Evergreen ILS vs. Infor Library and Information Solutions vs. OPALS vs. Oliver v5 Comparison Chart

This is the project site for Evergreen, highly-scalable software for libraries that helps library patrons find library materials, and helps libraries manage, catalog, and circulate those materials, no matter how large or complex the libraries. The Evergreen Project develops an open-source ILS (integrated library system) used by more than 2,000 libraries around the world. The software, also called Evergreen, is used by libraries to provide their public catalog interface as well as to manage back-of-house operations such as circulation (checkouts and check-ins), acquisition of library materials, and (particularly in the case of Evergreen) sharing resources among groups of libraries. Evergreen depends on the following technologies Perl, C, JavaScript, XML, XPath, XSLT, XMPP, OpenSRF, Apache, mod_perl, and PostgreSQL. The latest stable release of a supported Linux distribution is recommended for an Evergreen installation.

OPALS Open-source Automated Library System is a powerful cooperatively developed, Web-based, open source program. This alternative technology provides Internet access to information databases, library collections and digital archives. Many school, college, research, business, religious and library union catalogs (that provide ILL services) use OPALS. There is no need to install software or purchase expensive computer hardware or software licenses to implement this powerful, turnkey Internet accessible system. The “total cost of ownership” of this standards-based, Web-based, feature rich software is demonstrably and undeniably sustainable. We can host and maintain OPALS on our servers or we can work with your IT colleagues to install and support it at your site. Experienced programmers and technical support staff update and maintain the program, giving this open source initiative a responsive, dependable support framework that is essential for institutions that serve the public.