The School Library System in collaboration with the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center (LHRIC) is sponsoring an informational workshop on Open Source Software for Libraries on Tuesday, December 9th. Two sessions will be held at Southern Westchester BOCES, Center for Career Services, 65 Grasslands Road, Valhalla, New York (directions on back). The first will be from 9:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. and will be repeated from 1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. You may register for either session. Harry Chan of Media Flex, Inc. will be the presenter.
Open Source Software provides both public and private institutions an alternative technology path. There are no licensing fees and the technology provides equity for both small and high needs institutions. Data is mounted at a central location and transmitted via a web browser to the individual school library. There is no need to "program" the individual computers that are accessing the data.
The demonstration will focus on OPALS-NA, a North American version of the KOHA open source, library management software, with a focus on school libraries. It is an integrated system that stores and accesses MARC records, manages circulation and can gateway to other web-based educational resources.
As school library media specialists, we need to be aware of the technology advances that affect our role in providing services to our learning community. Come join us to evaluate this product and discuss its ramifications.
Please contact Judy Robinson, 345-8500, ext. 158 or e-mail jrobinson@swboces.org
regarding your attendance. You must register to get a nametag and parking permit
which are required.