The Digital Library Network South Asia (DLNETSA) released a LiveCD of Koha and Greenstone Digital Library (GSDL) in June 2011. For those following open source Library software trends, these two applications are not new. However apart from integrating the two, the LiveCD also incorporates an open source Federated Search solution (DBWIZ) alongside PhpMyAdmin (another open source PHP and MySQL database engine). For the ‘techy librarians' out there this is an opportunity to attempt the implementation a Library Management System (LMS) and Digital Library System simultaneously for ‘free'. We all know the ‘free' in open source software is in the freedom to adapt/modify and not about cost. There is a caveat however, it has to be in a Linux (Ubuntu specifically) environment.
- Downloading and install the Ubuntu (the new version is easy to install) on your Windows (Vista or 7) machine. With the Windows Ubuntu Installer (WUBI) you have an option to just switch Operating Systems (Win. 7/Ubuntu).
- Download the KohaGSDL LiveCD ISO image from Sourceforge the most dependable source for open source.
- Burn it on a CD. Check the mailing list , Google group , visit the main project page and contact the Digital Library Network South Asia for further technical assistance.
