Implementation and Utilization of an Open Source Library Management System: Experience with Koha 3.06 at Redeemers University Library, Nigeria

Abstract

Open source has been the center of attention most especially in academic libraries world for the past several years. The current momentum of open source ILS adoption makes it almost inevitable that it will represent an increasing portion of the library automation landscape. Koha is considered as a highly sophisticated Integrated Library System (ILS) in the open source domain which offers full featured ILS including OPAC, circulation, cataloguing, acquisitions, serials control etc.The purpose of this paper was to describe the redeemer’s university library Koha 3.06 library management system (LMS) implementation, experience and utilization by both library staff and users. The study adopted a survey design, using questionnaire as the instrument for gathering of data, to sample user’s opinion on the software utilization and general perception, and also to evaluate level of satisfaction of library staffs. A total of 17 library staff and 90 undergraduate students participated in the study. The data collected were analyzed using simple percentage tables. The data analysis revealed that its excellent features have made it popular and continues to receive improvement and upgrade by the library patrons. It has also increased the use of OPAC by library patrons in searching for library resources from any comfort zone.The findings also revealed that the level of satisfaction and utilization by library staff were very high due to its friendly interface. It concludes by proffering solutions to the observed problems like staff training and retraining on software design and networking, fostering synergy with some units of the universities such as Information and Communication Technology (I.C.T.) Unit of the university for the purpose of strengthening the system.

Keywords: KOHA, OPAC, ILS, LMS