 on Mysql Database; open source database management software.inflibnet has developed Open Journal System uses Open Journal Systems 2.2.4.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. Conclusions The role of UNESCO in promoting open source software at international level is dominant. Before the open source movement, UNESCO started distributing CDS/ISIS database management software which helps the libraries in the world very useful in bibliographic database development. After the beginning of open source movement and development of OSS products,unesco developed open source web portal through which open source software in various fields including operating system, database management, application software, integrated library management software, digital library software,e-learning,e-commerce,compilers and development tools etc. United Nation Development Program (UNDP) through its program Asia Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) promotes open source software IN Asia- Pacific region. APDIP established International open source Network (IOSN),through which it provides policy and technical advice on FOSS to governments, civil society and the private sectors. It has published very useful series of e-primers on various aspects of Free and Open Sourec Software (FOSS). IFLA has also taken initiatives in open source software and formed working Open source group under Edmund Balnaves discussed the ways in which open source and open access initiatives can interact and the possibilities for open source publishing systems to interact with open source library services. India is the leading country in open source initiatives. The Knowledge commission under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda, recommended open source software for e-governance in the country. The commission also recommended establishing Indian Institute of Library and Information Science with the prime
responsibility of development of open source software. The commission recommended adopting open source software for Library networking, cataloguing etc. Department of Technology, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of India has established National Resource Center for Free & Open Source Software (NRCFOSS) with the twin roles of bridging the digital divide as well as strengthening the Indian software industry. INFLIBNET is an Inter University Center of UGC has taken initiatives by establishing workgroup on open source software and developed Open Journal System and Institutional Repository. The initiatives of Indian Libraries & Information centers in using open source software are beneficial for the scholarly communication and will encourage the promotion of open source software in Libraries & Information centers. The result of the study will be beneficial for the academic community to adopt open source software in all areas of knowledge. Though Government of India has taken initiatives in promotion of open source software, there is need to incorporate the various issues of open source software in the curriculum of Universities or to start specialized courses in open source software. The open Source Software phenomenon is an interesting one with such enormous potential, not solely from the software perspectives, but also in its role as a catalyst for the new organizational model in the networked economy, and as an essential facilitator in creating the open information society and bridging the digital divide. Bibliography 1. Altman, Micah (2001). Open source software for Libraries: from Greenstone to the Virtual data center and beyond. IASSIST Quarterly, vol.26,available at http://maltman.hmdc.harvard.edu/micah_altman/papers/iqvol254altman.pdf Accessed on Jan 18 2007 2. Anandan, C and Gangatharan, M (2006). Digital Libraries: from Technology to culture. Kanishka, New Delhi.
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