So this is probably old news to most of you, but just in case someone might be interested I thought I would share. I 'attended' an Infopeople webinar today (very good one--on taking your idea/project at work to the next level) and at the end they plugged an upcoming webinar on open source ILS add-ons. I'm not really sure what it's going to be about but it's free for any California library types to attend the live event and then free to all as an archived webinar. Infopeople webinar page.

Are OSS ILS systems and OPACs simply replacements for proprietary ones or are they improvements?

I think the first question that must be asked is whether the OSS option is even an adequate replacement for the proprietary system. If so, is it only a replacement or does it carry additional benefits? I believe that OSS solutions are more than just replacements for proprietary systems… They really do offer a number of improvements that can make it more rewarding to switch. How did I come to this solution? Well, I experimented around with different systems myself!

In February 2008, my library transitioned from Dynix to III Millennium. I think our experience with III definitely imbues my response to the questions posed this week about OSS ILS vs.
proprietary.

Are OSS ILS systems and OPACs simply replacements for proprietary ones or are they improvements?

I've created a short Flash video tour of a koha OPAC. Drupal does not support uploading of Flash video files, so I ran it in Eluminate. 

Access this video tour using this Eluminate link, with password: Driscoll287  (There is no audio with this flash recording. )

Are OSS ILS systems and OPACs simply replacements for proprietary ones or are they improvements?