First, read Users Trump Library Vendors Again! >The Shifted Librarian

It’s true libraries have limited resources, but they already have a vendor for their catalog, and that vendor should be the one leading the way.� Libraries must begin demanding these types of services from the vendors. It’s crazy to see users writing code to compensate for a lack of services from library OPACs.

Then TechnoBiblio: Market awareness

Listen to your customers – if not they will make you obsolete

Finally- librarian.net : a library weblog: why don’t vendors care about us?

For me, this just drives home the true nature of the buyer/seller relationship and the OPAC lock-in. Support is expensive, and if it doesn’t lead to more sales it’s just barely worth the money of the vendor because where else is your library going to go?

Three quotes to remember. The opac sits like an anchor in the middle of my library’s website. It does one thing (sorta) well but takes up an innordinate amount of the Electronic Services department’s time and energy. As Jenny pointed out, simple things we’ve asked for repeatedly have never arrived and even though I use Unix regularly, I’m terrified of the administrative interface.

I truly believe that OSS systems are the way libraries should be heading for their system needs. We all have the major building blocks in common, yet for the best fit each system needs a certain amount of personalizing. With an open-source base system, a single programmer could create a customized system for the cost of his/her yearly salary as opposed to the licensing fee of the commercial brands.

I’m sure I appear to be a fanatic about open-source but the only reason I’m discussing it for something this important to library services is the aforementioned problems in getting what we need from the vendors. The world is moving fast these days and we have to keep up.