Open Source Software as a Agent for Technological Innovation

Open Source Software as a Agent for Technological Innovation: The Utilization of Open Source Software and Technologies as components for a Low-Cost Portal for Digitization and On-Line Education - To be Presented at: The First International Conference in Public Finance and Fiscal Policies in Transitional Economies, 16 April 2004, Manas University, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Gerry Arthus Systems Administrator Long Island Library Resources Council SUNY at Stony Brook Stony Brook, New York US 11794-3399 Phone: 1-631-632-6652 FAX: 631-632-6662 Home: 631-289-7565 Email: garthus@lilrc.org Professor Graduate Computer Science, Engineering Management, and Earth and Environmental Science C.W Post Campus of Long Island University 720 Northern Boulevard Brookville,New York US 11548-1300 Phone: 516-299-2293 There is a significant need within the Central Asian States; for the implementation of a comprehensive Library and Educational Resources program which would increase the availability of both Library and Educational resources to significant segments of the population which currently not have access to such resources; throughout the region Also, of importance, is the availability of these resources for governmental and business organizations, which would rapidly facilitate the modernization of governmental systems; and, would be the driving force behind rapid economic progress Simply put, without local access to Low-cost Information and Computer resources, economic progress will not occur at a sustainable rate There are only two ways in which this can be accomplished: The approach which is currently being taken, which entails the purchase of expensive proprietary software and hardware and the utilization of the services of so-called foreign experts (also expensive); and, since no state in the region could afford such resources, the establishment of dependent relationships with outside sources of revenue, predominantly through the solicitation of external grants and other types of funding programs Unfortunately, the monetary resources available through these grants not produce sustainable results Additionally, it is very difficult to retain local autonomy through the purchase of proprietary software and hardware which can only be used according to the requirements of external organizations The optimal utilization of local resources, both intellectual and material, in conjunction with external grants and other types of funding programs; through the utilization of Open Source (Nonproprietary) Software and the construction of the Non-proprietary Hardware from locally available components Unfortunately, in too many cases, the reliance on foreign or external resources places institutions in the position of having virtually no control over the disbursement of these resources and thus their destinies Additionally, nearly all of such types of grant disbursements not predominantly benefit the local populations or institutions But, a major proportion of the dedicated resources are expended for foreign or external services, equipment, materials, or for institutions overseas or outside the borders of the target region Often, so-called foreign experts, promote the utilization of proprietary software and hardware, which also coincidently is manufactured or produced by business organizations within their home-countries' borders There are significant problems associated with the utilization of foreign or externally produced proprietary software and hardware Specifically: No local resources or services are utilized to produce the software or hardware, which means that the local economy does not benefit from the utilization of these products Therefore, when a foreign country claims to have 'given' what it refers to as a 'less-developed' nation, thousands of dollars in Software and Hardware, most of the benefits accrue to the economy of the country which has done the giving Not the country or region which has received the products In fact, it could be shown in too many examples, that not only does the country receiving the grant of proprietary Software and Hardware, not ultimately benefit from the transaction; but, that it is actually damaged, since the maintenance cost for proprietary products is often more prohibitive than their original purchase prices This leaves the target country or region, in the position of either having to pay huge sums of money to the business organizations from the donor countries, money which benefits only the granting country's economy; or as is too often the case, in a position of not being able to pay the prohibitive maintenance or licensing costs of these products in the future This wastes local resources, particularly when local staff are trained or educated in the use of proprietary Software and Hardware which they can no longer afford to use Since most proprietary software being used, is not designed or customized with the languages or culture of the target region in which it is being utilized Documentation, maintenance, and further modification of the software is difficult Open Source Software on the other hand, lends itself to ‘localization’ and thus is much more optimal for use in many different regions Can a locally developed project actually be implemented at costs which are affordable and sustainable; and, benefit nearly all individuals throughout a country or region, along with governmental and business organizations? This work will propose that it is possible to develop and implement such a project, with the resources which are currently available at the local level; what is necessary is that we consider options which will optimize the utilization of local resources for the benefit of local people, institutions and organizations The development and implementation of such a project in one Central Asian State would not only facilitate the development of such a project throughout the Central Asian Region; but, it will show that a locally built project can be constructed which will be a unique product of local intellect and resources One, which was not predominantly dependent upon external political or economic entities; for its finance, design, and implementation Such a Project will encompass both a Virtual Library and comprehensive On-line Educational Environment All software used will be freely available and of an Open-Source type, for both Applications and Operating Systems The major goal of this project is to development a Modular comprehensive system, which can act as a prototype for use either as individual Modules or as a complete package The software will be modified and developed by the participants so that it will be accessible through English, Russian, and Kyrgyz interfaces The Hardware, specifically Servers and Workstations, will be constructed from generic, low-cost, and locally available components The project participants will learn how to construct, configure, and