typo(s), tendency and text

I vår avsluttet jeg en test av ulike serverbaserte publiseringsverktøy til bibliotek, og skrev en rapport. Jeg testet, med hjelp av andre bibliotekarer, tre forskjellige fri programvare CMS: Drupal, Joomla og WordPress.

Siden den gangen har min og andres erfaring bekreftet resultatene. Jeg vil gjerne publisere den, for å muligens få tilbakemelding på den. Kan hende jeg har oversett noe, eller andre kan bruke min fremgangsmåte eller noe av resultatene i sin arbeid.

Her er rapporten til nedlasting i PDF-format:evaluering av ulike publiseringsverktøy

I am testing viable ways to display media data in a way, that libraries can show what they have - which is not unproblematic at the moment with having many different libraries with different catalogue systems from different vendors - and as it is with working in the public services sector: a limited budget.

So here is a test with WordPress and the open book plugin, which pulls data from the Open Library and points to the WorldCat.

The problem is: Book data from norwegian books appear, but very little and almost none of the Norwegian books have a cover picture. I don't know if librarians are actively taking part in collecting data for this open database of books, or not. Problem nr. 2: There is a non-trivial discussion going on in library world about in how far the WorldCat tries to own data that libraries deliver to them. I don't know if this is the reason while there is no support for Norwegian libraries on the WorldCat.

Libraries are a public service, and tend to be very interested in Open Source publishing. Recently I am looking into open source content management systems for small public libraries in the region where I live now. Since the solution has to be usable, stable and sustainable, I try to focus on the three to four most stable communities on this sector. These seem to be:

• Drupal
• Joomla
• Typo3
• WordPress

My first anticipation is, that Typo3 might be a little overweight for the purpose of building a cost effective and stable solution that will last the next years. And WordPress might be a little underweight. But could still be viable: There are so many people using it, and there are methods to automate updates of websites, that people within my range have had good experiences with.  My gut feeling says Drupal, though it will be a lot to learn for me. Joomla isn't bad, either. But there are so many modules, themes and plugins that are non-free. And although I totally understand people have to make a living by writing software, I have to make this project reliable for the future. Not for all future, but for the next 3 till 4 years.

Another point is, that I feel that Joomlas administration panel is much more complicated than Drupals. On Drupal you have a lot of functions already build in, and if you simply set them together, the site already after fifteen minutes seems to get more and more structure. And the admin panel is not only easier to look at, it also makes all the built-in functionality visible very soon.

Don't worry, dear Joomla, WP and Typo3 evangelists. I will get into some testing, before I decide. And I will not base the decision on gut feeling. But until then, I have to think and evaluate a lot.