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The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of open source to a non‐technical audience and give an overview of its current and potential applications in libraries.

The paper is based on a literature review.

Open source already aids libraries and has great potential but is hobbled by its intrinsically technical appeal.

The paper makes observations about information technology trends which might affect the take up of open source and introduces open source comprehensively but succinctly.

This paper aims to introduce the concept of open-source hardware to the library professionals and gives a brief of the outlook of its current and potential application in libraries

The paper is based on a literature review.

Open source already aids libraries and has great potential but is hobbled by its intrinsically technical appeal.

The paper makes first observation towards the concept of open-source hardware with a slant towards librarianship.

According to its supporters open source software is more secure and reliable than proprietary code, and even tends to foster more innovation. Its technical superiority can be linked to the ongoing peer review process which typifies the open source model. In addition, programs such as Linux offer a potential challenge to the hegemony of Microsoft. Open source holds out the possibility of restraining platform leaders such as Microsoft from acting opportunistically. Some even argue that the open source code model is ethically superior to the proprietary model because of its transparency. Given these economic and social benefits, should government policy makers intervene, by tilting the playing field to open source programs? Would such government intervention truly be welfare‐enhancing? Before answering that question we note that some of the presumed technical and economic benefits of open source software are open to question. At the same time, the claims of moral superiority or social desirability are inflated and discount incentives necessary for software development. But even if this software were technically and morally superior, there is still no basis for government intervention. Our position is simple: the invisible hand of the market and not the visible hand of government should decide the fate of open source code. There is no identifiable market failure for the government to fix nor is there any plausible policy justification for giving open source software preferential treatment.

This paper compares the technical support-related experiences with the expectations of librarians using open source Integrated Library Systems (ILS).

A combination of surveys and triangulating interviews was conducted to obtain the results presented.

The results of this study indicate that there are many channels of technical support available to librarians who use open source ILS. Also, these channels of technical support perform at acceptable levels according to the expectations of librarians using open source software.

The results presented in this study are self-reported expectations and experiences of librarians and not observed experiences.

The results from this study will provide an insight to librarians contemplating adoption or migration to open source ILS. The results presented here will be useful in decision-making as well as developing a strategy for technical support based on the presented options.

The interest in open source ILS has been observed and studied in the last decade, but the technical support of open source systems, which is a critical component of the adoption process, has not received much attention. This paper focuses specifically on the technical support for open source ILS and provides insight into the experiences of librarians.

This paper aims to report a small-scale study that investigated attitudes to open source library management systems (LMS)s in UK higher education libraries. The study sought to establish why the sector has been slow to adopt this technology, and how attitudes towards it in UK universities might change in the future.

A quantitative online questionnaire was sent to all 181 libraries within the UK higher education sector and received a response rate of 46.4 per cent. The questionnaire was followed by qualitative telephone interviews with five selected professionals.

UK higher education libraries rely on peer feedback when choosing a LMS. With limited experience and a need for strong commercial support given uncertainty about staffing in the present financial climate, HE librarians are reluctant to choose open source LMSs. Participants also demonstrated a lack of motivation to change from current LMSs, suggesting limited adoption of alternatives in the near future. A higher number of questionnaire respondents reported considering adopting an open source LMS than in Adamson et al.; however, this may be due to open source advocates being more likely to participate.

Drawing on Adamson's survey as a starting point, this study enriches the body of knowledge on open source LMSs by reporting and reflecting on the results of a survey and set of interviews with higher education information professionals. It adds to the small but growing literature in this field.

As libraries face budget cuts, open source integrated library systems are an attractive alternative to proprietary choices. Even though open source software is free to acquire, administrators must consider factors other than initial purchase price. This study aims to provide direction and context for libraries considering migration to an open source integrated library system.

The comparison is qualitative and uses case studies, license agreements and copyright law, and user manuals and brochures. These comparisons divide into four areas: functions, adoption and technical support, usability, and economics.

Major functions that libraries need in an integrated library system are available for open source software. There are no significant differences in usability between open source and proprietary integrated library systems. Internal IT provides a significant role in open source adoption. The relatively new type of open source software licensing may cause confusion for libraries and software developers.

This study considers initial migrations to open source integrated library systems as a key component in overall software adoption. The study qualitatively examines the migration process comparing extant case studies. In addition, the examination of licensing agreements and copyright as well as a comparative review of essential functions are provided.