load all software in order to minimize costs and maintain stabile hardware/software configurations, which can also be accessed remotely The major focus of the project will concentrate in three areas: • • Utilization of existing resources: Kyrgyz libraries and institutions are currently cataloging their collections and placing them in standard machine readable-formats This project will carry the process forward by developing a comprehensive network of OPACs (On-line Public Access Catalogs) that are universally accessible through a common interface Self-reliance for local Kyrgyz Institutions: By utilizing only Open-Source software, local Kyrgyz institutions will avoid the significant costs associated with the maintenance and updating of proprietary software Such costs have placed the purchase of OPAC software and even Server Operating system and database software out of the reach of most institutions in the Central Asian Region This will insure that funds will be effectively expended in that the local participant institutions will be able to further develop, maintain, and support the Project independently in the future Project Replication and Expansion: There is presently interest within other states in the Central Asian Region to build upon this project and develop a regional Virtual Library and On-line Educational System Since the structure of the project will be modular, the components can “literally” be dropped in place, (dynamic generation of web pages requires only that the markup tags for each field be set to the appropriate regional language) for each particular region or specific language requirement A major goal of the project would be to design the modules in such a way that work already done will not have to be redone by others, but just modified to account for regional differences Currently there is a significant need for the development of existing Library resources within the Kyrgyz Republic and each of the newly reemerging Central Asian States; specifically, but not exclusively, within the following areas: Library and Institutional Considerations: • Establishment of library collections within a framework which will comply with internationally recognized cataloging standards Allowing universal access to these catalogs through the Internet regardless of software platform Currently most library materials are not in an electronically accessible format This will entail the implementation of an On-line Public Access Catalog (OPAC) system for each institution, which will allow for the automated access and processing of library resources Specifically with • • • • reference to the cataloging and sharing of existing library collections This applies to both Academic and Local (Public) Library Institutions Currently, the major academic libraries have Internet access; such access however, is a problem though at the local library level Until collections at the local level are placed in MARC (Universal Machine Readable format) they cannot be accessed off site Once the project has begun and Staff at the academic level understands how to install and maintain the software, which will be a part of the project, they will be able to transfer this knowledge and expertise to the local public libraries At the local Public Library Level and Local Library Staff will have to be given training and education in the use and maintenance of the project Software and Hardware Establishment of digitized collections of library resources and other materials, which will allow for universal access to these materials Specifically, there are many materials within library collections, which cannot currently be accessed, either because it is not feasible for them to be circulated (in the case of rare or historical documents) or prospective patrons cannot easily traverse the distances required to reach the collections Digitization of Information Resources will place them within reach of anyone with a telephone connection Establishment of training and continuing education programs which will enable the staff of existing institutions to use the automation technologies which will be needed to develop, operate, and maintain the Digital Collections and OPAC’s being introduced The On-line education environment will provide a means to deliver such training and education to remote locations at only the cost of a telephone connection Direct Internet connections are available in urban areas such as Bishkek in the Kyrgyz Republic; in addition, telephone dialups to ISPs are also available Establishment of a system which would allow for the inexpensive construction of the Workstation and Server Computers necessary to implement OPACs at both the Academic and Local Public Library Levels This will be included as a component of the training and education sessions to be held These sessions will also include the installation, configuration and operation of all aspects of the software necessary for the operation of the Virtual Library and On-line Education Project It is anticipated that future expansion of the project would include primary and secondary schools and their libraries at the local level Once the project is functioning effectively, these institutions can be incorporated into the project On-line Library and Educational Considerations: • • • Establishment of a Virtual Library, which will have a Virtual Catalog component acting as a gateway allowing for the simultaneous, searching and accessing of each library’s catalog, simultaneously, through a single interface over the Internet Additionally, digitized collections will also be created and users will be able to simultaneously access and search them through the Virtual Library’s Interface The establishment of a Virtual Library will be critical to the establishment of a Virtual On-line Educational environment since students who are accessing educational materials on-line will also need Internet access to the intellectual resources of libraries and institutions Establishment of an On-line Educational Environment which will allow for Synchronous (real-time) and Asynchronous education, delivered over the Internet This is critical for the development of education within the Kyrgyz Republic and other Central Asian States since many prospective students or interested individuals not have reasonable access to advanced library or educational resources There will be two components addressed for On-line Education; one will be the needs of the populations which would desire to use the Library and Educational Resources and the other would be staff of the existing institutions who will need training and educational resources to learn how to implement, develop, and maintain the Virtual Library and On-line Educational System It should be noted that the On-line educational component would not be limited to any segment of the population; it will be open to any interested individuals While Internet access may not be endemic throughout the primary and secondary educational