Open Source Software as a Agent for Technological Innovation

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 cons

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 do 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:

1 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 do 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

2 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 (Non-proprietary) 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

do 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:

1 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

2 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

3 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 re-emerging 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

do 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:

• 1 – 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

• 2 - A Library Automation package, which will contain a

Web-based Patron and User Interface, Circulation Module, and

Cataloging Module This will be a fully functioning Open-Source OPAC

• 3 – Inter Library Loan Interface, which will allow for patron

initiated Inter Library Loan across the Project and its

membership

• 4 – 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

• 5 - 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

• 6 - Graphical image, video Image and Audio-clip Multimedia Archives, which will be accessed through the Virtual Library

Gateway

• 7 - On-Line Tutorial Archive containing On-Line Educational

Course Materials, also XML-Based; accessed through the Virtual Library Interface

• 8 - On-Line fully Integrated Synchronous and Asynchronous

Educational Environment It is a Virtual Reality Learning

Environment based upon the Educore version 2.0 MOO (Multi-Object-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

• 9 – 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