Perceptions of LIS Professionals on Open Source Integrated Library System and Adoptability of Koha over LibSys in India

With democratization of information, networking and social media, free and open software for information sharing are on rise even though commercial software industry thrives. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has major role in managing information and knowledge all over the world. There are many FOSS for library automation too. Time has come for LIS professionals to adopt FOSS over the proprietary ones benefiting on various counts, mainly cost effectiveness and the availability of source code. Lack of technical knowledge and skills among library professionals are some of the major hurdles in adopting Open Source Integrated Library System (OSILS). The study analyses the perceptions of LIS professionals on the subject by taking Koha as the representative sample of open source library automation and information management software and LibSys for commercial software. The study traces the priorities and challenges related to switching over to or adopting FOSS in Indian libraries. Suggestions to enhance the rate of adoption of OSILS in Indian libraries are also rendered