Open source as a gateway to artificial intelligence

Abstract

Open source has been widely adopted across the entire solution set in the library world, including software for traditional library services, digital libraries, discovery systems, identity management and persistent identifier solutions. Open source is also foundational in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Open source AI toolkits have driven the adoption of AI in machine learning, image recognition, video analysis and many other areas relevant to library systems. The communities supporting open source library software are among the largest and most dynamic in the library world. The Koha library management system is supported by a community of developers, librarians, service providers and participating libraries around the world, and is probably the most widely adopted library management system in the world. This article explores the evolution of open source in libraries and the ways in which the open source solutions can facilitate the introduction of AI in libraries in a way that gives libraries agency on the AI model development and implementation. Examples are provided on the use of AI toolkits in the library context.