I explored two FOSS projects and was able to find some interesting things about the both of them.  In a nutshell, VuFind is a 'library resource portal designed ' and it was 'developed for libraries by libraries.'  Mifos is a financial platform to provide financial solutions.  After looking at some of their documentation, I decided to explore Vufind in more detail.

I definitely think Vufind is very innovative for libraries.  The platform runs on Solr Energy, which apparently is a good search engine. Users can potentially get results for a search query in milliseconds.  Developers have the option to save their catalog over multiple servers or one server farm environment.  The most amazing part of the entire FOSS project is that it is free.  Because it is open sourced, developers have the capability to help each other create a better environment.

Overall, here is a list of capabilities VuFind can offer:

  1. Users can narrow down their results
  2. Users will receive live results.  The interface will not slow down as a result of it.
  3. Users will be offered suggestions based on their results
  4. Users will be able to save their list of results
  5. User will be capable of browsing authors and their work
  6. Users will be able to bookmark their favorite URLs
  7. Users will be able to tag any records
  8. Users will be able to change the language of the interface
  9. Users will be able to create custom data reports to review

Digital Library Display from Falvey Memorial Library on Vimeo.

From reading the documentation, the platform is capable of using third party plug-ins in order to enhance the experience of the user.  The user can download the program online. They have a list of instructions on how to download the program and install it for linux and windows.  There are a variety of versions offered to download but, there is no detailed description on what exactly is different between all of them.

There is a 'Support' tab if the user runs into any problems.  The user can join their mailing list for general issues and support questions.  In addition, there are other mailing lists that the user can sign up for.  They include tech (list for all code related issues), admins (discussing management of the project), and unicorn users (a list for SirsiDynix Unicorn).  In addition, the user has the capability to search through a database of older and archived issues that may have already been solved. The archived issues are handled by Atlassian JIRA Software.  The user also have the option to join other websites that troubleshoot their problems with VuFind.

Lastly, the documentation they offer is definitely useful.  The first document is about the software.  Then they explain the requirements for the document which include hardware and software dependencies.  Afterwards, they list the current users.  It would be more useful if the list of users were a separate tab.  I strongly believe that the list of user should be more noticeable.  In addition, here is where you can read the changelog.  Lastly, they offer the usability document (how to test it) and the current and previous manuals.

Overall, I strongly believe that they provide all of the right documentation for VuFind.  In addition, they explain the software nicely.  I know what the project is capable of.  I'm not exactly sure how useful all of the information would be if I was a current user.  On the other hand, all of the information I perused curtailed to potential users.  I only glossed over the detailed information.  If I was a library, I would definitely try to invest in this project.