Oracle has purchased Sun Microsystems.

This is significant on many levels.  Many of our library systems run on software or hardware from these companies.  The Voyager library I used to work for used an Oracle database running on a Sun Solaris server.  The clients (Circulation, Cataloging, Acquisitions, etc.) for III’s Millennium system run on Java.

Many web-based software platforms use MySQL (an open-source database project owned by Sun), including many, many blogs (including this one) wikis and CMS.

Many of us use OpenOffice as either their primary or as an additional office suite.

I am not saying that we are at risk for losing these foundations of our library and internet software programs.  The fact that OpenSolaris, Java, MySQL, and OpenOffice are all open source means that we can trust that they will be with us in some form for as long as there is a demand (a trust that cannot be equally placed with any closed source software, which can disappear with the collapse or acquisition of the company holding the software rights).

What I am sure of is that we will see changes.  Oracle has a strategy, or if it doesn’t, it will.  Some of these programs will likely see greater support and resources (hopefully OpenOffice), others will likely see less (hopefully none of them).  Some may become more focused towards a particular segment of the technology world (watch MySQL for this possibility).

Look at what you use, and recognize that today marks a turning point for some of the software.   Hopefully it is for the better.

found via TechCrunch and MetaFilter

Schemes to Add Functionality to the Web OPAC is a posting by Disruptive Library Technology Jester (a.k.a. Peter Murray of OhioLINK) in which he lays out a basic categorization of ways in which libraries can get their OPACs to do more.

This list is interesting in many ways, not the least of which is that on first read this seems to be a very good foundation for examining the options available to libraries.  So much depends on the current state of your library’s OPAC (which integrated library system (ILS) you have, how it is hosted, who has the authority to make changes, and your library’s human/technical resources), but this gives a starting point to see just what a library can do with the available resources.

Over the years I keep revisiting a desire to revamp OPACs that are sorely in need of improvement.  When I worked for a Voyager library, I set up this and this (each developed by someone else, but that I configured to work for my library).  I haven’t found anything like these for my current situation, but Scriblio sounds like a possible option.  The faceted searching alone would make it worthwhile.  I may get creative over the next couple of months…

found via Librarian.net