like a chia pet

2007 June 8
tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Chia Pet

I was sorry to miss the NELA-ITS workshop on Open Source Software last week. But, thanks to the wonders of the internets, I did get some of the content. Particularly fascinating to me was Randy Robertshaw’s presentation on using open source software solutions on all library computers. Now, I’ve long thought this was an interesting idea, especially considering my deep admiration and sympathy for our country’s underfunded and underappreciated small and rural libraries. And he’s not the first to try it, of course.

But I wonder, as I have before, if it’s shortsighted of us to consider ‘investment’ in financial terms only. When I’m off talking to libraries about my own pet open-source solution I’m very careful to point out that this is not free. It’s simply a reapplication of resources and so often what you might be saving in money is going to be balanced by staff-time, attention, training. A web2.0 compatible online web presence, for example, is interactive. It’s not the kind of old-school website that you set up and then essentially abandon save for the occasional update. It needs nurturing every day, or it will die, like a chia pet. (I’ve always wanted a chia pet.)

In Randy’s case, I wonder if, while putting exclusively open source software on his public access computers seems to save his library money, even with a company doing the OS maintenance. Is he risking unfairly shifting the ‘expense’ to his patrons by giving them tools that they’re unfamiliar with? Yet another way that libraries make their constituents feel stupid and intimidated?

Imagine an elder walking into the library because they need to conduct some business online and have no computer of technical infrastructure at home - but they do know how to use a computer, their kind and patient grandchild showed them. But the grandchild has a pc, as most would. So this person sits down in front of Ubuntu and is completely flummoxed. They don’t ask for help. They don’t have the orientation to puzzle it out. They simply leave, unserviced. I know it’s an anecdotal example, but a fair concern in my opinion.

I don’t mean to suggest that it’s not a fantastic idea, but I do wonder how libraries who do it safeguard against such dis-service.

3 Comments leave one →
2007 June 8
brian herzog permalink

And speaking of monetary cost, someone in the audience brought up a good point: with the discounts that Microsoft gives to libraries, the actual dollar amount spent on commercial software can be really very low.

In order for open source software to produce a real benefit to the library or the patrons, there has to be something more than just a cost savings. The software itself has to be better or safer (ie- Firefox v. IE, which are both free).

2007 June 9
brian herzog permalink

After I posted this comment, Randy sent me an email further expanding on a few of the points. Since he explaines it much better than I could, I am posting a portion of his message here, with permission:

…To your point of cost savings, consider staff time. That is the ultimate, the real value of open source. Userful is secure: if time is any indicator, the product has been tested since 1999. It is not out of the box, beta software; it is turn-key solution: and it works relatively well. And for that matter, our friends at Microsoft have offered more worms than the myth of commercial software’s value can be measured.

Envisionware’s pricing for 8 would cost me almost $10,000 without privacy protection or remote administration. One point to all of this: I am not running Linux boxes with just Linux; there is functionality and administration here. That has value to the Library.

Being the director, the bottom line is very important; you are balancing patron needs and security, with finances–and trying more importantly to save jobs. Userful is not Firefox or OpenOffice; it is a public computing environment. Further, we have 2 Windows boxes–just in case of emergencies.

Cost savings is not measured in dollar figures alone. It includes staff time, better functionality, and less problems. Keep in mind, when Tyngsborough ran 3 MS OS, patrons never knew what they were getting. For example, one math professor loved to write formulas on the computers, but only one older machine had a software to do this. When one talks of interface confusion, I am confused. When you bring in your new Vista machines or Apples, the same problems will occur; as a patron, I might be used to Windows XP or Apple. That is the dilemma of public computing. There is no perfect answer. But presenting a consistent and easy interface helps.

The cost of public computing is not basic software; it is the hardware, staff $$, and administrative software.

The best approach toward dis-service is good customer service; the more you engage your patrons, the better you can measure their needs and frustrations, while presenting an approachability to the public. Further, if you can redistribute staff efforts to other efforts, you can improve the public’s overall experience and satisfaction. As computer cost continue to drop, there might be a time when the internet connection alone might be needed–I doubted it, but! The task is to begin “redistributing resources” to other efforts such as e-government and historical digitization. Ultimately, after 3 years (late into our 2nd now) we will reevaluate. Technology is not what makes a library great; it is the people who serve and how they serve that community. You can dis-service your community without talking about Linux…

2007 June 11
Remaining Relevant » Blog Archive » Assessing Technology Needs and Creating a Technology Plan for Non-Profits permalink

[...] Assess you current resources. He gives an example of a non-profit whose strategy was to acquire as many donated computers as possible. This means they’re always using useless computers and then wondering why computers are so frustrating to use. [...]

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