The paper seeks to show how the increasingly popular use of data and information acquired from open sources (OS) impacts competitive and marketing intelligence (C/MI). It describes the current state of the art in analysis efforts of open source intelligence (OSINT) in business/commercial enterprises, examines the planning and execution challenges organizations are experiencing associated with effectively using and fusing OSINT in C/MI decision‐making processes, and provides guidelines associated with the successful use of OSINT.

This is a descriptive, conceptual paper that utilizes and develops arguments based on the search of three unclassified bodies of literature in competitive and marketing intelligence, intelligence processing and marketing analysis.

Open sources are useful in marketing analyses because they can be easily accessible, inexpensive, quickly accessed and voluminous in availability. There are several conceptual and practical challenges the analyst faces in employing them. These can be addressed through awareness of these issues as well as a willingness to invest resources into studying how to improve the data gathering/analysis interface.

Marketing analysts increasingly rely on open sources of data in developing plans, strategy and tactics. This article provides a description of the challenges they face in utilizing this data, as well as provides a discussion of the effective practices that some organizations have demonstrated in applying and fusing open sources in their C/MI analysis process.

There are very few papers published focusing on applying OSINT in enterprises for competitive and marketing intelligence purposes. More uniquely, this paper is written from the perspective of the marketing analyst and how they use open source data in the competitive and marketing sense‐making process and not the perspective of individuals specialized in gathering these data.

The purpose of this paper is to study the adoption and use of open source software (OSS) in the libraries of Institutions of National Importance (INIs) in India vis-à-vis their economic impact on adopting libraries. Besides, it aims to study the business model of OSS.

The paper analyses the adoption and use of OSS in the libraries of INIs, India, and their economic impact on the adopting libraries. An online survey was administrated to library professionals of INIs to know the adoption and use of OSS in their libraries and its acceptability. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-square are used in this study.

The findings of the study reveal that the libraries of INIs adopt and use OSS in integrated library system (ILS) (18.4 per cent), digital repository (95.2 per cent) and library website (65.5 per cent). Koha, DSpace, Drupal and Joomla! are the most favoured OSS among the libraries of INIs. The results reveal that favouring of OSS and having a policy on OSS by the libraries have a positive and significant relationship with their adoption and use of OSS in the libraries. The results of the study show that university libraries of India could save an estimated Rs 417m by adopting open source ILS such as Koha, Evergreen, NewGenLib and ABCD.

The paper will help decision makers to adopt and use open source ILS in their libraries.

This paper is the first of its kind that explores the economic impact of OSS on the adopting libraries and also explicitly discusses the business model of open source library software.

Interorganizational reciprocity plays a key role in relationships among software firms and open source communities. This study seeks to illuminate how a firm's open source strategy, characterized by its participation in the open source community, contributes to its financial performance.

Based on the norm of reciprocity and social capital theory, the study proposes a model comprising the behavioral antecedents and business results of a firm's symbiotic relationship with the open source community. Data were collected through a survey. Partial least squares-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess the results.

A firm's participative behaviors can have three dimensions: technology giving, technology taking and social participation. Technology taking directly impacts financial performance, whereas the effects of technology giving and social participation on financial performance are fully mediated by the firm's symbiotic relationship with the open source community.

Managers can understand how a specific behavior ultimately contributes to a symbiotic relationship or a firm's financial performance and how to flexibly align participation strategies with the business orientation.

The study adds to the open source literature by refining and enriching the conceptual domain of a firm's participative behaviors in open source communities. It also reveals how contrasting behavioral strategies impact a firm's financial performance.

Technologies for teaching abound, but many of them are proprietary systems and software that require institutional and individual subscriptions for use. Instructors and librarians in higher education have open source and free options for many types of teaching technologies. While some of these technologies are free to users, open source goes beyond that and makes the source code that runs it available as well. These provide more options to enhance teaching.

This paper will provide an overview of the open source landscape and evaluate free and open source technologies of potential use in the college or university classroom.

The paper found a number of free and open source tools appropriate for teaching and learning in higher education. These tools may possibly generate savings over proprietary tools, but could have other costs such as additional learning investment or require hosting. Additionally, free and open source technologies provide students with knowledge about tools that they can continue to access after graduation. Libraries have a role in connecting their constituencies to these tools.

The paper provides descriptive information about a variety of tools for teaching and learning in higher education, as well as examples from the literature of how the tools might be integrated into the classroom and into library instruction.