At this year's koha-us annual conference in McKinney, Texas, you can get hands-on experience in the Open Source Observatory. You've heard libraries are using open-source software, now is your chance to explore it.

Interested in attending the 2021 koha-US Annual Conference? You still have time to register through the link above. Full schedule or presentations can be viewed at https://koha-us.org/conference2021/.

IMPORTANT NOTE: After careful consideration of current conditions, the koha-US 2021 Conference will have a mask mandate. Facemasks will be required at all onsite sanctioned events.

If you are interested in attending the conference virtually, online registrations
are complimentary. (Donations to koha-US are welcome and appreciated!)

Open Source Observatory
Join us to get a hands-on experience at the open-source Observatory. McKinney Public Library will also have a model library set up that is completely open-source software. The room will include a Catalog, Self Check-Out, Self Return, PC and Print Management, Data Analytics, Ebooks, SRP, and more. If you want to see how Texas libraries are empowering staff and their patrons with intuitive, open-source software, then come join us. Basically, if you have the hardware and the gumption, this library will really be OPEN! Stop by anytime over the course of the conference, September 21-24.

Not able to travel to the event, but what to experience the open-source observatory? Contact sales@bywatersolutions.com to learn more.

About koha-US
koha-US is a proud partner in a Global Community. While they strive to be a hub for the US users of Koha, they also encourage those users, with the rest of the Koha community, to participate through the various resources listed on the website. Read more about koha-US https://koha-us.org/about/.

About McKinney Public Library
The McKinney Public Libraries offer materials and experiences that educate, inform, and entertain. Read more about the McKinney Public Library at https://www.mckinneytexas.org/116/Library

About Koha
Koha is the first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS). In use worldwide, its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their technology goals. Koha’s impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base. It includes modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reserves, patron management, branch relationships, and more.

Koha’s OPAC, circulation, management, and self-checkout interfaces are all based on standards-compliant World Wide Web technologies, HTML5, CSS, and Javascript, making Koha a truly platform-independent solution. Koha is distributed under the open-source General Public License (GPL). For more information about Koha, please visit http://koha-community.org.

About Aspen Discovery
Aspen is a full-featured Discovery System that integrates with e-content and other 3rd party providers, giving your patrons comprehensive access to all of your materials in one place. Aspen combines your library catalog with e-content, digital archives and enrichment from all major third party providers, improves relevancy and ease of use, provides native reading recommendations, displays all formats of titles within one result (FRBR) and much more. Aspen was created to give users an improved experience over other Discovery systems with less of an impact on library budgets. For more information about Aspen please visit: https://bywatersolutions.com/projects/aspen-discovery.

About Libki
Libki is a cross-platform Open Source computer reservation & time management system and print management powered by Google Cloud Print. It also features single sign-on integration with the Koha ILS, which is also FOSS.

Libki is ideally suited for use in locations where a controlled computing environment is paramount such as public access systems, libraries, school computer laboratories, and more! Visit https://libki.org.

For More Information
Jessica Zairo
Director of Library Sales & Outreach
ByWater Solutions
bywatersolutions.com
Phone:(888)900-8944