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1. Introduction
Library management systems (LMSs) are established as an essential tool in the support of effective customer services, stock management and management of services offered by libraries. They are "based on the knowledge and experience of library professionals over many decades" (Rai and Kumar, 2011). "Library automation not only improves the image of the library services, but also provides additional services to the users with the existing staff" (Dhanavandan and Tamizhchelvan, 2012). Integrated library management systems (ILMSs) vary by several factors, including scalability, database type, operating system compatibility, support for bibliographic record formats and interoperability. These factors can be influenced by whether an ILMS is open source (OS) or proprietary, and the "selection of relevant software is an important step in the library automation process" (Hussain and Ansari, 2007). The purpose of this study is to examine the current features and facilities of the various ILMS under study: namely Koha, Libsys, NewGenLib and Virtua. The study also analyzes these ILMSs for the features in each module to update librarians on what considerations to take when choosing ILMS for their libraries.
2. Review of related literature
There are many articles and case studies available on this topic by various authors; some of the more relevant articles are reviewed below. Singh and Sanaman (2012) stated that "Koha has more specific characteristics/features and advanced database features, whereas NewGenLib has better functionality of modules than Koha", and Anuradha et al. (2011) praised the "full-text search features in the widely used open-source library automation package Koha". These "next generation library systems purport to fill the changing needs of libraries" (Wang and Dawes, 2012). Lihitkar and Lihitkar (2011) examined ten selected software packages on the basis of their usability and implementation in libraries. From the ten, Libsys was the most highly rated one having 37 software features, followed by the SOUL software with 36 points. The authors opined that it was necessary to improve the quality of software for providing effective services.
Vasupongayya et al. (2011) focused on reviewing OS LMS packages on their abilities to perform four basic components: traditional services, inter-library loan management, managing electronic materials and basic common management systems, such as security, an alerting system and statistical reports. Few ILMS are fully web-compatible and support...