system, this situation can be more easily addressed after Internet accessible resources are in place and available for students and interested individuals to use The Objectives of the Virtual Library and On-line Educational Environment will be to develop for the Kyrgyz Republic, as a prototype for eventual use throughout the Central Asian Region, a System which will: • • • Establish, develop, and maintain automated library catalog systems for libraries and educational institutions Establish, develop, and maintain automated digitized collections of text, image, and audio archives Establish, develop, and maintain an automated Inter-Library Loan Capability between Libraries, patrons, and Institutions • • • • Establish, develop, and maintain an automated Virtual Library allowing for the simultaneous access to Library Catalogs and digital Resources Establish, develop, and maintain an On-Line education environment, which will allow for the Universal access to Library and Educational resources for all interested individuals Use only Open-Source and freely available Software in order to optimize the use of scarce resources And, build hardware such as workstations and servers from locally available components and materials Establish, develop, and maintain a training and education program for Library Staff and interested individuals, which will instruct them concerning Software installation, configuration and Maintenance, and the construction and maintenance of hardware such as Workstations and Servers Since the Project will use only Open-Source and freely available software, and, the hardware and will be assembled, configured, and maintained by the participants themselves; cost will not only be kept to a bare minimum, but expended resources will have a much greater effect since the participants will be able to optimize “Cost versus benefit” concerning the anticipated delivery of services to the targeted users of the System The actually assembly of the equipment, software development, and system implementation and maintenance will also be used as an educational experience for the participants in the project No resources will be wasted in an effort to maximize the utility of the project A major goal of this project will be to give all of the participants the tools necessary to allow for the independent establishment, development, and maintenance of a Virtual Library and On-line Educational System The Project will meet the following specifications: • • • Software will be based upon Unicode Standards, which will allow for the easy customization and utilization of each of the modules or the entire project in any Language format Only Open-Source software will be used for the final versions of the Project or its Modules If the use of proprietary software is necessary it will only be for a short time until Open-Source Applications can be found or developed to fill the void The Project itself will be based upon the Open-Source Philosophy and as such will be available for use by anyone or any organization throughout the world as long as they adhere to the principals of the Open-Source Philosophy And contain the following Components: • • • • • • • • • • – A Web-based distributed Library Resources Platform, which will allow for the simultaneous searching of multiple databases Specifically it will be able to interact with both nonproprietary and proprietary databases and OPACs by the use of Servers and Clients based upon the Z39.50 Standard - A Library Automation package, which will contain a Webbased Patron and User Interface, Circulation Module, and Cataloging Module This will be a fully functioning Open-Source OPAC – Inter Library Loan Interface, which will allow for patron initiated Inter Library Loan across the Project and its membership – Electronic Publications Archive for the archiving of student papers, theses, dissertations and professional publications This archive will have a web-based interface, which will allow for the non-moderated posting of materials by individuals or the moderation of each submission through some sort of screening process - Full-text Document Archives based upon the XML Standard and which will be searchable through the Virtual Library Gateway XML will allow for the tagging and searching of text within the documents themselves - Graphical image, video Image and Audio-clip Multimedia Archives, which will be accessed through the Virtual Library Gateway - On-Line Tutorial Archive containing On-Line Educational Course Materials, also XML-Based; accessed through the Virtual Library Interface - On-Line fully Integrated Synchronous and Asynchronous Educational Environment It is a Virtual Reality Learning Environment based upon the Educore version 2.0 MOO (MultiObject-Oriented-User Dimension) It is written in the Lambda MOO Programming Language originally developed by Pavel Curtis It provides a Simulated Physical Space and Programmable, Interactive Virtual Objects, with independent support for text-only, Web, or Three-dimensional VRML interfaces – An On-line syllabus, curriculum, and classroom development environment, which will allow academic instructors and staff to develop educational materials for use over the Internet 10 - A hosted web site for the Project containing all collected statistical information Also, a List-Server will be maintained to allow for communication among project participants and all interested individuals Currently, all of the components are in place and have been tested, the major task remaining is the translation of the interfaces into Kyrgyz and Russian Languages; which is currently being worked on, and will require help from others in the library and academic communities in order to complete the project This work has been done for the purpose of showing that not only can a system be constructed based upon Open-source Software and Non-proprietary hardware; but that it can also be implemented Currently, all that is required is the desire to implement such a project, the cost of implementation will be trivial (since all of the major work has been already completed), when contrasted with the significant benefits which would be achieved A graphical depiction of such as system would show how the modular relationship of all of the components can be utilized to start the project at almost any level desired, adding components as resources and skill levels allow ... proprietary databases and OPACs by the use of Servers and Clients based upon the Z39.50 Standard - A Library Automation package, which will contain a Webbased Patron and User Interface, Circulation... develop, and maintain an automated Inter-Library Loan Capability between Libraries, patrons, and Institutions • • • • Establish, develop, and maintain an automated Virtual Library allowing for the... incorporated into the project On-line Library and Educational Considerations: • • • Establishment of a Virtual Library, which will have a Virtual Catalog component acting as a gateway allowing for